Rally in the Birthplace of American Liberty
A snowstorm and freezing temperatures did not dampen the enthusiasm of over 100 people gathered on the People’s Plaza at Independence Hall on January 17th to rally for the right to reform our government and enact an independent redistricting commission in Pennsylvania.
Ben Franklin (historian/reenactor Mitch Kramer) celebrated his 320th birthday by reminding the audience of the first Pennsylvania constitution, written and ratified in Independence Hall in 1776. Enshrined in that constitution was the then-radical idea, proposed by William Penn, that citizens have the right to amend their government.
Andrew Davies, a former FDPA-Philadelphia local leader portraying colonial Jewish leader Gershon Mendes Seixas, used humor to drive home the importance of the work for religious and other freedoms and the challenges our founders faced in carrying out that work.
Morgan Robinson, president of the League of Women Voters of Philadelphia, and Philip Hensley-Robin, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, both spoke about the work of their own organizations, nationally and in Pennsylvania, in pursuit of independent redistricting commissions and related good-government measures.
A vision not yet realized
Fair Districts PA Chair Carol Kuniholm noted that the group was standing “in a place of celebration and contradiction. Celebration of the vision of government for and by the people. Contradiction, in that the vision has never been fully realized.” She described Pennsylvania as “the template and model for self-governance, the keystone of the colonies, the site of the Declaration of Independence” and noted that the first Pennsylvania constitution, ratified right there in Independence Hall, “was the most radical of its day, a model for many other states and nations in its affirmation that the people have the right to alter and reform their government.”
Yet that vision has not been realized. As Kuniholm lamented:
This is where we draw the line
Attendees were invited to join in an anthem written for the occasion by singer-songwriter Dan May, “This is where we draw the line.” Rally-goers also enjoyed renditions of the national anthem and America the Beautiful led by John Packard, an opera star and member of FDPA’s intern leadership team, as well as colonial tunes provided by fife and drum reenactors.
Colonial “newsies” handed out broadsides of “A Declaration by the People Gathered in Free Assembly.” Written by Doug Gordon, a long-standing member of the Fair Districts PA-Philadelphia steering committee, the declaration echoes the Declaration of Independence and the first PA constitution. The document makes clear that the historic fight for representative government continues today in the work for fair district maps.
Despite the cold and snow, attendees left the rally strongly motivated to keep the spirit of 1776 alive by battling for an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Only with such a commission will PA voters be able to fully enjoy the fundamental rights of self-governance promised 250 years ago