Contributing - In The Spirit of “Freedom Summer 2006”

Want to contribute? Great.

Here’s the concept: We're dedicating this summer to freedom itself - and, in particular, to America's freedoms. We're calling it "Freedom Summer 2006." That name honors the brave souls who took part in the civil rights struggle during that first "freedom summer" of 1964.

These men and women risked everything during their Freedom Rides. They were young and old, black and white, male and female, Northern and Southern. Many of them were wounded, and three of them made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom when they were kidnapped and tortured to death in Philadelphia, Mississippi. (Remember their contribution on this Fourth of July, too. )

Remember that this fight belongs to all of us. Nobody is excluded: young or old, rich or poor, white or black, Southern or Northern, Progessive or true Conservative, Republican or Democrat or Green or undeclared.

This website is yours, if you can keep it. Its readers are its creators. The inspiration is "Sorry Everybody," which inspired so many people after the 2004 election.

Here's how it works:

You provide the content : You submit any content you like, provided it's in keeping with the "Freedom Summer 2006" theme. It can be text, photo, video, audio, or any combination of all of them. A suggestion, though: if it's text, video, or audio - try to keep it short.

You can post anything that you want to share with your fellow freedom-lovers - at home or around the world. Here are some suggested topics:

Give testaments to our freedom : What do you love about our freedom? Do you have an anecdote, an image, or a recording? Share it with the rest of us. It could be the inspiring story of a poor person voting for the first time, chasing Carolina fireflies at a summer picnic, or the memory of listening to Sly & the Family Stone sing "Hot Fun In The Summertime" when you were a kid. Doesn't matter - share it with us.

Let us know how much you appreciate our liberties. We'll take all your comments and make them an "open letter" - to our leaders, our country, our world - a tribute to liberty and a vow to defend it.

Honor our "Freedom Heroes": I've already honored Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner. They died for our voting rights - rights that are under attack in the ghettoes of Cleveland and the small towns of Florida. Who else should we honor? John Peter Zenger, who was imprisoned for criticizing his political leadership in a newspaper? Tell us.

Build a community : Got an idea for defending freedom in your area? Got an organization you want to build? Here's the place to do it.

Make concrete suggestions : How do we mobilize around the issue of protecting our freedoms? How to we reach out to other Americans, in different walks of life and of all political persuasions, to tell them what's at stake? What are some steps we can take to win this battle?

Propose a "freedom slogan": Here's my attempt, because I hate the terrorists and love our liberties: "I pledge to defend our freedoms against all enemies, foreign and domestic." But let's face it - I made it up, and it's lousy. You can do better.

There will be some simple rules: 1) There will be no comments - it's not a blog, although it sits on "blogger" right now. 2) You have to contribute in the proper spirit. If you want to debate other contributors, or the idea itself, take it elsewhere - like the comments section of the Huffington Post. 3) It's all "for fun and for free" - no hustling any personal projects.

Other than that, it's all yours.

(adapted from the announcement of “Freedom Summer 2006” in The Huffington Post)