Opinion: A View Of Holidays and Freedoms On This 4th Of July

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Photo: Veterans Day and Memorial Day are our holidays to remember those who have served and those who have given their lives to win and protect our freedom.

By Will Brownsberger

The recent hate crimes in Belmont, Winthrop, and Brighton, so close to home and so near the Fourth of July, have me thinking about the meaning of our national holidays.

Seven of our eleven federal holidays celebrate our struggles for freedom and justice. Each of our national struggles have occurred in the context of broader international liberation struggles. 

Independence Day and Washington’s Birthday celebrate our declaration of independence from King George III and honor those who fought our revolutionary war to uphold that declaration. Our revolution was just the first of many revolutions to replace the autocratic rule of European monarchs with government by the people.

Our new holiday, Juneteenth, celebrates the final end of slavery in the United States. More than 600,000 died in our Civil War. By comparison, only 25,000 died in our revolutionary war. Almost as many soldiers died in the Civil War as in all our other wars combined. Roughly 10 percent of the men between 18 and 45 died in the Civil War and many more were maimed for life. The union soldiers sacrificed to free four million people from slavery.

It took a horrific convulsion to expunge the stain of slavery that ran so deep in our nation and to enshrine liberty for all in our constitution. It is fitting that we finally have a holiday that specifically celebrates that milestone in our progress. 

Martin Luther King Day celebrates a great leader and those who struggled alongside him to make freedom real for African Americans by dismantling the state and local laws discriminating against them.  

The struggle for universal civil rights and freedoms continues to this day, but it is broader and more complex. It is not just about changing laws. It is about changing the behavior of individuals and institutions who may discriminate against not only African Americans but other minorities and/or women. All nations that are committed in good faith to basic human rights continue to struggle to realize those rights universally for their citizens.

The recent hateful incidents diminish the freedom of all minorities. Whether one is visibly Black, visibly Asian, visibly an orthodox Jew or visibly transgender, one should be able to walk the streets free from the fear of random violence.

Many people who commit hate crimes may suffer from some form of mental illness, but it is hateful ideology that leads them to translate their inner struggles into hateful actions. All of us, whether healthy or unhealthy, act based on the ideas we are exposed to. That is why it is so important that all of us speak out against violence and broadcast our appreciation for diversity.

We celebrate and thank the law enforcement officers who respond when hateful violence unfolds. They, like our soldiers, put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedoms. Veterans Day and Memorial Day are our holidays to remember those who have served and those who have given their lives to win and protect our freedom. On those days, we also honor our public safety personnel.

Labor Day honors public safety personnel, teachers, and other unionized workers, but more broadly honors all those who fought for better wages and working conditions in the international labor movement. It is easy to forget across the distance of years just how low wages often were and how cruel the workplace could be. The labor movement fought and won great victories to create the relative comfort that many of us now enjoy.  As in the civil rights movement, there is more to be done.

Columbus Day has become controversial for good reason. Columbus’ revealed the Americas to Europeans, but he did is so in the service of a monarch bent on acquiring resources for royal aggrandizement. Those who came after him destroyed the great pre-Colombian civilizations in the Americas. I support rethinking that holiday to align it better with the consistent values expressed by our other holidays.

The remaining three federal holidays — Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day — bring families together to enjoy the freedoms we have been blessed with.

What’s Open, Closed On the 4th Of July That’s Observed On The 5th; Trash Pickup Delayed A Day

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Photo: Happy 4th on the 5th

Today, Monday, July 5 is when the country observes the 4th of July, Independence Day, which we celebrated yesterday. It’s that somewhat rare case of when the holiday that commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence falls on a Sunday but the US still wants the people of the country to have an official day off. So take it.

For most Belmontians, the most impactful result of the holiday is that trash and recycling pick up will be delayed by a day.

Here is what’s closed and what’s open on the 4th of July.

  • Belmont Town Hall and town offices: Closed
  • Belmont Public Library: Closed
  • State and Federal government offices: Closed.
  • US Postal Service: Both Belmont post offices are closed; express delivery only.
  • Retail stores and coffee shops: Open at owner’s discretion.
  • Liquor stores: Open.
  • Supermarkets: Open.
  • Convenience stores: Open.
  • Taverns, bars: Open.
  • Banks: Closed.

For those who want to do some day traveling using public transportation, the MBTA is running on the following schedule:

  • Subway and Commuter Rail will run on a Saturday schedule.
  • Bus and the RIDE will run on a Sunday schedule.

Belmont Public Library Is Finished With Late Fines, Joining Nationwide Practice

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Photo: Late fees at the Belmont Public Library are a thing of the past starting July 1. (Belmont Public Library)

The days of running to Concord Avenue to return a book or movie before they turn, like Cinderella, from a borrowed work into a fine are over. Effective today, Thursday, July 1, the Belmont Public Library has joined a nationwide practice of ending charging late fees on print materials, music, movies and video games.

The news in a press release from Library Director Peter Struzzierok said studies have shown for several years that “late fines on library materials create a barrier to service, do not actually bring materials back any faster, and overall are a cost negative effort, meaning that we spend more money to collect fines than the amount of the fines being collected.” He noted that late fees also disproportionately affects patrons living on a fixed income.

The library will continue to assess small fines on Commonwealth Catalog items, Museum Passes, and Library of Things items. And any items that are lost or damaged will still require replacement costs to be assessed. In addition, patrons should be aware that the 40 other libraries within the Middlesex Library Network may continue to have late fees.

While the library located at 336 Concord Ave. will no longer collect fines on most items, it will still issue due dates on the hundreds of thousands of items circulated annually.

“When you return your items on time, you are paying a great respect forward to all of our other library users. When you need an extra day or two to get an item back, we are proud to report that you will not be fined,” said Struzzierok, who said the library would “be thrilled to accept food donations” in lieu of the monetary fee, noting the library has become the largest contributor in town to the Belmont Food Pantry.

“Ending this old way of doing things will make people happier, be a fairer way of serving the community, bring new users in and former users back … and will save the town and the library money. For these reasons it’s made good sense to us to refine our process and eliminate this practice,” he said.