Fight For Liberty

Anne Applebaum, Garry Kasparov, Richard North Patterson, and a constellation of other thinkers make the urgent case for liberal democracy---reinvigorating its central values in an age of doubt and discord. Liberal democracy is in crisis around the world, besieged by authoritarianism, nationalism, and other illiberal forces. Far-right parties are gaining traction in Europe, Vladimir Putin tightens his grip on Russia and undermines democracy abroad, and America struggles with poisonous threats from the right and left. But the defenders of democracy are strong too. Taking their cues from the 1788 Federalist Papers, the Renew Democracy Initiative is a collective of pro-democracy advocates from across the political spectrum, including Anne Applebaum, Garry Kasparov, Max Boot, Bret Stephens, Ted Koppel, and Natan Sharansky. This book is their foundational document, a collection of essays that analyze the multi-pronged threats to liberal democracy in the U.S. and abroad, and offer solutions based on fundamental democratic principles such as freedom of speech, a free press, and the rule of law. Fight for Liberty is a roadmap for the struggle against the rising tide of extremism and a cri de coeur in defense of the liberal world order, which sees itself threatened as never before today.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke before an eager crowd in Seneca Falls, New York, on a hot July morning in 1948. She began her speech with words that were familiar to American ears: But the ideas that followed were radical. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal" Stanton went on to boldly demand equal rights for women--including suffrage, the right to vote. It took more than 70 years from that moment before all American women could vote in American elections. The fight was led by several generations of courageous women who devoted their lives to liberty and equality. This is their story.

New insights into the interplay of American politics, religion, sex, and revolution in the 18th century.

Opposition to the British colonisation of Australia did not spring from the Mabo decision or the Native Title Act, nor was it born in the vibrant 1960s, which culminated in the famous tent embassy in 1972. Rather, the first politically organised and united all-Aboriginal activist group was the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA), begun in 1924 under the leadership of Frederick Maynard. For the first time Aboriginal people voiced their disapproval in public in a well-organised way. They opened offices in Sydney, held street rallies. conducted public meetings, gained newspaper coverage, wrote letters and petitions to Government at all levels, and collaborated with the international black labor movement. The AAPA's demands resonate today. They centred on Aboriginal rights to land, stopping Aboriginal children being taken from their families, the acquisition of citizenship rights, and defending a distinct Aboriginal cultural identity. This form of resistance and organised action has now endured for more than seventy years and through a detailed exploration of the life of his grandfather, John Maynard reveals the AAPA's invaluable legacy.

"A review of Douglass's ideas about free labor and constitutional liberty in order to understand the origins and meanings of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, each of which grew out of the anti-slavery movement that Douglass did so much to shape"--

Born in Miami's notorious Liberty City, Luther Campbell witnessed poverty, despair, and crime firsthand. His uncle Ricky did not want him trapped by the "invisible chains" of systemic racism, so Ricky schooled him on the necessity of a black man running his own life, controlling his livelihood, and owning property. Embracing these lessons, Campbell discovered his gift for entrepreneurship: He created one of the first hip-hop record companies, Luke Records, which started out of a shed in his mom's backyard and grew into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. As a rapper on his own label, Luke became known as the "King of Dirty Rap" and helped pioneer the worldwide phenomenon of Miami Bass. He went on to become the front man and manager for the rap group 2 Live Crew, and was key to the success of the group's controversial platinum recording As Nasty As They Wanna Be. His hugely popular and provocative music infuriated the Man, and Luke was marked as public enemy number one when hip-hop crossed the color line into white America. Campbell would spend more than a million dollars of his own money fighting cops and prosecutors, and he went all the way to the Supreme Court to protect his—and every other artist's—right to free speech, setting landmark legal precedents that continue to shape the entertainment industry to this day. In Campbell's clear and honest voice, he shares unforgettable stories of his rise to celebrity status, including illicit tales from his raunchy concerts. He also breaks down how he lost his fortune, but in the process gained a better perspective on life. His father taught him to be responsible for his actions and to be proud of himself. Campbell expressed this by being cocky and holding his head up high, but, as he acknowledges, "America has never been an easy place for a black man who doesn't know how to apologize." Touching on some of the most pressing issues of our time, The Book of Luke is a raw and powerful memoir of how one man invented southern hip-hop, saved the First Amendment, and became a role model for the disenfranchised people of the city he calls home.

"This collection of eleven essays examines nineteenth-century legal and extralegal attempts to restrict freedom of speech and the press as well as the efforts of others to push back against those restrictions"--

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli leads the historic fight against the unprecedented overreach of the federal government. With Obamacare and agencies like the EPA, the FCC, and the National Labor Relations Board attempting to exercise unprecedented control over the American people, the Obama Administration was breaking federal laws, ignoring federal courts, and violating the Constitution to achieve its goals of redistributing wealth, concentrating power in Washington, and rewarding its supporters. Without enough lawmakers in Washington devoted to protecting the rule of law to stop the federal government's liberty-stealing power grab, the battle had to be waged in an unprecedented way: from the states -- just as our Founding Fathers intended. The man who led the charge was Ken Cuccinelli, the first state attorney general to argue in federal court against Obamacare, an unapologetic defender of the Constitution, and a man admirers and detractors alike said "was tea party long before there was a Tea Party." The Last Line of Defense provides a behind-the-scenes account of the myriad of legal battles in which our states were the only instruments of resistance to federal abuses of power. It is a must-read for every patriot.