"What could you accomplish today if you shook off your fear?" B.W. Richardson

Like many bloggers out in the 'sphere, my blood's run cold since Friday, Sept. 29th, 2006.

There's been much chatter about how heinous this legislation is. I'd like to take a moment to point toward B.W. Richardson's Montag post A Nation of Eveys. What an inspirational post! As Richardson states, "But Evey didn't feel helpless and stunned forever." We don't have to either.

I'd like to highlight some historical Eveys. Let's start with the Swing Kids, or Swingjugend, who were Eveys during the oppressive Nazi Germany period. The name Swingjugend was used to spoof Nazi youth movements.

Wikipedia does an excellent job of explaining who the Swing kids were. Please note that this movement didn't start out as political-- these kids grouped together because they enjoyed American jazz, swing dancing and colorful, counter-culture dress. As the Nazi totalitarianism became more entrenched in Germany, the kids began to mock Hitler and National Socialism. For example, they'd say Swing Heil instead of Sieg Heil.

When the Gestapo and Hitlerjugend clamped down the Swing Kids, they went underground and started clubs to continue to meet. When raids and round ups targeted them, and peers were sent to concentration camps or put under survellience, they were resilient. Swing kids began openly opposing the nazi government and even helped hand out leaflets against fascism.

To paraphrase Richardson, Swing Kids shook off their fear and raised their voices to say no to one of the biggest bullies of the 20th century.