What Is Freedom?

This year, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of American independence. This 4th of July will be a bombastic celebration of an independence that came at an unbearably high cost for the original stewards of this land. We cannot surrender to patriotism without context, and solidarity without atonement.

Alongside this anniversary (a young anniversary at that), we must acknowledge the wars fought to achieve it, the land stolen upon which to build it, and the enslaved labor that made the United States into what it is today. As the president plans gaudy, irreverent spectacles—UFC fights on the lawn of the White House, painting the reflecting pool “American flag blue,” riddling it with algae, and so-called freedom trucks plastered with an AI-generated George Washington—we at The Rumpus are thinking about freedom.

The 4th celebrates freedom, but freedom for whom? In 1776, the United States liberated itself from the British Empire but only granted suffrage to an elite few. Our founding fathers strived for a more perfect union while many of them owned enslaved people. And today’s political climate reflects the ills of those intentions and what is wrought when a more perfect union is designed for the few and not the many. Voter rights are being suppressed through flagrant redlining. Social progress, for which so many people fought tirelessly, is being systematically eroded. Roe v. Wade has been overturned and feminism’s progress is being stymied at every turn. We are at war with Iran with a fragile cease fire barely holding. ICE agents are still invading American cities, particularly in blue states, and kidnapping our friends, family, and neighbors. The Supreme Court is working diligently to undo the Constitution and erode the civil rights and enfranchisement of marginalized communities. The list of what ails this nation is long.

While celebrating freedom from one empire, we cannot ignore the fact that said liberation set the stage for another empire to rise, one that for two and a half centuries has extended true, inalienable freedom to a select few. To reflect on 250 years of American empire, we asked our favorite writers, artists, and otherwise uniquely creative people one simple question: What is freedom?

Each day in July, we will release one of their responses—expect drawings, short films, poems, stories, or even comics. We’ll kick the month off with a response from artist Vincent Valdez, whose provocative work aims “to incite public remembrance and to impede the distorted realities” that surround us every day.

We would also love to hear from you. If you want to share how you define freedom, please send your responses to hello@therumpus.net or, if you are a paid member, you can share your definition in the comments below.