Reading · Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture

I didn’t plan on writing a story about the Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Celebration on Saturday. I apologize for not getting the name of the trio singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” If you know them, please drop their name in the comments. Their singing was lovely, and I wanted to capture the moment with a photo.

I seldom write stories about events where other good reporters are there. I figure, why bother when there are other reporters around who will probably do a better job covering the event than I will and probably do it faster. Besides, life is too short to be redundant.

And, I was right. Doug Burns with the Iowa Mercury, Laura Belin with Bleeding Heartland, Kay Henderson with Radio Iowa, Maya Marchel Hoff with the Des Moines Register, Isabella Luu with Iowa Public Radio, Dave Price and Isabella Warren with Gray Media, Erin Murphy with the Gazette, Kadin Luhmann with the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Skyler Stamps with WHO-13, Pepper Purpura with KCCI-TV, and Skylar Tallal with Iowa News Now all offered excellent coverage. Sorry, I’m sure I missed someone.

Some members of the Iowa Creator Corp at the event.

I was also there, in part, to join my friends and colleagues with the Iowa Creator Corp to help empower progressive voices on social media.

Even though I didn’t plan to write a story, I was lucky enough that one found me.

Things were starting to get underway, and I found myself just inside a doorway to the ballroom as we started to say the Pledge of Allegiance where I was tucked in a pocket of people. Since our eyes were focused on the front of the room, I didn’t see who was around me, or if I knew them. But we were so close, I could feel the warmth of their bodies.

I was still holding my hand to my chest when the pledge was coming to an end, and from across the ballroom, as we repeated, “with liberty and justice,” I heard someone or more than one person emphasize the “FOR ALL” at the end of the pledge.

A voice immediately to my left quietly repeated, “for all,” adding a “hmmm” at the end. I turned my head to see that person was Adam Peters, Democratic candidate for Iowa House District 97, including what I see on the map, eastern and central Davenport in Scott County. Google tells me the district is blue, and the Iowa Secretary of State website says Adam is running unopposed.

I believe that I first met Adam before the primaries last fall at the Iowa Capitol. My first impression was that he is confident, curious, smart, and kind. I also thought that he would be an important voice in the legislature. I still do.

Adam is also gay.

I quietly whispered/told Adam that I had some background on why the person(s) on the other side of the room emphasised: “FOR ALL.”

In October of 2019, 100 days before the Iowa Caucuses, then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was in Des Moines to speak with the Polk County Dems. I had no plans to attend, but our friend Sean Bagniewski had some extra tickets, so I went. Sean represents Iowa House District 35 in Beaverdale.

So I had a nice dinner with some people I knew and some I didn’t. I planned to remember everyone I sat with, but since my brain is leaky, I forgot.

One thing I haven’t forgotten is that at the end of us reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, at the end, a voice, maybe two or three at a table nearby, said, “with liberty and justice FOR ALL.”

I asked Sean about it, and he said Polk County resident Cate Guthrie Scanes was behind encouraging people to say the FOR ALL part loudly.

I met with Cate and she explained to me that she wanted to emphasize that “liberty and justice” was FOR ALL, because not everyone is receiving it, in particular various minority groups. If we are going to pledge that liberty and justice is FOR ALL, we should follow through; otherwise the pledge rings hollow.

It was during this time that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick was blackballed from the NFL for taking a knee during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality and racial inequality. This was his First Amendment right.

Of course, that didn’t matter to President Trump as he weighed in.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

I loved Cate’s highlighting “FOR ALL," and so did my friend Derek Donovan, opinion editor at the Kansas City Star. So I wrote about it here (perhaps paywalled) in July of 2018.

Given the wrecking ball that has been Trump’s second term, Kaepernick’s protest, Trump’s response, and Cate’s FOR ALL protest and affirmation might not seem significant now.

But it does. Any act of resistance that affirms our core values is powerful.

In maybe 20-30 seconds, I gave a little of this background to Adam, and if I remember correctly, we briefly exchanged the names of groups that were not receiving what our pledge promises.

Adam understood intuitively. Of course he did. From his campaign website:

“Freedom means nothing if it doesn’t include every Iowan. Protecting civil rights means guaranteeing that all of us—women, LGBTQ+ Iowans, people of color, workers, and every community—can live freely and with dignity.”

Adam wanted to know more about the FOR ALL moment, and fortunately I was standing beside him, and I knew some of what was behind it. I suspect that many of the hundreds of people at the Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Celebration also wondered about it. Now many more will know, and hopefully embrace FOR ALL every time they say the pledge in the future.

And if they do, we have Cate Guthrie Scanes to thank for her leadership.

With Liberty and Justice FOR ALL!

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