Carrie Andrews

Washington Square Park
July 11, 2005

Good afternoon! I am so happy to be with you here on this gorgeous day.

I grew up in a small town in central NY called Trumansburg. And while there are a lot of great things about Trumansburg I did know, I did not know until recently that it was the center for motorcycle rights in NY State and that the former state president of ABATE, Tom Duffy, lived there. A fact which makes me even more proud to be from there.

I grew up spending a lot of time on a motorcycle. In fact, I have a very early memory of riding a bike with my dad, and I know I was young because I was sitting in front of him on the bike to do the turn signals. As I got older I would ride with him during nice summer days and I knew how much he loved the warm weather and opportunity to ride.

He always said a couple of things to me about riding a motorcycle-First, He said to think of yourself as having a bulls-eye on your back because cars don't see you. And this is why taking action to further motorcycle safety is so important.

And secondly, he'd always talk to me about helmet laws and the rights of individuals. He firmly believed that free-thinking adults are able to make up their own minds about their own safety. That as long as you're not hurting the common goods, the rights of individuals should be respected. And in the summer, we'd watch the droves of motorcycles coming down Main St. without helmets on the Freedom Ride and he'd tell me that that's what they were riding for.

Nowadays, I don't ride too often with him, but I know he still gets great joy and a sense of utter freedom from riding his bike. In fact, freedom is the word I hear all the time when I talk to bikers. A great sense of freedom being so close to the road, feeling the air on your face and feeling unrestricted. And it's that sense of freedom that is so reflected in our flag and the celebration of our flag.

The American flag is truly so beautiful-it's not just one stripe but many, not just one star but many. What brought those stars and stripes together was individuals and states coming together to compromise, but at the same time respecting each other's individualism.

The flag symbolizes freedom from oppression, the freedom to think for one's self and the freedom to disagree. It is unity, but also division. For me, dissent is the most patriotic action we can protect and our most valued asset. It protects the minority from tyranny of the majority. And it allows all of us to express our ideas, even if unpopular to many.

With that spirit, I proudly walk picket lines with my union brothers and sisters. I proudly strike with them against injustices at work. I proudly participate in our democracy and encourage others to vote their conscious. This is America to me. And this is freedom to me. And this is what I honor when I honor our flag.

So on this day of honoring our symbol of freedom, I keep these thoughts in mind. That it's been a long hard fight to get to where we are and we've got a long road to go. But, I remember that great sense of solidarity felt when waiving to another motorcycle passing by and know that it's all worth fighting for.

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