Happy US Independence Day!

This year wonder | wander | women celebrate our reunion and the United States Independence Day by being grateful for freedom: the freedom to speak against oppression!

Photo courtesy of Boing Boing and Jessamyn West

In the years of George W. Bush and the Patriot Act, it was ruled illegal for librarians to inform their readers if the FBI had accessed their records. They found ways around it by using signs like the one above, known as a warrant canary.

A search for "LGBT" day one of the Obama administration vs. a search for "LGBT" day one of the Trump administration.

A post shared by @ glaad on Jan 20, 2017 at 10:26am PST

When the LGBT rights and environmental protection policy pages disappeared from the White House website a single hour after Tr*mp was sworn in to office, journalists and civil rights advocates reported the changes immediately, comparing the pages as a warning of things to come.

Looks like the Trump administration hasn't taken control of the @NatlParkService Twitter feed just yet. pic.twitter.com/dCKGHoW0cU

— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) January 20, 2017

The National Park Service also tweeted about the changes, and posted a photo comparing the size of the inauguration crowds in 2009 and 2017. The administration immediately stopped them from tweeting further information, claimed the account had been hacked, and then had the account tweet a retraction.

#WeAreAltGov and we are not going anywhere.

Send support and good vibes to @Alt_USCIS. pic.twitter.com/hApSxhKXIy

— Alt Sci,Space,&Tech (@altHouseScience) April 7, 2017

In response an alternative Twitter account for the National Park Service popped up, called BadHombreLandsNPS. Other rogue accounts appeared in force, including RogueNASA, AltEPA, Alt.Gov and an alternative Defense Intelligence Agency Twitter, to counteract Tr*mp's 'alternative facts' initiative with real facts. Snopes has posted a list of the accounts verified as being run by real employees and people connected with those services.

Photo courtesy of CBS News

This year, photos and videos leaked from immigration detention centers revealed that the administration was separating children from their parents at the border. Government officials claimed 'misreporting' and tried to suppress the information - unsuccessfully.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated cartoonist Rob Rogers, who had worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 25 years, was fired for his cartoons criticizing the administration. You can read his comic strip about it at The Nib, the comic arm of Medium.com.

Photo courtesy of New York Post

This year we are celebrating our right to a voice by speaking out for those who are being silenced. We need to use this right while we still can - before the oppressors try to silence the rest of us, too.