How should World War I be remembered? Connecticut libraries and historical groups are now gearing up for this year’s 100th anniversary of April 6, 1917– the day we entered the “Great War.” What exactly will we commemorate? Thirty-seven million people were killed in the war from 1914 to 1918. U.S. forces averaged 297 casualties a day. Here was a conflict, historian Howard Zinn wrote, where “no one since that day has been able to show that the war brought any gain for humanity that would be worth one human life.”

Since the Women’s March on Washington began, perhaps the biggest question has been: Why March? We are a large group of women throughout the state of Connecticut who woke up on November 9 with the realization that something unique had occurred. We each woke up the day after the election feeling like strangers in an alien land. A call to move from despondency to recovery and resistance, created a need to reach out and join forces that ultimately coalesced in the March on Washington on January 21. While, as individuals, we may have joined this effort for different reasons, we have organized around three principles: We march to support each other and remind ourselves that we are not alone. We march to send a clear message that the new administration has no mandate. We march to organize for a better future.

The New England First Amendment Coalition is deeply troubled by President-Elect Donald Trump’s recent statement calling for the imprisonment or loss of citizenship of those who burn the American flag. While Trump’s comments may reflect the feelings of many citizens, they perpetuate a dangerous misunderstanding about the breadth of the First Amendment and the protection it provides all Americans.