LADY LIBERTY PROJECT         

 

Liberty and Justice for ALL!

 

 

July 4th, 2025 “Lady Liberty Project” was launched, a street theater presence to honor our American icon, the Statue of Liberty and Mother of Exiles.

 

As a celebration with the public, we threw a dance and skating party at Seattle's Alki Beach around a small-scale replica of the statue. This project is an affirmation and a plea to uphold our country's best core values, to illuminate what she represents:

 

LIBERTY:  from monarchy    from tyranny     from oligarchy  

 

ENLIGHTENMENT: lead with knowledge, reason and compassion 

 

This is a collaboration of friends who want to inform, inspire and ignite awareness of the values of Lady Liberty with music, dance, poetry, stories and song.  

We strive to:

 

    - Sustain the view of Lady Liberty as a world beacon of welcoming.

 

    - Recall the words of The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus’ famed sonnet.

 

    - PROTECT DEMOCRACY.  Lady Liberty's best values compel us to:

 

1. Respect the constitution

2. Uphold rule of law

3. Honor separation of power

4. Regard transparency and accountability

5. Support voter rights for all  

 

 

The inspiration to germinate this project was my undocumented grandfather, who at 19 sailed from Germany as World War I broke out. He entered through Ellis Island and slipped into the throng of laborers, changed his name and language to survive. He kept his stories hidden until the centennial of the statue in 1986. Being an immigrant was an open secret in my family until “Frank” was 90 and finally shared his back pages with me in a bond of trust. We all have stories. There are many aspects of immigration to learn and consider.              

   -  Ariel Rathbun