Freedom Never Rests is a novel by James Kilgore but also an idea-that no triumph of social justice is pure or complete.  In South Africa workers and communities banished apartheid and gained political freedom. But inequality and poverty persist. Freedom was not what we expected.

James Kilgore speaks at Community House, Cape Town on July 10, 2012.

In the US we had the triumph of Voting Rights in 1965 but today millions of people, mostly poor people of color,  cannot vote. Laws against early balloting and measures that deny those of us with a criminal record the right to exercise our political will at the polls stand in their way.

Freedom Never Rests but keeps changing with history. Those of us who want to fight for freedom must be ready for the long haul, be prepared to change with the time and not rest on our laurels. Freedom Never Rests. Neither can we.