Jr. Patriot Report - July 2025

John Stumpner

Being Free

The Fourth of July holiday in the United States is all about freedom and independence. Lots of people like to talk about freedom and independence, but not many really know what it means. Bikers, more than many people, really know how to live free and independently. One biker who really showed what real freedom is was Bessie Stringfield.

Bessie Stringfield was the first African American woman to ride across the entire United States. When she was 16 years old, she taught herself to ride a motorcycle. In 1930, at 19 years old, she set off on the first of her cross-country trips. She would raise money for her expenses by doing motorcycle trick riding and stunts at fairs and carnivals. When the United States entered World War II, Bessie completed a difficult training course and became a civilian courier for the army. As a courier, she crisscrossed the United States several times on her own blue, full sized Harley Davidson touring bike. Later, she moved to Miami, Florida where she became a nurse and started the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club. Because of her skill and love of motorcycling, Bessie was given the nickname “the Motorcycle Queen of Miami.”

In the 1930's, when Bessie started riding, many areas of the United States had what were called “Jim Crow” laws. These laws allowed people to legally discriminate against others. Because of these Jim Crow laws, Bessie often had trouble finding places to eat or sleep in her travels. But her independent spirit and desire for freedom helped her get around these “obstacles.” She would often find an African American family more than happy to share a meal with her. Some nights, she would just lay back and sleep on the seat of her bike. Bessie, as do many bikers, found ways to keep her freedom and independence.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's resulted in changes to the laws which made it pretty much illegal to discriminate against others. We live in a country which has few limits on our freedom and independence. Most of the United States Constitution and many of our laws actually limit what the government can do. To remain free, we need to keep using those freedoms which we have. Rights and freedoms we don't use are rights and freedoms we will lose. At some point, someone may decide that certain rights and freedoms are no longer necessary and try to get laws passed to take them away.

ABATE of Wisconsin has always been seeking to keep our state government from taking away our rights and freedoms. Even today, we continue that work. We currently are seeking to have laws passed which will keep the Wisconsin government from telling us what kind of vehicles we can use. We do not seek to limit new technologies, only to limit government interference in telling us what we can own or use for our freedom of the road.

John