When most people hear the world ‘revolution,' they think of mass protests, tear gas and soldiers in the street. This isn't what Jefferson meant when he said, ‘Every generation needs a new revolution,' and it isn't what we mean when we say that revolution is evolution. Revolutionary change is change that goes to the very heart of our beliefs and challenges our identity. Making our belief in freedom, justice and equality real takes more than a few laws. It requires we recreate the world we live in. This is the project the Thirteen Colonies undertook when they declared independence and began the American Revolution.

Though the Founders' idea of freedom may not be as inclusive as the idea of freedom we recognize today, their ideas were nonetheless revolutionary. When Jefferson wrote ‘we the people' he may not have meant women, Native Americans, black slaves and anyone else who wasn't white, male or a landowner. That doesn't mean we shouldn't strive for those ideals, but it does mean we have to make them relevant to our own time. The idea that a government serves its people, and the people are entitled to life, liberty and happiness remains revolutionary to this day.

To fulfill the promise of liberty and equality it's going to take another revolution. This one isn't going to take place in the streets or the capitol, it's going to start in our own heads. When we change how we look at the world, how we view our neighbors, we change the world. That's our revolution.