A friend forwarded an essay to my inbox the other day that I wanted to pass along to you. It concerns Norway, paper clips, E. Jean Carroll, and the American resistance to the current (and temporary) occupant of the White House.

This story begins in 1940 when the Nazis overran Norway in their effort to strangle Europe. On arrival, they installed a Norwegian puppet, Vidkun Quisling, to rule over the populace in their name.

Among the other atrocities committed by the Nazis in Norway was a strident effort to infiltrate the country’s educational system so that its children would be brainwashed. Teachers all over the country refused to do the Nazis’ bidding, and began wearing paper clips on their clothing as a sign of their resistance and in solidarity with their colleagues and students. In turn, the students fashioned necklaces and bracelets out of paper clips to support their teachers.

Of course there were brutal reprisals. These were fascist dictators, after all, and cruelty is a feature of that ideology. Teachers lost their jobs. Many were imprisoned, enduring the inhumanity that accompanied the Nazis everywhere they went.

But the teachers, students, and the people of Norway continued to resist, and eventually, the Nazis had to abandon their efforts. Quisling was executed in a prison in Oslo by firing squad for treason and murder on October 24, 1945. His last name has become a synonym for traitor in several languages, including English.

So what does this have to do with E. Jean Carroll, the courageous woman who successfully sued the Orange Fubar twice for violating her civil rights? She has taken up the mantle of those incredible Norwegian teachers and students, wearing a paper clip on her lapel, and encouraging others to do the same.

Such a small thing, you say. But if you wear one, and your friends wear them, and they tell others, and then you see paper clips wherever you go, wouldn’t you feel a bit braver, hold your head a bit higher?

I think we all would.

And that’s the point, mutual regard and mutual support.

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If you would like to read more about the history of this resistance effort during World War II, may I recommend this article to your attention: https://medium.com/memory-action/why-did-norwegian-teachers-wear-paper-clips-during-world-war-ii-5a9aa379e293