 Next up is my lovely daughter, Alma Brunke, and she is going to be speaking on the Pledge of Allegiance, God, and the U.S. Cold War. She is youth coordinator at the Women's Journey Foundation here in Orange County. Take it away, baby. Can you hear me now? Okay, sorry. The controversial phrase under God was not always part of the Pledge of Allegiance. In the beginning of the U.S. Cold War, the United States passed a law that added the words under God to the Pledge on June 14, 1954. It was a way to counter the idea of godless communism, a phrase that was used throughout the 1950s to alienate progressives from the rest of society. Many countries have an oath of allegiance, but the United States is one of the few to make it part of the primary education requirement. It's like a loyalty oath for kids. I'm here to testify about what happened to me when I was in eighth grade in regards to the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and my First Amendment rights. So for a few weeks after starting in eighth grade, I had stood for the Pledge like all obedient American kids. Then I'd heard about Colin Kaepernick kneeling to end the killing of black people. I'm biracial and because his demonstration was important to me, it led me to the idea to finally not stand for the Pledge. When I started not standing, my teacher yelled at me and said, Do you know what this looks like? It looks like you're not happy to be in this country. She said I wasn't grateful and that I was disloyal. I still didn't stand. My mom and I went to James Allen, publisher of the independent LA Harbor newspaper, Random Length News, and asked for help. What were my rights? He told us that it was my right to not stand nor to say the Pledge. In 1943, in West Virginia State Board of Education versus Barnett, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor can they be punished for not doing so. We went back to my principal and my teacher with a copy of the Supreme Court case and she never bothered me again. Thank you Cold War Truth Commission for allowing me to submit my testimony. Wonderful job, baby. Frank, you and I are very proud parents right now. Thank you.