Now that everyone's St Patrick's Day hangovers have worn off, I believe it is my personal duty as someone of Irish descent to bust commercialized stereotypes of green beer, drunken brawls, and stupid t-shirts with stupid stuff written on them, and talk about the real history of my people. Because 800 years of sustained resistance against the British Empire by a people and culture that stubbornly refused to die is not something that should be trivialized or forgotten, especially when that resistance continues to this day. There is a reason why the people of Ireland, Britain's first colony, have stood for so long in solidarity with the people of Palestine, South Africa, Cuba, African-Americans and other nations and peoples that have struggled against imperialism all over the world. The term "the fighting Irish" isn't about beating each other senseless in a bar room brawl, it's about standing up against empire and having the audacity and spirit to fight back by any means necessary.