July 2024 | Reading: "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

This recording is presented in partnership by Princeton Public Library, Nassau Presbyterian Church and Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church Joint Mission Committee, Not In Our Town Princeton, Paul Robeson House of Princeton, McCarter Theater, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton.
Community Partners included African American Cultural Collaborative of Mercer County, Arm in Arm, Arts Council of Princeton, Baha'i Community of Princeton, Bayard Rustin Center For Social Justice, Building the Moral Arc, CASA for Children of Mercer & Burlington Counties, Center for Modern Aging Princeton, Coalition for Peace Action, Greater Somerset County YMCA, Historical Society of Princeton, Housing Initiatives of Princeton, I Am Trenton, John H. Pace Jr '39 Center for Civic Engagement, League of Women Voters of Greater Princeton Area, Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Mass Incarceration Task Force, McCarter Theater Center, Morningstar Church of God in Christ, Morven Museum & Garden, Muslim Center of Greater Princeton, Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church, Princeton Charter School, Princeton Day School Black Alumni, Princeton Jewish Center, Princeton Middle School, Princeton United Methodist Church, Office of Community and Regional Affairs at Princeton University, Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, Trenton Literacy Movement, Trenton Spoken Word, Unitarian Universalist Church, United Mercer Interfaith Organization, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Witherspoon Jackson Historical & Cultural Society, YWCA Princeton.
Community members read an amended version of Frederick Douglass' influential speech, given on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, to the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society.
The life and works of Frederick Douglass continue to shape our understanding of America. A gifted orator and prescient writer, Douglass forces us to reckon with the legacy of slavery and the promises of democracy. One of the most celebrated orators of his day, Douglass’ powerful language, resolute denunciations of slavery and forceful examination of the Constitution challenge us to think about the histories we tell, the values they teach, and if our actions match our aspirations. To quote Douglass, “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the future.”
This event was recorded on July 8, 2024.