Reading Frederick Douglass Together, July 5
Frederick Douglass, ca. 1879. Photo: Wikipedia
Source: Bruce Pennimen
In what has become an annual tradition, South Congregational Church and the Amherst DEI Department are collaborating again to host a community reading of Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on July 5. As 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the theme for this year’s event is “Reaffirming Our Unalienable Rights.”
The community-based planning committee is actively seeking area residents of all ages to read portions of the speech. Hearing Douglass’s words spoken by diverse voices is a powerful and moving experience. To register as a reader, visit ttps://tinyurl.com/RFDT26 or scan the QR code below.
In addition to the reading, there will be a performance by the Amherst Area Gospel Choir, a panel discussion, free books, and refreshments! For more information, contact Bruce Penniman at penniman@umass.edu or 413-687-0910.
This event is supported by a grant from Mass Humanities and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with additional funding from the Jones Library and the League of Women Voters of Amherst,
As a sequel to the Douglass reading, the South Church Arts & Social Justice Series will host a book group discussion on Yaa Gyasi’s novel Homegoing at on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. For more information, see https://amherstsouthchurch.org/arts-and-social-justice-series.
Background
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass, a self-taught orator and writer who had escaped slavery to become a prominent abolitionist, addressed the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, NY. After acknowledging the bravery and vision of America’s founding fathers, Douglass asked:
“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.”
