July 4th a reminder to extend ideals of liberty for all
from Tallahassee Democrat, July 3, 2021, pgs C01,C02,C06
Every other year, my husband’s
family faithfully celebrates a reunion.
Unlike some reunions that have a
lengthy history, this reunion was born
when, in February 1991, eight grown
children had gathered to honor their
father of only 63 years at his funeral.
They realized it had been years
since all eight of them had gathered,
and they committed to one another to
meet again in two years and every two
years thereafter. Based on birth order,
each sibling takes either a turn at planning
the biannual reunion, or takes a
bye, depending on life circumstances.
Every reunion is as unique as the
sibling planning it and always both
meaningful and fun. We are just back
from the most recent reunion in Panama
City, celebrated a year late due to
COVID, where the youngest sibling did
a remarkable job planning and 45 family
members attended. I am so moved
by the family’s determination and
commitment to remain connected.
It was at the previous McKibben
family reunion, held in Boston in July
2018, that I was reminded of a remarkable
speech given by former slave and
abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, in
celebration of Independence Day on
July 5, 1852.
Douglass, who published The
Northern Star newspaper in Rochester,
New York, and who was a friend of
Susan B. Anthony, whose family farm
was on the outskirts of Rochester, was
asked by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-
Slavery Society to give an Independence
Day speech at Corinthian Hall.
This was not long after the passage of
the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act which allowed
Southern planters to pursue in free states runaway slaves, like Douglass, and even
forced Northerners to aid in that pursuit.
He started his impassioned speech with a statement
of his surprise and gratitude in being asked to
present at an Independence Day event. For while it
was the birthday of his listeners’ freedom, he, and
those like him, did not share the same freedom.
In honest praise of the founding fathers and the
eternal truths put forth in the Declaration of Independence,
Douglass reminded his audience that
these freedoms were not yet realized for all. He offered
a view of the day and its popular characteristics from
the slave’s perspective, saying “The rich inheritance
of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence bequeathed
by your fathers is shared by you, not by me.”
And in the end of the lengthy, brilliant speech,
Douglass shared these amazing words of hope: “I do
not despair of this country. There are forces in operation,
which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery.”
Every year in Boston, from 2000 to 2008, an organization
called “Community Change” has read
aloud in their library the Douglass speech. And every
year since 2009, that reading has been public on the
Boston Common at the State House. This year, the
reading of the Douglass speech, “What to the Slave is
the Fourth of July?,” has moved beyond the Boston
Common to 20 different sites in Massachusetts, beginning
on Juneteenth in Boston.
What I learned from reading it myself is a deeper
appreciation of what we are celebrating on July 4, and
a more profound understanding that until all our people
are truly free, we have important work to do.
Merely celebrating the deeds of our forefathers without
seriously considering how we can work to extend
the Declaration’s ideals in our own time misses an important
opportunity.
Frederick Douglass, who studied all religions and
professed Christianity, could not reconcile how
“Christians could profess to believe
‘that, of one blood, God made all nations
of men to dwell on the face of all the
earth, and hath commanded all men,
everywhere to love one another;’ yet notoriously
hate, all men whose skins are
not colored like your own.”
He was baffled that Americans “declare,
before the world, and are understood
by the world to declare, that you
‘hold these truths to be self evident, that
all men are created equal; and are endowed
by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; and that, among these
are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;’
while continuing to hold in
bondage a seventh part of the inhabitants
of your country.”
And yet, Douglass said he did not despair.
It seems that we should not either. It
requires empathy for us to continue to
work for freedom for all, not just in what
we say we believe as a nation, but in our
unwillingness to rest until all are free.
I think of my husband’s family at
such a sad time in their family history
making an important decision to stay
connected, and then showing the determination
and commitment to follow
through.
I pray that on this July 4th we can
show determination and commitment
to achieve greater freedom for those
who do not yet experience freedom in
this land of liberty.
The Rev. Candace McKibben is an ordained
minister and pastor of Tallahassee
Fellowship.
To read the Douglass speech, go to Here
To hear excerpts being read by 5 young descendants of Douglass, go to Youtube
To hear the speech read in its entirety, go again to Youtube
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To hear excerpts being read by 5 young descendants of Douglass, go to Youtube
To hear the speech read in its entirety, go again to Youtube