Jesus Wasn’t American, and 9 Other Inconvenient Truths to Ruin Your BBQ

What Has the Fourth of July Really Done for Us?

Every year on the Fourth of July, fireworks light up the sky, flags wave with pride, and families gather for cookouts and celebration. It’s America’s birthday—the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776. But for many African Americans, the holiday brings a complicated mix of emotions. While the nation celebrates freedom, our community is still asking: freedom for who—and at what cost? Let’s be honest. In 1776, the vast majority o…

Jesus Wasn’t American, and 9 Other Inconvenient Truths to Ruin Your BBQ

The Fourth of July is a sacred time in American culture. Grills are fired up. Flags are flying. “God Bless the USA” is blaring at a slightly-too-loud volume. But amid the patriotic pageantry, it’s easy to forget that Christianity and American identity aren’t the same thing. In fact, sometimes they flat-out contradict each other. So, in the spirit of stirring the theological pot at your cousin’s BBQ, here are 10 spicy reminders that faith in Jesu…

‘What to the slave is the Fourth of July?’ – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

The distance between this platform and the slave plantation from which I escaped, is considerable — and the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former are by no means slight.  Editor’s note: This is an abridged version of a speech given by Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852. Considering today’s conservative political climate, many observers consider the speech especially poignant — and prophetic. That…

What to the slave is the Fourth of July? • Minnesota Reformer

Frederick Douglass wrote this reflection on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to the enslaved.