Sunday, July 5 at 3 p.m. at South Church.
In what has become an annual tradition, South Congregational Church, in partnership with the Town of Amherst Department of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, will host Reading Frederick Douglass Together, a public recitation of Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech.
As 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the theme for this year’s event is “Reaffirming Our Unalienable Rights.” In addition to the reading, the program will also include a performance by the Amherst Area Gospel Choir and a discussion of the speech by youth, mid-career, and elder panelists. A reception will follow, and several books by African American writers will be distributed free of charge.
This program is supported by a grant from Mass Humanities and Massachusetts Cultural Council, with additional funding from THE Jones Library and the League of Women Voters of Amherst.
Sign up to be a reader!
The community-based planning committee is actively seeking area residents of all ages to read portions of Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech. Hearing Douglass’s words spoken by diverse voices is a powerful and moving experience. You can sign up to be a reader here.
About the Speech
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.
Read or download the full speech here.
Arts & Social Justice Series at South Church
This event is part of South Church’s 2026 Arts & Social Justice Series, which offers concerts, community gatherings, and cultural events.
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 on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m.
Partners and Sponsors
Image credit: Frederick Douglass by George Francis Schreiber, 1870. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.