What to the Modern Black American is the 4th of July?
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- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2024
- On July 4th, 2017 McKnight collaborated with two fashion-focused creative agencies Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom (Jonathan Square) and The Common Thread Project (Mikaila Brown) to ponder the question, "What to a slave is the 4th of July?” Frederick Douglass famously asked the question in an untitled speech delivered on July 5, 1852. Though slavery as a formal institution ended well over a century ago, Douglass’s question is just as relevant today as it was in the nineteenth century. We as citizens of the United States grapple with the legacy of slavery on a daily basis as forms of coerced labor still exist and the consequences of enslavement are still palpable through continued racial inequality. This is especially true in New York City, a city whose foundation was laid on the backs of enslaved Africans and their descendants. McKnight took to the streets of lower Manhattan on July 4th, 2017 dressed as an enslaved woman, holding a placard reading Douglass’s famous quote. Passersbys were invited to contemplate the enduring legacy of slavery, using Frederick Douglass’s famous inquiry as a point of departure.
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"I wasn't there, I don't know" Dumb as hell. Truth is, a lot of people, don't care to know. Thank you for doing this work Sister.
Typical reply when you too afraid (coward) to take a stand...if he was alone he would (possibly) been more empathetic.
If he truely didn't know he could've just asked her about it
If we don't try to right the things that those who came before us wronged, we are no better than they were. Today's kids didn't create global warming/climate change either, but here it is and they're needed to be part of the solution.
He does not deserve to be the object of black grievance.
He knew. He didn't want to get into it. Thats all that was.
"History is messy" is the best summation of things I've heard. Keep up the good work.
Tamara Turner 💪🏻
Dr. Brendan Maloney you have been indoctrinated with false histories. You need to empty your cup and be open-minded enough to learn the truth about American history. My advice is for you to start by researching your own family history. You need to know if your ancestors were autochthonous to the American continent or did your ancestors come from Europe. Once you know exactly who your ancestors were and what your true nationality is then the veil will be lifted and you’ll be on your way to true enlightenment and will you never fall victim to the sorcerers spin on history
Black accounts of slavery are as susceptible to inflation as any other history.
Amani Bey wtf is wrong with you this guy only posted a strong arm emoji?
I love the idea of using the 4th as a day to set resolutions to continue the work to make this country better. Thank you.
Renee Starling 💪🏻
Yes! What an exhilarating idea!
You are such a strong, brave woman to carry the burden of educating people like that man who had the audacity to shrug his shoulders when faced with the bitter truth of his privileges. Your graceful response - your smile, you not turning it into an argument (that I certainly would have, it made me so angry to hear that) touched my heart. I also think many a time, rage is important when there is so much apathy, just to shake people awake so they look around and realise how bad it still is (like in the last few months), but this image of you walking in the street with that sign, with so much dignity, carrying this history and pain on your shoulders, will always stay with me.
I'm a 53 yr old black male who served in the USAF...I still wait for my permission to seen as equal. My pursuit of happiness I fight for everyday
Watch Lie To Me No More Vids
Peace.
Thats your problem you're waiting for permission. When my family crossed the border we demanded it
@@Guerrillacreations You'll understand my point the longer you live in amerikkka...that's if you live to see you demands met.
My brother, who was a Cival War reenactor, and I used to disagree about old George Washington. He made excuses for him all the time. You're right, history is messy. Thanks for the thoughtful video.
Civil*
Sherman Alexie refers to 4th of July as "white people's Independence Day" in one of his books. And he's not wrong.
It was a white mans world so what do we expect.
I'LL BE GODDAMNED to let someone steal MY Independence Day because I am not white. I am as AMERICAN as any else, FULLY VESTED as a US born Honorably Discharged US MILITARY VETERAN.
LauraL Bethel well than you should agree that this video is wrong?
@constancewsca Amen! The 4th of July has nothing to do with black americans aka ADOS! Our ancestors were not freed on that day, they were sent right back to the plantations to be abused even more, even after fighting in the war of Independence!
Slavery existed in the US before the country was founded. Constitution of the US 1789 minus Jamestown 1619 = 169 years.
Rich people in the South held their wealth in land and slaves. Getting rid of it entirely took Emancipation Proclamation 1863 minus 1789 equals 74 years. (World War 2 ended 75 years ago.)
The first state to abolish slavery was Pennsylvania in 1768. During the course of the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey abolished slavery.
In 1787, the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, banning slavery in the newly acquired territories that would eventually become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
In 1810, the importation of slaves was banned.
In 1820, the US government founded Liberia, for freed slaves who wished to return to Africa.
1825 New York, Rhode Island banned slavery.
1840 Amistad case
1850 Kansas Nebraska Act, following guerilla warfare between pro and anti slavery forces.
And etc.
I hope the United States of America can one day live up to the ideals written into the Declaration of Independence. And I hope that day will come sooner rather than later, since we have yet to achieve them
MaryGrace King 💪🏻
change has been slow but its there now
They always say, "Yes, BUT they were GOOD people! Could sell a HOUSE with a HANDSHAKE!" Yes, but I knew he could also sell ME & my FAMILY with the same. And I couldn't honor it after Knowing either.
Tahtahme's Diary 💪🏻
@Capri- Sun brainwashed. That's a part of divide and conquer. You can break an entire community if you create mental instability. Dont deny what you already know-it makes you just as guilty. Silence =violence.
@@SillyGoose121 Because the US was and is racist. The most damaging program put into place was redlining. After the stock market crash in 1929, the Federal Government divided neighborhoods into those that would receive mortgage assistance and those that would not. Wealthy white neighborhoods were "green lined": a green line was drawn around them on a map and those homeowners received assistance. Middle class neighborhoods were "yellow lined"; those neighborhoods received assistance only if the homeowners were white. All black neighborhoods were red lined; they received no assistance and therefore lost their homes.
Today, those practices are still in place. Wealthy white neighborhoods receive the most and largest loans and the largest share of property taxes to fund their schools. Black neighborhoods receive the fewest and smallest loans (business, home mortgages, and personal loans) and the smallest share of property taxes for their schools. With few resources and low wages, teachers at black schools have the hardest jobs trying to prepare their students for success, while rich white school districts have better teacher to student ratios, better learning environments, more resources for extracurricular activities--sports, music, and art, better and newer books, and better campuses. Black schools have few if any of these luxuries yet white people think all kids get the same education. They don't. Without parity, black students are set up to fail. This is racist and is happening now.
@Capri- Sun if so, why hate on "nothing"?
I shouldn't do this but you deserve and earned it...
Blessed are those who see you for what you are.
@Capri- Sun I'd love too but y'all (karen/darren) always in our business...
"I wasn't there" is code for "I didn't do it" which means "it's not my problem" while "we are all free now" means "I refuse to see how systemic racism privileges me today in the same way slavery privileged my ancestors then"
Thank you so much for your courage.
IOW : "White" people (= everyone who isn't black, from Mississippi, and Anglo-Protestant) must accept every hateful word that falls out of the mouth of a Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton as The Gospel Truth of Black Jesus Heself.
@Aztec Lady: BINGO. That's exactly it.
@@jonlenihan4798 There is only one Jesus, what you said is blasphemy.
@@AmericanMilitaryHistory I care as much about blasphemy as I care about slavery.
@@jonlenihan4798 Maybe I misunderstood your point. I'm a little confused. Are you against or for the race hustlers like Al Sharpton? I'm against those people I just saw you call him "black Jesus". Al Sharpton is about as far away from Christ as I think you can be.
Reconciling the accomplishments, courage, and genius of our founding fathers with the knowledge that their definition of “all men” was actually extremely exclusionary has been challenging. My admiration for them and many other historical figures (Susan B. Anthony comes to mind) has always engendered... guilt almost? As if to admire them and celebrate their accomplishments somehow meant to hand wave their many problematic opinions and actions.
Thanks for the opportunity to think about this, and for sharing your perspective! A fantastic video, as always.
Joia De Vita 💪🏻
@mikedoesseo do you have any proof of this?
There is now a movement to discourage the Suffragettes because they didn't 'include' women of color. Excuse me, but the Suffragettes DID include ALL women - it was the MEN who kept POC from voting after women got the vote.
History is more terrible and more beauftiful than any one has ever written. This is a close summation of the words of James Baldwin which come to my mind at this moment.
Katrina Levin 💪🏻
Its amazing, not surprising, that some people choose to ignore the facts of history.
Those who don't learn from history...
"All I know it's today we're all family." Yeah, I wish...
"...we're all family as long as we're all white xtians."
Blacks and Native Americans were not included when the Declaration of Independence. How can we celebrate when Black people were not free?
Exactly fvck 4th of July
100% correct!
What about Mexicans and Asians in merica??
I also wasn't there when it was signed but, using my imagination and limited knowledge about the Transatlantic Slave Trade and slavery in America, I would say that the signing of it didn't change much, if anything, for slaves in America.
If course the White man talking to her didn't want to go too deep. "I dont know I wasn't there." God forbid if he felt uncomfortable. What he should have said was "I'm so sorry about what happened to the slaves back then. What can I do to show you some respect today?"
“ I don’t know,I wasn’t there”, “Today we’re all family”......no not when the descendants of the slave still have to march and protest for equality. He just shrugged his shoulders and made light of the slaves situation. HAD he been there in 1776, he certainly wouldn’t have thought any more of the slave then, than he does of their descendants now. He was plain condescending, disrespectful and insulting. An apology is not going to come from this guy or any one like him.
He should've just kept it at "i don't know"
@@ChibiChidorii Everyone needs to be respected. Asking how to show it is a good educational question.
Thank you.
This 4th felt different than others, and I think it's because I was thinking of our country's roots more than ever.
How some of those need to be embraced more (fighting for the rights of all people), and how some of them need to be remembered, but not practiced or praised.
Beautiful video. Our ancestors were incredibly strong. I thank them for their bravery. All that happened in that time, that was horrific and the hardships that they faced. I am glad to be free as a black American. I am somewhat free and a little privileged. So I thank all of them.
Very moving. An important question.
Anybody else here in 2021? I’m so glad I found this
As an indigenous person, whose ancestors were on this land for thousands of years before anyone else, my family 'celebrates' the 4th, Thanksgiving, and Yule with a Mexican feast (we ignore the war holidays). We thank Jesus (not Jesus Christ, but 'Hey-sus', the migrant worker) for the food, as we continue the struggle to steward the land.
Beautiful. Thank you. Don't know why this only now showed in my feed, but it was a good time for it to do so.
Moving and beautiful. I hope many more join you in the setting of (and acting upon) those intentions.
Very brave of you to walk the street and dare to make others uncomfortable. I'm an older white lady. I've seen things in the past year that I never expected in my lifetime. The BLM movement has not been able to bring about the needed changes, Republicans are tearing away at our Constitution. And, where I live in Indiana, a mask, or lack thereof, is seen as a sign of freedom and protest, instead of one of respect for the health of others. Keep shining light on the darkness. That's why they're fighting so hard against change. They feel the heat of it. :-)
The republicans are not the ones attempting to bring in communism and destroy our country. That would be the BLM democrat's.
My boyfriend and I just watched this video and really appreciated it. Thank you so much for making this video!
Thank you for this! What a great resource for the classroom
I’m sure the guy that said “we’re all family now” would never celebrate Juneteenth when the enslaved were freed.
I don't agree. The man said "we" when he referred to being free. We should not forget nor rewrite our history, but learn from it. There are good and there are bad in every race. We should also realize that as a society we are learning and changing to be better. I believe instead of always putting another down, we should care for each other,no matter what race. If we define each other by our color, black, white, brown or anything else, we will always cause division. We should treat each other as we want to be treated and celebrate each other for who we are today.
Or have anything to do with any Native American or simply natives lol some Italian guy named Merica I think
You are always able to say what I wish I could express in such a powerful way. Thank you so much!
Watching this a year later &, knowing the potency of the political climate, & the fear & urgency of the pandemic, this brought tears to my eyes. The struggle continues. Thank you for your unblinking gaze!
I love this channel
What was the 4th like for the enslaved, I can't ever really know, but I will listen to those who do, the families of those who were and I will always take the opportunity to remember that their experience needs to be heard. Thank you for this, I respect what you're doing so much
Thank you. This was so informative yo my uneducated self .Lots to learn and learning is great !
Very moving and an important statement for all to see, hear, feel. Thank you.
This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your words- they are thought provoking. What you said at the end encapsulates how I've felt about Independence Day for a long while now. I don't want to celebrate my country how it is right now. I want to celebrate what we can be if we take that Declaration literally, here, today. It's the idea of America in its highest form that I want to commemorate, with the knowledge that history is messy and we haven't gotten it right yet, and getting it right means dismantling the systems of white supremacy that we're struggling with now.
I just have to say this! You have such a beautiful face. Also thank you for Educating the world on the subject. Some of this I didn’t even know.
Thank you!
It really is disappointing how people gloss over parts of history that aren't in favor of American history in the USA. It's important to know their wrongdoings and learn to empathize and understand to better ourselves.
I'm white- and grew up in a Christian home with my grandparents. It always bothered me the way they would act towards people of color, their stories, and how they viewed change or history. I remember watching a movie covering the signing and showing that they in fact had slaves, it was an unpleasant realization. While my family just glossed over it.
So many white people shut down, get defensive, or even argumentive and angry when faced with it. They act like it's a personal assault on *their* own character to acknowledge that part of history and to recognize the inequalities of our country.
Thank you so much
We need to remember history so the bad is not repeated.
This is one of my real historical bugbears, and it's really interesting to hear your perspective on it!
fabulous!
Thank you.
You said it more eloquently than I did on my channel sis, I respect it!
i found your channel today through Caitlyn Doughty and i am so glad i did, we need more folks like you doing the good work!
Great work!!! ❤
We need more of you. There just isn't enough. Thank you and praise Almighty God.
Thank you for sharing this.I never really stopped to think about what the 4th of July would mean to black Americans who are descendants of slaves. I assumed every American celebrated it to honor our independence. I loved your message about setting resolutions on this holiday, I appreciate you for causing us to pause and reflect!
Ignorant small town white girl here, what is the answer to the question? What is the 4th to slaves? Was it just another Tuesday? Were they happy to be out from under the thumb of England? Did it make things worse? Did it not make a difference? Was it a slight to the black community? I just want to know. Heh, ironically the story of the 13 colonies was so over taught in my school that I stopped caring about it and just found it annoying. My historical hero was always Harriet Tubman. She was badass. She's also influenced my own creative writing.
I know I grew up in a white washed town and I just wish I knew more of the other sides of history. Your channel is helping with that and I love it. It's also slightly terrifying learning the truth that needs to be known because my ancestors owned plantations in the south....yikes
Excellent video. I love your idea of how you will use the day to set resolutions to improve our country. I feel inspired to do much the same.
Thank you as always. You are so articulate. And I truly appreciate it.
Oh you wonderful, wonderful person! Thank you for making my heart soar! Thank you for your additional perspective that, although different almost entirely, jives and meshes so well with my own! I love to hear from you! I do believe that all people are created equal, that each is of incalculable worth and a choice and precious individual. There is a scripture that helps me remember when it's hard. "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" - Doctrine and Covenants 18:10. We are all so special and so loved! Thank you again for your beautiful reminders and questions!!! They help me grow!
Extraordinarily thoughtful and thought provoking. ❤️ Thank you for this.
What is the 4th to ADOS today is the question I still have?
Nothing. Because I don't care
Beautiful 🌹
I find it very inspiring that you take this day and make it yours 😊🙏🌸🌸❤️
Wow... "Ken" said he wasn't there so he has no clue that Africans in the U.S. were enslaved in 1776. She could have easily replied, "you're celebrating Independence Day... but you weren't there for that battle either".
See:
This is why we must stop expecting anything from WS... including integrity.
I appreciate this Sister & her mind.
❤🖤💚👍🏽
Thank you
Happy 4th of July, everyone!
"I don't know, I wasn't there". Pick up a freaking book then, primary resources preferred.
Tysm for being smart doll
Your channel is so incredibly awesome! I love it. Thank you for your work
Imagine being in the third grade and realizing during history class that the lands were taken away from the Native peoples by the Europeans. I told this to my teacher who turned red in the face while many of my white classmates around me told me I was lying! My third grade teacher, Mrs. Yoder had to tell the class the truth and many didn't believe her! They went home to their parents saying the teacher was lying! That was in 1974! Can you believe that many of my classmates still talk about that incident as if it were yesterday!
We didn't steal anything from anyone. We had to fight for this land. The Natives were brutal, evil in many respect's.
@@AmericanMilitaryHistory spoke the colonizer xd
@@AmericanMilitaryHistory why did you fight for some something that wasn’t yours? The natives were brutal because they were at home minding their own business and here y’all come. Wouldn’t you get brutal too if someone invaded your home? And speaking of evil… oh wow you probably won’t get it 🫤
@@essentialseastar7853 You really believe that the Natives were just peaceful hippies before we got here? Give me a break. They killed each other for thousands of years before we got here.
@@AmericanMilitaryHistory even if they did they stayed on their own turf and kept whatever they had going on amongst themselves. They did not try and go off somewhere else and manipulate and twist the arms of other nations across the water.
It’s called respect for others and even when y’all showed up they extended their hospitality and what happened? Ha ha the same 💩 that continued on around the continent… yall tryna TAKE OVER AND CONTROL EVERYTHING DAMN THANG!
Do ya get it?
Honestly, even today we're not truly free.
Black Americans are even less free.
But things are getting better. Very slowly but it is getting better.
As long as we keep working for it.
There was a time that I a little white girl couldn't be friends with a young disabled black boy. Corey was awesome. In daycare I'd go over & stay with him until he was loaded on the bus. I was so happy he had wonderful parents who brought him to my birthday party. He may have been in a wheelchair & non verbal but he was my childhood friend.
Man that was a long time ago.
My God you are an amazing person!! Thank you for all you do to educate those of us that otherwise would not understand this perspective.
I dunno if thats good or sarcastic
I have been contemplating a long 'speaking my truth' about this very subject on my FB page in honor of 4th of July. Your video said it all. I too, played colonial girl and dreamed of seeing Williamsburg, Va one day. I love the pretty clothes and the hair and the pretty things that you saw in historic houses as a little girl, and then I learned the truth behind the beauty, that there was a whole invisible world supporting the pretties. And the support came with trauma so deep but not so deep to kill the spirit completely. We survived. That survival has always been an inspiration for me. And during these difficult times, I am reminded of the strengths my ancestors had and have no matter what was thrown at them. I, too will celebrate the 4th this year and every year as a day of reflection on what I can do, no matter how small a gesture or action, to make this world a better place for all. Thank you for sharing. I plan to share you video...I hope that is okay. Thank you.
You're AWESOME, darling.
I love your videos so much. You are always opening the door for us to listen and think.
Thank you. Though it's not my country, I am human and it's still my history. And the way you present it, I feel invited not excluded.
When Fredrick Douglas famously gave that speech, it was in the wake of the Fugitive slave act, which jeopardized the freedom he had been able to seek escaping slavery. He also believed that the constitution was in fact anti-slavery and later said after the civil war, that “ It was a great thing to achieve American Independence when we numbered three millions, but it was a greater thing to save this country from dismemberment and ruin when it numbered thirty millions."
The revolutionary war was integral to the abolitionist movement, as slavery was imposed by the British and other European empires on the colonies and one by one the northern colonies immediately after the revolutionary war began abolishing it state by state.
England did not abolish slavery as a country-despite being much richer and not disjointed by several different states with strong local and regional control, until 1834.
Modern black people can use the Fourth of July to be proud of your nation. Be proud that slavery was abolished. Be proud you live here when there are millions who would love to take your place.
Beautifully done Queen ~ also- anyone else peep the girls on the bench w the bookbag?🤣
New sub.
I dont shop or do anything for amerikkka on that date. Fredrick Douglass says it right. RIP my friend.
I cannot cry for my history, only fight for my future!
Why not both?
I’m not crying you’re crying!
This took my breath away.
Thank You.....I am A history nerd & have worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for 34 years. HISTORY is messy.....Life is messy now too....I just subbed to your channel.....
Brilliant.
Thank you for making this video!
"...because I celebrate December 6th, 1865, the day the 13th Amendment was ratified, and I ceased to be an alien to your unalienable rights and "we the people" stopped meaning 'we the people, who are white'..." ERB
I'm sure Thomas Jefferson must have recognized those truths weren't self-evident nor common back then. It was mostly wishful thinking. America was luckier because didn't have an aristocracy, but still a class system, unequal taxation, a vote census, a religious bias, etc. was so deeply in minds of people, social structures, and also in the law... It's so hard to imagine, but equality was a new, brave, even crazy, revolutionary, and also feared idea. And now, for us, it's truly self-evident. But it costs many wars throughout the whole 19th century, millions of people died. I feel pity for those men (and women) in 1776, they tried, sometimes successfully, more often failed. They weren't semi-gods as we want to see them. The 4th of July wasn't fulfilled achievement. It was the start of the very long (and still continuing) journey.
The 4th of July was just the beginning. While it still took another 90 years to achieve freedom for the slaves. And again it was just a beginning. Equality is a hard fought for thing and is a continuing process. Yet in this country, freedom and equality are both achievable BECAUSE of that beginning on the 4th of July, which deserves to be celebrated by all Americans.
I respectfully disagree with this sentiment.
Love this!
It means the beginning of our Great Nation. A nation for all Americans !
This is insanely powerful. Thank you ♡
❤️
💗
Starting a couple years ago, the 4th of July stopped being about the Founding Fathers, furthered colonization, etc. Instead, it's about people in the 50 States and American "territories" who've fought to make this country a better place for everyone living here: every race, every ethnic group, every sexual/romantic orientation, every gender/gender identity, the community with disabilities, everyone. I also recognize and celebrate Americans (and residents of America) who have inspired me. Cheyney McKnight, "Juana Maria", Bernie Sanders, Bessie Coleman, Rose McGowan and others who brought down Harvey Weinstein, Eleanor Roosevelt,........
Well said. We must fight for now, fight for the future to be better. Not change some day, but change today. This is a wonderful piece. You are the best of us.
"I wasn't there, I don't know."
Thank you for making this video.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾✊🏾
Your content is ~chefs kiss~ incredible
This was amazing. I don’t celebrate the 4th of July. My partner and I have usually celebrated Indigenous People Day. We will add readings on the enslaved people of that time and the BLM Movement of now. This made me cry. I love your idea to make resolutions.
People need to read Douglas's full speech. It is terrible and at the same time hopeful and enlightening of the future.
Thank you for sharing this!
Deuteronomy 28:41-43
41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.
Deuteronomy 28:68
And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
Ezekiel 36:19-24
19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.
Thank you for this!
There is so much to learn. Keep doing the good work. I would love to touch base with you and hear more.
If we don't try to right the things that those who came before us wronged, we are no better than they were. Today's kids didn't create global warming/climate change either, but here it is and they're needed to be part of the solution. We have to be today's solution to wrongs created before our time or we're just making excuses to never get it done. Time to get to work. It's long overdue.
This is beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you for these powerful images and thoughts.