Frederick Douglass Speech Will Mark Framingham July 4

FRAMINGHAM, MA — There won't be any sanctioned fireworks displays in the Framingham area this year due to coronavirus. But some local residents are planning a July 4 celebration taking a cue from recent nationwide protests about racism and criminal justice.

On Independence Day, a group of Framingham residents will take turns reading abolitionist Frederick Douglass' 1852 speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro." The speech was originally read by Douglass at a meeting of the Rochester Ladies'Anti-Slavery Society, but grew famous for its criticism of American society.

The speech underscores the cruel hypocrisy of white people celebrating independence while still keeping slavery in place.

"To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, 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," Douglass says in the speech.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. at the corner of Water Street and Edgell Road at the former Nobscott shopping plaza. Demonstrators will hold a standout with signs before diving into the Douglass speech. Organizers are still looking for volunteers to read sections of the speech.