Charron McCombs’ Post

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Military Officer * Change Agent * Victim Advocate

About 171 years ago, renowned abolitionist and former slave, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech to an audience celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, to which he asked the question “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?”. This question invokes the same sentiment that I have wrestled with over the years as I try to understand what observing this holiday means for me. This year, I gained a little more insight of what the 4th of July means to me. A couple weeks ago, I had the distinct honor and privilege to interview Dr. Opal Lee, “Grandmother of Juneteenth”, as part of a Juneteenth Celebration at US Coast Guard Headquarters. During my interview with Dr. Lee, I posed Frederick Douglass’ question to her and asked for her reflections. She stated that Juneteenth is not a celebration just for Texas, but a time for everyone, our Nation, to acknowledge and mark the 2.5 years it took for all slaves to know and exercise their right to freedom. Dr. Lee continued on to say that Juneteenth is about celebrating the freedom of ALL people, while Fourth of July is to celebrate the freedom of our land. While to some this may be a simple distinction, for me it surmises the intent of Frederick Douglass’ question. Certainly, the ideals and achievement of political freedom by our Nation’s founders are commensurate of celebration, however I believe that true freedom was not realized until every man, woman, and child was emancipated from slavery. So as I reflect on this Independence Day, I do so with the understanding that freedom looks different for everyone. Yet, Independence of our Nation means so much more when we can all celebrate as liberated individuals, no longer enslaved to the land we cultivated or the inequitable policies that keep us bound. #independenceday #freedom

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Christopher Mercurio

Office of Shore Forces staff at U.S. Coast Guard

3mo

That’s really powerful - thank you for sharing Charon!

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