Annual Reading Frederick Douglass Together: “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”
- Jul 29
- 3 min read
Reading Frederick Douglass Together
A powerful community event: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”(PDF)—in multiple languages!
🗓️ July 11, 2026 10:00am - noon.
📍 Frederick Douglass Garden, Brockton
This event brought our community together to reflect, honor, and raise our voices in unity. Brockton is proud to be the only city in Massachusetts to present the speech in multiple languages, including Haitian Creole, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish as well as English. 🌍
Since 2016, the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association (FDNA), with the cooperation of city officials and volunteers, has joined many cities around the state in “Reading Frederick Douglass Together”, a public reading of Frederick Douglass’s famous Fourth of July address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. This year the reading was held on Saturday, July 11, 2026 10:00AM- 12:00 PM at the Frederick Douglass Garden.
What an incredible reading we shared for our annual 2026 Reading Frederick Douglass Together Brockton – I said it last year but this year truly felt like one of the best yet. The presence of young readers, new readers and a historical reenactor was especially powerful. The tent and chairs worked out perfectly, the earlier start time was again well-received, and the food afterward created such a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Nearly everyone stayed to eat, talk, and truly connect. FDNA VP Cynthia McCall-Hodges and FDNA Secretary Jamie Hodges represented the African American Association who organized the refreshments—it made such a difference!
It felt like all the planning came together seamlessly. Each of our board members played an essential role in making the day a success. Carol M Griffin greeted guests with such warmth and encouraged sign-ups for our email list. She also did a beautiful job organizing readers and welcoming new voices to the circle. Willie Wilson Jr, our historian, gave powerful remarks before and after the reading. Board member Louis Lemieux read a paragraph and Treasurer Heather Nelson had beautiful informational posters about FDNA made. Reading the speech in multiple languages reminded us we are all immigrants in this land. The speech was read in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, French, Portuguese and this year we had the addition of Turkish. State Rep Rita Mendes also attended and read a paragraph in Portuguese and Spanish. She has also been instrumental with securing funding for FDNA with a state earmark so we can continue our work to celebrate and preserve the history and legacy of Frederick Douglass in Brockton. NAACP Brockton Branch President Phyllis Ellis along with many NAACP members attended the reading and also read paragraphs. NAACP member Steve Abrams read as James Henry Gooding, a corporal in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and a war correspondent for the New Bedford Mercury in 1864. NAACP member Miles Jackson provided the audio for the event!
We thank EVERYONE who participated for "showing up" the way you did. It helped make the 2026 Reading Douglass Together very meaningful!
Respectfully submitted with gratitude by Cindy Pendergast – FDNA President.
Special thanks to our photographers: Marc Osborne and Janet Trask.
Questions? Email us: mailto:fdnabrockton@gmail.com
See our calender for events throughout the year.
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