"What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?"

an invitation for July 3

Good morning Blue Roomies!

Rabbi Michael Holzman of Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation is a colleague and friend here in the Reston/Herndon area. He’s been working with clergy friends to cook up a wonderful project called faith250, for which I’ve been honored to provide a little input. faith250 is a multi-faith grassroots initiative to host conversations around some of our nation’s most important and treasured texts, from the Declaration of Independence to The New Colossus, Emma Lazarus’s poem gracing the base of the Statue of Liberty.

faith250 starts with the conviction that the texture of our civic life is not imposed and proscribed upon us by leaders from on high. Nor is patriotism the provenance of any one political party. Rather we the people, from all walks of life, are the ones who have the sacred task of constructing, proclaiming, and upholding those values.

The how-to materials for faith250 are still being created, but here’s a draft of the invitation/opening pitch, followed by a special opportunity for you, the Blue Room community, to participate in a small taste of this project in a few weeks.

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Imagine July 4th next year: America’s 250th.

Imagine scores of people between now and then, moving from the cynical to the sacred, from argument to conversation.

Imagine the most beautiful tapestry of potlucks and coffee klatches the nation has ever seen.

Imagine people from all walks of life, reading America’s most inspiring words and exploring them together.

Imagine coming out of this national milestone  more unified and grounded in shared civic values.

It’s been a brutal year, with politicians slain in their homes, war expanding around the globe, and communities gripped with fear. People are waving American flags on both sides of the aisle, yet with different notions of what this symbol means. This heat will not cool down by itself. It’s up to us to ensure “the banner yet wave” for the next 250 years. 

Enter faith250, a project to bring communities together over the next year to read key American texts and envision a celebration next year that embodies the truth of these words. We know there will be plans everywhere for that day, but we envision a great multi-faith celebration alongside it. What if every community across the nation could experience that potluck moment, when you bring who you are and someone else does the same, and there is more than enough?

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This is an open-source, customizable project, but the idea is for clergy and religious leaders to engage in these conversations during the fall, followed by the congregations and communities they serve in the spring. The more diverse the groups, the better.

In addition to the two texts mentioned above, faith250 will include “America the Beautiful” by Katherine Lee Bates and “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass. It’s that final text that we’ll be looking at here at the Blue Room on Thursday evening, July 3, the evening before our nation’s 249th birthday.

Image Source

You’re invited to join me and a special guest or two on July 3 at 7 p.m. EDT on Zoom, where we’ll listen to an excerpt from Douglass’s speech and have some heartfelt and probing conversation about his words, how they speak to us today, and how they help us envision a “more perfect union.”

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faith250: What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?

Time: Jul 3, 2025 07:00 PM Montreal

I’m asking people to register in advance to get a sense of numbers:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tYqsdrZvRMKz3oGOpeIaWQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.