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The Fourth of July
Haiku and random thoughts about the American holiday.
Frederick Douglass said
it best: this holiday is
no celebration
For my ancestors
nor me because all men weren’t
created equal
In the eyes of this
nation’s forefathers who saw
us as property.
Copyright © 2020 by Bill Holmes.
All rights reserved.
I wrote the three haiku two years ago after watching Frederick Douglass’s speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” to the Rochester, NY to the Rochester Ladies Antislavery Society on July 5, 1852, which was recited by legendary actor James Earl Jones.
When I was a child, the Fourth of July represented celebrating the American colonies declaring their independence from England. Growing up in Philadelphia, PA, that history was on full display for anyone to see. I remember school and day counseling trips to sites…