LYNN — Frederick Douglass Memorial Park echoed with the words of its namesake on Wednesday as the Juneteenth Association hosted its annual reading of “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.”
Members of the community were invited to step up to the stage and read a section of Douglass’ speech, which was abridged for the event. The original speech is four hours long.
Douglass lived in Lynn from 1841 to 1847 and resided on Harrison Court, Baldwin Street, and Newhall Street during those years. His book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” was written in Lynn.
The event kicked off with a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” widely known as the Black national anthem, by Janey David.
The reading lasted about 45 minutes as people took turns reading from the speech. Mayor Jared Nicholson, state Sen. Brendan Crighton, state Rep. Jenny Armini, Ward 3 City Councilor Coco Alinsug, Ward 4 City Councilor Natasha Megie-Maddrey, and School Committee member Sean Reid all read sections of the speech.
City Councilor-at-Large and Juneteenth Association President Nicole McClain said it is important to acknowledge Douglass’ legacy for the Fourth of July because human rights are being threatened by the upcoming national election.
“I just want to underscore the importance of making sure we’re talking about freedom. And we’re talking about the rights of the people and the inclusion of the people in decision-making,” she said. “In the past, it would have represented making sure people are aware of the rights of Black Americans and the contributions of Black Americans and the freedoms that we won. But today is important to me because of the climate that we’re facing in our country as a whole, around freedom and around rights that are just being stepped upon.”
McClain said that she hopes attendees of the reading leave with an understanding of the plight of Black Americans, but also an understanding of “why it’s important to exercise our freedoms.”
Wendy Joseph, a member of the Juneteenth Society, said she started the tradition 10 years ago at High Rock Tower to help underserved communities.
At the conclusion of the reading, Michelle LaPoetica, a member of the Juneteenth Association who emceed the event and performed a slam poem following the reading, looked into the crowd and asked them to take note of all the people who read from the speech.
“The different shades of skin, the different textures of hair, the diversity that just read the words of a man whose park that we’re in is named after,” LaPoetica said.
