My quiet offering for July 4, 2026

The Practice of Freedom: Liberation and Resistance

 Dear Sunya,

 July is full of fireworks and flags, but Frederick Douglass’ question still echoes: “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” That question reminds us that freedom is not just a holiday—it’s a practice. And in these times, practicing freedom is both liberation and resistance.

 For me, that practice looks like self-determination. I’ve chosen to reduce my office hours and increase my exercise and movement time—in direct opposition to capitalist expectations that tell us to grind harder, produce more, and rest less. My freedom is in saying no to that system, and yes to my body, mind, and spirit.

 It also looks like following more of my mother’s and grandmother’s indigenous self-care practices—rituals rooted in the earth, in cycles, in wisdom passed down through generations. These practices remind me that freedom is not only about rights on paper, but about how we live, how we care for ourselves, and how we sustain our communities.

 But here’s the truth: after 250 years of “freedom,” record numbers of people in the U.S. are losing theirs through incarceration. Others are watching their rights stripped away. And as Black people, our DNA already carries this reality—the trauma of bondage and the triumph of survival. That memory lives in us, urging us to resist, to renew, to practice freedom daily.

 So I ask you, with quiet urgency-

 How will you resist systems that demand endless labor at the expense of your health?

• What practices of self-care will you reclaim as acts of liberation?
• How will you honor your ancestors by leaving a legacy of resilience and sovereignty?
• How will you embody freedom in your daily choices, not just in holiday celebration?

 And here’s my plea: get or renew your passport. For yourself. For your children. For your grandchildren. For your nieces and nephews.  A passport is more than a travel document—it’s a declaration that you are free to move, free to choose, free to expand your life beyond borders.

 Right now, only about 50–54% of Americans have a passport. Among Black Americans, it’s just 34%. That means most of us are still living without the option to cross borders, to claim global citizenship, to embody freedom in movement.

 Freedom is not just celebrated—it is practiced. Liberation is not just imagined—it is lived. Resistance is not just inherited—it is renewed every day.

 If you have a chance, listen below to James Earl Jones reciting Frederick Douglass' speech which was given on July 5, 1852 at an Independence Day Celebration.

https://youtu.be/O0baE_CtU08?si=rLBtHjP6wJK_FJJ2

I leave you today In freedom, liberation, and love,

Sunya