July 4th Oration - Being Agents of Change

194 Livingston Avenue,Albany NY 12210

04 July, 2022

Description

Just as our Black abolitionists and their allies worked tirelessly to abolish the institution of enslavement and ensure equity in health care, jobs, education, housing, and voting rights for free and freedom seekers, so too have activists across time stepped up and dedicated their lives to working for equity and justice. On their shoulders we stand today as we, too, continue the freedom struggle. An exemplar among us who stands tall in the tradition of our communal ancestors as an agent of change is Kamal Johnson, Mayor of Hudson. Join with Mayor Johnson as he uses Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is Your Fourth of July?” as the framework for reflections on how he is a changemaker and how we, too, can be changemakers toward an equitable and just society in these tumultuous times.