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"Beyond Fireworks

Independence Built on Suffering: Truths We Dare Not Forget

· Politics,Racial Equity

Anneshia Hardy | The Hardy Exchange

As we step into this Fourth of July weekend, I want to invite you to pause and look beyond the fireworks, the flags, and the parades. Let’s ask ourselves a question as powerful today as it was in 1852 when Frederick Douglass first posed it:

What to the slave is the Fourth of July?

We cannot celebrate independence if liberation is still out of reach for so many of us. The truth is, America gained independence from colonial rule, but it built its power on the backs of enslaved African people and the theft of Indigenous land. That’s a truth we cannot ignore. And today, while the chains of chattel slavery may be gone, the systems of white supremacy, systemic racism, and anti-Blackness are still alive and well , and woven through every institution in this country.

So this year, I’m asking you to do more than light a sparkler or grill out. I’m asking you to listen to the ancestors. Let their wisdom unsettle you. Let it move you. And then rise up, with radical love, radical honesty, and a refusal to settle for anything less than true collective freedom.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch and share this video. Let it be a tool to help us push the conversation forward and recommit to the work that still lies ahead.

About the Author

Anneshia Hardy is a narrative strategist, scholar-activist, and social impact entrepreneur committed to leveraging storytelling and messaging for transformative social change. As Executive Director of grassroots communications and media advocacy organizations, Alabama Values and Alabama Values Progress, she leads efforts to strengthen the pro-democracy movement in Alabama and across the South through strategic messaging and digital strategies.

Co-founder of Blackyard LLC, Anneshia equips changemakers to amplify their impact in marginalized communities. With over a decade of experience, she has conducted narrative and messaging trainings for organizations like the NAACP and the Obama Foundation. Anneshia has also shaped strategies for landmark voting rights cases, including Allen v. Milligan and Louisiana v. Callais Rooted in the belief that culturally relevant narratives can drive equity and inspire action, she bridges academic insight and real-world advocacy to create lasting change.

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