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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260702T183000
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UID:10000155-1783017000-1783022400@freedomfestivalusa.org
SUMMARY:Creative Playground
DESCRIPTION:You are invited to join the Creative Playground for a special Freedom Festival session to explore\, perform and celebrate freedom and independence. Join us on Thursday\, July 2nd\, 6:30-8:00 p.m. Eastern. For free admission for Freedom Festival attendees\, use this code: FREEDOMFESTIVAL \nThe Creative Playground was born from a simple idea: exploring creativity together is therapeutic. Each session our Creative Ensemble builds emotional resilience\, connection\, and courage—through laughter\, depth\, and the joy of creation. Every month\, we offer 2 time slots and meet on Zoom to co-create\, share\, and explore life through expressive arts—using theater\, improvisation\, poetry\, movement\, collage\, and storytelling. \nWe will explore what it means for people in the U.S. and internationally to celebrate freedom from slavery and our ability to collectively self-organize. All people have an experience of what freedom and independence mean to them. Through the Freedom Festival\, we want to create OUR experience of liberation.
URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/creative-playground/
CATEGORIES:Health,Performing Arts,Wellbeing,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/Creative-Playground-2.png
LOCATION:
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260703T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260703T123000
DTSTAMP:20260611T235545
CREATED:20260409T010312Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260603T201546Z
UID:10000138-1783076400-1783081800@freedomfestivalusa.org
SUMMARY:What to Us is the Fourth of July?
DESCRIPTION:Reading Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and from Frederick Douglass \nWe invite you to join us at the Freedom Festival for a collective reading of excerpts from both the Declaration of Independence and Fredrick Douglass’s speech “What to a slave is the Fourth of July?” We’ll explore in conversation the relationship between these documents and freedom. Collectively\, we can create together our meaning of freedom and the Fourth of July. \nThe Declaration of Independence is one of America’s significant founding documents. On its face\, it is a declaration of war. The structure of the document follows the archetype of 18th century enlightenment thinking\, laying out fundamental principles drawn from the laws of nature and deriving conclusions based on these principles. But over all the Declaration of Independence lays out the values that the founders considered to be fundamental to the creation of a government\, and though imperfect\, the values for which the country should continuously strive. \n72 years later\, Frederick Douglass was asked to deliver an Independence Day address to the Rochesters Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. The address\, entitled “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is a lament of the celebration of independence while so many in the US were enslaved. In contrast to the appeal to logic of the Declaration of Independence which strives for lofty goals\, Douglass’s address points out the hypocrisy inherent in the invitation and national celebration. Even so\, Douglass ends his speech “drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence [and] the great principles it contains”. \nNick Gross\n 
URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/what-to-us-is-the-forth-of-july-reading-excerpts-from-the-declaration-of-independence-and-from-frederick-douglass/
LOCATION:online
CATEGORIES:Conversations,History
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/FF_vs_FD.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Nick Gross":MAILTO:gross@bu.edu
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T123000
DTSTAMP:20260611T235545
CREATED:20260506T154930Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260610T195317Z
UID:10000150-1783162800-1783168200@freedomfestivalusa.org
SUMMARY:Echoes of Freedom
DESCRIPTION:Echoes of Freedom is an online gathering taking place on July 4\, 2026\, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm Pacific Time. The event was created to honor the power of the American voice and the freedoms that allow us to speak\, question\, create\, and participate in shaping our future.  \nAs we commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the founding of our nation\, this event serves as a reminder that the voices of the people still matter just as deeply today as the voices of those who fought for the freedoms and rights we now hold.  \nThis gathering is an invitation for people from all walks of life to come together in reflection\, courage\, and community as we explore what freedom and independence truly means in today’s world.  \nAttendees are encouraged to participate by sharing a poem (written by you or someone else)\, reading a meaningful passage\, offering a quote\, or speaking from the heart about their own experience and understanding of freedom and independence. Your voice matters\, your perspective carries power\, and this gathering exists to remind us that change begins when people are willing to speak up\, speak out\, and engage. \nHosted by Catana Malinowski.
URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/echoes-of-freedom/
CATEGORIES:Performing Arts
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/improvscience-freedom-festival-banner-2-final-web-small-600x400px.jpg
LOCATION:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86771736167
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260704T160000
DTSTAMP:20260611T235545
CREATED:20260511T224430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260611T234534Z
UID:10000157-1783173600-1783180800@freedomfestivalusa.org
SUMMARY:The HEARTbeat of Freedom
DESCRIPTION:The HEARTbeat of Freedom is based on the famous Fourth of July speech by Frederick Douglass delivered on July 5\, 1852. We will present three different renditions of an excerpt from this speech. You will HEAR with your EAR this operatic ART and I know it will touch your HEART. \nWe will begin with the opera\, “Frederick Douglass” Opera was composed by Dorothy Rudd Moore\, and performed by Opera Ebony in 1994\, featuring Kermit Moore on first cello. It premiered 1985 at the City College of New York. \nFollowing this performance will be another ARTistic expression of Douglass’s speech through the contemporary ART of HIP HOP. \nLastly\, you will HEAR this speech through the eyes and HEART of a woman. \nThroughout the presentations\, we will invite comments and discussion from the audience.  \nHosts: \nRachelle Moore\, Licensed Social Worker and Psychotherapist in the Atlanta Area\n  \nEnid Pickett\, poet\, writer\, and teacher.\n 
URL:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/the-heart-beat-of-freedom/
CATEGORIES:Conversations,Education,History,Performing Arts
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/wp-content/uploads/frederick_douglass_small-e1778539712540.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Rachelle Moore":MAILTO:lrachellemoore2016@gmail.com
LOCATION:https://freedomfestivalusa.org/event/the-heart-beat-of-freedom/
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