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People’s Organization For Progress chairman Lawrence Hamm will be the guest speaker at a forum this evening discussing the relevance of the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass to the current struggle for racial, social, and economic justice.
“What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July: Connecting Frederick Douglass’ Activism To The Modern Struggle,” is the title of the program sponsored by Prodigal Sons & Daughters Healthcare Services.
It will take place today Wednesday, July 3, 2024, 6:00pm, at the Silver Star Multimedia Complex & Learning Center, 60 Franklin St in East Orange, New Jersey. Admission is $20.
“I am honored to have been asked to speak at this program. The subject of tonight’s program is both timely and relevant being that it takes place in the aftermath of Juneteenth and on the eve of the holiday observance of American Independence,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated. “When Frederick Douglass asked the question ‘what to the slave is the Fourth of July?’ more than one hundred and fifty years ago, the vast majority of black people in this country were enslaved.”
“So now, 159 years after emancipation we must ask the question what should this holiday mean to the descendants of those who were enslaved in this country on July 4,1776,” Hamm said. “When Douglass answered the question in his speech on July 5, 1852 he made a scathing criticism of the United States enslavement black people. I am certain that if he could speak today he would be relentless in his critique of racial inequality, injustice, and oppression in this country.”
Tonight’s program is the first of The Trumpet Lecture Series presented by Prodigal Sons & Daughters Behavior Healthcare Services. Other programs are being planned for the rest of this year.
The program will take place from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. It will open with a reception and preliminary proceedings at 6:00pm. The keynote address by Hamm is scheduled for 7:00pm. And the book signing is expected to take place at 8:00pm.
Besides giving the keynote address Hamm will also sign copies of his new book “Lawrence Hamm: A Life In the Struggle,” which will be on sale at the event. It is published by Africa World Press.
POP chairman Lawrence Hamm, was also a candidate for U.S. Senator in last month’s New Jersey Democratic Primary.
For more information contact the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) at 973 801-0001.