Religious leaders to invoke Frederick Douglass on July 4th

 About 150 preachers, rabbis and imams are promising to invoke Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass on July 4th as y call for U.S. to tackle racism and poverty.

religious leaders are scheduled this weekend to frame ir sermons around “What to Slave is Fourth of July” on 168th anniversary of that speech by Douglass. former slave gave his speech at an Independence Day celebration on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. address challenged Founding Fars and hypocrisy of ir ideals with existence of slavery on American soil.

initiative to remember Douglass is led by Poor People’s Campaign, a coalition of religious leaders seeking to push U.S. to address issues of poverty modeled after Rev. Martin Lur King, Jr.’s last crusade.

“( Declaration of Independence) was written mostly by Thomas Jefferson. Yet he owned hundreds of human beings, and enslaved m,” Rabbi Arthur Waskow will tell Shalom Center in Philadelphia, according to prepared remarks. “ contradiction between his words and his actions has been repeated through all American history.”

Sunita Viswanath, co-founder of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, said ir group also will take part in solidarity.

“Both Pandita Pratima Doobay, Sadhana’s resident priestess, and Pandit Sanjai Doobay, a member of our spiritual counsel, will be sharing video messs and prayers (July 4th) morning, reflecting from a Hindu perspective on speech delivered by Frederick Douglass.”

clergy also will urge ir congressional representatives and senators to listen to ir sermons and address systemic racism and issue a call to support Poor People’s Moral Justice Jubilee Policy Platform. That platform seeks more attention to poverty and police reforms.

Last month, Poor People’s Campaign held a virtual march that attracted more than 2.5 million viewers on Facebook.

garing came two years after Rev. William Barber, of Goldsboro, rth Carolina, and Rev. Liz oharis of New York City encourd activists in 40 states to take part in acts of civil disobedience, teach-ins, and demonstrations to force communities to address poverty on anniversary of King’s 1968 planned event, which was held after he was killed in Memphis, Tennessee.

Barber said coalition is operating in 45 states. Organizers have visited impoverished colonias along U.S.-Mexico border and met with poor white farmers in Kansas.