Saturday, July 5, 2025

Independence Day Naturalization Ceremony

 
 

In the seats of the Roebbelen Center, Roseville CA, hundreds of people from 57 different counties became American citizens just days before Independence Day.

The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Fredrick Douglass

 


Happy Independence Day Week! Today we will listen to an old podcast from uscitizenpod: USCIS 100:99 July 4th, Slavery, and Fredrick Douglass

We will first read about Q99 from the USCIS M638 quick civics lesson. Then we will discuss the Declaration of Independence, the Compromise of 1850, and abolitionist Fredrick Douglass. Then we will listen to a short reading from Fredrick Douglass speech: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro.” Note that Negro was a common term for Black or African-Americans, but it is not often used today. Let's get started.

DOWNLOAD MP3

excerpt from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro by Fredrick Douglass

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?

I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelly to which he is the constant victim.

To him, your celebration is a sham;
your boasted liberty, an unholy license;
your national greatness, swelling vanity;
your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless;
your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence;
your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery;
your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings,
with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast,
fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages...





TimelessReader1: Meaning of July 4th for the Negro - Frederick Douglass Speech - Hear the Text

Listen to and read text from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, written by abolitionist and former slave: Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass presented this speech on July 5, 1852 in Rochester, NY. This speech concludes with a poem, a peace prayer, written by William Lloyd Garrison

For more info:

See zinnedproject.org: Frederick Douglass Fights for Freedom

Watch actor Danny Glover read abolitionist Frederick Douglass's "Fourth of July Speech, 1852" on October 5, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Part of a reading from Voices of a People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.)



NPR: ‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass' Speech 

The U.S. celebrates this Independence Day amid nationwide protests and calls for systemic reforms. In this short film, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" which asks all of us to consider America's long history of denying equal rights to Black Americans.





Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Summer Citizenship Lesson 14


New York Historical: Oath of Allegiance // The Citizenship Project [E02]

Classroom:

Summer Citizenship Lesson 13


Center for Civic Education: The United Nations

Classroom:


Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Summer Citizenship Lesson 12

New York Historical: World War II // The Citizenship Project [E06]

Classroom:

Monday, June 30, 2025

Sunday, June 29, 2025

New U.S citizens take oath of allegiance at Stonewall Monument

 

Reuters: New U.S citizens take oath of allegiance at Stonewall Monument

A naturalization ceremony was held for 12 new citizens at the historic Stonewall Monument in New York, as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services commemorated Pride Month.

Learn more: NPS.gov Stonewall Nation Monument

Saturday, June 28, 2025

American PRIDE!



In honor of LGBT Pride Month, a single question about the Flag: Long May She Wave!  Text: uscitizenpod |  Video: Lori Saltis

Take the full quiz:


LOVE AND PRIDE: A Citizenship Quiz in Honor of LGBT Pride Month (10 questions)


Ten Resources to go (Plus one--so many more explore!)
Center for Civic Education: 60 Second Civics LGBTQ+ Pride Week Series
  • Part 1: What’s Significant About the Stonewall Riots? 
  • Part 2: Laying the Groundwork for LGBTQ+ Rights
  • Part 3: Goodridge: The Cinderella Moment for Marriage Equality
  • Part 4: Early Legislative Victories for LGBTQ+ Rights
  • Part 5: The Defense of Marriage Act
  • Part 6: Obergefell v. Hodges
  • Part 7: The Future for LGBTQ+ Rights

Library of Congress (LOC)

Miscellaneous:

Friday, June 27, 2025

Summer Citizenship Lesson 10

 

uscitizenpod: New York Historical Society: The Emancipation Proclam!ation

(printer failure!  had to use backup lessons)

uscitizenpod: A “Typical” Citizenship Interview Based on the USCIS N-400r (4 pages)
Voices of Freedom: Ch 8: 1800s