From: American Friends Service Committee – NEWS

By Lewis Webb, Jr., Jacob Flowers

Updated Jul 3, 2026

“A Declaration of Resistance”

“This July 4th, many will celebrate with fireworks and familiar stories about freedom. But 250 years into this country’s history, we find ourselves confronting a harder truth. The promise of freedom in the United States has always been incomplete, and in this moment, it is under direct and escalating threat.

We are living through a time of authoritarianism. We see it in the erosion of civil liberties, in policies that target and divide our communities, and in the steady normalization of fear, exclusion, and control. These are not abstract dangers. They are unfolding before our eyes. And yet, this moment also calls something forward in us—a  commitment to resist.

This July 4th, the American Friends Service Committee, alongside partners across the country, is declaring our resistance. Through more than 50 Love as Action vigils nationwide and an anchor gathering in Philadelphia—where  the U.S.nation first declared its independence—we will come together to publicly declare our resistance to authoritarianism and our commitment to building peace.

But this is not just an event. It is an invitation to reclaim what “We the People” truly means.

The story often told about the founding of this country is one of freedom wrested from tyranny. But the full history is more complicated. This nation was built alongside systems of colonialism, displacement, and exclusion that denied that same freedom to most. For generations, people have organized, resisted, and demanded that the country live up to its own stated ideals.

That work is not finished. In fact, today it is urgent again. ... CONTINUE READING on the AFSC site. 

* American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light of each person, AFSC works with people of all faiths and backgrounds to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace.