BABA GENE STEPHENSON – PRESIDENT

PRESS RELEASE

For more information contact:

Edward Davis at pr@aahgs.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 3, 2021

AAHGS PRESIDENT SALUTES FOURTH OF JULY OBSERVANCE; KEEP SIGHT OF THE AIM OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.

(AAHGS) extends warm wishes for a celebratory and safe Fourth of July holiday. AAHGS President Baba Gene Stephenson said we all understand this holiday celebrates the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain, when the country was known as the Thirteen British Colonies, but for Afro Americans there’s more to it.

“While the Declaration and Application of independence have been incongruent and faulty, they both give rise to the continuous struggle toward the finer ideas and aspirations as put forth in the nation’s most heralded document declaring that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights,” explained Stephenson.

“Great Afro American leaders have referenced the Declaration of Independence mandate using it as a flagship in the quest for freedom and justice, but never shied away from asserting the failure in the Application of Independence, most significantly as it related to Afro Americans at the time of chattel slavery, social degradation and disenfranchisement. While we continue to stand on moral ground to address the incongruencies, it is important not to lose sight of the goal and the aim of the Declaration. The significance of the Fourth of July trumpeting the pursuit of happiness is not a flashpoint to argue the issue of freedom and independence, nor is it a revolutionary rally cry, but rather, the pursuit of happiness is a Divine inheritance,” Stephenson said.