The Douglass Dialogues: What to Us Now is the Fourth of July?

The Douglass Dialogues is a new event series that brings together scholars and public intellectuals from distinct and varied points of view for a public conversation around a timely theme. Grounded in the spirit of Frederick Douglass’s commitment to critical inquiry, moral clarity and democratic exchange, each dialogue foregrounds the productive tension that emerges when ideas are examined across differences. Rather than seeking consensus, the series values rigor, listening and the generative possibilities of disagreement, inviting participants and audiences alike to witness scholarship as a living, relational practice. 

The first event in the series, What to Us Now is the Fourth of July?, references Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” in which he critiqued the American commemoration of its independence and also affirmed his astounding hope in American ideals. The conversation will also ask us to confront our own relationship and outlook on a nation celebrating 250 years. Is this celebration a sham? Does the Constitution provide an instrument of possibility? 

Three scholars will offer varying perspectives on what this celebration, and the “character and conduct of this nation,” means in 2026. 

They include: 

• Christopher Bonner, associate professor of history (UMD)
• Janelle Wong, professor of American studies and government and politics (UMD)
• Larry Thompson, John A. Sibley professor in corporate and business law at the University of Georgia and former deputy Attorney General of the United States under George W. Bush