Why I Celebrate the 4th as a Black American

Blazer: Uniqlo // Flats: Old Navy 

I'll keep this post short and sweet like my trip to Boston this week. I went to the city on Monday to visit my boyfriend's family. I've never been before so I would've like to stay longer, but money, jobs, and other constraints made that difficult. Those reasons left us with one full day to take in as much as we could.

Shirt: H&M 

First we had brunch at The Paramount where the seating policy threw us a little bit. An hour at the Museum of African American History, including a tour of the African Meeting House - the first black church in the U.S. - where blacks carved out a place to practice our independence, educate ourselves, and add so much intellectual fire to the mounting demand for equality and civil rights in our community.

Shorts: Zara (a gift from my boy's mom!)

A stroll around Boston Common, Public Garden, and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. Much-needed beers at a bar adjacent to Fenway. And, finally, a Red Sox game where we had amazing seats thanks to my boy's dad. A five-hour bus ride later, we were back in NYC so we could celebrate the 4th of July with friends.

My Red, White and Blue: // Pants: Old Navy Bootcut // Shoes: Thrifted 

I'll end on this note: As an African-American, the celebratory fervor surrounding Independence Day feels a bit exclusionary, considering blacks weren't freed as a result of the Declaration of Independence. As you celebrate today, please remember that blacks had to wait nearly a century after the summer of 1776 to be unsheathed from the physical and sexual abuse that characterized the world's most degrading economic institution - slavery.

Shirt: H&M // Bracelet: Beads of Esiteti via Boston's Museum of African American History

However, as I was continually reminded at the MAAH, I put on my red, white and blue to remember the black soldiers who took up arms to fight for the freedoms that led to the Declaration of Independence. Their bravery was part of the foundation for the rebellions, uplift, and blacks' unrelenting belief in liberty and equality, which ultimately brought about our Independence Day on June 19th, 1865.