Please read. DeathSantis and ICE are doing horrible illegal things while breaking laws all in the name of white supremacy and getting rid of anyone not white in the US at the same time the Florida tax payer is entirely on the hook for all the costs. This story is even more proof of the authoritarian dictatorship the US is under along with the disregarding of any law or lawmaker that gets in the way of cruelty to brown / black people. Also I read that trump sent 200 marines to this place. The link to that store after this one Hugs
In a surprising and possibly unlawful act, five state legislators were denied entry Thursday into a taxpayer-funded migrant detention center deep in the Everglades, raising questions about what will happen behind the razor-wire fences that are being erected surrounding the controversial facility the state has named Alligator Alcatraz.
Armed only with state law and a growing list of humanitarian concerns, state Senators Shevrin Jones and Carlos Guillermo Smith, along with Representatives Anna V. Eskamani, Angie Nixon and Michele Rayner, arrived at the gates of the facility to conduct what they saw as a legally authorized inspection. What they encountered instead was silence, locked doors and a bureaucratic wall.
The state’s shifting justification for not letting them in — first a flat denial, then vague “safety concerns” — only fueled suspicions.
Wearing mosquito netting, Florida Sen. Shevrin Jones and state Representatives Michele K. Rayner and Anna Eskamani were denied entry along with fellow representatives into Alligator Alcatraz. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
“This is a blatant abuse of power and an attempt to conceal human rights violations from the public eye,” the legislators said in a joint statement. “If the facility is unsafe for elected officials to enter, then how can it possibly be safe for those being detained inside?”
Just hours earlier, Republican officials and even former President Donald Trump had toured the same site without issue. When the lawmakers attempted to speak with Florida Department of Emergency Management officials by phone, the call was abruptly cut off.
Now, with reports of flooding, extreme heat and detainees allegedly being held without due process, legislators say the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis is operating a secretive, $450 million detention network with no oversight— and no regard for the law.
The state legislators Michele Rayner arrived at the site to conduct what they said was a lawful inspection under Florida Statutes 944.23 and 951.225, which grant legislators access to state-operated detention centers without advance notice. Instead of transparency, they were met with locked gates and silence.
Workers install a permanent Alligator Alcatraz sign at the new state immigration detention facilty in the Everglades. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Under Florida law, members of the Legislature have the clear right to access any state-run detention facility, including prisons and jails, without needing prior approval or notification. That legal mandate was ignored, according to Representative Michele Rayner, a civil rights attorney who represents parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
“For two hours, we waited. We cited the law. We cited the press release announcing our visit. Still, we were denied,” said Rayner. “They cited ‘safety concerns,’ even though just hours earlier President Trump and GOP lawmakers had toured the very same facility.”
Rayner said that when she asked whether she could visit a client being detained inside, she was again refused—contradicting statements made to her moments earlier by Florida Department of Emergency Management officials. When legislators tried to clarify the denial with the agency’s general counsel and legislative affairs director, the call was abruptly disconnected.
“This is America right now,” Rayner said. “And everyone should be concerned.”
The delegation’s visit came just one day after migrants were transferred into the detention center despite flooding caused by ongoing summer storms. Lawmakers say they’ve received reports of extreme heat, poor infrastructure, and a lack of mosquito protection, conditions they say that may be endangering the health and safety of detainees.
Florida House of Representatives denied entry, including State Rep. Anna .V. Eskamani, PhD at Alligator Alcatraz. The facility is within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida. , Florida, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
“I was bitten by insects as soon as I got here. My lips started to swell. And I’m outside for just a few minutes,” said Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville. “Imagine what it’s like for the people inside who don’t have bug spray or clean bedding.”
Nixon expressed particular concern over reports in the Miami Herald that pregnant women and children could be housed in the facility. “We’re spending $450 million on this while refusing to expand Medicaid and closing public schools in Duval County,” she said. “This is not about public safety—it’s about cruelty as campaign theater.”
Smith did not mince words, calling the site a “makeshift immigrant detainment camp in the middle of the Everglades swamp,” built through no-bid contracts awarded to major Republican campaign donors.
“This isn’t about detaining dangerous criminals,” Smith said. “It’s about detaining housekeepers, cooks, and immigrants who had legal status five minutes ago—until it was stripped away by policy.”
Smith referenced a Miami Herald story that revealed the state may bring pregnant women and children to the site, despite public claims that the facility was intended for “the worst of the worst.” ICE data shows that fewer than 10% of current immigration detainees in Florida have any violent criminal history, and the majority had no prior offenses.
“We’re detaining vulnerable people for political spectacle,” Smith said. “And it’s not a coincidence this facility was unveiled just days after our legislative session ended—avoiding any real oversight.”
Jones added that the facility, built with $450 million in state funds, does not qualify for federal support. “The federal government has said this facility is ineligible for grants,” he said. “That means it’s 100% on Florida taxpayers—and it was done without a single committee hearing or floor debate.”
Florida state Sen. Shevrin Jones, Rep. Anna Eskamani and fellow representatives were denied entry Thursday into Alligator Alcatraz. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Jones emphasized that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers should be concerned. “This is not a partisan issue,” he said. “We have a duty to ensure that state-funded operations uphold basic standards of decency and legality.”
Rep. Anna Eskamani from Orlando described the detention center as a “political stunt” orchestrated by DeSantis. “Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent to build what is essentially a concentration camp,” she said. “This is government by press conference and no-bid contract.”
Eskamani said reports indicate that the first detainees arrived without due process, and flooding had already compromised parts of the facility. “We’re here because the people of Florida deserve transparency. What is being hidden behind these walls?”
All five lawmakers said they plan to pursue legal remedies and initiate legislative inquiries into the construction, contracting, and operation of Alligator Alcatraz.
A check point at Alligator Alcatraz as Florida State Representatives denied entry. The facility is within the Florida Everglades, 36 miles west of the central business district of Miami, in Collier County, Florida. , Florida, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
They also demanded that the Florida Division of Emergency Management and the governor’s office provide a full accounting of who is detained at the facility, what conditions exist inside, and which companies received contracts—particularly those with political ties to the DeSantis administration.
“This is not over,” said Smith. “We will be back, and we will not stop until we get the answers Floridians deserve.”
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM.
Let’s start with the grifter in chief. I am old enough to remember when the office of president had a grave dignity that each resident of the office did their best to uphold. Now we have a carnival barker in the overall office using the presidency to hawk everything he can think of to separate his cult rubes from their money to make him profit. The presidency has become not a job to guide the nation but a profit seeking center of a crime family. But right wing media crowed non-stop about the Biden crime family over an alleged 20 thousand dollar payment. Meanwhile it was reported that tRump made almost 600 million in just the time he has been in office on a crypto scheme. And no one is stopping him. So much for the emolument clause of the constitution. Hugs
And speaking of hate for those no white …. what is the death of brown children worth these days compared to billionaires getting a tax cut to keep more money they will never need other than to claim to have it. Hugs.
It was all about not having a ship named after a gay navy hero because to these bigots somehow gay means weak. However some of the greatest military heroes are members of the LGBTQ+ community. They just needed the cover of claiming these other ships would be renamed also. There is no inclusion and diversity with these white supremacist haters. If someone thinks different from them, looks different from them, or has a different religious view from them that person must be destroyed by them. Such a person is a threat to them. Weird way to think. Hugs
Let’s talk about the attempt to whiten the US. That is what the entire goal is. It is not about removing criminals as the government just gave two convicted traffickers felon gang members asylum for at least one year and removed from jail just so they could accuse an innocent man the government deported “by accident”. These concentration camps and ICE actions are because people like Stephen Miller hate anyone not white especially if they speak Spanish which Miller can not understand which makes him sure that they are insulting him. It is about older white people scared that the brown people will do to the whites what they did to the brown people while they were in charge. Hugs
Add in the capitalist all the profit must be for us people who hate for a democratic socialist that wants to make live better for the lower incomes, along with the Christian freak out the man is Muslim claiming he will install his religious laws instead of theirs on the public, and the weirdest right wing shit like he will authorize killing all Jewish people and go on a terrorist campaign on the city, but the worst thing is corporate democrats are terrified to support the elected Democratic Party nominee because their corporate over lords don’t like he is going to do stuff for the public, for the people instead of shifting all possible profit to the wealthy like the corporate Democratic Party leadership republican lite members. Hugs
It’s rather telling that they’ve chosen to go after CNN, and NOT Apple nor the app creator. If they were serious, they’d attempt to stop it immediately by going after the app creator first and then Apple for allowing it to be available in their App Store and compatible with their iOS. (Apple could install a patch that would hinder the app.)
This is clearly about intimidating, censoring & controlling the media, and the fat fascist is just itching to destroy one of these entities.
tRump and crew do not care how many people lose their coverage. They claim those “able-bodied people” should get a job so they have healthcare. That is how out of touch most wealthy republicans are if they honestly believe that companies routinely offer health care now. Most companies either don’t or have strict requirements to qualify. The thing is republicans have been trying to cancel health care of the public, for the people since forever. Look how many times they tried to repeal the ACA / Obama care. This bill they just passed will let them roll back the subsidies and throw millions off the ACA rolls. Why? Because they don’t care, they got their healthy care so you can fuck off as it costs profits. You’re not wealthy enough to pay for care yourself than you don’t need or deserve it. Just suffer and then slink away and die. Hugs
This is the person who the cult felt was so much smarter and better than Joe Biden? I often ask how his cult could be taken in by him and the reply comes back “he speaks like we do, he hates who we hate”. WTF. Hugs
With all that is happening it is hard to keep up but we are in the land of nonsense where people with the least understanding of a subject override the advice and judgment of experts. Real scientists make judgments based on medical data / studies while these people run on emotional high that conspiracies give them. Dunning-Kruger effect. Hugs
At what point can we start calling and admitting tRump is not acting as a president of the US but as an authoritarian dictator trying hard to cement his power / authority to crush any dissent. When will our eyes be opened wide enough to see that time is short to stop the erosion of our rights and due process. The Democratic Party is not doing enough to get the message out. Hugs
As was widely reported during the 2022 and 2024 elections, hundreds of seasoned local and state election officials fled their jobs due to threats of violence by the cult. The statement below is from the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State.
So this guy who never served in the military and has no background in law enforcement will lead the army and the ATF, but is convinced he alone is smart enough and needs no help? No I think what this is about is they don’t want the civilians to find out planes to illegally use the military and to either try to stop it or tell people about it. Think on it, tRump wants complete unfettered control to use the military / Army to enforce tRump’s decrees. Maybe his taking over local or state elections apparatus to declare republicans
won when they clearly did not, to enforce voter suppression acts, or simply to back him as he demands a third
On Friday, Driscoll notified the 115 members of the Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army program, or CASA, an all-volunteer group that serves as the secretary’s eyes and ears in communities across the country, that their roles were being terminated.
Just last month, in a virtually unprecedented move, the service granted direct commissions at the rank of lieutenant colonel to a group of wealthy tech executives from firms including Palantir, Meta and OpenAI. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Army planners are quietly trimming down, or outright dismantling, programs seen as peripheral to the service’s high-tech future.
as the service doubles down on its push to modernize with a Silicon Valley-style lensI can imagine where that’s headed.
July 7, 1863 The first military draft was instituted in the U.S. to provide troops for the Union army in the American Civil War. Once called, a draftee had the opportunity to either pay a commutation fee of $300 to be exempt from a particular battle, or to hire a replacement that would exempt him from the entire war.
July 7, 1903 The March of the Mill Children watch a video – highly recommended Labor organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones led the “March of the Mill Children” over 100 miles from Philadelphia to President Theodore Roosevelt’s Long Island summer home in Oyster Bay, New York, to publicize the harsh conditions of child labor and to demand a 55-hour work week. It is during this march, on about the 24th, she delivered her famed “The Wail of the Children” speech. Roosevelt refused to see them. “Fifty years ago there was a cry against slavery and men gave up their lives to stop the selling of black children on the block. Today the white child is sold for two dollars a week to the manufacturers.” –from Mother Jones’s autobiography Read more about Mother Jones
July 7, 1957 Convened at the onset of the Cold War, a group of scientists held their first peace conference in the village of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada. The mission of the Pugwash Conference was to “. . . bring scientific insight and reason to bear on threats to human security arising from science and technology in general, and above all from the catastrophic threat posed to humanity by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction . . . .” Bertrand Russell Wealthy industrialist and Pugwash son Cyrus Eaton had invited the world’s greatest minds to his family home in Nova Scotia and address the emerging threat of nuclear war. The Conference became the basis for an ongoing organization that deals with issues of weapons of mass destruction. The 1995 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Joseph Rotblat (one of the original signatories of the Pugwash Manifesto) and to the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. Albert Einstein Pugwash home
Fifty years later . . . 25 scientists, diplomats and former military officers from 15 countries gathered for a “Revitalizing Nuclear Disarmament” strategy workshop. The meeting was held near the Thinkers’ Lodge, the site of the first meeting in 1957. “Fifty years ago from Pugwash, Nova Scotia, nuclear scientists helped alert the world to the dangers of nuclear weapons, and especially the newly developed hydrogen bomb,” said Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary General, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. “Today, we are working with experts from around the world for global action to revitalize nuclear disarmament and the final elimination of nuclear weapons.” Senator Roméo Dallaire, Honorary Patron of the Pugwash Peace Exchange, said “It is appalling to observe the increasing potential for many regional nuclear arms races, shameless plans to modernize nuclear arsenals and bald-faced threats of pre-emptive nuclear use,” said Senator Dallaire. “Only by revitalizing discussion and implementation of disarmament leading to abolition can we ensure that these genocidal devices will never again be used.”
July 7, 1977 The United States conducted its first test of the neutron bomb. The neutron bomb was a tactical thermonuclear weapon designed to cause very little physical damage through limited blast and heat but was designed to kill troops through localized but intense levels of lethal radiation. A neutron bomb explosion at a test site
July 7, 1979 2,000 American Indian activists and anti-nuclear demonstrators marched through the Black Hills of western South Dakota to protest the development of uranium mines on sacred native lands.
July 3, 1835 Children employed in the silk mills at Paterson, New Jersey, went on strike for an eleven-hour workday and a six-day workweek rather than 12-14 hour days. With the help of adults, they won a compromise settlement of a 69-hour week. More on the Baby Strikers
July 3, 1966 4000 Britons chanting, “Hands off Vietnam,” demonstrated in London against escalation of the Vietnam War. U.S. warplanes had recently bombed the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi as well as the port city of Haiphong. Police moved in after scuffles broke out at the demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Grosvenor Square; 31 were arrested. Actress Vanessa Redgrave joins 25,000 two years later at Anti-Vietnam war protest, Grosvenor Square. Read more
July 3, 1974 At the Moscow Summit talks between President Richard Nixon and President Leonid Brezhnev, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to hold bilateral talks on the prohibition of chemical weapons.
July 4, 1776 The United States declared its independence from King George III and Great Britain, thus beginning the first successful anti-imperial revolution in world history. Signed in Philadelphia by 56 British subjects who lived and owned property in thirteen of the American colonies, the document asserted the right of a people to create its own form of government. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were members of the 2nd Continental Congress which had voted two days earlier to separate from the British crown. Read the Declaration see some quotes on nationalism and patriotism
July 4, 1827 Slavery was outlawed in New York State as the result of the Gradual Emancipation law passed ten years earlier. This freedom applied only to those who had been 18 at the time of its passage. Enslaved children born during the subsequent ten-year period were not be freed until they reached the age of 21. At the urging of Reverend William Hamilton, a freedman and carpenter, and others, the end of slavery was celebrated in churches. The Fourth of July had in the past been marred by young white men attacking black Americans. More on William Hamilton and others
July 4, 1829 Speaking at Boston’s Park Street Church, newspaper editor and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison gave a seminal speech on “Dangers to the Nation.” Though Massachusetts had banned slavery in 1781 and there was strong anti-slavery sentiment, most understood that a national ban of slavery would threaten the union of the states. Compensation to slaveholders and return of the enslaved to Africa was considered the best solution. Garrison, on the other hand, called attention to the hypocrisy of celebrating the the day the document was signed declaring, “All men are created equal” while two million were in bondage. He proposed four propositions that day to guide the abolitionist movement: 1. Above all others, slaves in America deserve “the prayers, and sympathies, and charities of the American people.” 2. Non-slave-holding states are “constitutionally involved in the guilt of slavery,” and are obligated “to assist in its overthrow.” 3. There is no valid legal or religious justification for the preservation of slavery. 4. The “colored population” of America should be freed, given an education, and accepted as equal citizens with whites. William Lloyd Garrison
July 4, 1894 The Republic of Hawaii was proclaimed with Sanford B. Dole as president. It was recognized immediately by the United States government under President Grover Cleveland. This was the result of the successful overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, then held by Queen Lydia Liliuokalani, and the support by white Americans involved in the sugar trade on the islands for annexation by the United States. Shortly after she had come to office, she had promulgated a new constitution which increased the power of the monarchy and that of native Hawaiians.
July 4, 1965 Barbara Gittings at the Philadelphia picket The first of an annual picket in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall was held by gay and Lesbian Americans. Jack Nichols and Frank Kameny and members of the New York and Washington Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis had earlier demonstrated in Washington, and wished to change the general perception that homosexuals were perverted or sick.
“By those protesters coming out publicly, and placing themselves very strategically in front of the building that evoked the Declaration of Independence and the idea that all men are created equal, it suggested it [gay rights] was no longer a moral or national security or psychiatric issue … it was a civil-rights issues,” David K. Johnson wrote in The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government.
July 4, 1966 The Freedom of Information Act, P.L. 89-487, became law. It established the right of Americans to know what their government is doing by outlining procedures for getting access to internal documents.
July 4, 1969 “Give Peace a Chance” by the Plastic Ono Band was released in the United Kingdom. The song was recorded May 31, 1969, during the “Bed-In” John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal as part of their honeymoon. John and Yoko stayed in bed for 8 days, beginning May 26, in an effort to promote world peace. Some of the people in the hotel room who sang on this were Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and Petula Clark. Smothers also played guitar. This event promoting peace received a great deal of media attention.“All we are saying . . .” watch & listen – give it a chance
July 4, 1969 A national anti-war conference in Cleveland, Ohio, mapped out activities against the Vietnam War and resulted in the founding of New Mobe (mobilization). More about the Mobes
July 4, 1983 The Women’s Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice began an eight week stay on a farm just outside the Seneca Army Depot near Romulus, New York. The purpose of the gathering was for the women to learn about and together protest the escalation of militarism and the weapons build-up being led at the time by the Reagan administration. visit PeaCe eNCaMPeNT HeRSToRy PRoJeCT
July 4, 2007 The first of several Peace Caravans (Caravanes de Paix) set out from South Kivu and traveled across Africa’s Great Lakes region, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. The Scout Associations of the countries in the violence-ridden area trained hundreds of young people in conflict resolution through their focus on education for peace. Members of the Caravan for Peace in Burundi The classes and the caravans included hundreds of young people in Scouts and Girl Guides from many ethnic groups (often with a history of mutual hostility) who act as community mediators.
Yes, this passed in the Senate, thanks to the VP’s tiebreaking vote. However, it’s still got rows to hoe in the US House; Spkr. Johnson wants to vote tomorrow. The thing to remember about our US Reps is, they’re up for election each 2 years. So, while firmly directing them in dealing with this dreadful bill, also firmly yet lovingly remind them that the OBBB will be hanging around their necks every step of the way of their campaigns like a bubblegum machine golden giant dollar sign necklace, if they vote in favor.
(Actually, if you didn’t when you contacted your Senators last week, you can still remind them of the same thing, unless they voted against, in which case, Thank Them. It took bravery to vote against, and they need to know we have their backs. And thank you very much. Now call.)
I hope everyone and their pets enjoy at least some peace these next few days! I hate fireworks, though I don’t mind them far away or on TV. I did used to like them, when I was a kid. 🎆
July 1, 1917 8000 anti-war marchers demonstrated in Boston. Their banners read: “IS THIS A POPULAR WAR, WHY CONSCRIPTION? WHO STOLE PANAMA? WHO CRUSHED HAITI? WE DEMAND PEACE.” The parade was attacked by soldiers and sailors, on orders from their officers.
July 1, 1944 A massive general strike and nonviolent protest in Guatemala led to the resignation of dictator Jorge Ubico who had harshly ruled Guatemala for over a decade. Juan José Arévalo Bermejo On March 15 of the following year, Dr. Juan José Arévalo Bermejo took office as the first popularly elected president of Guatemala, and promptly called for democratic reforms establishing the nation’s social security and health systems, land reform (redistribution of farmland not under cultivation to the landless with compensation to the owners), and a government bureau to look after native Mayan concerns. Jorge Ubico A decade of peaceful democratic rule followed, until a CIA-backed coup in 1954 ushered in a new, even more brutal era of dictatorial and genocidal regimes. [see June 27, 1954]
July 1, 1946 The United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
July 1, 1968 Sixty-one nations, including the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union, signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which set up systems to monitor use of nuclear technology and prevent more nations from acquiring nuclear weapons. 190 countries are now signatories; Israel, India and Pakistan remain outside the Treaty. North Korea joined the NPT in 1985, but in January 2003 announced its intention to withdraw from the Treaty. Text of the Treaty
July 1, 1972 The first issue Publication of the first monthly issue of Ms. Magazine, founded by Gloria Steinem “The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off,” Letty Cottin Pogrebin “Housework is the only activity at which men are allowed to be consistently inept because they are thought to be so competent at everything else,” and others. Ms. Magazine today (It’s still Ms. Magazine! -A.)
July 1, 2000 Vermont’s civil unions law went into effect, granting gay couples most of the rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities of marriage under state law. In the first five years, 1,142 Vermont couples, and 6,424 from elsewhere, had chosen a Vermont civil union.
Also, to commemorate the final day of PRIDE month 2025, here’s an historic dance music video to celebrate. No matter what, we should never not dance again! 🎶 🌈 🎶 🫶
June 30, 1966 The first GIs—known as the Fort Hood Three, U.S. Army Privates James Johnson, Dennis Mora and David Samas—refused to be sent to Vietnam. All were members of the 142nd Signal Battalion, 2nd Armored Division stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The three were from working-class families, and had denounced the war as “immoral, illegal and unjust.” They were arrested, court-martialed and imprisoned. The Pentagon reported 503,926 “incidents of desertion” between 1966 and 1971. 1961-1973: GI resistance in the Vietnam War View their pamphlet Ballad of The Fort Hood Three Pete Seeger
June 30, 1971 The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the minimum voting age to 18 in all elections, was ratified after ¾ of the 50 state legislatures had agreed to it, a mere 100 days after its passage by Congress.
June 30, 1974 The Selective Service law, authorizing the draft, expired, marking the official end of conscription in the U.S. and the beginning of the all-volunteer armed forces.
June 30, 2005 Spain legalized same-sex marriage by a vote of 187-147 in parliament. Such couples were also granted the right to adopt and receive inheritances. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero spoke in support of the bill, “We are expanding the opportunities for happiness of our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends and our relatives. At the same time, we are building a more decent society. Read more
At the urging of Reverend William Hamilton, a freedman and carpenter, and others, the end of slavery was celebrated in churches. The Fourth of July had in the past been marred by young white men attacking black Americans.
Scottie's Playtime 