Speak Truth w/ Blvck indigo: The 4th ain't ours

“Why Freedom Wasn’t for Everybody?"

A special Speak Truth with Blvck Indigo blog Post.

Every year, fireworks light the sky. Flags wave. Cookouts pop off. And America screams “freedom” at the top of its lungs. But before you grab that plate and post that red, white, and blue fit… pause.

Because while the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, Black people were still in chains.

Let’s Talk Facts:

When the so-called "Land of the Free" declared its freedom from Britain, over 500,000 Black people were enslaved in the very soil that now claimed independence.

The same pen that signed "all men are created equal" belonged to men who owned, sold, and profited from our ancestors.

The 4th of July didn’t mean freedom for us. It meant business as usual. Our people were still being bought, sold, whipped, separated from families, and denied even the right to learn to read. The “independence” they celebrated was built on stolen land and stolen labor.

So What Are We Really Celebrating? Are we celebrating the freedom of a nation that didn’t see us as human? Are we celebrating a holiday that honored liberty, while we were still seen as property? Are we expected to light fireworks while our people were being burned alive, not centuries ago, but generations ago?

Let’s keep it a buck — the 4th of July was never meant for us. It’s a reminder of the hypocrisy written into the roots of America. A freedom that excluded the very people who built the foundation of this country — brick by bloody brick.

This Ain’t About Bitterness. It’s About Truth. We don’t knock nobody for celebrating how they choose. But we will reclaim the narrative and We will speak on what’s real.

Because for many of us, the 4th of July is not a celebration — it’s a reminder. A reminder that while America gained independence, our people were still enslaved. A reminder that true freedom didn’t come in 1776… or even in 1865.

Because freedom isn’t just being unchained — it’s being seen, valued, and healed.

Honor the Ancestors. Celebrate the Truth. We celebrate our people on our terms. Juneteenth, Black August, Kwanzaa, and every moment we rise in spite of a system built against us. So while the fireworks pop, just know:

“We been the light. We just ain’t been handed the credit”

Stay conscious. Stay sacred. Stay powerful.

– Blvck Indigo