“Of all the dark places in Massachusetts, this is the darkest.”

On June 24th, Athina Education and First Parish of Sudbury co-hosted Reading Frederick Douglass Together (RFDT) in Sudbury. The event, funded in part by a grant from Mass Humanities, brought together about 35 people of all ages and from near and far to read aloud Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Afterward, attendees were invited to participate in a community art project.

Rev. Kathleen Hepler of First Parish opened with a welcome to the group, and Katina Fontes, president of Athina Education, introduced the speech by highlighting a visit to Sudbury by Douglass in 1844. She read an excerpt from a letter to William Lloyd Garrison in which Douglass said the following about the town: “Monday, I came to this place; of all the dark places in Massachusetts, this is the darkest.” After reading more about Douglass’s experience from the letter, Fontes continued by saying, “Douglass felt unwelcome in Sudbury on March 6th, 1844. It was made clear to him that not only was he not welcome, he DID NOT BELONG. Sadly, many people since have visited and lived in this town and received similar messages. Some subtle, others more explicit.”

“Douglass’s speech provides us with much to ponder, individually and collectively, around what is written in our founding documents and how we have fallen short in executing those principles throughout history,” noted Fontes. “At an RFDT event in Sudbury last year, the emphasis was on how the speech resonated with participants individually. This year we wanted to shift the focus to the role of the community.” After the reading, participants collaged and drew on tiles while reflecting on Douglass’s words and prompts about belonging. The tiles were then incorporated into boards on the wall that spelled BELONG. “The overarching essential question of the event was, What does belonging mean to me? The answers to that question can be brought back to the community to help us all better understand what we need to do collectively to create a sense of belonging for all,” added Fontes.

The idea of using art as a medium for expression came from a collaboration between Fontes and Avigail Shimshoni. The two are friends who met at Lesley University, where Fontes received her Ph.D. in 2021, and Shimshoni is currently writing a dissertation about sociolooking. Shimshoni is also an artist and architect with years of experience facilitating art projects. “It’s been fun bringing our academic interests beyond the halls of academia into the community,” said Fontes.

This was the second year for a Reading Douglass gathering in Sudbury, with the hope of making it an annual event. RFDT is an initiative by Mass Humanities that promotes group readings of Douglass’s famous speech. A calendar of upcoming readings is available HERE.