Truth To Power | America in Her Own Words | Aspen Ideas Festival | 7-10-26

This week on Truth to Power, we bring you a community conversation from the Aspen Ideas Festival in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States of America. The program called "America in Her Own Words" was organized by Theater of War Productions, which was honored to return to the Aspen Ideas Festival last week to present this year’s closing session to help celebrate and interrogate the 250th anniversary of the United States. Actors David Strathairn (Goodnight and Good Luck, Lincoln), Michael Potts (The Wire, True Detective), and Kathleen Chalfant (Familiar Touch, The Affair) performed excerpts from Fourth of July speeches by Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony to catalyze a guided audience discussion about how reckoning and repair are fundamental to the promise and process of American democracy. The texts included sections from “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” delivered by Frederick Douglass at an Independence Day celebration in Rochester, New York on July 5, 1852; “The Electric Cord Speech” delivered by Abraham Lincoln from the balcony of Tremont House in Chicago, Illinois on July 10, 1858; and the “Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States” written by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony and read by Anthony on July 4, 1876 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia during the Centennial Celebration. Following the readings, thoughts were shared by panelists Abayomi Lewis (Singer; Poet; “American Idol” Contestant), Chuck Sams (Director, Indigenous Programs, Yale Center for Environmental Justice; Former Director, U.S. National Park Service), and Jeh Johnson (Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; Chair, Board of Trustees, Columbia University). They candidly responded to these speeches and kicked off a powerful discussion with the audience. Watch the full performance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Witiu_NzpYs Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 7pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://www.forwardradio.org