SALT LAKE CITY — This Independence Day weekend is a time of reflection for some, like NAACP's Salt Lake chapter president Jeanetta Williams.
“When the forefathers thought about Independence Day and thought about 'We the People', that did not include brown and black people,” said Williams.
Williams knew and worked alongside some of the most notable names in the civil rights movement, like activists Myrlie Evers-Wiliams, wife of Medgar Evers and Julian Bond.
She said this Independence Day, she’s reflecting on where we’ve been and where we are now as a country.
“Since the Trump Administration, we’ve lost a lot of the things that we had won when it comes to the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the NAACP have filed numerous lawsuits and we’ve won some even this week,” said Williams.
Talea Jackson is a Salt Lake City filmmaker; her film “Black Girls in Utah” premiered last year in partnership with the Sundance Institute.
“I love America, but America isn’t perfect," said Jackson. "But I’m really proud of what our generation is bringing to the table and I’m just really excited for what’s coming next.”
She said her favorite part of celebrating America is our diversity and that our melting-pot make-up should be uplifted more, which is why she created the film to begin with.
“Being able to connect with all the diversity in the country would be very important because growing up as the only minority in a small town isn't uncommon, but it’s not a story that’s told very often," said Jackson. "I feel like the more that story is told, the more people will kind of get understanding of what it’s like from every aspect living in this very big country we have.”
“We are the country everyone wants to be at because we are so cultured and have so much diversity and opportunity here and I just really appreciate that,” said Jackson.
That’s a thread Connie Washington connects to. Washington is the community giving director for the Prog Foundation, which works to foster higher-education readiness among high school students.
“I do believe that most Americans want to understand the lived experiences of other individuals who may not look like them and the richness that that brings to our country and into our experiences as humans," said Washington. "I just feel like we’re so much better off when we have that diversity of thought and diversity of culture and diversity of all the different spaces that diversity can thrive in.”
And just as with the foundation's work, the creation of opportunity is what she loves about America.
“I love the opportunities that I’ve been able to achieve, the things that I’ve been able to go after as a black woman in the state of Utah where there’s a lot of people who don't look like me, but because I was willing to work and willing to do what I needed to do, the opportunities have been there for me,” said Washington.
A country that can still unite when divided.
“The part I think I enjoy about America, that it’s not us against them, but we can all find a common cause and come to fight together,” said Williams.
