We Must Win Our Freedom: A People's Declaration of Resistance and Purpose
July 4, 2026 | Philadelphia
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Parking, Transit, Street Closures, Weather
Parking: Attendees can park cars at McCall Elementary & Middle School’s parking lot on Cypress St between 6th and 7th St, near the church. Otherwise we advise street parking wherever spots are available.
Transit: Public transit will be running with special schedules. Please budget extra time to get to the church by 10 am; expect traffic, delays, and detours.
Weather: Entire program will now take place *inside* Mother Bethel AME, on the first floor Fellowship Hall with air conditioning, due to heat. Water will be available for attendees.
Street Closures:
The following streets will be closed on Saturday July 4th from 8:00 am–12:00 pm:
Parking: Attendees can park cars at McCall Elementary & Middle School’s parking lot on Cypress St between 6th and 7th St, near the church. Otherwise we advise street parking wherever spots are available.
Transit: Public transit will be running with special schedules. Please budget extra time to get to the church by 10 am; expect traffic, delays, and detours.
Weather: Entire program will now take place *inside* Mother Bethel AME, on the first floor Fellowship Hall with air conditioning, due to heat. Water will be available for attendees.
Street Closures:
The following streets will be closed on Saturday July 4th from 8:00 am–12:00 pm:
- Market St between 5th St and 6th St closed to vehicle traffic as well as pedestrians
- The inner lanes of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway from 20th Street to Binswanger Triangle
- Inbound Spring Garden Street, between Pennsylvania Avenue and Kelly Drive
- 1900 Race Street
- 1800-1900 Vine Street
- Spring Garden Tunnel
- Park Towne Place between 22nd Street and 24th Street
- Benjamin Franklin Parkway from 17th Street to Eakins Oval (all lanes)
- Eakins Oval (all lanes)
- Kelly Drive between Eakins Oval and Fairmount Avenue
- 2000-2100 Winter Street
- Spring Garden Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and 31st Street
- All roads from Arch Street to Spring Garden Street, 18th Street to 22nd Street (local access maintained for residents)
- All roads from Arch Street to Fairmount Avenue, 22nd Street to Corinthian Street (local access maintained for residents)
- I-676 Off-Ramp at 22nd Street (reopens on Sunday, July 5)
- I-676 On-Ramp at 22nd Street (reopens on Sunday, July 5)
- I-76 eastbound Off-Ramp at Spring Garden Street (reopens on Sunday, July 5)
- Rear of Art Museum – Anne d’Harnoncourt Drive (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- MLK Drive from Falls Bridge to Eakins Oval (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- 23rd Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Eakins Oval (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- 22nd Street between Winter Street and Pennsylvania Avenue (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- 21st Street between Winter Street and Pennsylvania Avenue (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- 20th Street between Arch Street and Pennsylvania Avenue (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- 19th Street between Callowhill Street and Cherry Street (reopens on Monday, July 6)
- 16th and 17th Streets, between Arch Street and Spring Garden Street will be closed only if conditions warrant in the interest of public safety
- 1600-1700 Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be closed only if conditions warrant in the interest of public safety
A Declaration of Resistance and Purpose in the 250th Year of the American Revolution
Two voices speak to this moment: Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. One belongs to the past; the other beckons to the future. The American Revolution of 1776 changed the world, yet it was born twisted with contradiction, desecrating its own declaration of the equality of man. What Jefferson and his compatriots began, they could not complete. Democracy died except in the hearts of Black men and women; most of whom remained enslaved.
From this lineage and from the depths of oppression, Martin Luther King rises to the stage of world history. He stands at the center of the most profound revolution in our nation’s life, the Black Freedom Movement of the 20th century; a man anointed by history and by humanity. In a dialogue between Jefferson and King, it is King who has the last word. If this nation is to have a future, Martin Luther King is the door through which we must enter. He is the father of a new American people; it is his voice that we need most desperately.
From this lineage and from the depths of oppression, Martin Luther King rises to the stage of world history. He stands at the center of the most profound revolution in our nation’s life, the Black Freedom Movement of the 20th century; a man anointed by history and by humanity. In a dialogue between Jefferson and King, it is King who has the last word. If this nation is to have a future, Martin Luther King is the door through which we must enter. He is the father of a new American people; it is his voice that we need most desperately.
