{"id":1201,"date":"2026-06-08T06:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2026-06-08T06:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T06:06:08","slug":"a-moment-meant-for-unity-becomes-a-mirror-for-americas-deepest-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1201","title":{"rendered":"A moment meant for unity becomes a mirror for America’s deepest divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump is promoting his Great American State Fair as a pro-America concert intended to celebrate America\u2019s 250 year anniversary \u2014 yet there are competing visions for how to celebrate the country\u2019s semiquincentennial.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s new birthday portrait is torn apart for what it hides<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOne month from America\u2019s 250th birthday, events and celebrations to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence are as fragmented as the nation\u2019s politics and culture in 2026,\u201d reported Mike Magner from CQ-Roll Call on Sunday. Describing Trump\u2019s event as a \u201ccampaign-style MAGA rally\u201d which numerous artists refused to participate in, Magner mentioned that \u201cAmerica250, the bipartisan commission established by Congress to plan for the \u2018semiquincentennial,\u2019 remains the central organizer, but its efforts to get all 350 million Americans to participate in various ways have been overshadowed in recent weeks by the White House sponsor of events, Freedom 250.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast to this event, Magner mentioned a pair of groups called All of U.S. 250 and Next 250, both of which also have their own plans to celebrate America\u2019s anniversary. They are leading a coalition that will celebrate America\u2019s birthday including a \u201cnationwide day of mobilization\u201d on June 27 that features \u201cmarches, rallies, cultural activations, performances, artistic installations, youth storytelling projects, teach-ins, faith gatherings and community events\u201d in Washington and all over America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re framing it as a counter-commemoration ahead of the 250th anniversary and also a movement-building opportunity,\u201d said Trevor Smith, cofounder of a group sponsoring the event, the Black Liberation Indigenous Sovereignty Collective. \u201cWe push back against the kind of whitewashed narrative that the administration is pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linda Sarsour, co-chair of Next 250, told Magner that \u201cI think for those of us who are working in grassroots movements right now, a lot of our people are feeling scared. They\u2019re also feeling uncertain about the future. And I think what we\u2019re trying to do here is reaffirm an actual certainty that whatever\u2019s happening right now is temporary. We are on 250 years. And guess what? There\u2019s another 250 years coming, and we can shape that by doing the work that we\u2019re doing today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s refusal to regulate tech puts us in a danger we often don\u2019t think about<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s event has proved so controversial that most of the musical acts have dropped out, with many claiming they were booked without being told that it was going to be closely linked to the unpopular president. Five of the nine booked artists have pulled out including Bret Michaels, Martina McBride, Young MC, the Commodores and Morris Day & the Time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading,\u201d McBride explained when pulling out. Similarly Michaels explained that the event \u201chas evolved into something much more divisive than what I agreed to be a part of,\u201d while Young MC stated that \u201cthe artists were never told about any political involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a no for me,\u201d posted Morris Day, while the Commodores declared, \u201cOur music has always been our voice and we choose not to publicly affiliate with any single political party. We support the betterment of all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

By contrast artists like Vanilla Ice, Fab Moran from Milli Vanilli and Flo Rida are still participating.<\/p>\n

Read more New report details the depths of Trump\u2019s corruption and grift<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump is promoting his Great American State Fair as a pro-America concert intended to celebrate America\u2019s 250 year anniversary \u2014 yet there are competing visions for how to celebrate the country\u2019s semiquincentennial.\u201cOne month from America\u2019s 250th birthday, events and celebrations to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA moment meant for unity becomes a mirror for America's deepest divisions - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1201\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A moment meant for unity becomes a mirror for America's deepest divisions - 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