Happy 250 Birthday, America! May the fourth be with you all

Fireworks will light the July 4 night sky in a colorful expression of gratitude, pride, and celebration of accomplishments achieved throughout 250 years of American history.

In 1773, founding father John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail proposing an annual tradition the nation should adopt.

He said then:

“It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade with stews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illumination from one end of this continent to the other…”

Adam’s vision manifested the following year with a stunning pyrotechnic display in Philadelphia where 13 rockets blazed illuminating testimony to the original colonies.

Currently, the White House provides the widest canvas for display of America’s most celebrated holiday.

Drones and other modern-day technology now add to the annual birthday anniversary festivities.

Here in New York, Macy’s department store consistently provides similar attractions by staging one of the nation’s most revered spectacles.

Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani delighted residents by offering a lottery to win 100,000 free access tickets.

Lucky citizens will not only be able to bear witness to the light show, but their vantage will enable prime viewing spots.

“On the fourth of July, Americans come together to look at where we’ve come as a nation and where we want to go together in the future,” the mayor said.

“Hundreds of thousands will gather along our waterfront to celebrate and we’re making sure that some of the best views are available for free.”

The mayor added that the public spaces would afford access to lottery winners of up to four tickets.

Children younger than two years old do not require tickets to Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Seaport area, or the FDR, where viewing provides premium opportunities.

It is a generous holiday enticement that caps ceremonious activities slated from City Hall to the White House and locations all across America, marking two-and-a-half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“Events like the fourth of July fireworks remind us that our parks and open spaces are more than places to relax — they are where New Yorkers come together to celebrate, connect and create lasting memories,” NYC Parks commissioner Tricia Shimamura said recently.

The emblazoned sky displays are cause celebre for a country established in defiance of dominance from oppressive British governance.

Signed by 56 white slave holders representing 13 colonies, their declaration inscribed hope because they believed “we the people.”

At the time, Thomas Jefferson, another founding father claimed all men “are created equal.”

It’s a prospect women continue to vigorously strive in order to achieve, as well, as an attainable goal within reach.

Their Equal Rights Amendment demands fairness that shatters barriers and ceilings.

The obvious is that despite differences, people of different genders, Americans united north and south to build a democratic republic the world admired, aspired and envied.

And while supremacist segments of the society remain ostracized by an obsessive contention that they deserve entitlements and preferential treatment, on the day of revelry, every citizen should claim a slice of the birthday cake.

From the beginning, polarizing events eluded Native Americans, people of color, the Black and immigrant communities in particular.

They must now declare inclusion and contributions to this auspicious milestone arrival date.

Despite overwhelming bigotry and discrimination, their relentless pursuit enabled a Civil Rights Movement and overwhelming challenges to overcome.

Many optimists abandoned their homelands, some even risking persecution in order to cross borders in search of the promised safe haven.

Together we have triumphed.

We have achieved greatness.

However, praise should be heaped on individuals whose tiny efforts enabled magnanimous progressions to the early ideals.

Consider the fact a mere three-and-a-half decades ago, the Black community exalted in the election of David N. Dinkins, the first Black mayor of New York.

Or that twice, America endorsed readiness for Barack Obama to be elected the first Black president of the United States.

Adding to those trailblazing accomplishments, Kamala Harris received rousing endorsement when she emerged as the first female Black vice president of the United States.

Other tangible victories empowered Shirley Chisholm, the first Black congresswoman from Brooklyn, New York; Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the first Black congressman from Harlem, New York.

All this happened during the centuries and a half now being regaled.

Only 50 years ago, a bicentennial in 1976 boasted a parade of tall ships, flag-waving ceremonies, aircraft carriers, a star spangled banner, military might, and myriad high-profile conquests.

Since then, disfranchised communities aimed for personal, purposeful attainments.

The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and President John F. Kennedy are not badges of honor to flaunt.

The men demanded fairness and commitment to the Declaration.

The civil rights advocates begged equality and for it they were murdered in cold blood in front of their people.

Rosa Parks’ bus protest also blemished southern comfort.

Holding firm to the fact, Frederick Douglass realized his mission to help abolish slavery in America must have sustained perseverance.

He used his voice, pen, photography, diplomacy, and ambition to convince Abraham Lincoln — the 16th president of the United States — to traverse an unpopular path.

History records the high cost Lincoln paid. He was assassinated.

But three years later in 1865, the country boldly accepted the concept of Black equality.

Unbeknownst to a majority of the deprived race, Juneteenth resonated a word, principle, and a cause for cultural celebration.

Now a holiday, from then on descendants of slaves are proving their mettle by disputing long held misconceptions about an ability of achieving success.

Innumerable trailblazers have even surpassed expectations.

Tuskegee Institute researcher George Washington Carver revolutionized the peanut industry.

Historian Carter G. Woodson imbued pride in his race by creating a Black history commemmorative period.

Track stars Tommie Smith and John Carlos defied Olympic rules by raising gloved fists in protest of pervasive racism in America.

And Simone Biles is now recognized as the most decorated gymnast in history.

The struggle in entertainment shone a spotlight on Michael Jackson, James Brown, Aretha Franklyn, Billie Holiday and countless more to set a standard of excellence that also must have been daunting.

In the film and theatre industries, actors James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, Lena Horne, Denzel Washington, Paul Robeson and so many more thespians bolstered their repute with dazzling performances attesting allegiance to a national motto symbolized by the Latin phrase — e pluribus unum — out of many, one.

May the fourth be with you.

Catch you On the Inside!