Bicentennial Without Colonies: Exhibition Opening

Join the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for Humanities (MARCH) for the exhibition opening of Bicentennial Without Colonies, a traveling exhibition and digital archive that reminds Americans that the promise of freedom is incomplete while colonialism and inequality persist, and to help reignite the spirit of resistance and solidarity that made 1976 a milestone in the ongoing struggle for liberation. 

Remarks by exhibit organizers and a Q&A will begin at 5:30 pm.

Light refreshments provided.

Registration is free and encouraged.

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In 1976, while the United States celebrated 200 years of independence, the July 4th Coalition—led by Puerto Rican and Native American activists and joined by Black, white, Latina/o, Asian American participants from progressive movements, including feminist and LGBTQ groups—took to the streets of Philadelphia to demand a “Bicentennial Without Colonies.”

More than 40,000 people marched that day, exposing the contradiction between America’s promises of liberty and the reality of colonial rule, militarism, racism, poverty, and sexism. Together, they issued a bold call for both social and economic justice for all Americans.

Fifty years later, the July 4th Sin Colonias Coalition is commemorating the “Bicentennial Without Colonies” march and honoring that powerful moment of unity and defiance. Our purpose is to share this anniversary and its history as a living act of remembrance and renewal.