Venues and Schedule
Sat., July 4th (Hybrid: In-person and Virtual)
9:00-11:00 AM EDT – Interfaith Event, Atlanta Mennonite Church, 1088 Bouldercrest Drive SE, Atlanta, GA
12 noon – 9:00 PM EDT – National Convergence, West End Park, 464 Dargan Place SW, Atlanta, GA
Tentative speakers list: https://spiritofmandela.org/july4-updates/confirmed-speakers
Sun., July 5th (In-person only)
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM EDT – Conference and Workshops, at Project South Atlanta, 9 Gammon Ave. SE, Atlanta GA 30315
Includes Natl. Youth and Student Power Convergence; Natl. Leadership Strategic Planning Meeting (invite-only for natl. org reps); and six open workshops on planning for a People’s Senate and on the five counts of human rights abuses for which the U.S. was convicted at the 2021 International Tribunal.
Detailed schedule: https://spiritofmandela.org/july4-updates
Convergence will be Livestreamed – For link, go to https://spiritofmandela.org/july4-updates
Watch Parties will be held in several cities. List (list growing – check back): https://spiritofmandela.org/july4-updates
Register for in-person or livestream events here: tinyurl.com/July4-form
ATLANTA, GA: While Donald Trump and MAGA unfold a white supremacist spectacle celebrating 250 years of “U.S. independence,” a broad-based coalition of national organizations will converge on Atlanta on July 4-5 for a National Mobilization celebrating 250-plus years of resistance against genocide. The multi-racial, Black-led, nationwide Spirit of Mandela Coalition is organizing the weekend along with its alternative governance-building project, the Peoples’ Senate. The mobilization is cosponsored by Community Movement Builders and Cooperation Jackson, and includes partnering groups such as the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Democratic Socialists of America, the Indigenous Environmental Network, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation-USA.
Ashaki Binta, July 4 National Mobilization Co-coordinator and National Organizer of the National Black Liberation Movement’s National Unity Initiative, said, “The need for the people to respond to the ever-increasing attacks on all facets of national and global human rights rings loud and clear: the rollback of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; dismantling of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs; threats to cut Social Security and Medicare; higher and higher medical costs; skyrocketing food prices; international kidnapping; national and international state sponsored killings; pop-up wars of aggression; bankrolling Israeli genocide — and the list goes on.”
Leonard Peltier, American Indian Movement former prisoner of war of the Turtle Mt. Chippewa Nation, North Dakota, who will speak on July 4th via video, said, “We as Native American, Black, Brown, and poor white people are under attack. So we have to continue to build unity amongst ourselves.”
The Saturday, July 4th event will start with an interfaith gathering, followed by a daylong outdoor speak-out and cultural performances from a wide range of organizations and artists. Community vendors, food trucks, and tables of activist information will also be available. The Saturday event will be livestreamed worldwide. Similar anti-genocide events will also be held that day by Puerto Rican community groups in Chicago; Latinx freedom groups in Washington, DC; and activists commemorating John Brown’s July 4, 1859 anti-slavery Declaration of Liberty in California, Connecticut, and upstate New York.
On Sunday, July 5th, activists, organizers, community leaders and representatives will come together for a series of strategy discussions and workshops. This is the next phase of the Spirit of Mandela Coalition’s intensive organizing across all regions of the U.S. to build a genuine People’s Senate. “The day after the Convergence will perhaps be one of the most focused efforts in recent times to further develop a new vision of peoples’ representation, unity, and governance,” said Jihad Abdulmumit, Honorary Chairperson of the Spirit of Mandela Coalition. “There, with focus and intention, we will roll up our sleeves and tap into our experiences, intelligence, and wisdom to build out a peoples’ strategy.”
The National Mobilization builds on the Mandela Coalition’s important 2021 International Tribunal that charged and found the United States government guilty of the crime of genocide against Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples. The verdict was delivered by an independent nine-member Panel of Jurists, the majority women and Global South-rooted. The verdict outlined genocide in the areas of police killings, mass incarceration, political imprisonment, health inequities, and environmental racism.
“The July 4th and 5th mass convergence and mobilization will bring more attention and energy to the crucial initiative of building the Peoples’ Senate,” said Ashaki Binta. “We will be able to bond, network, and prepare for the days to come.”
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The Spirit of Mandela Coalition is a multiracial group of organizers, academics, clergy, attorneys, and organizations committed to working together against the systemic, historic, and ongoing human rights violations and abuses committed by the USA against Black, Brown, and Indigenous People. The coalition recognizes and affirms the rich history of diverse global activists in the resistance traditions of those peoples.
The Peoples’ Senate is an historic initiative to put decision-making in the hands of the people through coordinated, strategic action. The Peoples’ Senate will be a national cohesive network reflective of poor and working-class communities across the United States, its colonies and territories.
More Information:
- Peoples’ Senate Newsletter, Spring-Summer, 2026 https://spiritofmandela.org/s/PS-Newsletter-10-11_Spring-Summer-2026.pdf
- More on the Spirit of Mandela Coalition and the Peoples’ Senate: spiritofmandela.org
- To support, participate in, and/or endorse the July 4th Mobilization, fill out the form at tinyurl.com/july4-form
- For more information about the Mobilization, email peoplessenate@spiritofmandela.org
- More about the 2021 International Tribunal is available at https://spiritofmandela.org/international-tribunal.
- A new book by Africa World Press, Guilty of Genocide, includes the testimonies, verdict, and commentaries on the 2021 Tribunal. More information: https://africaworldpressbooks.com/guilty-of-genocide/
Social media sites:
Informational Videos:
About The People (ATP) are revolutionary content makers, a subgroup of the Spirit of Mandela Coalition. For more, go tohttps://linktr.ee/aboutthepeople
Also see https://www.youtube.com/@spiritofmandela9139