Saturday, July 4, 2026. Occupied Manahatta, Lenapehoking (Manhattan, New York City). – July 4, 2026, marks 250 years since white supremacists, thieves of Native American lands, murderers of Native American people, owners of enslaved Black people, White European terrorists declared THEIR AND ONLY THEIR independence from Britain.
Support my independent journalism work here: www.javiersoriano.com/donate.
White supremacists wanted to exterminate all Native Americans, but they could not do so.
Despite centuries of targeted violence, systemic dispossession, and assimilation policies, Native American nations successfully resisted total erasure and continue to exist as sovereign, distinct peoples today.
Native Americans are still here! Native communities are vibrant, diverse, and active parts of our country. Native Americans continue to protect and practice their traditions, languages, and spiritual beliefs. Native Americans participate in every facet of modern life and work as doctors, artists, business owners, teachers, lawyers and more. They also hold prominent positions in federal and local governments.
While many Native Americans live on reservations, the vast majority (about 80%) live in towns and cities across the country. In states like California and cities like New York City have some of the largest urban Native populations.
I have covered various Native American events in New York City.
According to analyses of the Genocide Convention and human rights scholars, the systematic destruction of Native American communities, languages, and traditional ways of life meets the internationally recognized definitions of genocide.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates over 7.4 million people identify as Native American and Alaska Native, either alone or alongside another ethnicity in 2023. There are 575 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as of 1/30/2026.
July 4, 2026, marks 250 years of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Native Americans. 250 years of the theft of Native American and Mexican lands. 250 years of resistance against white supremacy. 250 years of resistance against the yankee imperialism. 250 years of resistance against the terrorism of the United States of America.
Britain did not officially recognize the independence of White Europeans (the United States of America) until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, ending the Revolutionary War.
White Europeans got THEIR AND ONLY THEIR independence. White Europeans kept stealing lands from Native Americans and Mexico. White Europeans kept killing Native Americans and Mexicans. White supremacist Europeans kept buying, selling, owning Black slaves.
The genocide and ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, and the theft of Native American lands by white Europeans, began immediately after the arrival of white supremacists in what we now call the United States of America.
The genocide and ethnic cleansing of Native Americans involved centuries of state-sponsored violence, forced displacement, and cultural eradication. Driven by colonial expansion and the ideology of the white supremacy Manifest Destiny.
If you have internet access, you can read about a wide range of topics. Do not let the mainstream media lie to you. Do not let republican and democrat politicians lie to you. Do not let the Republican Party and Democratic Party lie to you.
At least 12 presidents of the United States of America held Black people in slavery throughout their lives, and at least 8 of those presidents had enslaved Black people while in the White House.
White supremacist presidents who held Black people in slavery: George Washington (1st President), Thomas Jefferson (3rd President), James Madison (4th President), James Monroe (5th President), Andrew Jackson (7th President; one of the founders of the imperialist, zionist, corrupt, interventionist, terrorist, genocidal, fascist Democratic Party; signed the “Indian Removal Act,” which was used to steal Native American lands and commit genocide and ethnic cleansing against Native American people), Martin Van Buren (8th President; the other founder of the Democratic Party; stole Native American lands and committed genocide and ethnic cleansing against Native Americans), William Henry Harrison (9th President), John Tyler (10th President), James Knox Polk (11th President; member of the Democratic Party; invaded Mexico from 1846 to 1848, and as a result of that invasion, the USA stole more than half of Mexican territory), Zachary Taylor (12th President), Andrew Johnson (17th President), Ulysses S. Grant (18th President).
Manahatta, Lenapehoking.
Before New York City, there was Lenapehoking, the ancestral land of the Lenape people. Forcibly displaced by White European invaders, their land was stolen to create settler states. We live on stolen land. LAND BACK NOW!
Lenapehoking translated as ‘homelands of the Lenape’. The territory of the Lenape people before White Europeans invaders arrived was known to them as Lenapehoking, and it covered roughly the area between New York City and Philadelphia, including all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and part of the state of Delaware.
The name Manhattan derives from the Indigenous Lenape word “Manahatta.” Indigenous Lenape people—the original inhabitants of Manhattan and all of New York City—called the island Manahatta, which means “Hilly Island.”
White European invaders stole Manahatta and all of New York City from the Lenape people. White Europeans committed GENOCIDE and ETHNIC CLEANSING against Indigenous Lenape people in New York City and other cities.
What others say about the 4 of July, 2026.
NDN Collective
On July 2, 2026, NDN Collective said on its website ndncollective.org, “250 Years of Lies, 500 Years of Uprising. The so-called “United States” is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 2026. We, the first people of this land, do not have to look far to spot the hypocrisy of celebrating a document that calls our ancestors “Merciless Indian Savages.” Today, we witness a country that proclaims “freedom” while kidnapping our immigrant neighbors without due process, passing laws that encourage harassment and discrimination against our LGBTQ and two-spirit relatives, and pulling out every political, legal, and military strategy to suppress any form of dissent against the state. At the start of this nation, the government ratified over 350 treaties with Native Nations – and then proceeded to break every single one of them. Just as it was clear to our ancestors, it remains clear to us now: this colonial experiment has failed at building anything resembling a true democracy.
150 years ago, the Oceti Sakowin united at the Battle of Greasy Grass (also known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn). On June 25-26, 1876, warriors of the Lakota, Dakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Nations fought and won against the 7th Cavalry after U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Custer attacked their village. Indigenous matriarchs fought alongside the men to defend their children, communities, and way of life. The victory at Greasy Grass reminds us of our power when we unite together against this genocidal government.” Read their full statement here.
ICT, formerly Indian Country Today.
On June 15, 2026, Kevin Abourezk wrote on ictnews.org, “AMERICA 250: A step-by-step guide to Indigenous erasure.
The missing and crucial truths not in America’s history books that redefined tribal nations and Native peoples 250 years after the country’s founding.
Lincoln is a very common place name in America with dozens of cities and towns named after the country’s 16th president. Abraham Lincoln, as every grade-schooler knows, reunified the country and freed the slaves.
But few people know that Lincoln also ordered the largest mass execution in U.S. history when he sent to the gallows 38 Dakota men who fought to regain their homelands and save their people from starvation in the winter of 1862.
This is intentional. Colonization almost always involves the erasure of the history of the colonized people.” Read the full article here.
Hüseyin Dogru
“Today is US Independence Day, but for Native Americans, there isn’t much to celebrate.
Millions of Indigenous and Black individuals have endured enslavement, torture, forced displacement, and brutal killings.
Today, racism towards Indigenous and Black people still persists,” said journalist Hüseyin Dogru on X on July 4, 2026.
Adolfina Brooklyn
On July 4, 2026, Adolfina Brooklyn said on Instagram, “There is nothing to celebrate while Puerto Rico remains a colony.
July 4 is a reminder that U.S. “freedom” has always come at the expense of colonized peoples. We refuse to celebrate an empire that continues to deny Puerto Rico sovereignty, impose austerity, and profit from our people’s suffering.
Read our statement in collaboration with @iwa_usa and organize with us for a free Puerto Rico!
Sign up for our Women’s contingent for La Marcha Por La Independencia here: tinyurl.com/Adomarchaporlaindependencia26
¡Que Viva Puerto Rico Libre! ¡Mujeres Pa’lante!” Read their full statement here.
Andre Easton
Public school teacher Andre Easton is running for the United States Congress to represent New York’s 15th Congressional District in the Bronx, New York City.
New York’s 15th Congressional District is represented by zionist, corrupt, AIPAC, pro-genocide Ritchie Torres. Corrupt Ritchie Torres has taken at least 2 MILLION from the pro-Israel lobby.
On July 4, 2026, Andre Easton said on X, “While the Trump administration celebrates 250 years of white supremacy, exploitation, extraction, and enslavement, we reflect on 250 years of the revolutionary struggle for freedom led by Black, Indigenous, working, and oppressed people everywhere.
Here in the Bronx, we exemplify a devoted history to fighting back against the racist and oppressive status quo. While establishment politicians vote to fund ICE, bombs, and genocide, the people of the Bronx go without access to healthcare, affordable groceries, and dignified housing. We live with elevated asthma rates, while produce is driven out of the borough to create profit for grocery chain owners.
Today, I look to the people who have fought for and won the rights we have today. The enslaved masses who fought for emancipation. The striking workers who won the 8 hour workday. The students who fought to divest their universities from apartheid. The people who took the streets to demand an end to all imperialist wars. That is the history I want to continue celebrating, and that is the struggle I want to continue fighting, alongside all of you.”
The People’s Forum
While the Trump administration whitewashes U.S. history in its celebration of the 250th anniversary of the country, we celebrate a history of revolutionary working class resistance. We recognize two irreconcilable futures go head-to-head: one where endless war, ecological destruction, and extreme inequality, racism, and bigotry drive us deeper into crisis OR one where the needs of the people and the planet are guaranteed.
That’s why we’re studying this summer: to build a socialist future. Register for Summer School for Socialism: People Vs. Billionaires at http://peoplesforum.org/summer26.
The history of the United States, since its inception, has been a history of Two Americas in direct opposition: those who exploit and those who are exploited, those who oppress and those who resist, those who get rich off the backs of the poor and working class, the ones who built this country.
That reality continues today. As Trump and the billionaire class attempt to advance his racist, pro-billionaire agenda, we are standing up to fight back.
Join us starting July 21 to dive deep into the history of the nation to understand how we arrived at this moment, and where we are heading. Together we will study, discuss, and organize toward building a world where working people hold political power and the economy serves the people and the planet. It’s time to build a socialist future that takes on the billionaire class right now. There is no time to wait. This summer, we lay the groundwork towards a better world.
Register now at http://peoplesforum.org/summer26, said The People’s Forum on Jul 4, 2026.
Brooklyn Against War
“4th of July – Freedom for Whom? What is there to celebrate?
For 250 years, the United States has waged wars, carried out invasions, and perpetuated injustice at home and abroad. While a small percent celebrate freedom, millions continue to face war, displacement, poverty, racism, and repression.
This July 4th, don’t celebrate. Organize!! Join Brooklyn Against War and raise your voice against endless war, occupation, militarism, and oppression. See you there!!” said Brooklyn Against War on Instagram on June 18, 2026.
Party for Socialism and Liberation
“Thousands of veterans, military families, active duty service members and supporters from all around the country are marching on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States to protest against endless wars and the threat of fascism,” the Party for Socialism and Liberation shared a video and said on X on July 4, 2026.
On the website www.2americas250.org, the Party for Socialism and Liberation says, “As we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S., the Trump administration is using official “America 250” commemorations to whitewash the nation’s true history.
Leaked documents from the Department of the Interior reveal a coordinated effort to remove exhibits on the history of marginalized groups. In more than a third of national parks, exhibits about Black, Indigenous, women’s, and labor history have been censored. This is a brazen attempt to cover up the truth that there have always been two Americas: the America of the exploiters and the America of the exploited.”
Codepink
On July 4, 2026, Codepink said on X, “This July 4th, we do not celebrate “America 250” nor the “independence” of the settler colonial fascist United States.
We demand independence for Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Kenya, Haiti, Yemen & millions more facing oppression from the US empire.”
Middle East Eye
On June 26, 2026, Joseph Massad wrote on www.middleeasteye.net, “America’s ‘independence’ celebrates 250 years of jingoism and genocide.
The myth of US freedom, retold by nationalist historians, politicians and corporate media, erases the slavery, dispossession and white supremacy on which the republic was built.
American jingoism remains the ruling ideology of the United States, on the right as well as the left and centre. The upcoming 250th anniversary of independence, which the country will celebrate on 4 July 2026, is yet another occasion to express America’s ultranationalism and rewrite the country’s sordid history of oppression and genocide as a story of “freedom”.
President Donald Trump, the hero of white supremacists and conservatives, has declared that “With a single sheet of parchment and 56 signatures, America began the greatest political journey in human history.”
Former president Barack Obama, the best thing that ever happened to white American liberals, enthusiastically agrees: “Since we’re a few weeks away from America’s 250th birthday, it is worth remembering just how radical the whole idea of self-government really was back in 1776.”” Read the full article here.
Are we too comfortable in our bubble, preferring not to know what is happening around us? Have we grown accustomed to comfort and ease, wanting to remain in this bubble—but at what cost? The forces that should not hold power are actively working to keep us blind, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
History has taught us what happens when we cede our power to others: we get manipulated, lied to, and brainwashed by their propaganda. Do we have the courage to wake up and take action? I understand that change can be difficult, but remaining passive is no longer an option.
Whether it is learning a language, such as Spanish or English (Spanish is the second most common language and the most widely spoken non-English language in the United States of America) or participating in pro-Palestine, anti-genocide, pro-migrants, pro-LGBTQ+, pro-Indigenous, etc. protests, small changes matter.
Javier Soriano is a longtime Indigenous journalist living in Lenapehoking (today known as the belly of the beast = New York City).
Support my independent journalism work here: www.javiersoriano.com/donate.
Patreon: www.patreon.com/javiersoriano
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JavierSorianoNY
YouTube: www.YouTube.com/@javiersoriano1
Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@javiersorianony
X: https://x.com/javiersorianony
Lemon8: www.lemon8-app.com/@javiersorianony
Rumble: www.rumble.com/user/JavierSoriano
UpScrolled: @JavierSoriano
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/javiersoriano.bsky.social
Updated on July 6, 2026.
November 27th, 2014. Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts – 45th National Day Of Mourning dedicated to Leonard Peltier. Photo by Javier Soriano/www.JavierSoriano.com