This campaign aimed to continue the mission of cross-racial dialogue and unconscious bias, rallying people to start conversations nationally so that they then could act locally. We aimed to reframe the Fourth of July and, consequently, to spark a conversation about the fact that Black Americans still are not free. We galvanized support for the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, highlighting the irony of celebrating a day of freedom when the likes of such a congressional bill still hadn’t been passed though first introduced 100 years ago.

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation (CCGF) aims to address racial disparities through safe, authentic and effective cross-racial dialogue, including unconscious-bias training. This was the first campaign following “Not a Gun,” a campaign that highlighted the disturbing issue of unconscious bias against people of color in situations in which firearms are presumed to be present when they are not.

On July Fourth, America celebrates its freedom and independence by putting its flag at the center. But not all Americans are free. For over 400 years, Black lives have been threatened and undervalued—from the lynching of Emmett Till to the brutal murder of George Floyd—at the hands of police.

In America, the flag flying at half-staff represents the nation in mourning. The events of 2020 brought forth a racial reckoning in America, with many finally realizing the systemic bias that this country was built upon and continually perpetuates. On July 4, 2021, we lowered the iconic African American flag to half-staff, with a powerful declaration woven into its fabric of red, black and green. This was accompanied by an interactive Instagram lens that users could save and share to stand with the Black community and raise awareness for the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill.

2020 was pivotal for racial discourse in the US, but after social mentions of Black Lives Matter (BLM) peaked in May of that year at over 8 million, they decreased by 91% a month later.

Public perception of BLM turned out to be a passing trend and could be considered to be merely performative virtue-signaling behavior, as seen in over 28 million little black squares posted to Instagram with no tangible action taken.

This decreased trend in public mindshare shows that while things have progressed, there’s more work to do around previously shared antiracist commitments to freedoms so they don’t gather dust, becoming a resolution not kept.

To reignite conversation with a predominantly White audience, we targeted July 4th, a day when freedoms are enthusiastically celebrated but on which people are nevertheless prone to unconscious bias. Because it is not everyone’s Fourth of July until it’s everyone’s Fourth of July.

In America there is no clearer display of unconscious bias than on July 4th, a day when many Americans celebrate their freedoms while forgetting the existence of those of others. So after a year of performative promises, that weekend offered the chance to refresh the White perspective by juxtaposing celebrations of White freedom with the reality of being Black in America.

This tension granted CCGF an opportunity to drive systemic change by fostering provocative, authentic, interracial dialogue.

To prompt a conscious awakening, we developed an emotional film that was released on social media to illustrate that we’re not truly free until we’re all free. To empower voices, we developed an Instagram lens over the course of our two-month creative development. The lens, which allowed users to plant a flag with audio that detailed the campaign purpose, safely provoked a two-way participation in what it means to be free in America.