August 8, 2025 - W. E. (Bill) Wynne has posted the first of a year-long, 13 part series of essays based on the key principles of the Declaration of Independence on his website. Read it here. The Rochester, N.Y., area author of Understanding and Combating Racism: My Path from Oblivious American to Evolving Activist (PathBinder 2021) wrote his essays through the collective lenses of three famous Black icons: Frederick Douglass, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, and poet Langston Hughes.

An essay a month will be posted approximately the first of each month and conclude next 4th of July, the 250th anniversary of the birth of our country and the Declaration of Independence. There will also be a concluding essay on how these icons might envision the Declaration being utilized to move forward through the next 250 years.

The inspiration for this series came to me from three local, Black female friends, Judy Toyer, Gaynelle Wethers, and Rev. Marilyn Cunningham. Judy provided the initial "nudge" as she did four years ago regarding Understanding and Combating Racism.