“America is the greatest country in the world.” This is a phrase you’ll often hear from (some) Americans, even as they go on to explain their nation’s most heinous deeds. Of course, Americans are not the only group of people who participate in this kind of patriotic parroting: all imperialist nations repeat similar mantras until they’re deeply embedded in the national psyche and accepted without question. But with the US’s global dominance, this sentiment is one the rest of the world knows all too well.
However, within the US, this myth of greatness has long been challenged by marginalised people, who are consistently denied access to the very freedoms and opportunities the country claims to offer. Since Donald Trump’s presidency in 2016, the idea of American exceptionalism has come under even greater scrutiny. While vowing to “make America great again” – a country they already claim is the best in the world – the Trump administration continues to push brutal immigration policies that tear families apart. With the recent passing of his so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”, Trump has increased funding to ICE to the point that it will soon surpass the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Prisons, and others combined, laying the groundwork for what he calls the “largest mass deportation effort in US history.” The bill also slashes $1 trillion from federal health programmes, potentially stripping nearly 12 million low-income Americans of health insurance by 2034, and so much more.
Combine this with the US’s ongoing support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and many Americans find themselves questioning how to mark July 4, the annual holiday celebrating independence from British rule and the founding of the United States.
“For those not looking to celebrate the red, white and blue, this is the party for you – this fundraver is for the lovers and freedom seekers,” read the description of the ‘Fuck the 4th Fundraver,’ organised by photographer, creative and Bushwick native Maxwell Vice. In a week where policy after policy targeted migrant and Indigenous communities, it’s easy to feel powerless, but Vice saw the holiday as an opportunity to reclaim space through nightlife and mutual aid. “This trend of using nightlife to fundraise has been engraved in club culture for decades,” they tell Dazed. “But after the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, more NYC clubs like Rash have opened their doors for the community to organise and raise funds. This is a way we can use our art to directly support those in need.”
The party raised money for NYC Migrant Solidarity, an anti-authoritarian collective building networks of community care and mutual aid for migrants. With DJ sets from Blasia, Jjjesuschristsuperstarrr, D-Sire and more, the rave, as Vice put it, “gave a middle finger to a country we don’t support but are forced to navigate.”