Attorney General Andrea Campbell will participate in the community reading of  Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on July 2 at Swampscott’s Town Hall Lawn.

The free event is sponsored by the towns of Swampscott and Nahant, along with Swampscott Unites Respects Embraces (S.U.R.E.) Diversity and the Swampscott Recreation Department, with support from grants provided by Mass Humanities and the Mass Cultural Council. Organizers say the event is intended to help participants connect Douglass’ legacy to their community and the nation’s democratic ideals.

In the speech, Douglass highlighted the contradiction of celebrating freedom while slavery persisted, criticizing the gap between America’s ideals of liberty and the oppression of Black people.

“As we commemorate 250 years of America’s independence, Frederick Douglass’s words in ‘What to the Slave is the 4th of July’ remind us that our nation’s story cannot be told without a deep understanding of Black history,” Campbell told the Swampscott Tides.

The speech has been divided into 60 sections, and S.U.R.E. Diversity is encouraging participants to read in teams this year to make room for more readers. There will be a discussion following the reading as well.

Campbell is scheduled to read sections one and two of the speech, according to Jim Walsh, former chair of the Nahant Democratic Town Committee.

“Participating in this reading is an opportunity to honor the generations of Black Americans whose courage and resilience helped move our country closer to its promise of justice and equality for all,” Campbell said.

Douglass was an abolitionist, author, orator and statesman. After escaping slavery in 1838, Douglass became a nationally recognized abolitionist leader in Massachusetts and New York and joined the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

Douglass arrived in Lynn — then encompassing present-day Swampscott — in 1841 at age 23 and lived there for six years, during which he wrote “The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.” Because some doubted he had ever been enslaved — citing his manners and his abilities as a reader, writer and orator — Douglass wrote the autobiography that would become one of the most influential slave narratives in American history.

The event will run from 4 to 7 p.m. on July 2 and will feature free ice cream, with food available for purchase from on-site vendors. The Lynn Museum has also donated passes for attendees to visit its Frederick Douglass exhibit.

To sign up to read, visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044CA9AD28ABFFC34-64088572-frederick#/.