The whole country is preparing to kick off U.S. 250th Anniversary celebrations this coming 4th of July.
Hawaiʻi is no exception, but while most festivities are focusing on the past 250 years of America’s history, one event is turning towards the next 250 years of the country's future.
Sergio J. Alcubilla III is the Director of Community Engagement at the ACLU of Hawaiʻi, and he and legal intern Erin Waugh-Sakakini spoke to HPR about Next250, a national campaign that strives towards an inclusive and equitable future for America.
“It's a nationwide multi year effort, basically to show this country that there's more that unites us than that divides us,” Alcubilla said.
He explained the future-focused nature of the campaign to HPR. “If we look at the nation's history, 250 years ago it was a lot different, right? Certain people couldn't vote, certain people weren't even free; just the whole country was different. And now here we are, 250 years later, what can we reimagine the next 250 years of this country should look like?”
The Next250 campaign will be organizing a national mobilization to take place in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, July 27th.
Locally, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi will be organizing local programming from July 18 to August 1 at the Hawaiʻi State Library, including a special art exhibition.
More information about the Next250 campaign can be found on their website.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 23, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
