Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

"What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" read by Ossie Davis
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
01 Jul 2022
🖨️ Print Article

Black Agenda Radio · "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" read by Ossie Davis

On July 5, 1852 Frederick Douglass was asked to speak on the topic of the nation’s independence celebration. Now known as "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?", the speech was a stinging indictment of slavery in the U.S., but the words are still relevant to Black people 170 years later. The late Ossie Davis read excerpts from Douglass’s remarks.

Slavery in U.S.
Frederick Douglass

Related Podcasts

Frederick Douglass
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
"What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" read by Ossie Davis
03 July 2024
As we grow closer to the Fourth of July, BAR once again shares
Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy
03 March 2023
Black Agenda Radio July 1, 2022
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio July 1, 2022
01 July 2022
We discuss reproductive justice in the wake of the supreme court ruling which overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.

More Stories


  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    EDITORIAL: Iran, Third World People and U.S. Foreign Policy, Palestine Perspectives, 1979
    04 Mar 2026
    “The events in Iran are a symptom—of a 20th century disease called imperialism.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    US and Israel Aid Sudan by Attacking Iran
    04 Mar 2026
    The US and Israel’s wholly unprovoked attack on the sovereign nation of Iran has given Sudan a hand in their own battle for sovereignty.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    State of The Epstein Class’s Union
    04 Mar 2026
    "State of The Epstein Class’s Union" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    From Proclamation to Provocation: How Marco Rubio Signaled a New Era of Western Colonial Aggression
    04 Mar 2026
    Marco Rubio's Munich speech was a declaration of war wrapped in nostalgia for the old white "supremacist" world order.
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran
    04 Mar 2026
    The U.S. and Israel are rogue states whose existence threatens international peace and security.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us