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


  • US “Founders” Were Not Liberators
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    US “Founders” Were Not Liberators
    03 Feb 2020
    The founders of the United States intended to create a nation dominated by rich white men, and only the struggles of the oppressed have challenged these structures of power, said Dr Ge
  • Liberation Through Reading founder Erica Caines has distributed over 1,500 books to children in several cities. “I believe in our ability to educate our own children,” said Caines, who wants to raise a generation of revolutionaries. Reading is necessary to foster “internationalism, an understanding of how we’re connected in our own liberation struggles,” she said.
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Educational Mission: Raising Revolutionaries
    03 Feb 2020
    Liberation Through Reading founder Erica Caines has distributed over 1,500 books to children in several cities.
  • “Progressive” Dems Ought to Divorce the Duopoly, Not Badger Greens
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    “Progressive” Dems Ought to Divorce the Duopoly, Not Badger Greens
    30 Jan 2020
    The signers reveal themselves to be as fearful for the fate of the duopoly as the corporate shills they claim to oppose.
  • Freedom Rider: Negroes for Bloomberg
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Negroes for Bloomberg
    29 Jan 2020
    Chicago’s Bobby Rush and San Francisco’s London Breed have sold themselves to super-plutocrat Michael Bloomberg, the worst stop-and-frisker in history.
  • Remember the Influence of Socialism on Martin Luther King Jr’s Legacy.
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    Remember the Influence of Socialism on Martin Luther King Jr’s Legacy.
    29 Jan 2020
    King believed humanity could achieve a “higher synthesis” that rose above the social relations of capitalism and communism.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us