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


  • Blacks Pay High Price for Bad Healthcare
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Blacks Pay High Price for Bad Healthcare
    16 Sep 2019
    Dr Leslie Hinkson, author of “Subprime Health: Debt and Race in US Medicine,” said Black people “get bad care, and that not only leads to further undermining of their health,
  • Police Killings of Blacks Explode in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Police Killings of Blacks Explode in Bolsonaro’s Brazil
    16 Sep 2019
    In just three months, police in Rio de Janeiro killed 434 people, most of them young Black men. Joao Costa Vargas, professor of anthropology at the University of California at
  • Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    Austerity Means Endless Desperation for Working People
    12 Sep 2019
  • What Does Bolton’s Ouster Mean to Victims of US Imperial Aggression?
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    What Does Bolton’s Ouster Mean to Victims of US Imperial Aggression?
    12 Sep 2019
    John Bolton, the hired gun who specializes in warmongering for Republican presidents, has legions of soul mates among Russia-obsessed Democrats.
  • Freedom Rider: Hollywood Propaganda Attack on Venezuela 
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Hollywood Propaganda Attack on Venezuela 
    11 Sep 2019
    The US is starving and killing Venezuelans in real life and, for your family’s viewing pleasure, on television screens.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us