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


  • standoff at the Venezulean embassy
    Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
    Embassy crawlers, kidnappers, Butchers and Boss Tweet…
    15 May 2019
    “The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of t
  • Freedom Rider: U.S. Wages War Against the World
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: U.S. Wages War Against the World
    15 May 2019
      The U.S. “troika of tyranny,” Trump, Bolton and Pompeo, are making things up as they go along, seeking to bend the planet to their lawless will.
  • Book Review: The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    Book Review: The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood
    15 May 2019
    The vulnerability of Black men and boys in the U.S.
  • 2020 Elections: Its Militarism and the Military Budget Stupid!
    Ajamu Baraka , BAR editor and columnist
    2020 Elections: Its Militarism and the Military Budget Stupid!
    15 May 2019
    The Trump military budget is more than a third higher than five years ago, while cutting non-defense programs by 9 percent– but the corporate media ignore the issue and Democratic candidates a
  • Cornel West Discusses Barriers to Black Truth-Telling in America
    Cornel West and Deborah Chasman
    Cornel West Discusses Barriers to Black Truth-Telling in America
    15 May 2019
    Establishment publishing houses are a lot more “colorful” than they used to be, but that doesn’t mean they care about the poor and imprisoned, says the nation’s most prominent Black intellectual.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us