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


  • A Not So Happy New Year: Tears Flow from the War Hawks Over the Political Crisis of US imperialism
    Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    A Not So Happy New Year: Tears Flow from the War Hawks Over the Political Crisis of US imperialism
    09 Jan 2019
    The US war machine can no longer provide its corporate masters the neo-colonial stability they need to reap long-term gain from the imperial order.
  • By the Best Definition, the Poverty Rate Should Be Tripled
    Paul Buchheit
    By the Best Definition, the Poverty Rate Should Be Tripled
    09 Jan 2019
    If measured by 1960s yardsticks, today’s US poverty rates are three times higher than officially recognized.
  • Angela Davis “Stunned” at Award Revocation, But Still Coming to Birmingham
    Roy S. Johnson
    Angela Davis “Stunned” at Award Revocation, But Still Coming to Birmingham
    09 Jan 2019
    Davis joins a long list of scholars and activists who have been censored in efforts to silence debate on Israeli apartheid.
  • BAR Abolition Spotlight: "Mia Mingus”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Abolition Spotlight Editor
    BAR Abolition Spotlight: "Mia Mingus”
    09 Jan 2019
    Prison abolition and reform are compatible “when reform is done in service of abolition." “State violence and intimate violence are deeply connected.”
  • BAR Book Forum: Eunsong Kim’s “gospel of regicide”and Juno Salazar Parreñas’ “Decolonizing Extinction”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Eunsong Kim’s “gospel of regicide”and Juno Salazar Parreñas’ “Decolonizing Extinction”
    09 Jan 2019
    Our authors contemplate the “antiblack horizon” in Asian American imaginaries, and orangutans’ relationship to colonialism and white supremacy.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us