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


  • Freedom Rider: Yaser Murtaja and Marie Colvin
    Margaret Kimberley , BAR editor and senior columnist
    Freedom Rider: Yaser Murtaja and Marie Colvin
    11 Apr 2018
    “The corporate media share in the culpability.”
  • Danny Haiphong , BAR contributor
    The Democratic “Deep State” Takeover and the Moribund State of American Politics
    11 Apr 2018
    “Democrats make gun violence in America the primary midterm election issue because the passage of single payer healthcare, a scale back of the military budget, or a reduction in poverty
  • more
    Ann Garrison , BAR contributor
    The Crime That Turned Central Africa Into a Vast Killing Ground
    11 Apr 2018
    “Kagame in fact triggered the massacres and has ever since blackmailed the rest of the world over its failure to stop them—even though he himself threatened to
  • Demand the United States Withdraw Its Forces From Syria and Respect International Law
    Ajamu Baraka , BAR editor and columnist
    Demand the United States Withdraw Its Forces From Syria and Respect International Law
    11 Apr 2018
    “The Black Alliance for Peace says the only institution with the right and power to protect the peace and resolve international conflict is the United Nations.
  • Gangster “Democracies”
    Dr. Kweli Nzito
    Gangster “Democracies”
    11 Apr 2018
    “It is African involuntary aid that continues to keep the economies of many former European colonies afloat.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us