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


  • Every Murdered Black Person Deserves Protest
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Every Murdered Black Person Deserves Protest
    10 Apr 2018
    “We should hear about these killings every day, because they happen every day,” said Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior colu
  • land day massacre
    Bruce A. Dixon , BAR managing editor
    Another MLK Anniversary, Another Gaza Massacre Ignored by the Black Political Class
    06 Apr 2018
    "...you will search in vain for a statement condemning this or the previous Israeli massacres in Gaza from the Congressional Black Caucus or for the most part, its individual members...
  • MLK: A Snap Shot in Time
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    MLK: A Snap Shot in Time
    05 Apr 2018
    “There is no reason to believe that Dr. King would have abandoned his pro-peace (and “democratic socialist”) principles if he were alive today.”
  • ABC trustees
    Attala Nasir
    Corruption, Complacency, Complicity Lead at Arkansas Baptist College
    05 Apr 2018
    Little Rock's Arkansas Baptist College numbers among its leaders corrupt Clinton cronies, money launderers, possible former FBI informants and others who sell prisoners' blood, grossly
  • stephon's grandmother
    Raymond Nat Turner , BAR poet-in-residence
    Gunmen
    04 Apr 2018
    Hm, March 18th… my Mother’s birthday… I heard lead bees stung the young man’s Back, severed vertebrae, collapsed his lung, left his arm bits of bone…on a ruby red river
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us