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


  • Organizers Are Calling on Congress to Close Loophole That Enables Prison Slavery
    Tamar Sarai Davis
    Organizers Are Calling on Congress to Close Loophole That Enables Prison Slavery
    08 Jul 2021
    The ‘slavery clause’ made the passage of restrictions targeting Black people like the Black Codes possible as well as convict leasing of the late 19th century.
  • Defending Our Sovereignty: US Military Bases in Africa and the Future of African Union
    by the Socialist Movement of Ghana’s Research Group
    Defending Our Sovereignty: US Military Bases in Africa and the Future of African Union
    08 Jul 2021
    Neither the Organization of African Unity nor the African Union have been able to realize the two most important principles of pan-Africanism: political unity and territorial sovereignty.
  • BAR Book Forum: Jennifer Goett’s Book, “Black Autonomy”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Jennifer Goett’s Book, “Black Autonomy”
    08 Jul 2021
    The author examines postwar violence through the activism of Afro-Nicaraguan women and men from the Caribbean coast of the country.
  • BAR Book Forum: Adam Elliott-Cooper’s “Black Resistance to British Policing”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Adam Elliott-Cooper’s “Black Resistance to British Policing”
    08 Jul 2021
    Historically, most of Britain’s policing hasn’t taken place on the British mainland – it has taken place in its colonies.
  • Historian Michael Honey Recalls Martin Luther King’s Message of Economic Justice In New Book, “To The Promised Land”
    Peter Kelley
    Historian Michael Honey Recalls Martin Luther King’s Message of Economic Justice In New Book, “To The Promised Land”
    08 Jul 2021
    King said the best anti-poverty program is a union, where you can fight for your own agenda — somebody doesn’t have to hand it to you.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us