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
  • omnibus

"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


  • Cheikh Anta Diop
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Africa, China, and the U.S., Cheikh Anta Diop, 1965
    05 Feb 2025
    Cheikh Anta Diop’s anti-imperialist Pan-African socialism.
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Kagame Did Not Invade DRC to Save Tutsis
    05 Feb 2025
    Rwandan President Paul Kagame sends troops into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to seize territory and resources, not to save Congolese Tutsis. Rwandan Genocide survivor and human rights…
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    The Perfect US Puppet Narco State: CIA and State Department Control Over Ecuador
    05 Feb 2025
    Ecuador was once a safe country. However, U.S. interference, the rise of neoliberal economic policies, the dollarization of its currency, and enhanced state repression have combined to worsen the…
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    DEI in the sky
    05 Feb 2025
    "DEI in the Sky" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Jon Jeter
    Across the Country, Black Voters Show Signs of Abandoning Black Mayors Who Have Abandoned Them
    05 Feb 2025
    The adage that "black faces in high places won't help us" still rings true when you look at Black mayors like Karen Bass, Eric Adams, and Lori Lightfoot. Residents of their respective cities have…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us