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
03 Jul 2024
🖨️ Print Article

Black Agenda Radio · "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" read by Ossie Davis
As we grow closer to the Fourth of July, BAR once again shares this piece - a reading of "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" read by Ozzie 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
Frederick Douglass
July 4th

Related Podcasts

Gerald Horne
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Gerald Horne Discusses His Book "The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800 - 1865"
27 June 2025
Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J.
Black Agenda Radio
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio March 7, 2025
07 March 2025
In this week’s segment we discuss the continued genocide in Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Rikers Island
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Rikers Island, Slave Catching, and the Modern Carceral State
07 March 2025
Darren Mack is co-founder and co-director of Freedom Agenda, an organization devoted to d

More Stories


  • Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute? Or, rotten Orchard called Capitalist State Machine?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Tennessee’s Tonton Macoute? Or, rotten Orchard called Capitalist State Machine?
    01 Feb 2023
                                                      &nbs
  •  BAR Book Forum: J.T. Roane’s Book, “Dark Agoras”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: J.T. Roane’s Book, “Dark Agoras”
    01 Feb 2023
    This week’s featured author is J.T. Roane. His book is Dark Agoras: Insurgent Black Social Life and the Politics of Place.
  • BAR Book Forum: Miss Major and Toshio Meronek’s “Miss Major Speaks”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Miss Major and Toshio Meronek’s “Miss Major Speaks”
    01 Feb 2023
    This week’s featured authors are Miss Major and Toshio Meronek. Their book is Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Legacy of a Black Trans Revolutionary.
  • Black University, White Power:  Howard University Covers for US Imperialism
    Erica Caines
    Black University, White Power: Howard University Covers for US Imperialism
    01 Feb 2023
    The announcement of a $90 million Air Force contract making Howard University a University Affiliated Research Center is a first for an HBCU. Now Howard has joined other universities in creating…
  • Answering to Martin Sostre’s Ghost
    Stephen Wilson
    Answering to Martin Sostre’s Ghost
    01 Feb 2023
    Martin Sostre (1923-2015) was a political prisoner, jailhouse lawyer, and Black anarchist of Puerto Rican descent. After being released from prison, he opened a radical Afro-Asian Book Shop in…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us