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


  • Brennan Center
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Non-Citizen Voting: A Non-Existent Problem
    19 Apr 2024
    We're joined by Andrew Garber, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, to discuss the mythology surrounding non-citizen voting.
  • RBN Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Niger and U.S. Africa Policy
    19 Apr 2024
    Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest on the Revolutionary Blackout Network and discussed Niger’s demand that the U.S. military leave that country. We present excerpts of that conversation with co-…
  • Friends of Socialist China
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Lessons from China
    17 Apr 2024
    Socialist China is a powerful economic and diplomatic rival to the United States. Its success must be studied so that liberation may be possible and to prevent the declining U.S. from doing even more…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    TESTIMONY: How the Hereros Were Exterminated, 1918
    17 Apr 2024
    The eyewitness testimonies of Germany’s brutal attempted extermination of the Herero and Namaqua people remind us that genocide is the norm of European “civilization.”
  • UNAC Conference flyer
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Opening Remarks from Ajamu Baraka at the 2024 UNAC Conference
    17 Apr 2024
    Ajamu Baraka delivered this speech at the opening of the 2024 United National Antiwar Coalition Conference.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us