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


  • State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    State Repression Targets the Stop Cop City Movement
    07 Jun 2023
    Cop City is an effort to ensure that state violence will bring the most draconian methods to bear against Black people. State violence is also being used proactively, in an effort to end opposition…
  • COMMENT: Story-telling in an African Village, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1966
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    COMMENT: Story-telling in an African Village, Ama Ata Aidoo, 1966
    07 Jun 2023
    Remembering the anti-imperialist and Pan-Africanist politics of the late Ghanaian writer, Ama Ata Aidoo.           
  • Is the UAE in Control in Somalia?
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Is the UAE in Control in Somalia?
    07 Jun 2023
    Many Somalis think that the United Arab Emirates is now as much or more in charge in Somalia than the Somali government.
  • Another June 1
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Another June 1
    07 Jun 2023
    Another June 1
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Mukul Sharma
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Mukul Sharma
    07 Jun 2023
    This week’s featured scholar is Mukul Sharma. Sharma is Professor of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University. His article is “Caste, Environment Justice, and Intersectionality of Dalit–Black…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us