#frederickdouglass — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #frederickdouglass, aggregated by home.social.
-
A quotation from Frederick Douglass
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New YorkMore about this quote: wist.info/douglass-frederick/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #frederickdouglass #savagery #perspective #civilrights #cruelty #dishonesty #enslavement #fourthofjuly #holiday #hypocrisy #independence #injustice #insincerity #liberty #pretense #slavery
-
People are asking me about the race problem.... I know of no race problem. The great problem that confronts the American people to-day is a national problem -- whether this great nation of ours is great enough to live up to its own convictions, carry out its own declaration of independence, and execute the provisions of its own constitution.
-- Frederick Douglass (1893)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #FrederickDouglass #Americans #Racism #USConstitution
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Morning #Mists #Fogbow #LakeSantaFe #Florida
-
A quotation from Frederick Douglass
What, am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood, and stained with pollution, is wrong? No! I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength, than such arguments would imply.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New YorkMore about this quote: wist.info/douglass-frederick/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #frederickdouglass #argument #brutality #debate #enslavement #injustice #obviousness #slave #slavery #wrong
-
Hollow Mockery: Douglass, Jefferson, and 250 Years of a Promise Unkept
Mike Cone
“Your 4th of July is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license . . . your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery.”
— Frederick Douglass (1852)These words still resonate today.
In the wake of our celebration of the 250th birthday of our independence, let us not forget the ugly truths in the birth and history of this nation. To wash over these truths, as our current administration is wont to do, is tantamount to erasing that part of our past which we should strive to learn from, and to better ourselves as a people, to truly become that nation where the words penned by Thomas Jefferson are not just hollow mockery, but true:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are the unalienable rights bestowed upon us. These rights are not to be infringed upon for any reason, whether it be race, color, ethnicity, religious beliefs or social status. For this to be true, we as a people need to understand and accept that indeed “ALL” men are created equal. In this regard, we have failed as a nation time and time again. There are numerous examples of our nation suppressing the civil liberties of the many throughout our history: chattel slavery, the Tulsa Race Massacre, forced dispossession of ancestral Native American lands, Selma, Alabama, Jim Crow laws, the Alien and Sedition Acts, Japanese internment, Kent State, the Patriot Act, just to name a few. Hell, even Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War.
My point in all this is we need to do better. It is morally important that we learn from our past and not ignore or erase it just because at times it can be ugly and messy. We need to continue to move forward, toward morality and virtue, because virtue will always prevail.
Our current president is unwilling in this regard.
President Trump is the converse of morality and virtue and continually seems to move us backward with his version of revisionist history, distorting, altering and even falsifying historical evidence to fit his agenda. He is forever suppressing or attempting to suppress the civil liberties of those who oppose him. He has actively supported and empowered local governments to ban and remove books from public institutions. He has removed or altered exhibits, plaques and monuments from our National Parks, exhibits he terms “inappropriately disparaging to Americans past or living.” These exhibits include the nation’s first executive mansion, which detailed the nine people enslaved by George Washington; the Bunker Hill Monument, to eliminate language he deemed contrary to founding principles; and locations highlighting Japanese American internment and Native American conflicts. He has sent federal troops into our cities in direct defiance of the Posse Comitatus Act. He has allowed his defense secretary, who some call a Christian White Nationalist, to deny high-ranking promotions to senior Army and Navy officers, the majority being women and minorities, and to intervene in a Navy one-star admiral promotion list, removing nine highly vetted officers. The final list of 22 nominees contained zero women and only two non-white officers. Finally, his immigration policies appear to be an obvious attempt to rid the country of Black and Brown people. This is just a small sample of Trump’s penchant for authoritarianism and what this author feels is a deep hatred and disdain for anyone other than his own race. Donald Trump is the ideological antithesis to the phrase “all men are created equal.”
With that said, I was having a conversation with my good friend Nick Allison, an Army combat veteran and fellow Chaos Section contributor, the other day and mentioned my feelings of anger and visceral disgust for our current administration, so much so that I could not find a reason to celebrate our 250 years of independence, particularly as a veteran. I’ll end with Nick’s response:
“You know what? I think we can always find a reason to celebrate, regardless of the current occupant in the Oval Office, because there are always things and ideas and people worth celebrating. This is still a great country with great people and a wonderfully unique experiment in constitutional representative freedom. It gets messy and sometimes runs off the rails, but that’s kind of the whole point of the experiment: we’re a nation of people governing ourselves, which means it’s on us to correct course when things go sideways. Most of human history has been kings, monarchs and strongmen who never had to answer to anybody. Making it 250 years as a self-correcting experiment, messy and beautiful and stupid and wonderful all at once, is reason enough to celebrate. Don’t let one egotistical, narcissistic old man who will be out of office in a couple years, dead within ten, take that away from you.”
Mike Cone is a Marine Corps infantry veteran who served as a mortarman and forward observer in Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines. “Hollow Mockery” is his first piece for The Chaos Section. He lives on Long Island with his wife Cynthia.
#250thAnniversary #AmericanHistory #authoritarianism #civilLiberties #FourthOfJuly #FrederickDouglass #IndependenceDay #JapaneseInternment #NativeAmericanHistory #PosseComitatusAct #racialEquality #revisionistHistory #trump #Veterans -
A quotation from Frederick Douglass
I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. — The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New YorkMore about this quote: wist.info/douglass-frederick/8…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #frederickdouglass #celebration #fourthofjuly #heritage #holiday #independenceday #inheritance #racism #slavery
-
People are asking me about the race problem.... I know of no race problem. The great problem that confronts the American people to-day is a national problem -- whether this great nation of ours is great enough to live up to its own convictions, carry out its own declaration of independence, and execute the provisions of its own constitution.
-- Frederick Douglass (1893)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #FrederickDouglass #Americans #Racism #USConstitution
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Panopainting #Flowers #Junkyard #Minnesota
-
On July 5th 1852, exactly 174 years ago today, Frederick Douglass gave a speech at Corinthian Hall here in #RochesterNY, at a gathering of the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society. His words were blunt and honest, pointing out the hypocrisy about the laudable ideals of liberty and justice promised in the Declaration of Independence. He forced his audience to confront the truth, that the high-minded assertion that "all men are created equal", was NOT actually being extended to all.
The speech is known under the title "What to the American Slave is Your Fourth of July?" It is well worth reading again now, on this July 5th.
Here's the complete text of the speech, as published in a pamphlet at the time:
https://archive.org/details/Douglass_July_Oration/page/n1/mode/2up
And here are some central excerpts from the speech, read by some of Douglass's descendants:
-
CW: Family, US Independence Day, enslavery
We live minutes away from a historic site that is the remnant of a massive plantation (as of 1860: 30,000 acres / 120 km2, almost 900 enslaved Black Americans; our home was almost certainly on the land).
The historic site is dedicated to education and remembrance. Each year, they do a reading of #FrederickDouglass 's "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
This was the first Fourth of July we felt Dragonlet was ready for this and Jalan took him. It was a lot, especially for an AudHD kid -- crowded, extremely hot, a speech that was full of language they are unaccustomed to. But a beginning.
-
#FrederickDouglass At a time like this, scorching irony not convincing argument is needed. Oh, had I, the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery steam of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. (...) What to the American slave is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.
#fourthofjuly -
History ~ July 5, 1852 – What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? … in memory
Lonnie Bunch, museum director, historian, lecturer, and author, is proud to present A Page from Our American Story, a regular on-line series for Museum supporters. It will showcase individuals and events in the African American experience, placing these stories in the context of a larger story — our American story. A Page From Our American Story On July 5, 1852 approximately 3.5 million African Americans were enslaved — roughly 14% of the total population of the United States. That […]https://beaseedforchange.org/2026/07/04/july-4-1852-what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july/
-
“What to the Slave is 4th of July?”:
James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic SpeechDemocracy Now! Youtube-channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0baE_CtU08
#July4th #frederickdouglass #democracynow -
If you want to hear the full text after watching these amazing young people, Democracy Now! has posted their annual YT video of the late James Earl Jones reading the full text, here:
-
I have always loved James Earl Jones' delivery of this speech, but gog, this one hits so hard: a few young Frederick Douglass' descendants read excerpts from his, "What to the slave is the 4th of July?" speech.
-
A quotation from Frederick Douglass
The 4th of July is the first great fact in your nation’s history — the very ring-bolt in the chain of your yet undeveloped destiny. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, prompt you to celebrate and to hold it in perpetual remembrance. I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1852-07-05), “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Rochester, New YorkMore about this quote: wist.info/douglass-frederick/2…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #frederickdouglass #America #DeclarationofIndependence #fourthofjuly #independenceday #liberty #patriotism
-
NOW ON VERDANT SQUARE RADIO ==
NOW PLAYING == Democracy Now! 7/3/26: “What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”: James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic Speechhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6voBttasmk#news #war #peace #uspol #geopolitics #antiwar #journalism #elections #democracynow #AmyGoodman #FrederickDouglass #FourthOfJuly #JamesEarlJones #history #BoycottFourthOfJuly #vsn #radio #SupportIndependentMedia https://mastodon.social/@VerdantSquareRadio/116856635500107591
-
Photography Was Frederick Douglass’ Most Powerful Tool for Abolition https://petapixel.com/2026/06/29/photography-was-frederick-douglass-most-powerful-tool-for-abolition/ #nationalportraitgallery #frederickdouglass #smithsonian #Spotlight #abolition #ambrotype #portrait #Culture #cbsnews #history #News
-
“The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle... If there is no struggle there is no progress.” - #FrederickDouglass
-
📖 Juneteenth Read: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Born into slavery, Douglass taught himself to read and wrote this searing firsthand account of his journey to freedom. Published in 1845, it became a powerful voice in the abolitionist movement and remains essential American literature.
Read for free in BookShelves:
https://lk0.eu/bks19m#Bookstodon #FediReads #FreeBooks #Classics #BookShelves #Juneteenth #FrederickDouglass #literature
-
Obama’s former speechwriter Ben Rhodes examines America through its 15 most defining speeches https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/may/28/ben-rhodes-all-we-say-book #Books #ObamaAdministration #FrederickDouglass #AbrahamLincoln #FranklinDRoosevelt #MartinLutherKing #JohnFKennedy #RonaldReagan #DonaldTrump #PoliticsBooks #Culture #History #TrumpAdministration #UsPolitics
-
People are asking me about the race problem.... I know of no race problem. The great problem that confronts the American people to-day is a national problem -- whether this great nation of ours is great enough to live up to its own convictions, carry out its own declaration of independence, and execute the provisions of its own constitution.
-- Frederick Douglass (1893)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #FrederickDouglass #Americans #Racism #USConstitution
-
“Chic”
Frederick Douglass’ first pocket watch. Douglass wrote that, for a formerly enslaved man, it was more than just a fashionable item — it was a powerful sign that he was free and that his time was now his own.
More in the alt text.
#photography #history #blackhistory #frederickdouglass #watch #watches #museum #metmuseum
-
#RochesterNY #Rochester #NewYork is a minor city in the #USA (with a rich history: #SusanBAnthony, #FrederickDouglass, #Kodak, #Xerox, etc)
Here I was today in only an outlying suburb, of only a minor city, and the #NoKings turn out was huge
Selected #posters I captured today in the below thread. I had to cap it at 25 posts:
-
House renames press gallery after Frederick Douglass in recognition of Black history | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/frederick-douglass-black-history-month-5f4f8af024bdf623d0e7f64339267fef
#news #congress #BlackHistoryMonth #history #vsn #SupportIndependentMedia #FrederickDouglass
-
@527may, Black Royalty, shared the text and video below.
This is our [Black History]. I love this.👊🏾😎👊🏾❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥💯💯💯💯
#blackwomen #92percent #blackhistory #blackheroes #blacksheroes #frederickdouglass #harriettubman #mariananderson #thurgoodmarshall #katherinejohnson #shirleychisholm #victorglover #obama #jackierobinson #blackicons #blackmastodon
-
Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass - February 14, 1818
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
#BlackHistoryMonth #FrederickDouglass #democracy #slavery #history #UnitedStates
-
Truth
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.
~ Frederick Douglassslip:4a663.
#Courage #FrederickDouglass #Quotes -
Personal independence is a virtue
The lesson taught at this point by human experience is simply this, that the man who will get up will be helped up; and the man who will not get up will be allowed to stay down. Personal independence is a virtue and it is the soul out of which comes the sturdiest manhood. But there can be no independence without a large share of self-dependence, and this virtue cannot be bestowed. It must be developed from within.
~ Frederick Douglassslip:4a16.
#FrederickDouglass #ManhoodAndHonor #Quotes