Required reading today and everyday.

thenation.com
“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass
This is the perfect time to read the entirety of Frederick Douglass’s famous speech, and not merely because of the date on the calendar.

JULY 4, 2023

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass

This is the perfect time to read the entirety of Frederick Douglass’s famous speech, and not merely because of the date on the calendar.
DAVE ZIRIN

{snip}

What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

by FREDERICK DOUGLASS
July 5, 1852

Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. I trust, however, that mine will not be so considered. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing on the present occasion.

{snip}