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


  • Nicholas Mwangi
    Police tear gas and arrest protesters at France-Africa counter summit in Nairobi
    20 May 2026
    Organizers, activists, intellectuals, and international delegates were arrested in Nairobi during an anti-imperialist protest against the France–Africa Summit, which critics have described as an…
  • Gary Wilson
    From Louisiana to Havana: Law as a weapon against Black power and liberation
    20 May 2026
    The same legal machinery that once protected Jim Crow segregation has found a new way to strip Black voters of political power without touching the right to cast a ballot.
  • Orinoco Tribune
    Venezuela: Diosdado Cabello and Delcy Rodríguez Justify Controversial Alex Saab Deportation Amid Growing Backlash
    20 May 2026
    Delcy Rodríguez insists that every decision made since January 3 serves to benefit Venezuela. The deportation of Alex Saab to the U.S. discredits that claim.
  • Ahmed Kaballo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ahmed Kaballo on the France Africa Summit
    15 May 2026
    Margaret Kimberley of Black Agenda Report speaks to Ahmed Kaballo, founder of Nairobi-based Sovereign Media, about the Africa Forward summit with France, the Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism…
  • PSAI
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team Reports from the Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism
    15 May 2026
    The Black Alliance for Peace was invited to send a delegation to the Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism (PASAI) in Kenya, a counter-summit to the imperialist Africa Forward convening. Africa…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us