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


  • Pan-African Community Action
    Occupation Forces Upheld by Federal Judiciary Demonstrates DC’s Need for Community Control
    14 Jan 2026
    While politicians debate legal procedure, residents of Washington DC live under a sustained military deployment, exposing how both federal and local power collaborate against them.
  • Hanna Eid
    Hyperscale Data Centers and the Production of Waste
    14 Jan 2026
    The A.I. revolution has a hidden cost. Its massive data centers create huge amounts of waste and decimate labor and humanity.
  • Willie Mack
    Trump 2.0: A dark mirror into our past
    14 Jan 2026
    The Trump 2.0 administration is demonstrating the logical endpoint of a state project built on racial oppression. Trump’s actions show continuity with past history.
  • Vijay Prashad , Carlos Ron
    The Current Situation in Venezuela: A Government in Charge, a People Resilient
    14 Jan 2026
    While the U.S. works to manufacture chaos and regime change, the Venezuelan government holds the line, revealing the gap between Washington's narratives and the realities on the ground.
  • Adam Mahoney
    After a White Town Rejected a Data Center, Developers Targeted a Black Area
    14 Jan 2026
    Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are “overwhelmingly” non-white.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us