"What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?": James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass's Historic Speech

[Uncle Joe]

In a Democracy Now! tradition, we mark July Fourth with the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” He was addressing the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. The late actor James Earl Jones read the historic address during a performance of Voices of a People’s History of the United States, which was co-edited by Howard Zinn.

[Deuxcents]

1. Powerful then. Powerful now. Would have loved to have been there for the reactions