‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants of Frederick Douglass Read his Famous Speech

The U.S. celebrates this Independence Day amid nationwide protests and calls for systemic reforms. In this short film, five young descendants of Frederick Douglass read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" which asks all of us to consider America's long history of denying equal rights to Black Americans.

FEATURING (alphabetically)
Douglass Washington Morris II, 20 (he/him)
Isidore Dharma Douglass Skinner, 15 (they/their)
Zoë Douglass Skinner, 12 (she/her)
Alexa Anne Watson, 19 (she/her)
Haley Rose Watson, 17 (she/her)

You can read the full text of “What To The Slave Is The Fourth of July?” here:
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/l...

This video was inspired by Jennifer Crandall's documentary project "Whitman, Alabama". Visit http://whitmanalabama.com/.