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

Date:

July 5, 2025

In the summer of 2020, the U.S. commemorated Independence Day amid nationwide protests for racial justice and systemic reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s death. That June, NPR asked five young descendants of Frederick Douglass to read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. It’s a powerful, historical text that reminds us of the ongoing work of liberation.

FEATURING (alphabetically) 20-year-old Douglass Washington Morris II, 15-year-old Isidore Dharma Douglass Skinner, 12-year-old Zoë Douglass Skinner, 19-year-old Alexa Anne Watson, and 17-year-old Haley Rose Watson

You can read the full text of “What To The Slave Is The Fourth of July?” here.

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AJ Woodson

AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief and co-owner of Black Westchester, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Rap Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others. Follow me at Blue Sky https://bsky.app/profile/mrajwoodson.bsky.social and Spoutible https://spoutible.com/MrAJWoodson