#Fredrick Douglass

[ausetkmt]

On this day in 1838, Frederick Douglass escaped to freedom and found his calling as a leading voice in the abolitionist movement. Douglass escaped slavery by boarding a train to Havre de Grace, Maryland.

He was dressed in a sailor's uniform, provided to him by Anna Murray, (he married her 12 days later, she was a free Black woman in Baltimore) she also gave him part of her savings to cover his travel costs, and carried identification papers which he had obtained from a free black seaman. He crossed the Susquehanna River by ferry at Havre de Grace, then continued by train to Wilmington, Delaware.

From there he went by steamboat to "Quaker City" (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and continued to the safe house of abolitionist David Ruggles in New York; the whole journey took less than 24 hours. Frederick Douglass later wrote of his arrival in New York: "I have often been asked, how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer.

A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the 'quick round of blood,' I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe.

In a letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I said: 'I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions.' Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil."

Frederick Douglass first tried to escape from Freeland, who had hired him out from his owner Colonel Lloyd, but was unsuccessful. In 1836, he tried to escape from his new owner Covey, but failed again. In 1837, Douglass met and fell in love with Anna Murray, her freedom strengthened his belief in the possibility of his own.

Once he had arrived, he sent for Murray to follow him to New York; she arrived with the necessary basics for them to set up home. They were married on September 15, 1838, by a black Presbyterian minister eleven days after his arrival in New York.

[mimi-0007]

[futurebird]

After recovering from time lag I give Fredrick Douglas an iPad & show him how to use the wikipedia so he can catch up.

From the next room I hear him laughing as he gets up to speed. Over dinner I ask what impressed him most.

"May things. So much progress, why just as you called I saw a photo of the Supreme Court of these United States and on it a black man, like me! Imagine!"

He must have noticed something dark in my expression.

"Oh no. Is he just a clerk?"

"No…somehow it's worse."

[protoslacker]

In My Bondage and My Freedom, Douglass recalled his last meeting with his mother, where she presented him with a cake. “The ‘sweet cake’ my mother gave me was in the shape of a heart, with a rich, dark ring glazed upon the edge of it. I was victorious, and well off for the moment; prouder, on my mother’s knee, than a king upon his throne,” he wrote. Preston said Douglass later may have speculated that his birthday was somehow connected to Valentine’s Day.

Scott Bomboy in Constitution Daily blog. The story behind the Frederick Douglass birthday celebration

[3rdeyeblaque]

On February 14th, we venerate Elevated Ancestor Fredrick Douglass on his 206th birthday  [observed]

A prolific writer, internationally acclaimed orator, influential abolitionist, federal statesman, & one of many conductors on the Underground Railroad, we celebrate Fredrick Douglass for his grit & relentless courage that led him to becoming a resounding voice for those determined to see an end to the Maafa.

Born enslaved to an African woman on a distant plantation along the shores of Maryland, Douglass's formative years were spent under the lash of whips, freezing cold, & starvation. At the age of 8, he was hired out as a body slave in Baltimore City - this is where he first realized the connection between literacy & freedom. Over the next several years, his pursuit of freedom & self education drove him to rebellion by educating others enslaved & plotting his escape. After his first (of many) failed attempts, he encountered a Rootworker named Sandy in the woods surrounding the infamous Covey farm that he was loaned out to; Sandy instructed him to carry a specific root on his right side every day to protect him & escape from Mr. Covey aka "the slave breaker". And though he'd see more failure than success in escaping his slave owner, the infamous Mr.Covey never laid hands on him again.

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." - Fredrick Douglass

We pour libations & give extra 💐 to Fredrick Douglass on this day. May he be a beacon & a blueprint for those of sharp mind rebellious spirit in the pursuit of sovereignty and true freedom.

Offering suggestions: reading/sharing his literary works, libations of water, & high john root.

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

[lostbetweenthepages]

Fredrick Douglass & daughter, Annie

If anyone is able to donate, Southern University is looking for funders to preserve a 165-year old photograph of Fredrick Douglass and his daughter, Annie. https://www.nedcc.org/funding/crowdfunding-for-preservation Read more at the NEDCC site

[jccheapalier]

Some Blacks Never Wanted To Fix The Problems: From Booker T. Washington

[irishgop]

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Exploring NYC: The Northern End of Central Park, Part 1 (February 2023)

Featuring:

The Frederick Douglass Memorial

The Loch

The Huddlestone Arch (at least what it looks like when it's not closed!)

Part of The Harlem Meer that was closed for construction :(

[kemetic-dreams]

Frederick Douglass, a former slave, an abolitionist and author, wrote in his autobiography that he sought spiritual assistance from an enslaved conjurer named Sandy Jenkins. Sandy told Douglass to follow him into the woods where they found a root that Sandy told Douglass to carry in his right pocket to prevent any European man from whipping him. Douglass carried the root on his right side instructed by Sandy and hoped the root would work when he returned to the plantation. The cruel slave-breaker Mr. Covey told Douglass to do some work, but as Mr. Covey approached Douglass, Douglass had the strength and courage to resist Mr. Covey and defeated him after they fought.

Covey never bothered Douglass again. In his autobiography, Douglass believed the root given to him by Sandy prevented him from being whipped by Mr. Covey. Conjure for African Americans is a form of resistance against white supremacy. African American conjurers were seen as a threat by European Americans because slaves went to free and enslaved conjurers to receive charms for protection and revenge against their slaveholders. Enslaved African people used Hoodoo to bring about justice on American plantations by poisoning slaveholders and conjuring death onto their oppressors.

[pennyserenade]

i’ve been working on my silly little homework since 10am this morning and its almost ten and i’m still not done. i just want to watch a movie. i haven’t enjoyed one in weeks because of midterms, and i’m beginning to whither away. i’m sustained only by the thoughts of holiday (1938) and little else. what a sad state of affairs to be in 

[justinspoliticalcorner]

John Whitehouse at MMFA:

On July 9, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters announced that a number of people — many of them key figures in right-wing media — would be rewriting the social studies curriculum in the state.

The list includes right-wing hosts with ties to Walters like Steve Deace, Dennis Prager, and Stacy Washington. Also included is Kevin Roberts, the head of The Heritage Foundation, which has organized Project 2025.

Walters announced an “executive review committee” to revise Oklahoma’s social studies curriculum. Members include Dennis Prager, Robert Pondiscio, David Barton, Kevin Roberts, Everett Piper, John Dwyer, David Goodwin, Mark Bauerlein, Steve Deace, and Stacy Washington. [Oklahoma State Department of Education, 7/9/24]

After implementing a mandate that the state’s public schools teach the Bible, Walters claimed that right-wing commentator and pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, who has promised to “embrace Christian nationalism” and previously ran for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma, encouraged him to implement such a policy last year. [Media Matters, 7/8/24]

Walters has approved PragerU Kids — which is widely criticized for pushing right-wing propaganda, such as including distorted histories about slavery in its history lessons — as curriculum for Oklahoma public schools. In one supposedly educational video, for instance, a cartoon version of Fredrick Douglass describes slavery as a “compromise to achieve something great.” [MSNBC, 9/7/23; Media Matters, 9/8/23; NBC, 8/10/23]

Dennis Prager is an anti-LGBTQ pundit who has hosted The Dennis Prager Show since 1999. In 2009, he founded the conservative nonprofit organization PragerU, which publishes short videos on political and international issues.

David Barton is a pseudo-historian and Christian nationalist well-known for spreading the idea that the country was supposed to be a Christian nation. Barton is the founder of WallBuilders.

Kevin Roberts is the president of the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank leading Project 2025.

Steve Deace is a host for BlazeTV who has made many anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ remarks.

Stacy Washington is a commentator, radio host, and Air Force veteran who has appeared in many right-wing outlets. She was formerly a host of a program aired on American Family Radio, the radio arm of extreme anti-LGBTQ group American Family Association, before the network culled much of its programming and its dedicated Urban Family Communications network.

Right-wing indoctrination artist Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Schools Ryan Walters announced that he is having a team rewrite the state’s social studies curriculum, with many of its names right-wing media figures such as Everett Piper, serial history revisionist David Barton, indoctrination mill head Dennis Prager, and pundit Steve Deace.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Oklahoma’s head of education hires Christian Nationalists to revise social studies currciculum

[doberbutts]

Not gonna lie, tumblr is the kind of place that would tear John Brown apart even though Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Eldridge Cleaver held him as a great example of white allyship.

I have seen people tear apart *Harriet Tubman* while totally misunderstanding *Malcolm X* so I don't doubt it at all. As I keep saying, people keep wanting perfect movements and perfect leaders and hold up folks from the past as examples when they were all human and each had their flaws and things to disagree with both then and now.

Black theory is built on so many layers of context and history that I think it is very difficult for someone not actually interested in anti-racism to conceptualize more than catchy social media soundbites and buzzwords. One has to really understand all of it to understand those individual pieces.

[educatingmerlin]

Happy (UK) Black History Month!

Why do the USA and UK celebrate Black History Month in different months?

The USA celebrate Black History Month i February, whereas the UK celebrate in October.

In the States, in 1926, Carter G. Woodson created a Black History week in February.

The week in February was chosen as it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass.

The week involved celebrating and learning about Black history with schools and mayors getting involved.

Eventually, in the 1970s, it evolved to Black History Month.

In the UK, in 1987, Black History Month was introduced by Akyaaba Addai-Sebo. There is a significant Afro-Carribean community within the UK, and October 1987 coincided with the 150th anniversary of the Carribean emancipation.

The experiences of Black people in the USA & UK are different, and so both months highlight different histories.

Whether you celebrate in February or in October, the dedication of the activists has had a significant impact. Black History Month is still celebrated decades later!

[focsle]

Hello! I don't know if this is exactly your wheelhouse, but I was reading about Fredrick Douglass and it briefly mentioned that he used a Seamans protection certificate in his escape from slavery; I was wondering if you had any thoughts/ info about these as it relates to Black seamen in the US, especially the South. If not, absolutely no worries! Love your blog.

Oh yeah, I went down a rabbit hole sometime back about seamen’s protection certificates in the context of what they meant for Black mariners and US Citizenship!

To summarize that above post, Seamen’s Protection Certificates spoke to the contradictory legal status of Black mariners in the antebellum US when naturalization was only accessible to white men. It’s a paper that says that one is a US citizen, but was not considered ‘valid’ documentation for accessing the rights of a US citizen. But for all intents and purposes, it still signaled that the man in question was indeed a citizen when abroad. This contradiction (as well as other legal contradictions) was leveraged by people fighting for access to naturalization and a full legal identity for African Americans.

But while the certificate did not truly grant citizenship to Black sailors, it still served as a form of protection both in states where slavery was law, as well as ‘free’ states, where the Fugitive Slave Act quickly destabilized any sense of security one might have there. The seamen’s protection certificates had only a brief vague description of the holder. As such, some free Black men would take the risk of loaning their papers out to those escaping enslavement who roughly matched the written description, similar to how States’ ‘free papers’ were also loaned out for the same purpose. As Douglass mentioned in his autobiography concerning his use of said papers:

“But I had one friend—a sailor—who owned a sailor’s protection, which answered somewhat the purpose of free papers—describing his person and certifying to the fact that he was a free American sailor. The instrument had at its head the American eagle, which at once gave it the appearance of an authorized document.”

Nearly 1/3rd of applications for seamen’s protection certificates were made by men of color because of the protection they afforded against being kidnapped into slavery. Even though there was a lot of backpeddling from officials saying that the protection certificates didn’t REALLY mean citizenship, it was still an official document stating someone’s freedom and thus had tremendous value in allowing a man to move freely through the world. Here’s an old but good article about seamen’s protection certificates in general that speaks a little more to that.

In the context of mariners in the South, here are some examples. This one, from the National Archives is for a man named William Wright, from Viriginia who applied for a certificate in New Orleans in 1810.

And another from the collections of Mystic Seaport of a man named Jonathan Miller, born in New York but applying for the paper in Galveston Texas. The language is a bit different from the boilerplate seamen’s protection certificates like the one above, so I think it’s slightly different as a legal document—but still, in 1856, would hold the same sort of odd wobbly status.

The museum’s interpretation of this was that it was likely applied for and used as a form of protection in moving freely through the South, rather than Mr. Miller specifically using it for a maritime purpose.