In this biography, David Blight has drawn on new information held in a private collection that few other historian have consulted, as well as recently discovered issues of Douglass’s newspapers. After the war he sometimes argued politically with younger African Americans, but he never forsook either the Republican party or the cause of black civil and political rights. In his unique and eloquent voice, written and spoken, Douglass was a fierce critic of the United States as well as a radical patriot. By the Civil War, Douglass had become the most famed and widely travelled orator in the nation. Initially mentored by William Lloyd Garrison, Douglass spoke widely, using his own story to condemn slavery. His very existence gave the lie to slave owners: with dignity and great intelligence he bore witness to the brutality of slavery. He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.As a young man, Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) escaped from slavery in Baltimore, Maryland. These words sank deep into my heart and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. He would at once become unmanageable and of no value to his master. Holland as Douglass recalls how when he was about 12, Sophia Auld, wife of the slave owner Hugh Auld, was teaching him to read - but when Hugh Auld found out, he forbade the lessons, telling her “it was unlawful as well as unsafe to teach a slave to read.

(No costumes or sets are used.) Each actor brings their own singular style to the table. “He could take you in a single sentence inside of a crisis and say, ‘Here’s what this is doing to us, here’s what it’s doing to you, here’s what it’s doing to the nation,’” notes Blight.Īndre Holland reads from Douglass’ autobiographies, while Jonathan Majors, Denzel Whitaker, Colman Domingo, Jeffrey Wright and Nicole Beharie take turns interpreting excerpts from speeches. Director Marchesi also does an expert job of weaving in interviews with historians such as Blight, Keidrick Roy and Henry Louis Gates Jr., who contribute invaluable scene-setting context. With handsome graphics and illustrations of Douglass augmenting the journey (Douglass was one of the most-photographed figures of the 19 th century), various cast members bring Douglass’ crackling, soaring, thoughtful, provocative, brutally honest words to life.

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