Welcome to the liturgist podcast.

You are now listening to Black History is American History.

I'm William Matthews and I'm propaganda.

I'm Nikki Black and I'm Andre Henry.

Today's moment in Black History, Frederick Douglass.

Frederick Douglass was born on Valentine's Day 1818.

He was an Orator, a writer, and statesman.

After escaping from slavery, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement who gained

recognition for his speeches and anti-slavery writings.

He was described by abolitionists as a counter example to slaveholders' arguments that

slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as free-thinking American citizens.

People at that time found it hard to believe that such a great Orator had once been a slave.

Frederick wrote several autobiographies.

He described his experiences as a slave in his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life

of Frederick Douglass, an American slave, which was a bestseller and influential in promoting

the cause of abolition.

Even after the Civil War, Douglass stayed an active campaigner against slavery.

Douglass supported women's suffrage and held many public offices which included becoming

the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States on the

Equal Rights Party ticket.

He wrote,

In this denial of the right to participate in government, not merely the degradation of

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