Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches

This is five excerpts from Douglass speeches from different perods of his life, interspersed with short biographical info from the different periods. Although brief, it does altogether give a sense of portrait of the man's life.

The speeches are theatrically read aloud for us, straight to camera; the participants all know and channel contemporary rage, using them to address now. We're meant to see that the same inequities persist in disguise. The timelessness of Douglass.

What really captivated this viewer, however, was seeing how Douglass emerges into the world. How does a narrator like him, uniquely bold, outside the norm, come into being? What set of circumstances?

One can point to the rarity of an early written education, or scraps of it as he got. Being picked up by the Garrisonians at Massachussetts, the novelty of an articulate former slave who could give fiery voice to the experience. Indeed the fact that there was an abolitionist structure ready to receive him, a stage for it.

Ironically, seeing him speak as a white man, Garrison prods him to dial it back and give more of a down-home vibe, speak more like a black slave for the audience.

But there's a quasi-magical journey here too. What does it take for a narrator like that to emerge? He's plucked from the life of slave childhood and suddenly finds himself in Baltimore, port to a wider world. The world of language and the written word does indeed open itself up to him there, and can you imagine the thrill of realizing these arcane scribblings paint ferocious images in the mind, can transport and open vistas? Because, unlike for white kids (or you and me) who take that as given, as part of the expected course, in Douglass case that's tied to being opened up to an unforeseen world.

And then, disguised as sailor, he makes the daring dash north to New York and freedom, and that's another world that opens up, even bigger. And from there it's on to Massachussetts, and now being up on stage. On to England, and slowly somewhat the life of an electrifying rock star.

I wish for everyone to be so lucky as, at crucial junctures, to leave the known world behind, be ready to wonder at a bigger world. Lucky to stumble upon the transformative power of language, visual or otherwise. I can only image how liberating to experience all these thrills of liberty, and on top of that be able to give voice to where you came from.

There's an archetypal journey, maybe worthy of Shakespeare, or one of the masters of film.

A much needed work but poorly produced. The documentary would have been better served if the entirety of the speeches were read and then commentary given. To interrupt this great man's speeches does him and the viewer a great disservice. The title of the documentary gives the impression of being about Frederick Douglass so a better production would have left the political biases and personal opinions of the speakers and producer on the cutting room floor.

Several actors do an excellent reading of five of Douglass' speeches, with biographical perspectives interwoven into a story. Henry Louis Gates did a good job as one of the producers and narrators. Definitely worth the hour to watch.

A great wealth of information and structured very well. Unfortunately, the producers & directors decided to mirror the speeches in a format similar to todays Def Poetry style.

Just reading the words is not enough. The tone, speed, and inflections used was critical to FDs oratory brilliance. People wrote about his delivery and the fact that information is freely available was not utilized for stylistic reasons and being hip was also unfortunate.

It is hard for me to believe that a man this powerful and significant to American history is not a household name. He led the abolitionist movement, much like Harriet Tubman led the underground railroad, and Martin Luther King led the civil rights movement. Born a slave in 1818, there was no template for a Black man in America being treated as a human being. He created it! He not only insisted upon his humanity as a slave who could be killed for looking a white person in the face, but he basically became a king gracing the cover of our equivalent to Time magazine while most Black people were still slaves! The man was a monument of accomplishment and pride. Omg please watch this documentary and give it 10 stars. The bizarrely low rating is clearly a result of the racism and anger towards Black excellence and the telling of stories of our greatness.