today in this special broadcast, we begin with the words of frederick douglass. born into slavery around 1818, douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. on july 5, 1852, in rochester, new york, frederick douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, "what to the slave is your fourth of july?" he was addressing the rochester ladies anti-slavery society. this is james earl jones reading the historic address during a performance of "voices of a people's history of the united states." it was co-edited by howard zinn. the late great historian introduced the address. howard zinn: frederick douglass, once a slave, became a brilliant and powerful leader of the anti-slavery movement. in 1852, he was asked to speak in celebration of the fourth of july. >> fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here today? what have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independence? are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration of independence, extended to us? and am i, the

i saw frederick douglass. i asked the librarian could i look, is it really frederick douglass? she said, yes. i guess because i was the new library and said, yes, hon. i didn't think about that later. i pulled out a random box and a random file, and it was in his own hand about the assassination of abraham lincoln. my family in springfield, my relatives are buried in oak ridge. so i grew up with that. you could see the emotion because he wrote, he was killed, assassinated, murdered. it was coming through the ink the way he was doing that. for me, that was like one of those serendipitous, pinch me moments. i did not know how serendipitous it was until later when i wanted to photocopy and use it for something and i had written down the file box and the file folder numbers, and i asked for it and librarian came up later and was looking a little sheepish. i said, what is going on? she said, well, that file was misfiled. it was supposed to be put back into a different box. so that is the kind of thing that serendipity is finding connections. so we are digitizing a lot of that unique

. >> permit me to have frederick douglass tell it.e a biography where he described the mistress of his slave owner began to teach him to read. she pulled back the curtain through which a glimmer of light shown before the master forced her to close it. it was enough for frederick douglass to exploit it to his benefit and his country's benefit thereafter. such examples are numerous and they are retailing the stories that suffered the indignity of slavery. permit me to say, this curriculum is about handing people who live the experience tell their stories. nothing is more important than that we never erase the stories that the people who live the stories to tell. nobody has the right to interpret before first understanding the stories as the people who lived them understood them themselves. >> do academics disagree with your scholarship? >> they call it into contest, whether you consider it an academic or not may be questionable. her questioning is as irrelevant as the falsehood. what is being done here is the attempt to complete stories

and he quotes frederick douglass here education means emancipation.and he he believes that misconstruing. so what happens just really quick? the court upholds a voucher program where you can use vouchers for community schools, magnet schools, private schools and and other religious schools. and that's the hook that the union others challenge it on is believe that using it for catholic schools and schools violates establishment clause just. thomas points out in a number of ways in a writing how it would contorting the establishment clause say a parent's choice is governed by that in really simple terms. and what i mean by that is the voucher was such that the money the voucher went to the parents to use as they saw fit. and one other thing i should mention is, they could also choose to get a voucher not send their kids out of public schools, but use it for tutoring. so the program was aimed to really the educational opportunity cities for cleveland kids and give their parent a say and in fact they created a twitter page for the book. it's called the pe

he tried to convince frederick douglass to go along with him.hankfully, frederick douglass said no. later, he eulogized as brown. he is part of why southerners are so infuriated by brown. it was not just the attack on the armory and the idea of starting a slave revolt that would have been crushed by the u.s. army. this is not going to happen. part of the reason why slaveholders were angry as the reaction to brown on the part of northerners who have roast sized him. that continues today. host: the podcast is history as that happens, how often do you put them out? guest: tuesdays and thursdays, anywhere you can find your podcasts. host: thank you for your time. guest: it was great being here. host: the house comes in at 10:00, until then we will talk with alexander heffner. he has a new series taking a look at civilian politics where he sits down with politicians on both sides of the aisle in an effort to forge consensus. that conversation when journal continues. ♪ >> former president theodore roosevelt died january 6, 1919. he was 60 years old. o

frederick douglass was inspiring. i'm going to learn more about him.goodoing to learn mo prime timeg experience. just ask some of thosening people on the beach. penny from saint louis, missouri. >> after listening to kamala, the media chose sarah palins and apology. >> alyssa fromsarah phoenix, aa does your mom like the new song by jason aldean? got to be honest, my mom has never heard a single n jason aldean song, probably not a single country song in her entire life. by jaso she's not anti country. she hasn't been exposealdeand in >> bryan from pennsylvania. hey, jessi. i think we exposed need a guy in the oval office. >> yeah, i think it's a littlea late for that. >> anthony from new york, canny you send johnny to the west coast. >> so it's not just the east coast people thae west coastt s >> johnny would love that,k wouldn't he? send them over to venice beach. san diego. >> nice corporate expense account. i'm not sending johnnynice corp. i'm going to make him suffer. tom from california. have you tried my golf tip yet? turn your left pocket under y

that was a great reenactment of sir frederick douglass.nyway, the question is what does patriotism mean to me? is that correct? host: that is one of the ones who ask folks. the specific is you consider yourself patriotic. but yes. caller: i believe there are a lot of things that need to change, and one of those things is getting back to manufacturing and having pride and competition. being one of the top producers of products and innovation. but, i think we have lost our way back in the 60's and 70's of doing that. and i think we can all rally behind something by getting back to manufacturing and creating goods and products ourselves. and then i think we will have more of a patriotic atmosphere like we did long ago. that is what true patriotism is. host: rick from iowa is next. hello there. caller: thank you for giving me a chance to talk. i feel like i am patriotic and it makes me sick to see what happened on january 6. i believe that anyone who supports anything happened that day against our government on january 6 is not patriotic. they

that was a great reenactment of sir frederick douglass.nyway, the question is what does patriotism mean to me? is that correct? host: that is one of the ones who ask folks. the specific is you consider yourself patriotic. but yes. caller: i believe there are a lot of things that need to change, and one of those things is getting back to manufacturing and having pride and competition. being one of the top producers of products and innovation. but, i think we have lost our way back in the 60's and 70's of doing that. and i think we can all rally behind something by getting back to manufacturing and creating goods and products ourselves. and then i think we will have more of a patriotic atmosphere like we did long ago. that is what true patriotism is. host: rick from iowa is next. hello there. caller: thank you for giving me a chance to talk. i feel like i am patriotic and it makes me sick to see what happened on january 6. i believe that anyone who supports anything happened that day against our government on january 6 is not patriotic. they

i encourage will herd, tim scott and kamala harris to read the autobiography of frederick douglass. the horrors and also what he learned. talk about the whole truth and both sides are wrong and they need to read frederick douglass own personal autobiography when he was a slave. >> bill: desantis responding to this backlash. >> the end of the day you have to choose. are you going to side with kamala harris and liberal media outlets, side with the state of florida and i think it's very clear that these guys did a good job on the standards. so don't side with kamala on that, stand up for your state. >> bill: kind of what you are saying, leo. >> yeah, bill. the democrats set the false narrative and the republican politicians, they drink the kool-aid. why do they have to answer a democratic narrative. democrats always play the race card, and find a race card when it doesn't exist. and the republicans stepped into it and play the game and answer the ridiculous question. >> bill: we have a debate in 23 days and maybe it comes up, maybe it doesn't, we'll see then. we know it's going to come

his previous book, "sex trafficking: insid the business of modern slavery," won the 2010 frederick douglass awarded for the best book written in english on slavery or abolition. siddharth kara, welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us from london. this book is absolutely devastating, but of course, it is describing that reality on the ground in congo. tell us the story of how you came to focus on this and how cobalt links the devastation of the congo to the west. >> thank you so much for inviting me to speak with you about this crucial and very urgent matter. i have been doing research on various forms of slavery and child labor around the world for many years starting in 2000. around 2016, i heard from some colleagues in the field about appalling conditions in the mining of cobalt in the dr congo. i had no idea what cobalt was. i thought it was a color. i did not know it was in rechargeable batteries. it took time to organize my first trip and establish relationships. i got into congo the first time in 2018. what i saw was so horrific, so extreme and severe. the fact that

this is the frederick douglass memorial bridge lit in red, white and blue for the 4th high-tech displayoming up on kron, 4 at 6. thousands of people head to the coast for half moon bay's annual 4th of july parade will have a look at the festivities there. >> plus, today marks the 50th anniversary of sutro tower. tell you how the tower came to be in how it continues to serve the bay area today. and final preparations are underway for san jose's annual fireworks show. when we return, we'll go to san jose for a live report. stay with us. >> our >> temps top story 6.30, in just a few hours. fireworks will be lighting up the skies across the bay area. that includes san jose kron. 4 justin campbell joins us live from the city's convention center's. we countdown to the big show there tonight. justin. >> ken and catherine, you can tell the festive they're getting ready to get underway to music has started more people are trickling in yeah. let you see what it looks like. we're here at the san jose convention. centr. you can see people they've shut down the street. this is all meant in there are

frederick douglass was in the crowd that day. the audience said it sounded more like a sermon than estate paper. it is deeply religious. he is quoting directly from the bible. he is adopting the king james bible which was widely in use. and unlike most americans who were protestants and believed -- northerners believed the world was a righteous cause. lincoln said this war was divine retribution. they said it was really unclear but we remember that speech where he talks about what reunification could mean after the war is over but is easy to overlook the part where he is ripping directly from the promises that every drop of blood on -- every drop of blood drawn by the slaveowners last would be drowned by the sword. i have no idea how god intends this work to shake out but i understand my role in it and it means there will be a lot more bloodlust. it is very old testament type of sermon. it is remarkable. i don't think any president since has given such a deeply religious public address and certainly not. cliff the fact that it ha

we got a series of questions and let me start with a question or, perhaps james speech to frederick douglasshe fourth of july but what is the fourth of july, would you like to comment on that? >> i don't know frank james is aware, might have been, it is a famous speech but here is what i can tell you, when douglas delivers, it was a broader 19th century that included native activists including 1830s while the knox. they might have known each other and certainly had some of the same context so i think there is a constellation of influencers that we are bearing on and you might well have hit on one. there is an enormous amount of overlap between reformers in the 19th century advocating for indigenous people and those advocating for african-american people. >> of the question, this history on residential schools where indians were transformed into americans? >> a terrific question. you just hit on a topic for one of my next seniors. is what i can tell you. there's an increasing amount ofr research about the curriculum in these schools and suffice to say the curriculum was steeped in racial ideo

or we can read frederick douglass, or any number of the federalists and learn about the principles that are still informing this kind of decision today. host: charles on the independent line, in maryland, you are on with jacqueline pfeffer merrill. caller: thank you, good morning. as an african-american graduate of a state school, a local school, it informs my comments. first to the gentleman who said who benefits the most from these type of affirmative action programs, i believe everyone does. because you are exposed to different cultures, different people and in my experience 50 years ago, it informed how i managed to navigate the corporate world. in addition to that, i think the private schools, the affirmative action decisions and how it affects the private schools is that a lot of our great leaders that manage the country, that lead the country corporately and politically comes from these organizations or colleges. so if we are not in the room, there is less diversity in what is going to be represented in the future. those are my comments. host: thank you. guest: i could not agree

the rainbow/push coalition will now be headed by the reverend frederick douglass haynes.he spoke sunday. >> the reverend jesse lewis jackson, sr.. i stand here on his shoulders because no one with sense would try to stand in his shoes. his shoes are too large. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we combat, we go to the occupied west bank as israeli president herzog is in washington. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "enough" by maysa daw. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzÁlez in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: president biden is meeting israeli president isaac herzog at the white house today. on wednesday, herzog will address a joint session of congress, though several progressive democrats have announced plans to boycott his speech. the group includes congressmembers rashida tlaib, alexandria

start with, one of our questioners suggested that perhaps james's speech was an allergist to frederick douglassn 4th of july about what is 4th of july to a slave. would you like to comment on that? >> i don't know if frank james was aware of that speech he very well might have been but here's what i can tell you. when douglass delivered that oration it was in a broader 19th-century reformist that included native activists including women events, 1830s preacher to the watermarks they might very well have known each other. they certainly had some of the same contacts. i think there's a constellation of influences that that were bearing on james's speech and i think it might very well have been on one of them. there is an enormous amount of overlap between reformers in the 19th century who are advocating for indigenous people and reformers advocating for african-american people. >> another question, was this manufactured history what was told in the residential schools? where indians were supposed to be transformed into americans? >> what a terrific question. i think you just hit on a topic for on

frederick douglass in his autobiography, the main crux of it is he says we -- we have bookmarks made up this. once he learned a, read you will be forever free. then you can see. there's a reason why all of those laws were put into effect. to prevent slaves from learning to read. and people who are -- to tell you a little story about that. when i became librarian of congress, i had to be sworn in. it was just silly, it was something. i was preparing and my dear mother was listening to me go on and on about what i was going to talk about. it's going to list every law in the united states about it slavery. it was something. -first offense, cut off one finger, all of the stuff. i'm going through it and my mom says, carla, this is supposed to be a happy occasion. could we just summit up to people who look like you were forbidden tyreek? but that was the crux of it. when you think about why, once he learned to read, you can't unlearn it. you can read anything. they had a special bibles for slaves because, and i, versions had let my people go. they are like, we've got a cut that out. we've

, bands and take part in the big celebration and then take a look at this also in d.c., the frederick douglassdge was all lit up in red, white and blue for the 4th. so many cool ways to honor our country, and so many musical performances taking place from coast to coast. here in the los angeles area, a spectacular fireworks show lit up the night sky after families enjoyed the holiday bowl orchestra performance of what they call anthems of american youth, including the beach boys chart topping songs "surfin' u.s.a." and "i get around," and in west allis yesterday in wisconsin, a lot of people jamming out, and cute pets in the u.s.a. outfits. a lot of good family time. back out here live in santa monica. you know, it's just -- people are gathering here on the beach. it was cooler this morning but the sunshine, it is beaming down on that sand and the crowds are enjoying california's fabulous coastline. back to you. >> gillian: christina, have a great time out there. happy 4th to you and check back with you again next hour. bryan. >> bryan: is remote work detrimental to physical and mental health.

i often on july 4th stink of the speech and writings of frederick douglass, who very famously said in is the 4th of july? it has no meaning, this fourth of july. what do people that see a supreme court say the race who is no longer an issue that we need to deal with, and that is against the constitution to do with repairing damages and affirmative advancement for those that by a with disadvantage and help back. what does this say to women who has lost their right to choose what to do with their own bodies? what does this say to lgbtq and transgender americans who now can see a supreme court rule against their rights in usage at things, even when there was no victim or plaintiff that brought the case? well it's a steamy is that you should use your fourth of july gathering, yes, have fun, do what you can with friends and families, but use it to organize, get people prepared to vote. get people prepared to fight back, organize for the launch on washington, august 26, because the dream of dr. king that he said on that day 60 years ago still has not become fully achieved by many americans.

to sum it up, i'm going to look at frederick douglass very briefly, a man who definitel understood the power of portrait of the former slave abotionist was one of the most photographed americans of his tim and that was on purpose. douglass below believed strongly in the per of portrait. he says it is evident that the great cheapness and universal of pictures must exert a powerful, though silent influence un the ideas and sentiment of present and future. he believed very strongly in this power of portrait to represent a person, as a person rather than a caricature for its powerful currency. that several examples i've shown you and also to shape a nation's beliefs and efforts. it offered not only to the end individual but to the nation a legacy. the portrait as a new power here impacts the war and the aftermath of it. for the soldier, the family, the home and the nation. thank you. i'll take any questions. should i call on people or. oh, okay, sir. hi. a couple of months ago i had another another museum. they claimed that world war one was the first great use for soldiers photography bec

250 years of american history, how has it inspired people like frederick douglass and the suffragists and abraham lincoln all the way to dr. martin luther king and people around the world to kind of shape the world that we live in. and finally, i'm probably the thing i'm most proud of is when the museum opened in 2017, we were number 438 of things to do in philadelphia. and this week we are nber six of things to do in philadelphia that is a screen capture from tradsor caesar. so we are shooting our way. to the top. we're not sure how we're going to knock eastern state penitentiary off the list there, but the philadelphia museum, the barnes hall, very solid choices with the museum of the american revolution. check out our website is a cover of our last annual report. tons of information we have tons of digital programs. all of our evening programs like we're doing here tonight, we do hybrids. you can zoom in from wherever you are. so if you're interested in becoming a member and kind of staying connected with us, but at the very least, please do come visit philadelphia, visit the museu

it was at the frederick douglass community center. do you know it was on 96th street and upper west side and. he found the class there to a screenwriting class and called me and he said, i just signed up for this screenwriting class. they have acting classes. they are two. you keep saying you want to be an actor. why don't you do something? so how long ago? this. i'm sorry. this was. 20 years ago or so. and, you know, i kind of took the dare. yeah. and i started taking classes there and i loved it. i really loved it. and i took class is there for i took classes with the same acting teacher paley if you ever see i'm showing you out which is a wonderful at herself and a wonderful teacher so are there four or five other things that you started that you didn't pursue that you're not telling us about hope? well, i still want to write a book. you know, or write a play. and i started writing a play, i don't know if that will ever get done. i have a wonderful partner in my husband who is also very creative person and i call him a hobbyist bec

reedsville new york 1954 on the fourth of july and his speech has been equated a lot of times to the frederick douglassech. what is the fourth of july to a black man? same concept? what does the fourth of july mean to an indigenous person? so john quinney gives this great speech and i want to leave you with this and i want you to think on it and i want you to meditate it meditate on it because it means so much. my friends your holy book the bible. teaches us that individual offenses are punished in an existence when time shall be no more. and the animals of the earth are equally instructive that national wrongs are avenged national crimes atoned for in this world to which alone the confirmation of existence adapts them. these events are above our comprehension and for a wise purpose. for myself and for my tribe i ask for justice. i believe it will sooner or later occur. and may the great good spirit enable me to die in hopes. thank you very much for including me. i look forward to your questions and i turn this over to my next elder joe baker. thank you. thank you very much heather joe. hello, everyone

anthony, frederick douglass and other great americans. really great americans.t it down. we were starting with 100 and then we would end up with a lot more than that. we were going to have committees pick the first hundred. it would have been something really special. joe biden canceled the national garden. like an american-hating socialist would you do he also -- like an american-hating socialist would. he also canceled the keystone pipeline, if you remember that one. that was a beauty. first day cancelled the keystone pipeline, 48,000 jobs and. something that would have been fantastic for energy. i will bring all of that back and i will now be even bigger and more magnificent in terms of the garden. we will have something magnificent, something you will love and visit and something our country needs. we need it for hours. and for our soul. i totally transformed the federal judiciary, appointing nearly 300 justices and judges. [applause] and three great supreme court justices to interpret the law and constitution as written. [applause] you know, many presidents

he tried to convince frederick douglass to go along with him.nkfully, frederick douglass said no. later, he eulogized as brown. he is part of why southerners are so infuriated by brown. it was not just the attack on the armory and the idea of starting a slave revolt that would have been crushed by the u.s. army. this is not going to happen. part of the reason why slaveholders were angry as the reaction to brown on the part of northerners who have roast sized him. that continues today. host: the podcast is history as that happens, how often do you put them out? guest: tuesdays and thursdays, anywhere you can find your podcasts. host: thank you for your time. guest: it was great being here. host: the house comes in at 10:00, until then we will talk with alexander heffner. he has a new series taking a look at civilian politics where he sits down with politicians on both sides of the aisle in an effort to forge consensus. that conversation when journal continues. ♪ >> former president theodore roosevelt died january 6, 1919. he was 60 years old. one

well, practically any student would know patrick henry or, abe lincoln or frederick douglass or martin luther king jr or john kennedy or rfk or. ronald reagan or barack obama. i mean, they just can rattle off the names of these men and they associate the act of oratory, the act of rhetorical discourse with, male activity and started to really started bother me. it got under my skin. i my skin i guess you could say i got kind of angry about it. and and as we know, anger is a motivator. and the other is i also judge speech contests, speech writing contests. and i can't tell you how many times i've seen quotes by winston churchill. now, we all know we all know that he knew he was the hero of second world war, world war two, his rhetoric was for the ages. but really, i mean, even in speeches had nothing to do with his time and period. always speeches by churchill thought, where are all the women? so you had this question and then you had to answer it, which isn't necessarily easy because they're unlike men. women speeches have not always been recorded. but and you were trying to cover for

of cooperation, and solidarity between the black and asian-american community going back to frederick douglass' opposition to the chinese exclusion act and, you know, it's not a story that's really told in either communities, and that story needs to be told. and, again, in the california -- in california, west baltimore, california they've told and retold this story, and they're rededicated to that solidarity. and it made a difference, because people weren't as isolated. the last thing i'd say is it pains me, you know, the situation with the police in this country that we're dealing with is a crisis of authoritarianism. we've beenn recruiting authoritarians to be police. we've got to change that. if that wasn't an issue, you'd have more options right now, and we need to deal with it. >> thank you for your question. and we thank all of you for your time. this has been a wonderful session, a wonderful session. >>rf yeah, this was fun. >> it's been fun. you took us down history's lane. your family kinships, your -- i can't waitou to hear about your picnic, your family picnic with the cheneys -- [

a great leader frederick douglass said if there's no struggle there's no progress.it never has, and it never will. thank you for organizing. black lives matter. [applause] not only may this be the most important election in our lifetime, it may be the most unusual. >> states across the country are turning to mail-in voting in this election an effort to allow americans to vote safely during the pandemic. >> amongst americans support the option of mail-in balloting, president trump launched a new attack on it today as he trails joe biden in the polls. >> they're going to be sending out 80 million ballots. where are they going? who are they sending them to? they're trying to rig this election. >> the president's failure to address the pandemic continues to hurt him in poll after poll. asked if he would accept the election results the president said, quote, i'll have to see. >> the only way we're gonna lose this election is if an election is rigged. remember that. it's the only way we're gonna lose this election. so we have to be very careful. >> my friends, we've got s