Rina Shaikh-Lesko
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rinawrites.bsky.social
Rina Shaikh-Lesko
@rinawrites.bsky.social
90 followers 140 following 9 posts
Science journalist, writer, former epidemiologist, connoisseur of bad puns
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rinawrites.bsky.social
This excellent post by @sifill.bsky.social made me go back and read Frederick Douglass's whole speech.

Screen caps of two passages - the first reads like an indictment of our current age, and the second is part of Douglass's hopeful conclusion. We need both.

www.blackpast.org/african-amer...
Screen capture of an excerpt of Frederick Douglass's speech, "What To The Slave is The Fourth of July" that reads: At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation’s ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced. Screen capture of an excerpt of Frederick Douglass's speech, "What To The Slave is The Fourth of July." Highlighted section reads: Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation, which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery. “The arm of the Lord is not shortened,” and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.
July 4, 2025 at 8:29 PM