There are no sound recordings of Frederick Douglass, whose fiery speeches in support of the abolition of slavery and his passionate pleas for women's rights between 1852 and 1888 are prescient wonders. With a robust voice and his charismatic appearance, Douglass had a clear and true vision of what democracy in America should look like, and that view is perhaps even more vital in the 21st century. Moe Asch's Folkways Records had actor
Ossie Davis record four of those speeches in 1972, releasing them as a pair of LPs, The Meaning of July 4 for the Negro in 1975 and Frederick Douglass's Speeches in 1977. This set combines four of the speeches from those two LPs and adds in a detailed and fascinating booklet, and if one can't exactly dance to this kind of oratory, one can certainly take it to heart. It's history, and in this case, it's the sharp, empathetic vision of an important and visionary American thinker. ~ Steve Leggett