Watch Baratunde Thurston Deliver The Frederick Douglass Address

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Former Daily Show correspondent Baratunde Thurston rang in the Fourth of July with style this year, holding an event at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library branch in Grand Army Plaza in which he read Frederick Douglass’ legendary address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Thurston first delivered the address on July 4th, 2011 to a small audience at the offices of The Onion, and has been slowly but surely developing the monologue into a multimedia show that he hopes to take on the road someday.

In his rendition, Thurston provided a brilliant mix of brevity and levity; He would read, word for word, the stirring speech that Douglass gave in 1852 at the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, NY, and then step out from behind the podium to give his own take and translation of Douglass’s words. Thurston’s sidebars were supplemented with video clips and images of celebrities like Kanye West, Babe Ruth and Adele to drive his points home.

“Their solid manhood stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times,” Thurston recited as Donald Trump’s face appeared on the screen behind him.

The driving point of the speech, as delivered by Thurston, was to highlight the fact that, just as the Fourth of July was devoid of meaning to Douglass and generations of slaves living in the “land of the free,” so too is the message sometimes lost on generations of African Americans today that have lived their lives dogged by institutionalized racism and discrimination.

You can see the opening of the monologue below, followed by a recording of Thurston’s original rendition of the address at The Onion’s offices in 2011.

https://soundcloud.com/baratunde/baratundecast-listen-to-1852

[H/T] Brooklyn Eagle

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler

Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.