Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Democrats Beginning to Panic as GOP and Trump Continue Improving In Polls | Main | Wednesday Overnight Open Thread (2/14/18 ) Valentine's Day Edition »
February 14, 2018

Frederick Douglass: American Badass

H/T to Matt Kibbe for the post title.

200 years ago today one of the greatest Americans of all time was born....maybe. Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Talbot County Md., sometime during the first half of February. Records were spotty back then, doubly so for slaves. Regardless, he chose February 14th to be the date he celebrated his birth, far be it from me to contradict such a remarkable man. Born a slave, he fled north to gain his freedom on September 3, 1838 and became a tireless advocate for abolition. When asked about how he felt on that date, he later said:

I have often been asked, how I felt when first I found myself on free soil. And my readers may share the same curiosity. There is scarcely anything in my experience about which I could not give a more satisfactory answer. A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the 'quick round of blood,' I lived more in one day than in a year of my slave life. It was a time of joyous excitement which words can but tamely describe. In a letter written to a friend soon after reaching New York, I said: 'I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions.' Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil.

He settled with his wife in New Beford, Massachusetts, and for the next half century was an American Colossus, demanding nothing less than that this nation be worthy of the ideals expressed in it's founding documents. He died of a massive heart attack on February 20, 1895, leaving behind a legacy of, quite literally, truth, justice and the American way.

He's not in vogue much these days, not only was he (horrors!) a black Republican, but the values of equality that he preached so eloquently don't play so well in an era of identity politics. For example:

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

Not exactly a quote that plays well down at the little red schoolhouse. In any event, it is appropriate that today, his adopted birthday, we should all take a moment to remember one of the true giants of American history, and to be grateful for everything he did to shape this nation into a shining city on the hill.


digg this
posted by WeirdDave at 08:45 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
CrotchetyOldJarhead : "Found greasy spoon burger place out on the west si ..."

Accomack: "Royal Farms slices the potatoes into long chunks, ..."

whig: "And you keep that great greasy taste. Posted by: ..."

Carlyl: "You can go back to a time when French fries were ..."

JQ: "Five Guys has terrible fries,.... The worst fri ..."

Ciampino - No but it'll tell you how much oxalate: "179 "What's wrong with him?" "He ate the rhubarb ..."

Angzarr the Cromulent: "And the best ketchup is from Whataburger. ..."

Quarter Twenty : "Transfer the ketchup to a generic squeeze bottle t ..."

Warai-otoko : "I've never had a ketchup go to the bitter end befo ..."

That annoying mouse you haven't been able to catch: "281 The worst fries on the planet...nay, the unive ..."

Mr Gaga: "I hate self checkout, but did it ten minutes ago. ..."

Angzarr the Cromulent: "The worst fries on the planet...nay, the universe. ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64