Why should one read this almost 900-page biography of this American hero? Douglass penned several autobiographies of his own. Why is this work needed and important enough to be read in its entirety?
First, the writing and depth of research are marvelous. Blight considers and presents detailed arguments about the finer points of Douglass’ life. Each chapter is replete with scores of endnotes for further reading.
Second, the topic is timely, especially to America. Race is still an issue that haunts us. The nineteenth century – Douglass’ century – was haunted by slavery. The twentieth century was haunted by racial inequity. The twenty-first century saw its first black president followed by an openly racist president. Douglass’ struggle continues. It continued immediately through Booker Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, and it follows us to this day. Douglass’ yearning for freedom connects with the Hebrew prophets and connects today with all of those who question whether today’s social order is just and fair – whether America is living up to her grand ideals.
Third, this book is well-put together. Receiving the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for History, it has been exceptionally well-received by critics. It contains a pantheon of camera-pictures, artistic renderings, and daguerrotypes. Although we do not have any recordings of Douglass’ voice (as the phonograph was coming into existence just before Douglass’ death), copious presentations of the well-groomed Douglass alongside majestic texts of his speeches enliven the reader’s imagination to hear this great man contemplate a new American order in booming oratory. All of these elements conspire to bring Douglass alive again – and so to bring his struggle to speak freedom into existence to the fore.
I write this review on the day after Congressman Elijah Cummings’ death. Both Cummings and Douglass were born in Maryland. Both struggled for justice for their people and led journeys that expanded freedom’s call for all humans. Save for Lincoln, no one represented freedom’s call from slavery like Douglass did. His story, at least in my circles, is not told in all its grandiosity and particular splendor. This book communicates that in a way that allows us to see its common human struggle in contemporary life, all the way to Cummings’ struggle.
I also write in the context of the American South, where many freely intertwine American conservatism and evangelical Christianity. Often, it is claimed, liberalism is God-less and denigrates the writ of Christian Scripture. To that accusation, a great liberal voice – the deep, liberal, Republican voice of Frederick Douglass – answers. Liberalism – that is, the call for universal human freedom in its many forms – is historically grounded in the call of the ancient Hebrew prophets. Indeed, as the title of this book intimates, Douglass’ life represents a prophetic call. Though never a minister, he earned the title as “the Moses of American blacks.” Privileged white preachers who want to hold onto an old order need to remember that Scripture points us to the impassioned suffering of Jesus Christ for our freedom. Like many (all?) slaves, Douglass, unjustly whipped by tyrannical white men, shared such stripes, and by such stripes – by recognizing the holiness of their call for freedom – we as Americans and as humans are healed.
That’s why more people should read about Frederick Douglass, and that’s why this 900-page book deserves your time.
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
by David W. Blight
Copyright (c) 2018
ISBN13 9781416590316
Page Count: 888
Genre: Biography, American History
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