A full century-and-a-half before President Barack Obama began mesmerizing the country with his moving oratory, another Black man gave what some call his greatest speech.
Frederick Douglass had not only a White parent and fatherless upbringing in common with America’s future leader; he also shared Obama’s vision to change government. It was in Rochester, New York, July 1852 when the ex-slave challenged White slavery opponents to step up their game, giving the speech that author David W. Blight describes as “abolition’s rhetorical masterpiece.”
