Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
In an attempt to fill another lacuna (one of oh so many) in my education, I thought I’d check this book out. I actually found this book contained in a Library of America edition that contains all of Douglass’ autobiographies. But it seems like each one contains the same core material, only expanded on in the subsequent volumes, so maybe I’ll hold off on reading those. Would be nice to get some more variety, plus the MPK library doesn’t have late fees or a limit on how long one can check out a book, so I can hold onto this for a while.
Narrative was a brisk read, and I really got a lot out of it. My favorite parts were when Douglass talks about the hypocritical way in which Christianity is practiced in the slave states. It truly pisses one off to hear about these slaveholding fucks who spend their time alternately brutalizing, raping, and murdering those they have enslaved, and then go to church on Sunday and pose as stalwarts of their community. Though I suppose the lived contradiction between their words and practices made their stalwartness not so much a pose as exemplary of the debased society they had created.
I also read Angela Davis’s Lectures on Liberation, a pamphlet collecting the first two lectures from a class she taught about, among other topics, Frederick Douglass and his autobiographies. I really got a lot out of this–it makes a great companion to any of the books. Found myself grinding my teeth when she discusses how the slavers would teach enslaved Blacks a bowdlerized version of Christianity, where being disobedient would send you straight to Hell; it really makes clear the totalitarian aspect of the slave system, even going so far as to brainwash the slaves.
In conclusion, fuck slavery, and fuck those who justify or glorify it unto this day.