Program / Event Details

Students learn the importance of literacy by following the life and career of Frederick Douglass through multimedia presentations and song. This assembly takes students from Frederick Douglass’s humble beginnings on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to the cities of Baltimore, New York, and London, and then back to Washington DC as he fights for the abolition of slavery through writing autobiographies, newspapers, and speeches. Baba Bomani uses his lyric videos and performances of tracks like “Selfie King” (about Douglass being the most photographed American of the 19th century) “Rhetoric Like Frederick” (about the ways Douglass wrote) “Fit to be a Slave” (about how Douglass stole his education) and “Speak for Myself” (about how Douglass gained the courage and skill to be a public speaker).