As February closes, and with it black history month, it is important to remember that we should constantly be reflecting upon the lives of those who have battled for freedom and equality. Generations of African-Americans have spoken their truth, and have called out injustice, cruelty, and racism. For reflection and contemplation, here is a small list of some memorable and historic speeches made by African-Americans which have had great impact on the lives of individuals and our society as a whole.
1. Frederick Douglass – What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
“The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.”
Frederick Douglass was asked to deliver celebratory speech on July 5, 1852, about 76 years after the American Revolution and its separation from the British Empire. In this, Douglass exclaimed against white Americans for celebrating freedom while black Americans were still being enslaved. He took the opportunity to reach the masses in his call for true freedom and liberty.
2. Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream
“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”
King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech is arguably one of the most popular speeches of all time. He was known for promoting the peaceful yet powerful Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. His fight, like that of many others, would not end until the people of the nation could find true equality in rights and treatment.
3. Sojourner Truth – Ain’t I A Woman?
“I could work as much and eat as much as a man – when I could get it – and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman?”
Truth found many discrepancies in the treatment of women in America. In “Ain’t I a Woman?”, she focuses on the lack of respect black women received. Whereas white women were protected to a fault, black women were viewed as mere slaves, forced to do hard manual labor, raped, sold, or married off by their owners. Truth herself was victim of these treatments, and in her speech she questions why.
4. Ida B. Wells – This Awful Slaughter
“Is there a remedy, or will the nation confess that it cannot protect its protectors at home as well as abroad?”
Ida Wells spoke many times about the terrifying subject of lynching; the acts of white groups burning, hanging, and killing black men, women, and even children. Her call to the American law was for justice to occur against white criminals who took the lives of black people. Houses and people were burned to intimidate the black community, and the criminals were never brought to justice. Another example of the discrimination within the system and the outright lack of respect for human lives.
These speeches are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to eloquent African-Americans who’ve spoken up on sensitive but very real subjects that had to have a light shed on them for the American public to wake up. There are hundreds of things that have been said that can inspire us to “be the change we want to see”, and these are just a few of the great ones that have been redacted to educate the American public.