Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (Frederick Douglass)

His grandmother called him Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. The name denoted him as “property,” but his life transcended every boundary put in front of him. 

Born in Maryland around 1818, young Frederick barely met his mother and never knew his father. The system of slavery was a crime against humanity and was meant to ensnare him and his descendants in perpetuity. But Frederick had other plans. 

“Education means emancipation,” he said in a September 1894 speech. “It means light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.” 

As a teen, Frederick ditched “Augustus Washington.” He was still in bondage physically, but began to mentally plan his escape and took great risks learning to read. The “peculiar institution” correctly feared the power of Frederick’s intellect (it was a crime in the South for a slave to be taught or learn to read) but could not account for his determination. Frederick’s initial attempt to free himself failed when he was caught and severely punished. Undeterred, he successfully liberated himself around the age of 20 with the help of a free Black woman, Anna Murray, who became his wife of 44 years and mother of his five children. Together, they built a life rooted in courage, sacrifice and vision.

Frederick could have justifiably abandoned the nation that had laws designating him as a fugitive. Instead, he remained dedicated to liberation and rose swiftly up the ranks in the abolitionist movement with his mastery of language and unique ability to share first-hand accounts of slavery. He spoke with such conviction that his words still resonate: “There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.” 

Frederick, however, did not leave us only with despair. He reminded us to have enough skeptical hope to continue to organize, study, advocate, and agitate: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

We honor Frederick as a man who changed the conscience of a nation and became an international statesman, bestselling author, fearless orator, and the founder and editor of his own publication, The North Star. Frederick advised presidents and was a relentless advocate for abolition, women’s rights, and full citizenship for Black people. He maintained a vision for a righteous nation and issued a warning for one that remained cruel: “The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. But when a nation departs from truth and justice, when it becomes false to its own professions, it cannot stand. Its foundations are shaken, and its destruction is only a matter of time.”

As a personal declaration of independence, he chose his own name, Frederick Douglass, which will reverberate forever as a symbol of triumph, valor, and transformation.