Challenge: born in a slave hut, mother sold away before he could remember her face, no last name, no book, no tomorrow.
Accountable: took every lash and every silence as his own fault—said “if there’s no struggle, there’s no progress,” so he struggled. Taught himself to read in the dark, against the law, with a stolen Webster’s.
Assimilated: didn’t ask for a corner—he demanded the whole room. Escaped at twenty, changed his name, became a speaker whose voice shook presidents.
Allegiance: loved this country the way a surgeon loves a sick patient—he cut deep to save it. Fought for the vote, for the seat, for the truth.
Permanent: the fire never went out.
Prudent: words were weapons—he aimed, then fired.
Pragmatic: marched with Garrison, advised Lincoln, played every hand that moved freedom.
Lemons: chains, whip scars, no name.
What he made: a voice that broke the nation open.
Read: his own Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass—raw, no sugar.
Grateful Immigrant 