In this lecture, I'll introduce the remarkable writing and life of Frederick Douglass, an extremely powerful writer, speaker, and advocate for racial justice. Douglass excels at calling out American idols—the ideas of independence and equality that fueled the Revolution, and the Christian ideals of brotherhood dating back to the Puritan colonies—that he saw being used to prop up and justify the inhuman practice of slavery. I quote briefly from a poem by the wonderful contemporary poet Martín Espada, which you can find here if you are interested.