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DOS earliest literature

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A club blog for DOS earliest literature

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Blog entries are the earliest literary works of those descended of enslaved

Entries in this blog

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What to the slave is the 4th of July? from Frederick Douglass

Date July 5, 1852 Venue Corinthian Hall Location Rochester, New York, United States ORATION, DELIVERED IN CORINTHIAN HALL, ROCHESTER, BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS, JULY 5TH, 1852. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens : HE who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, q
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The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts

it was not published till 2002. I wonder how many unpublished works from black people in the 1800s exist. referal https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2002811 content <iframe src="https://collections.library.yale.edu/uv.html#manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fcollections.library.yale.edu%2Fmanifests%2F2002811&c=0&m=0&cv=0&config=&locales=en-GB%3AEnglish+%28GB%29%2Ccy-GB%3ACymraeg%2Cfr-FR%3AFran%C3%A7ais+%28FR%29%2Cpl-PL%3APolski%2Csv-SE%3ASvenska%2Cxx-XX%3AEnglish+%28GB%29+%28
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The Heroic Slave from Frederick Douglass

INFO The Heroic Slave Frederick Douglass wrote only one work of fiction: this novella, loosely based on a true incident, about a slave who leads a rebellion on board a slave ship. Although it doesn't mention Stowe, it can be read as Douglass' attempt to contest Uncle Tom's Cabin. The novella's description of Madison Washington's appearance closely follows Stowe's first description of Tom. The story Douglass tells, though, allows him to reject her "simple" slave hero (Tom is probably the source
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Oscar Micheauz Screenplay, The BEtrayal

For years I have tried to get a screenplay from Micheaux. I know he made books but most of his books are very old, in expensive collections and have only been photocopied, not transcribed, and if transcribed the stories are in other works.  But the betrayal is the only access to a screenplay I am aware of Here is the extended page https://aalbc.com/tc/events/event/677-oscar-devereaux-micheaux-books-plus-films/  
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Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Speech 1895

Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Speech ADDRESS BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, PRINCIPAL TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE, TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA, AT OPENING OF ATLANTA EXPOSITION, Sept. 18th, 1895.   Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens:   One third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the
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NEGRO SPIRITUALS + WORK SONGS

The Negro Spirituals predate the USA, as do the Work Songs. Imagine what has been lost is how the NEgro Spirituals plus work songs changed from the early 1500s to circa 1865, when the war between the states ended. I don't even know how that knowledge can be obtained as written records for black art were not allowed by the white enslavers.....   NEGRO SPIRITUALS The Project Gutenberg eBook of Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere
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THE GARIES AND THIER FRIENDS

Francis Johnson Webb was a grandson of Aaron Burr, yes the one who shot Hamilton. Webb wrote The Garies and Their Friends (1857)   Language: English Credits: Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beth Scott and PG Distributed Proofreaders *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GARIES AND THEIR FRIENDS *** Produced by Suzanne Shell, Beth Scott and PG Distributed Proofreaders THE GARIES AND THEIR FRIENDS Frank J. Webb 1857 Preface by Harriet Beecher Stowe TO THE LADY NOEL BYRON THI
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Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States by William Well Brown

Clotel; or, The President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States is an 1853 novel by United States author and playwright William Wells Brown about Clotel and her sister, fictional slave daughters of Thomas Jefferson. full text https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/346-clotel-from-william-wells-brown/   The Project Gutenberg eBook of Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the
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Le Mulâtre from Victor Séjour two versions split by an essay

Le Mulâtre from Victor Séjour "Le Mulâtre" ("The Mulatto") is a short story by Victor Séjour, a free person of color and Creole of color born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was written in French, Séjour's first language, and published in the Paris abolitionist journal Revue des Colonies in 1837. It is the earliest extant work of fiction by an African-American author. It was noted as such when it was first translated in English, appearing in the first edition of the Norton Anthology o
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George M Horton - remembering Juneteenth

First work published in the usa by a black person in 1865 , circa after the thirteenth amendment, by the only person to publish poetry while enslaved in the history of the U.S.A. is attributed to George M Horton.  He published three works while planned four in total, to my knowledge through Wikipedia.   The Hope of Liberty (1829) This was Horton's first true attempt to buy his freedom. Most of the poems in the collection were themed around antislavery either indirect or directly
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Gutenberg - Black Literature

thank you @umbrarchist for inspiring this. I have known of gutenberg for years and used it but never thought to go through its library for Black literature.    Books in African American Writers (sorted by popularity) https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/6 Books in African American Writers (sorted alphabetically) https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/6?sort_order=title Books in African American Writers (sorted alphabetically by author) https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf
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Haitian Constitution

THE 1805 CONSTITUTION OF HAITI SECOND CONSTITUTION OF HAITI (HAYTI) MAY 20, 1805. PROMULGATED BY EMPEROR JACQUES I (DESSALINES) The document below was printed in the New York Evening Post, July 15, 1805. It was transcribed into the version below by Bob Corbett on April 4, 1999. I did not translate it, only transcribed. It was printed in 1805 in English. There is no mention in the newspaper who translated it. But, given that Henri Christophe was involved in the publication and
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(1860) FREDERICK DOUGLASS, “THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES: IS IT PRO-SLAVERY OR ANTI-SLAVERY?”

In a speech before the Scottish Anti-Slavery Society in Glasgow, Scotland on March 26, 1860, Frederick Douglass outlines his views on the American Constitution.   I proceed to the discussion. And first a word about the question. Much will be gained at the outset if we fully and clearly understand the real question under discussion. Indeed, nothing is or can be understood. This are often confounded and treated as the same, for no better reason than that they resemble each other, even wh
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MALCOLM X - inaugural Organization Of Afro American Unity speech

While in Ghana in May 1964, Malcolm decided to form the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Malcolm returned to New York the following month to create the OAAU and on June 28 gave his first public address on behalf of the new organization at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.  ' Salaam Alaikum, Mr. Moderator, our distinguished guests, brothers and sisters, our friends and our enemies, everybody who’s here. As many of you know, last March when it was announced that I was no lo
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Frederick Douglass : Our Composite Nation

As nations are among the largest and the most complete divisions into which society is formed, the grandest aggregations of organized human power; as they raise to observation and distinction the world’s greatest men, and call into requisition the highest order of talent and ability for their guidance, preservation and success, they are ever among the most attractive, instructive and useful subjects of thought, to those just entering upon the duties and activities of life. The simple organi
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MLK jr : FREE AT LAST SPEECH

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the
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Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral from Phillis Wheatley

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Religious and Moral Poems, by Phillis Wheatley This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Religious and Moral Poems Author: Phillis Wheatley Release Date: January, 1996 [EBook #409] Last Updated: February 24, 2019 Language: English Character set encoding: U
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Bars Fight from Lucy Terry

August 'twas the twenty-fifth,         Seventeen hundred forty-six;         The Indians did in ambush lay,         Some very valient men to slay,         The names of whom I'll not leave out.         Samuel Allen like a hero fout,         And though he was so brave and bold,         His face no more shall we behold.         Eleazer Hawks was killed outright,         Before he had time to fight,—         Before he did the Indians see,         Was shot and killed immediately.         O
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Le Mulâtre from Victor Séjour

Le Mulâtre Victor Séjour Revue des Colonies, mars 1837, pp. 376-392.     Les premiers rayons de l’aurore blanchissaient à peine la cime noire des montagnes, quand je partis du Cap pour me rendre à Saint Marc, petite ville de St-Domingue, aujourd’hui la république d’Haïti. J’avais tant vu de belles campagnes, de forêts hautes et profondes, qu’en vérité je me croyais blasé de ces beautés mâles de la création. Mais, à l’aspect de cette dernière ville, avec sa végétation pittoresque,
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CLOTEL from William Wells Brown

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Clotel; Or, The President's Daughter, by William Wells Brown This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you’ll have to check the laws of the country where you

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