My multimodal project is based on a letter that Frederick Douglass wrote to Molefi Kete Asante; the author of “Afrocentricity.” I made it seem as if Frederick Douglass knew that Asante was going to be born and knew what he was going to do with his life (made it seem like Douglass was a psychic.) Then there’s a recording of my made up podcast “Talks with Fran.” Hence, I chose a historical figure for the research and written text and audio for the media.
Rochester
December 3rd, 1865
A Letter To My Fellow Black Brother: My thoughts on Afrocentricity
Dear Dr. Molefi Kete Asante,
Hope all is well with you. You may not know who I am, but I’m pretty sure you heard about me in your social studies class or African Heritage. However, I’ll go ahead and give some background about myself. I am Frederick Douglass; an escaped slave, author, public speaker, a leader in the abolitionist movement and a civil rights activist. As a young slave I learned to read and write and also held mini lessons to teach other enslaved Black people literacy through the use of the Bible. Furthemore, I work as a agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. I am currently traveling the country holding anti-slavery and literacy lectures about the practices of slavery. As someone who was a slave and escaped through the act of pretending to be a sailor, I like to go around and educate those who aren’t as educated. I’ve encountered many adults who aren’t able to read or write. Therefore, I like to give them a hand so they can show their masters their intelligence. In 1852, I remember giving a speech in the North to an audience that was mostly white. In this speech I wanted to highlight a Black person’s consciousness and the power they have to contribute to this white society. I’m a religious person. Hence, I like to use the bible as a friend to reference the unjustifications of slavery. I also gave a speech a couple of years ago at the annual meeting in Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, I like to call it “What the Black Man Wants.” I wanted my audience to know that my black brothers and sisters deserve justice and the right to vote and that “he has been a citizen just three times in the history of this government, and it has always been in time of trouble. In times of trouble we are citizens. Shall we be citizens in war, and aliens in peace? Would that be just?” (Marable and Mullings, 127). Our black brothers and sisters are only considered Americans when America is in trouble. When there’s a war, who is the first to be called?– The negro. Black people contribute to America’s society but we get no recognition and are still treated like savages just because our bodies are brown or black.
The Civil War gave me a sense of urgency to strive and fight harder for our community. It took America hundreds of years to pass the 13th Amendment and we thought that abolishment of slavery would fix things. However, the thought was incorrect. In your essay you are going to ask your readers, “are you down with overcoming oppression?” (Asante). I think us black people ask each other that everyday. We don’t only want slavery to be abolished we want the segregation and racism to stop. We want our black brother and sisters to stop being killed by the white oppressors and the government because “the most dangerous place black people are seen is in a white person’s imagination” (quote said by somebody in a BLM protest). White oppressors create this negative image of black people that causes them to see every person of color as something and not someone, an object and not a person. Furthermore, “When black people view themselves as centered and central in their own history then they see themselves as agents, actors, and participants rather than as marginals on the periphery of political or economic experience” (Asante). My understanding of this is that Afrocentricity doesn’t necessarily mean that others need to see Africans in the center. It means Africans do. They don’t need to worry about the perception others give them but the perception they have of themselves. It saddens me writing this letter to you because I will never meet you. I know you’re confused and asking yourself, “how in the world does The Frederick Douglass know who I am.” I can see and predict things that no one else could. It also saddens me that hundreds of years later black people are still going through oppression, the declaration that offered that “all men are created equal… that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But where is liberty and happiness, where is equality and justice towards those who are wrongfully incarcerated. Molefi, with this essay, you will teach people from the black perspective the importance of their skin color and their African heritage. This is important because some black people tend to forget about their African heritage due to the “dominance” American culture has today. With agency and location, as stated by you, black people are able to have the power to determine their character and life in America. You want to make it clear that African history didn’t start since the Transatlantic slave trade.
Even though, I know that even in the 21st century Black Americans are still getting wrongfully treated in society, I will continue to fight till the day I die for the justice of African Americans where discrimination will not be present in America’s democracy. Molefi, brother, I hope that when you get this in the near future you know that The Frederick Douglass knows and believes in you to educate those in the relevance of Afrocentricity. I hope that the artists, activists, writers of your time make a difference with their music, artwork, words and voice because we will conquer that value and justice for our black brothers and sisters no matter how long it takes.
Your fellow Brother,
F. Douglass
Works cited
Asante, Molefi K. Afrocentricity, Dr.Molefi Kete Asante, 13 Mar. 2009, https://asante.net/articles/1/afrocentricity/.
History.com Editors. “Frederick Douglass.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/frederick-douglass.
“Letter 5.” Frederick Douglass Letters 1855 – 1857, Letter 5, Virtual Exhibit, New York State Library, www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/features/fd/let5.htm.
Douglass, Frederick. “What the Black Man Wants” pg. 122-127. Marable, Manning, and Mullings, Leith. “Let Nobody Turn Us Around Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal: An American Anthology”, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2009.
“Talks with Fran” recording, December 16th, 2020 at 1:48AM
Recording down below:
