Bill Lee: “200 years ago this month, a man was born into slavery in a cabin not far from here in Maryland. The child knew his…”

“200 years ago this month, a man was born into slavery in a cabin not far from here in Maryland. The child knew his mother only briefly; they were cruelly separated when he was young. He knew his father only by the rumors. He didn't even know the exact day of his birth. Yes, even his birthday-- for many of us, that foundational aspect of identity--was denied him by the cruel master of slavery. This slave was whipped and beaten. His days were filled with toil. His nights were filled with restless turning on a packed dirt floor. But that is not where the story ends--no, it is only the beginning of the incredible life of Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist, orator, and one of the greatest Americans ever to live. As Douglass would later write in his memoirs, ``You have seen how a man was made a slave. You shall see how a slave was made a man.'' For all its terrible might--its bloodhounds and its implements of torture--slavery was not built to withstand Frederick Douglass, just as it was not built to withstand the universal desire for freedom that lies within the heart of man. Douglass knew that the first step to freedom was education, so he taught himself to read in secrecy because slaves were punished for learning to read.…”