An Evening with Frederick Douglass: A Play in Two Acts

By Earnest N. Bracey

Frederick Douglass was a runaway slave who fled north and overcame incredible adversity and extreme hardships to become one of the greatest abolitionists of his time. Douglass, who was best known for his writings and oratorical career, was passionate about fighting the horrors of white supremacy and liberating former black slaves in the United States.

 

In this two-act play, Dr. Earnest Bracey, a professor of African American history, not only allows others to learn about American slavery and the universal truths of race and the humanity of all people, but also shares tantalizing facts about Douglass’s celebrated life that highlight his best traits like self-control, dignity, and grace under pressure. Additionally, Bracey invites others into a world that emphasizes the contributions and accomplishments African Americans made in shaping our divisive culture while vividly describing how black people managed to survive their enslavement despite obstacles such as lynchings, Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and legal segregation.

 

An Evening with Frederick Douglass provides a glimpse into the life of a much-admired orator and abolitionist who accomplished great feats during an ugly time in American history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Feb 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781480872806

Earnest N. Bracey

Earnest N. Bracey is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and professor of political science and African American history at the College of Southern Nevada. He earned a doctorate from George Mason University and a PhD from Capella University. Dr. Bracey is author of Daniel ‘Chappie’ James and The Moulin Rouge and Black Rights in Las Vegas.

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Copyright © 2019 Earnest N. Bracey.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-7281-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7279-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7280-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019930781

Archway Publishing rev. date: 01/10/2019

For my brother, Reverend (Dr.) Leon F. Bracey

Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Play

Setting

Act 1

Act II

Epilogue

Bibliography

Biographical Sketch

Preface

F or almost my entire adult life, I have admired Frederick Douglass. This is why I wrote this play about this great black man, who was the first African American to attain historic stature. ¹ Douglass overcame incredible adversity and extreme hardships to become one of the greatest abolitionists of his time. He was a runaway slave from Maryland, who fled north to freedom, and to fame as an anti-slavery orator and author. ² Therefore, Douglass was best known for his writings and oratorical career. In writing this play, An Evening with Frederick Douglass, I wanted to show some other tantalizing things about his celebrated life, his self-control, dignity, and grace under pressure.

His early days proved fortuitous for him, as he discovered the beauty of human thought and learning. Later, Douglass’s speeches and uncanny voice demonstrated his genius, as he was mostly self-taught, but a learned black man who was unlike anyone that had ever lived during a dark and ugly period in our American history. Additionally, about his harsh formative years, Douglass was resilient and smart, as well as courageous. It should be noted that the extraordinary life of Frederick Douglass was fascinating and should be commended and celebrated by all American citizens, especially as he fought back against the destructive effects of racism and discrimination against black people and others in profound, unconventional ways. Douglass, as a black man and former slave in America, was navigating the often precarious and perilous racist landscape of nineteenth-century life in the United States. He singlehandedly frustrated white supremacists, to the point of madness, as his actions and activities shocked and changed his world.

So, I also wrote this play about Frederick Douglass to pay homage to this great man, as he pushed for the freedom of African Americans everywhere in our society. His controversial views, revolutionary concepts, and discussions about the devastating ramifications of American slavery are something to remember, as he died trying to understand what his life and the lives of other black people were all about. Additionally, this play tries to give insight into the heart and soul of the man that most Americans know very little about; hence, Douglass remains an enigma. Nevertheless, he believed that we must all be patriotic and that we must work together, while transforming American society for the betterment of all. Douglass had an extraordinary dream of a unified America, long before Dr. Martin Luther King’s most famous I Have a Dream speech. And Douglass firmly believed that no dream was too high for African Americans, with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He was finally a doer—with an interracial and humanitarian vision. To be sure, this one-man play about Frederick Douglass also attempts to give others a deeply affecting portrait of a concerned individual who was extremely vested in what he was doing to liberate African Americans