Anna collaborated with Frederick and freedom reigned (revised June 24, 2023)

How the Douglass family worked together to keep their family whole while they fought against injustice

Juneteenth is a national holiday, now and I am reminded of Frederick Douglass' 4th of July speech, “What to the [en]slave[d] is fourth of July?” My niece pretty much asked that same question of her elders when her mom and I were talking about where we would celebrate the 4th this year. I can't quite let go of July 4th, because it belongs to me just as much as Juneteenth.  I strongly believe there are some promises the US government has yet to fulfill, so I be absent from 4th of July celebrations.  I need the powers that be to see my dark skin, full lips, my pride and they need to know their is still a promise to be kept. So while I wait for my 40 acres and a mule, or a check from the California reparations committee, I thought I'd revisit this essay I wrote in 2020 about Anna and Frederick Douglass who struggled to bring emancipation to fruition in the US. 

Frederick Douglass said in an 1876 letter about the Lincoln Park memorial that emancipation was a collaborative effort and that ‘no one monument could be made to tell the whole truth . . .’. He would know since he stood at the right hand of Lincoln and convinced the martyred president to do the right thing. He was also in and around the White House when Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the 15th amendment of 1869 granting the right to vote to Black men. Douglass spoke of emancipation as a collaboration between Lincoln and the enslaved who enlisted in the Civil War to fight for their own freedom.


Douglass’ life is a path paved with bread crumbs of alliances toward change. And the collaborator that allowed him to reach his greatness is rarely discussed. It was his wife of 44 years, Anna Murray. She was an amazing unsung heroine. Thanks to her teamwork, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey realized his birthright of freedom and his new last name.


About 100 years before my own dad was born, Frederick and Anna met in 1838.  There are two ways they may have run into each other. One, supposedly while they were attending the same church or she ran into him at the docks when working as a laundress. Rosetta

Douglass Sprague, the daughter of Anna and Frederick wrote a comprehensive essay about her fearsome mother, "Anna Murray Douglass: My Mother as I Recall Her" (1900). 

Anna’s parents were enslaved and eventually manumitted, released from slavery. They had 12 children; five of them were born without the constraints of enslavement, unfortunately seven of them were not. Anna was the first of the five born into freedom. According to the Smithsonian Magazine (2018), Anna left home at 17 years old and found the only work she could, as a domestic. Because of that job, Rosetta wrote that her mom became a skilled housekeeper and modeled her own home after that of her employer’s.

Anna was born out of bondage, but slavery had not yet been abolished so learning to read was a distant fantasy. She could, however, count and was adept at creating a rainy-day fund.

Can you imagine sending your 17-year-old sister, daughter, niece into the streets today?  Look around in 2023 at the people living in tents and think of them as the newly released from bondage.  Where do they go when housing is too expensive and people take one look at them and decide they don’t want to rent to those people. I thought it would be difficult to imagine what it was like to be released from bondage and then be told to fend for yourself with no money and only the clothes on your back. Then I took a look at an underpass of the 405 freeway and sadly it’s not that big of a stretch to imagine what 1865 must have looked like. 

By the time Anna met the dashing Frederick, who had been vying for his own manumission, she had the finances and cunning to help. And, I’m sure she must have thought long and hard about parting with her nest egg.  She was a smart woman, so she obviously thought this love was a risk worth taking, and it was. According to their daughter Rosetta, Frederick gave his heart to Anna and she gave her "unswerving loyalty."

They conspired to get him to New York to meet up with another collaborator, he was of Caucasian persuasion.  There, Frederick paid for (with Anna’s finances from cleaning houses) documents which told anyone that needed know what Frederick already knew; he was restored back the freedom of his birthright. 

Check out the Universal Declaration of Human Rights introduced by Eleanor Roosevelt and adopted by the United Nations (UN) on December 10, 1948.  Can we get back to living up to that declaration?   Read it and you may better understand why number 45 no longer wanted the USA to be part of the UN. The document is all about worldwide peace and global inalienable human rights for everyone.

Anna worked as a housekeeper and Frederick with a saw and axe. When Frederick’s outspoken fame grew, his life was threatened and the white abolitionists of Boston pooled their money to send  Frederick to Europe for a year (1844 to 1845).  Anna was a single parent for a year with four children by then and the eldest was six years old. (I’m exhausted when my two toddler grandsons visit for the weekend.)  In addition to the money she received -- Frederick would send what he could when he could -- Anna took care of the family by binding shoes.  Remember she couldn’t read, but she kept the books like a banker and they did not go into debt.  

The Douglass family collaboration included Anna as a co-worker in the anti-slavery movement. As Frederick's fame grew, so did the family income. Rosetta writes that Anna didn't feel comfortable in the midst of so many people with formal education so she chose to stay home and collaborate a life with Frederick and the family. There were many nights of separation.

As he was the most photographed person of the time, even more than Abraham Lincoln, Anna made sure his wardrobe arrived cleaned, pressed, and photo-ready. At their home though, she hosted dignitaries, ordinaries and fugitives escaping to Canada.

Anna and Frederick worked together to keep their family whole. Theirs is a story of resilience, faith and focus at a time when most zeroed in on the despair of that time.  It was a rough period, an awful part of history that should never be forgotten lest it rears its ugly head again.  But this family made sacrifices in hope that today, in 2023, real change will happen. 

Here’s an interesting fact about how Frederick changed his name from Bailey to Douglass. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, “Frederick Douglass chose his name from a poem . . . After he successfully escaped slavery in 1838, he and his wife [Anna] adopted the name Douglass from a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott, “The Lady of the Lake,” . . .

Anna helped Frederick gain his freedom, she assisted him in picking out a new name and because she was able to take care of the financials, raise the kids and run a depot of the Underground Railroad in their home, Frederick was able to tour the country and speak out against injustice on behalf of families he would never know. After 44 years of marriage she passed away due to a stroke. But what an amazing collaboration they created.

Yesterday and today, it takes collaboration and a host of like-minded humans who envision a brighter future for the US. It took 89 years after the Patriots kicked King George to the curb for black people to have their freedom reinstated and another 157 years for the US to acknowledge June 19, 1865 as freedom day for Black Americas. So yeah, I appreciate the day off, but there is restitution left to be paid and it will again take collaboration with allies for the US to make good on it's promise of freedom and justice for all.

To learn more about the Douglass family for yourself, click on the links in the references below  and read the full essay from Rosetta Douglass Sprague.

This essay was originally published on July 5, 2020 and was revised on June 24, 2023, following the second annual Juneteenth federal legal holiday.

References

Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The Hidden History of Anna Murray Douglass.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 5 Mar. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hidden-history-anna-murray-douglass-180968324/.

Douglass Sprague, Rosetta. “Anna Murray Douglass, My Mother As I Recall Her.” The Library of Congress, 10 May 1900, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mfd.02007.

Errick, Jennifer. “10 Facts You Might Not Know About Frederick Douglass, in Honor of His 200th Birthday.” National Parks Conservation Association, National Parks Magazine, 1 Feb. 2018, www.npca.org/articles/1736-10-facts-you-might-not-know-about-frederick-douglass-in-honor-of-his-200th.

Jonathan W. White, Scott Sandage. “What Frederick Douglass Had to Say About Monuments.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 30 June 2020, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-frederick-douglass-had-say-about-monuments-180975225/#:~:text=(Douglass'%20letter%20may%20be%20implying,it%20that%20way%20in%201876.)&text=%E2%80%9CWhat%20I%20want%20to%20see,his%20feet%20like%20a%20man.%E2%80%9D.

Owens, Donna. “Frederick Douglass' Descendants Want His Story to Inspire 200 Years after His Birth.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 Mar. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/frederick-douglass-descendants-want-his-story-inspire-200-years-after-n854826 .

“VIDEO: Frederick Douglass' Descendants Deliver His 'Fourth Of July' Speech.” NPR, NPR: America Reckons with Racial Injustice, 3 July 2020, www.npr.org/2020/07/03/884832594/video-frederick-douglass-descendants-read-his-fourth-of-july-speech. This video was inspired by Jennifer Crandall's documentary project "Whitman, Alabama." Visit whitmanalabama.com

Listen to the Douglass descendants as they read and comment on “What to the [en]slave[d] is the fourth of July?” https://youtu.be/NBe5qbnkqoM

If Only I Stopped by 3 Months Earlier

I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I called my 90-year-old friend and her cellphone was disconnected. So I called her house phone and my heart sank when that was disconnected. In August, when school started, Celestine Ellis was on my heart. "How is she doing?" I would ask myself,  "She's 90 plus years old, you need to go by and see her."  

She was the glue of our Secure Women Investment Club, SWIC for short.  We were together for 12 years. And before we disbanded, we cashed in some of our shares and flew to France to tour the country for 15 days.  Celestine took her grand daughter Corrin.  It was the best trip ever.  Even after we disbanded, Celestine, our perpetual secretary, continued to send out stock tips to the SWIC listserve. 

If I had only stopped by three months earlier I would have had a chance to say goodbye to my dear friend.  Our lovely Celestine Ellis is resting in peace, now.  She passed on September 9, just two weeks shy of her 93rd birthday. Her services were held at Inglewood Park Cemetery on September 27, 2021 and were officiated by Rev. J. Edgar Boyd, senior pastor of First AME Church of Los Angeles.

I sat and visited with her son David (her only child)  and he apologized, ". . . if I wasn't able to reach everyone."  However, he gave me a program from her services.  Understandably, he didn't really remember if anyone from SWIC was in attendance. I ended our visit by saying, "It is what it is," it came out of my mouth without much  thought and it felt a little odd that I would say that to comfort someone, a son who has lost his mother.  David chuckled and said, "You, too." 

I felt so silly for saying something so inadequate.  Then I got home and read Celestine's program. David quoted one of Celestine's favorite sayings, "It is what it is."  This time I chuckled through a stream of tears. I choose to believe I was channeling her spirit at that moment on her porch and David, her son, enjoyed the irony.

I feel so blessed that God saw fit to share Celestine with us mere mortals for as long as He did. Love you Celestine and thank you for being such a good friend.

Famsgiving 2021

This was our first Thanksgiving dinner since the pandemic 

. . .  and it was nice. Danny fried a turkey, BBQ'd lamb chops and pork ribs. Melanie served Tofurkey and banana pudding.  And yeah, we had collard greens, Salmon and monkey bread. The monkey bread, however, ended up on the dessert table, at first, because of the pretty bundt pan design. And who could resist sweet potato and pumpkin pies with a side of See's Candies. I think I gained 10 pounds typing this blog. We didn't just eat. No, no, no, no, no. We solved riddles and then played art history, Star Wars and the movie Inside Out themed games on Kahoot.  

We kept the celebration small (eight folks) and asked everyone planning on attending to be fully vaccinated for COVID 19.  But, we also didn't want to leave anyone out, so we planned a Zoom gathering as well. Family dropped in, jockeying for position (I mean we can be loud and loving) from Ohio, Nevada and San Bernardino.  I think our ancestors, though, would be proud of how we connected across several generations and states to show our love for one another. 

Our loved ones shared in the festivities from a heavenly realm and got ring side seats. I could feel their presence and it covered me like a warm blanket. These times we get together are precious and meaningful to the mind, spirit and genealogy.  And like my life partner Greg said in his prayer, "I hope the younger generation carries on the tradition" of gathering to show our connectedness and love.  Smooches fam.  And to all the folks reading this, you are sharing in the joy.

I hope you enjoy the video of my beloved family making connections. 

 Try this link, just in case: https://youtu.be/KB4DbZXaGhs 

Do you consider yourself a mathematician?

I was asked these questions today:

• Using your own words, define mathematics and explain what it means to you.
• Do you see yourself as a mathematician? Why or why not?
• What knowledge, skills, and understanding do you require to be a mathematician?

My initial response was, “NO, no and no.” But then I thought about it.

I know how to balance a checkbook, measure ingredients for a recipe, and can figure out how long it takes me to get from point A to point B.

 

I also sew, which requires using measuring tape and a yard stick. And speaking of yard sticks, I can keep track of how my grand kids are growing; I measure it on the wall behind the door.  And, I am pretty good at determining scale on a map and converting inches to miles. 

 Furthermore, I can keep track of the percentage of growth in our financial portfolio. 

I don't hold a math degree, but I do know math. I feel like a casual mathematician, rather than a formal one. When I stopped to think about it, I am way more “mathy” than I realized. However, I wouldn't really consider myself a mathematician, but maybe a mathemanaturalist (my own word). I study math in the wild.


What about you? Do you see yourself as a mathematician? Why or why not? Respond in the comments.

BS on the Nest

I just could not resist merging my new found obsession with the Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) eagle cam (full disclosure, I became a member this week) and the awesome places Bernie Sanders' image from the Biden-Harris inauguration has been turning up on social media.  So why not? I put him in the nest with Jackie, the star of FOBBV.  Stay warm Bernie, your country needs you.

photo credit: Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) sits in the bleachers on Capitol Hill before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th U.S. president at the U.S Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Jan. 20, 2021. (AFP Photo)

Edited by Alyssa Shepherd Moore  -- screenshot from Friends of Big Bear Valley eagle cam 

Little Leslie's Fingers

She was the tiniest, the cutest and the youngest.  But her fingers and door jambs were like magnets to steel. Her little fingers were always getting crushed. 

“Crack!” 

“Owww!”

“What happened, now?”  mom said walking steadily towards the action.  She wasn’t running, and she wasn’t going slowly, just a steady pace that evoked the normalcy of the situation, or to help de escalate the wail of a cry that was sure to follow. You see my little sister's fingers seem to find their way wedged in between cabinet doors, car doors, hallway doors, front doors, back doors, garage doors, refrigerator doors . . . . doors of any kind.  It’s a wonder she still has fingers.  So this little fictional tale is dedicated to my little sister Leslie and her little fingers. It started with a crack and then  . . . 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Little Leslie’s Fingers

“Mommy!  Leslie smashed her finger!” Lyssa was quick to report.  Lyssa made it her family duty to make sure the adult units were aware of the activities going on in the house. As the eldest of Irish triplets, Lyssa didn’t feel much like the oldest, though. Her middle brother Larry was adventuresome and always seemed to find new ways to have fun.  Leslie was nimble, always jumping, climbing, running and getting her fingers smashed. Daddy was Mr. Catchem-in-the-act, because it didn't matter what part of town you were in he would always catch you in the act of doing something you weren't suppose to be doing. In the early days, though when the family first moved to Carson, it was all hands on deck to prevent the next smashing of Little Leslie’s fingers. Sometimes they weren’t fast enough and sometimes they were.

One day 4-year old Little Leslie climbed up on the kitchen cabinet to get a bowl for her Corn Flakes.  She loved when mommy would cut up bananas, plop them in the bowl and load it with sugar and milk.  Little Leslie could just about taste the crunchy goodness. 

Meanwhile, in the girl’s room, Lyssa woke up and saw her little sister was not in the bed and suddenly she got a tingle, a Spidey tingle about a finger smashing.  Lyssa trotted to the hallway and walked north towards the bathroom.  No Leslie there.  Then out of the hallway and into the family room. She headed northeast of the bathroom making an "L" shaped path across the family room and peering through the space between the counter and cabinet, Lyssa could see Leslie kneeling on the opposite counter.  Lyssa could also see Leslie’s back as she was perched on the formica with her fluffy pink jammies. Lyssa smiled at the sight, that was until she saw Leslie’s fingers were inside the cabinet door, in the jamb, while the other hand was grabbing for the cereal bowl. 

“Leslie,” Lyssa sang out, trying to mimic mommy's cool demeanor. “Watch your fingers.”

“I am,” Leslie’s 4-year-old muffled voice shot back. “I getting a bowl.”

“I see, but wait,”  Lyssa tried to distract Leslie from the impending doom of the cabinet door and her little sister's fingers. 

“It just a bowl,” Leslie replied with innocent wonder and agitation.

Lyssa walked a little faster and got there just in time.  Leslie was about to close the cabinet and the chartreuse wood was already starting to tighten on the plump meat of Leslie’s fingers.  Lyssa’s heart skipped a beat as she sprang into action grabbing the door.

“Hey!” Leslie squealed.  “I can do it!”

“Fine!” Lyssa shot back while she held the cabinet door.  Lyssa was about two inches taller and just barely able to grab the cabinet door. Leslie jumped down, bowl clasped to her chest and none the wiser to the appendage eating cabinet that just missed having Leslie’s little fingers for breakfast.

But, Lyssa was too proud of herself that morning and didn’t notice how close the open box of Corn Flakes on the counter was in relation to her outstretched arms. So, as she swung her arms in pride, happy about her good deed, the kitchen was raining golden brown flakes as the box twirled and tumbled through the air and onto the ground.  Of course, that was the exact time mommy and daddy (aka Mr. Catchem-in-the-Act) were walking into the kitchen.

“Lyssa!” mom yelled.

“What the  . . .!” daddy scowled.

“Haha!” Larry pointed and giggled from out of nowhere, just happy it wasn't him this time.

“Get a broom. You are going to clean up every last flake,” mommy directed.

“But . . .” Lyssa tried to explain.

Leslie looked back with a sly smirk on her face, or so it appeared, then turned to mommy, “Can I have some cereal?”

“Yes, if Lyssa didn’t spill them all.”

Lyssa walked toward the broom closet shaking her head and thinking, because she could never get away with saying it out loud,  “So this is my reward for saving another finger from smashing. Oh-boy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics website HealthyChildren.org, a child’s fingertip is

smashed more often than not when a door is being closed. “The child is either unable to recognize the potential danger, or she fails to remove her hand quickly enough before the door is shut. Fingers also sometimes get crushed when youngsters play with a hammer or other heavy object, or when they’re around a car door.” I think my little Leslie was a victim of all of these, not so sure about the hammer.  So families, be on the lookout for little fingers in doors, etc.  But know that this happens frequently, some little fingers are more prone to the smashing than others. My 18-month old nephew suffered a smashed finger a few weeks ago at the behest of a bicycle spoke which was worse than any door Leslie ever faced and now he’s in a cast.  His little accident just made me think of my little sister and how often she hurt her fingers. So, Carlee and Michael, be kind to yourselves and just know little kids smash their fingers a lot and it can happen so very quickly. Give baby Carson a hug from us let him know we love him.

San Quentin Families Suffering from COVID-19 Outbreak, Mishandled by CDCR

San Quentin was coronavirus free on March 19 when the state of California began Safer at Home orders.  Then in late May, 122 inmates were transferred from the California Institution for Men in Chino. Inmates at San Quentin knew then what it took California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials weeks to figure out;  an outbreak was imminent.

The family of San Quentin correctional officers and inmates went from 0 cases of COVID-19 to today over 1,500 confirmed cases. According to the podcast Uncuffed which brings stories from San Quentin and Solano prisons to the outside world, in April, San Quentin inmates were given two masks, a six ounce bottle of hand sanitizer and instructed to sleep head to foot in their cells. This was their COVID-19 prevention measures. Incarcerated individuals still have those same two masks and received no more hand sanitizer.

Snap Judgment podcast, in collaboration with Uncuffed delivers stories in the voice of those men who survived the overcrowded conditions of San Quentin, but at least one of them reporting did not escape contracting the disease. Over 1,200 correctional officers have also tested positive for coronavirus. And, yes, there have been deaths.

I am so glad that my cousin retired from San Quentin CDCR years ago, but I have a loved one who still works as a correctional officer in Chino. And, I have a loved one still incarcerated in Northern California. 

So many families are affected directly and indirectly as prisons that were once COVID-19 free become infected. Now, the state of California wants to reduce overcrowding by sending inmates back into the community. 

There are so many non-violent offenders that should not have been criminalized which are now suffering mental and physical dolor. For more evidence, see the stories about Meek Mill, Kalief Browder, or watch "When They See Us" to understand the criminal injustice system and why it needs to be reimagined.

It must feel like such a betrayal when a family member receives prison time for a non-violent offense instead of a quality education,  job training, affordable housing or treatment. Then there’s decades of languishing in a jail cell for your loved one and then after contracting COVID-19 they are released into the loving care of their supportive family and friends which is sure to increase the rate of transmission in the community. Sounds like more fuel for conspiracy theorists.

The embedded links and videos do an excellent job of capturing the first hand voices of those souls who are suffering unjustly and I would suggest listening to SNAP JUDGMENT, UNCUFFED, and NBC DATELINE.  God bless them and their families.