by
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Who was this man whom both black and white spoke so passionately about? Was he the same Frederick Douglass, former victim of enslavement, eloquent spokesman for equal rights for all black man and black woman. Is he the same man who said "What to a Black Man is your Fourth of July?"
Jewell Parker Rhodes tells us she wrote a novel, a fictional piece about a non-fictional character, non other than the orator, Frederick Douglass, champion of liberation and equality. So what is the true and what is false. Could Frederick Douglass, be just another Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby, Dr. J revelation, Martin Luther King, Jr.? Could Douglass be another Black man, although reverred, who was just another "DOG" sneaking out on his wife to sleep with the white woman down the hall.
Of course those were the questions we asked each other at the book club meeting. The answers were much more complex than first glance would tell. Could Douglass simply be a user of women, or did her marry Anna out of a sense of political correctness? He had given his promise of marriage and he would not fail in keeping his word. Would it have been better for Anna, had he chosen to not come back and allowed Anna and child to exist with out him.
We concluded that he did not even love his white mistress. She, too like Anna was used. What manner of man was this Frederick Douglass? Throughout our discussion, we asked how did he feel about the women in his life? Did he ever love either of them? And how old was the white woman he eventfully married? Our advice for Rhodes, let us hear from the man also.
The definitive sentence in the book was Douglass' assertion that he was married "to a black log." This reference to the woman who bore him five children, married him, and was directly responsible for helping him obtain his freedom was outrageously received by all in attendance. Many of us were admonished by cooler heads to not allow the revelations of this book to diminish our respect for this man who served as an advisor to President Lincoln.
And we agreed...but still, Anna was...is a sistah, one of us. How can we not feel her sorrow, especially when so well portrayed through the words of Jewell Parker Rhodes.