by LUIS CHAVEZ-BRUMELL The new haven independent
This month, NHFPL Deputy Director Luis Chavez-Brumell discusses his current read, Pulitzer-winning biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight.
Happy Black History Month! The New Haven Free Public Library is celebrating Black entrepreneurship during the month of February. Black history happens every day, but it is important to celebrate Black entrepreneurship and how it has impacted American history. A perfect example of this is the life of Frederick Douglass who is known as a celebrated abolitionist, writer, orator, and statesman but also was indeed an entrepreneur.
I discovered this as I read the Pulitzer winning biography of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight. Growing up I learned of Douglass as a near mythical historical figure who fought for freedom with his words and writings, but I did not realize that, as Blight states, “he would be paid to speak and face hatred, resistance, and violence as he launched his more than fifty-year career as an orator.”
Douglass’s success as an orator and his ability to tap into abolitionist fundraising networks led Douglass to publish his own abolitionist newspaper, the North Star. Blight writes that “Douglass plowed all of his money into the North Star buying a printing press” and that “the paper was to be a proud black enterprise.” Douglass continued to work with newspapers and would provide paid lectures throughout his life. The takeaway for me is that Douglass was an entrepreneur but is often not remembered as one. Most importantly, Douglass saw the important intersection between literacy, education, entrepreneurship as being liberating for all. Let us remember and celebrate Black entrepreneurship in all its forms and move forward together.
This month NHFPL staff bring you a couple of lists in celebration of Black entrepreneurship throughout history, past and present with new books and incomparable classics that represent voices across age, time and experience. We have also included a list of books by great Black authors that have just hit the shelf. All are available now at the New Haven Free Public Library.