Sunday, February 26, 2017

John Malveaux: Baltimore Sun: Frederick Douglass bicentennial project aims to give away 1 million copies of his autobiography

Frederick Douglass
(The Baltimore Sun)

John Malveaux of 
writes:

MILLION book giveway Frederick Douglas biography


February 14, 2017

By Brittany Britto, Contact Reporter

Today marks Frederick Douglass' 199th birthday — and in preparation for his bicentennial, the Maryland abolitionist's descendants have planned a project they hope revives Douglass' legacy.

The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives charity launched the “One Million Abolitionists Project” on Tuesday, an initiative that aims to print and give away 1 million bicentennial-edition copies of Douglass' 1845 autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave," to young people around the country, according to a recent news release. 

After recipients read the book, the organization is urging young readers to collaborate with others to create service projects to address social concerns.  
Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives — co-founded by Kenneth Morris, the great-great-great grandson of Douglass, his mother Nettie Washington Douglass, Douglass' great-great-granddaughter, and Robert J. Benz*  — will present the bicentennial project to the Library of Congress on Feb. 28. 

The organization, which aims to educate and fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery, has already printed and given away 5,000 books, according to Morris. The hope is to raise money to fund the production of the remaining books. 

“Those words still have the power to inspire young people to insist upon rights guaranteed to them in America’s founding documents,” Nettie Washington Douglass said in a statement.

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