“BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS”

> GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO 'METROFOCUS.'

I'M JACK FORD.

AFTER ESCAPING FROM SLAVERY, FREDERICK DOUGLASS WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENTIAL AND WELL KNOWN FIGURES OF THE 19th CENTURY.

A NEW PBS DOCUMENTARY TITLED, 'BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS' TELLS HIS STORY LARGELY THROUGH HIS OWN WORDS AND IMAGES.

THE FILM FOCUSES ON HIS LIFE LONG NARRATIVE AND THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM AND EQUALITY FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS.

LET'S TAKE A QUICK LOOK.

HE'S BECOMING AN ORATOR, A STATESMAN.

AND FOR FREDERICK DOUGLASS, BECOMING IS AN EVER-UNFOLDING PROCESS.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS WAS SO IMPORTANT AS AN ADVOCATE FOR JUSTICE.

FROM BEING ENSLAVED AND NOT BEING TAUGHT TO READ OR WRIGHT AND BEING THIS INCREDIBLE FIGURE, NOT ONLY FOR THE ON HISSING OF SLAVERY, BUT FOR THE EQUALITY OF ALL PEOPLE.

YOU DON'T GET TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE BY NOT LISTENING TO THE RADICAL DOUGLASS.

WE REALLY TRIED TO DIVE INTO HIS UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT REPRESENTATION MEANS.

HE UNDERSTOOD THAT NEGATIVE DEPICTIONS HAD AN IMPACT.

REPRESENTATION MEANS EVERYTHING.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS CHALLENGES US TO BECOME THE FULLEST EXPRESSION OF OURSELVES AND OUR IDEALS.

JOINING US NOW SO TALK ABOUT THIS NEW PBS DOCUMENTARY AND THE MAN WHO INSPIRED IT IS STANLEY NELSON, THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND CODIRECTOR OF 'BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS,' AS WELL AS 'HARRIET TUBMAN', WHICH WE RECENTLY HAD ON 'METROFOCUS.'

I'M GOING TO ASK YOU A QUESTION THAT'S SIMILAR TO THE QUESTION I ASKED ABOUT THE TUBMAN FILM.

THAT IS WHY -- YOU HAVE HAD SUCH GREAT AND SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE CHRONICLING AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND STORIES.

SO WHY DID YOU FEEL THAT THIS WAS A GOOD TIME TO TELL THE STORY OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS?

WELL, ON ONE LEVEL, FREDERICK DOUGLASS' STORY IS TIMELESS, AND IT CAN BE TOLD ANY TIME.

BUT I FELT THERE WAS SO MUCH MYTH SURROUNDING FREDERICK DOUGLASS THAT SO MUCH OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS, WE MIGHT HAVE LEARN IN THE GRADE SCHOOL AND IT WASN'T VERY NUANCED.

SO THERE WAS MUCH MORE TO LEARN ABOUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS, ESPECIALLY HOW HE BECAME THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS WE ALL KNOW, AT LEAST IN MYTH.

THAT'S INTERESTING, AND YOU LEAD ME NICELY TO MY FIRST QUESTION.

THE TITLE IS 'BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS'. WHY WAS IT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU THAT THIS FOCUSES ON HIS BECOMING WHO HE EVENTUALLY BECAME?

WELL, I THINK THERE'S TWO ANSWERS TO THAT.

ONE, THE EASY ANSWER, IS WE HAD AN HOUR.

YOU KNOW, WE HAD AN HOUR TO MAKE A FILM, AND FREDERICK DOUGLASS LED SUCH AN INCREDIBLE LIFE AND LONG LIFE AND A LIFE THAT WAS SO VARIED THAT WE COULDN'T COVER HIS WHOLE LIFE.

WE SAID, WHAT CAN WE COVER AND WHAT CAN WE COVER EXTENSIVELY AND WHAT CAN WE COVER WITH ENOUGH FOCUS TO MAKE THIS FILM REALLY WORK?

WE CHOSE THE FIRST HALF OF HIS LIFE WHERE HE GOES FROM BEING AN ENSLAVED YOUNG MAN WITH NO PROSPECTS OR ANYTHING ELSE -- HE ESCAPES ENSLAVEMENT, HE BECOMES AN INCREDIBLE SPEAKER, WRITER FOR THE ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT.

FINALLY HAS HIS OWN NEWSPAPER AND ALSO INFLUENCES ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

SO HE GOES FROM AN ENSLAVED YOUNG MAN TO BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AND THAT'S HOW WE WANTED TO KIND OF FRAME THE FILM, HOW HE BECAME THIS INCREDIBLE HUMAN BEING.

AND I DO WANT TO SAY, IT'S A MARVELOUS FILM, VERY POWERFUL AND ILLUMINATING.

AND TO ME, AGAIN, I THOUGHT I KNEW A LOT ABOUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND WALKED AWAY AT VARIOUS POINTS SAYING, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT EITHER.

SO YOU CERTAINLY SUCCEED IN THE TELLING THE STORY OF A MAN WHO MANY OF US THOUGHT WE KNEW BUT TRULY DIDN'T.

LET ME ASK YOU ABOUT A COUPLE OF THING US MENTIONED BEFORE.

LET'S START WITH A QUICK SYNOPSIS OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, THE MAN BORN INTO SLAVERY, THE ENSLAVED YOUNG MAN, AND THEN HOW HE ESCAPED.

JUST AS A BACKDROP FOR THE REST OF OUR CONVERSATION.

YEAH, FREDERICK DOUGLASS WAS BORN IN RAISED IN MARYLAND, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THAT MARYLAND WAS A SLAVE STATE.

SO, YOU KNOW, HE'S ENSLAVED IN MARYLAND, AND HE BASICALLY TEACHES HIMSELF TO READ AND WRITE.

HE TRADES BISCUITS THAT THE PEOPLE MAKE, TRADES THAT FOR WORDS, BASICALLY.

SO HE TEACHES HIMSELF HOW TO READ AND WRITE, AND FINALLY HE ESCAPED ENSLAVEMENT, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT MARYLAND IS THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE VERY CLOSE TO PENNSYLVANIA, WHICH IS NOT A SLAVE STATE.

SO HE ESCAPES TO PENNSYLVANIA AND THEN HE'S ASKED TO SPEAK AT AN ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT, JUST, BY THE WAY, LET'S HEAR FROM THIS GUY WHO WAS ENSLAVED.

AND HE GETS UP AND STARTS SPEAKING AND HE'S MESMERIZING, AND HE JUST IS SO ELOQUENT.

HE'S TALKING ABOUT ENSLAVEMENT FROM THE INSIDE OUT, AND HE BECOMES ONE OF THE GREATEST SPEAKERS IF THE ABOLITIONIST MOMENT AND STARTS TO BECOME THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS THAT WE KNOW.

SO MANY STORIES, THE STORY OF HIS ESCAPE ITSELF IS FASCINATING, AND PEOPLE WILL SEE THAT.

AGAIN, SOMETHING I DIDN'T KNOW.

YOU MENTIONED HE BECOMES ONE OF THE GREATEST SPEAKERS, PERHAPS THE GREATEST SPEAKER IN TERMS OF THE ABOLITION MOVEMENT.

I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TODAY TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT THAT LECTURES AND SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES HAD ON SOCIETY AND HOW VERY DIFFERENT IT IS FOR US TODAY.

EXPLAIN THAT.

YEAH, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE TALK ABOUT IN THE FILM, THAT GOING TO HEAR PEOPLE SPEAK WAS LIKE GOING TO THE MOVIES TODAY.

YOU KNOW?

SO THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE DID THAT WAS THE WAY YOU GOT INFORMATION.

THAT WAS IN MANY WAYS A FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT TO HEAR DIFFERENT SPEAKERS, AND FREDERICK DOUGLASS BECOMES ONE OF THE GREATEST SPEAKERS OF THE 19th CENTURY.

SOMEONE IN THE FILM SAYS, MORE PEOPLE MAY HAVE HEARD FREDERICK DOUGLASS SPEAK THAN ANYBODY IN THIS WHOLE COUNTRY EXCEPT MAYBE MARK TWAIN, WHO WAS AN INCREDIBLE TOURING SPEAKER.

SO SPEAKING WAS A HUGE THING, AND PEOPLE ACTUALLY WENT TO HEAR SPEAKERS.

AND FREDERICK DOUGLASS WAS A KIND OF STAR OF THE SPEAKING -- TOURING SPEAKERS.

SO MUCH OF THE FILM, AS I MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTION, IS BASED ON HIS OWN WORDS, AND YOU USED THE MARVELOUS WENDELL PIERCE TO PROVIDE HIS VOICE, AND HE'S SO WONDERFUL AT IT.

YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE TRULY LISTENING TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

BUT THE FILM ALSO MAKES THE POINT THAT IN SOME WAYS HE WAS SO ELOQUENT AND SO COMPELLING THAT IN THE MINDS OF SOME IT RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS LEGITIMACY.

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

YEAH, SO AT FIRST, YOU KNOW, FREDERICK DOUGLASS STARTS SPEAKING AND HE BECOMES A FAMOUS SPEAKER, AND PEOPLE START TO DOUBT.

HE'S SO ELOQUENT THEY'RE LIKE, WAIT A MINUTE.

WAS THIS GUY REALLY ENSLAVED?

DID HE REALLY TEACH HIMSELF TO READ AND WRITE?

I DON'T BELIEVE THAT.

SO FREDERICK DOUGLASS WRITES HIS FIRST OUT BIOGRAPHY.

I SAY FIRST BECAUSE HE EVENTUALLY WROTE THREE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES.

WRITES HIS FIRST WHICH GIVES HIS LIFE STORY UP UNTIL THEN.

BUT HE OUTS HIMSELF.

SO NOW HE'S WRITTEN IN A BOOK THAT BECOMES KIND OF A BEST SELLER OF THE DAY THAT HE IS AN ESCAPED SLAVE.

SO NOW HE HAS TO FLEE TO ENGLAND AND TO EUROPE TO GET AWAY FROM BEING TAKEN BACK INTO ENSLAVEMENT.

IT'S KIND OF A REALLY INCREDIBLE STORY.

YEAH, THAT'S ANOTHER PART OF HIS STORY THAT I DID NOT KNOW.

AND THE FILM TALKS ABOUT HOW HE THEN WRESTLED WITH THE NOTION OF -- THERE WERE SUPPORTERS IN ENGLAND, AND HE TRAVELED ALL OVER THE UK TO GIVE THESE LECTURES.

SUPPORTERS THAT SAID, WE'LL BUY YOUR FREEDOM.

WE'LL SEND MONEY TO YOUR PREVIOUS OWNER TO MAKE SURE THAT NOBODY'S GOING COME LOOKING FOR YOU.

AND THERE WAS A CONFLICT ABOUT WHETHER THAT SHOULD BE DONE OR NOT.

WHY WOULD THERE BE A CONFLICT ABOUT THAT?

I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING STORIES.

SO, THEY OFFERED TO BUY FREDERICK DOUGLASS AT THE FREEDOM, AND HE'S LIKE, OKAY, YEAH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA.

IF YOU BUY MY FREEDOM, I CAN GO BACK TO THE UNITED STATES.

BUT THE OTHER ABOLITIONISTS ARE LIKE, NO, WE WANT TO YOU SPEAK AS A FUGITIVE SLAVE, AND WE WANT THAT KIND OF MYSTERY AND FASCINATION THAT NOW YOU'RE SPEAKING.

BUT, YOU KNOW, AT ANY MOMENT YOU COULD BE CAUGHT.

AND FREDERICK DOUGLASS SAYS NO, I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT.

I THINK I CAN BE MORE VALUABLE IF I COME BACK TO THE UNITED STATES AND SPEAK, AND I CAN ONLY DO THAT AS A FREE MAN.

SO, THE CONSORTIUM IS PUT TOGETHER AND THEY BUY FREDERICK DOUGLASS' FILM.

SO MUCH OF THE FILM, AS I SAID, IS FOCUSED ON HIS WORDS AND HIS IMAGES.

THE FILM TALKS ABOUT HOW HE GRASPED, QUICKLY GRASPED THE POWER A THIS NEW EMERGING TECHNOLOGY OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

EXPLAIN THAT.

YEAH, ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THINGS ABOUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS IS THAT THE WHOLE FIELD OF STILL PHOTOGRAPHY HAS JUST BEEN INVENTED.

IT'S NEW.

BUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS REALLY REALIZES THAT THERE'S THIS POWER IN PHOTOGRAPHY THAT, YOU KNOW, A PICTURE SAYS A THOUSAND WORDS.

AND SO HE OVER AND OVER AGAIN GETS HIS PORTRAIT TAKEN, AND HE IS JUST LASER FOCUSED IN THOSE PICTURES.

YOU KNOW, ONE, AS SOMEONE SAYS IN THE FILM, FREDERICK DOUGLASS WAS A BEAUTIFUL MAN, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR AESTHETICS OF BEAUTY WAS.

HE WAS REALLY GOOD LOOKING.

BUT HE'S STARING AT THE CAMERA IN THIS WAY THAT SAYS, REALLY, DO YOU THINK THAT THIS MAN SHOULD BE ENSLAVED?

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT YOU'RE ENSLAVING.

THIS IS THE DIGNITY AND INTELLIGENCE OF THIS RACE OF PEOPLE, NOT JUST ME, BUT THE RACE OF PEOPLE.

AND HE DOES THAT JUST IN IN A PHOTOGRAPH.

AND WHEN YOU SEE THE PHOTOGRAPHS, YOU SEE IT AND FEEL IT AND HE BECOMES WHAT IS CHARACTERIZED AS THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED MAN OF THE 19th CENTURY.

SO HE'S PHOTOGRAPHED OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND WE HAVE THESE INCREDIBLE PICTURES TO WORK WITH.

THEY ARE SO POWERFUL.

IF ANYBODY'S SEEN A PHOTOGRAPH OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS THEY KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.

THERE'S SUCH A POWER AND DIGNITY IN THESE PHOTOGRAPHS.

YOU TALK ABOUT IN THE FILM, AND DON'T HAVE A CHANCE TO GET INTO IT, BUT THE IDEA OF WHAT WAS IMPORTANT FOR HIM FOR COMPELLING OR FOR DIRECTING AND HAVING THE CONTROL OF HIS OWN NARITIVE HERE.

I'VE GOT ABOUT A MINUTE AND A HALF LEFT.

AND I SAY THIS OFTEN TO FILM MAKERS.

AS YOU'RE TAKING US AS YOUR VIEWER ON A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY WE'RE LEARNING THINGS WE NEVER KNEW BEFORE.

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ON YOUR JOURNEY AS A PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR THAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE OR YOU DIDN'T REALIZE THE IMPORT OF IT BEFORE?

I REALIZED SO MUCH, BUT I THINK IT'S MORE ESOTERIC, THAT FIGHTING FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS ITS OWN REWARD.

FREDERICK DOUGLASS RISKED HIS LIFE TO FIGHT FOR WHAT HE BELIEVED IN, TO WRITE ABOUT THINGS HE BELIEVED IN.

IT WASN'T ONLY ABOLITION, IT WAS FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE.

ONE OF THE THINGS I LEARNED WAS, OKAY, FREDERICK DOUGLASS IS A SHINING LIGHT.

WE CAN'T ALL BE FREDERICK DOUGLASS.

CERTAINLY I CAN'T BE FREDERICK DOUGLASS, BUT I CAN FIGHT FOR WHAT I BELIEVE IN.

ONCE AGAIN, THE FILM IS CALLED 'BECOMING FREDERICK DOUGLASS'. IT'S POWERFUL AND A JOBBINGTIVE AND ILLUMINATING FILM.

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR LISTINGSER IF PBS FOR WHEN YOU CAN WATCH IT.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS STORY WITH ALL OF US, AND THANK YOU FOR SPENDING SOMG TIME WITH US TODAY WOMEN APPRECIATE IT.

LOOK FORWARD THE TALKING WITH YOU AGAIN.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

YOU BE WELL.

THANK YOU.

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