Monday, December 29, 2008

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave or The Sustainability Revolution

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: Written by Himself

Author: Frederick Douglass

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED
BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

Frederick Douglass's powerful autobiographical account of life in bondage and his triumphant escape to freedom.
EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:
• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information
• A chronology of the author's life and work
• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context
• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations
• Detailed explanatory notes
• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work
• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction
• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience
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Sacred Life

When it was first published, many critics doubted that The Narrative of the Life and Times of Frederick Douglass had even been written by Frederick Douglass. As odd as it may seem now, that criticism was not completely unfounded: In the mid-nineteenth century, the antislavery movement produced hundreds of slave narratives, many of them ghostwritten by white abolitionists and tailored to create sympathy for their movement. But this book, by this remarkable man, was different. The tag line at the end of the book's subtitle—Written by Himself —was vitally important. Although clearly written with the abolitionist cause in mind, this book is not merely a political tract. True, its dispassionate prose brought to light the "injustice, exposure to outrage, and savage barbarity" of slavery as Douglass observed and experienced But also brought to life an uncommon man and the particular concerns seared into him during his experience of bondage. Douglass recounts that during slavery, he and his people were denied life's fundamentals: faith, family, education, the capacity for bold action, a sense of community, and personal identity. Douglass saw reclamation of these things as the key to his and his people's survival, redemption, and salvation.

The autobiography opens with a description of the aspects of his own life that Douglass was never allowed to know: the identity of his father, the warmth and care of his mother (who was a stranger to him), and even the fact of his own date of birth. As a child, he suffered from and observed savage beatings firsthand, including the fierce beating of his Aunt Hester at the hands of their master, Captain Aaron Anthony. As he grew older, Douglass liberated himself in stages: mentally, spiritually, and, eventually, physically. His mental freedom began when he was taught to read and write and realized the power of literacy; his spiritual freedom came when he discovered the grace of Christianity and the will to resist his beatings; his physical freedom arrived when he finally escaped to the North.

After escaping, Douglass was committed to telling the world about the condition of the brothers and sisters he left behind. Aside from telling Douglass's personal story, his autobiography takes us to the fields and the cabins and the lives of many slaves to reveal the real human cost of slavery. Douglass focused on the dehumanizing aspects of slavery: not just the beatings, but the parting of children from their mothers, the denial of education, and the sexual abuses of slave masters. He ends the book with this statement: "Sincerely and earnestly hoping that his little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system, and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds—faithfully relying upon the power of truth, love, and justice, for success in my humble efforts—and solemnly pledging myself anew to the sacred cause, I subscribe myself, Frederick Douglass."

The book was an incredible success: It sold over thirty thousand copies and was an international bestseller. It was the first, and most successful, of three autobiographies that Douglass was to write. The other two, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) and The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, update the story of his life and revise some of the facts of his earlier autobiography.



Table of Contents:
Foreword
Preface
INTRODUCTION: "A Psalm of Freedom"
Pt. 1The Document25
Editor's Note on the Text27
Preface by William Lloyd Garrison, May 1,184529
Letter from Wendell Phillips, Esq., April 22,184536
Narrative Of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself39
Notes on the Text109
Pt. 2Selected Reviews, Documents, and Speeches117
Caleb Bingham, "Dialogue Between a Master and a Slave," in The Columbian Orator (1797)119
Margaret Fuller, Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, New York Tribune, June 10, 1845121
Ephraim Peabody, "Narratives of Fugitive Slaves," excerpt, Christian Examiner, July 1849124
Nathaniel P. Rogers, "Southern Slavery and Northern Religion," two addresses delivered in Concord, New Hampshire, February 11, 1844, as reported in (Concord, N.H.) Herald Freedom, February 16,1844128
Frederick Douglass, "My Slave Experience in Maryland," an address delivered in New York City, May 6, 1845, as recorded in National Antislavery Standard, May 22,1845130
Frederick Douglass, Letter to Thomas Auld, September 3, 1848, published in The North Star, September 8,1848; and The Liberator, September 22, 1848134
Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" speech delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852141
App. A Douglass chronology (1818-1895)147
App. Questions for Considerarion153
App. Selected Bibliography155

Book review: Introduction to the Theory and Application of Data Envelopment Analysis or Industrial Policy in an Era of Globalization

The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift

Author: Andres R Edwards

A comprehensive primer on the history, evolution and future of the movement toward sustainability.

Sustainability' has become a buzzword in the last decade, but its full meaning is complex, emerging from a range of different sectors. In practice, it has become the springboard for millions of individuals throughout the world who are forging the fastest and most profound social transformation of our time the Sustainability Revolution.

The Sustainability Revolution paints a picture of this largely unrecognized phenomenon from the point of view of five major sectors of society:

-- Community (government and international institutions)
-- Commerce (business)
-- Natural Resources (forestry, farming, fisheries, etc.)
-- Ecological Design (architecture, technology)
-- Biosphere (conservation, biodiversity, etc.).

The book analyses sustainability as defined by each of these sectors in terms of the principles, declarations and intentions that have emerged from conferences and publications, and which serve as guidelines for policy decisions and future activities. Common themes are then explored, including:

-- an emphasis on stewardship
-- the need for economic restructuring promoting no waste and equitable distribution
-- an understanding and respect for the principles of nature
-- the restoration of life forms, and
-- an intergenerational perspective on solutions.

Concluding that these themes in turn represent a new set of values that define this profound transformation, The Sustainability Revolution describes innovative sustainable projects and policies improving the lives of people in Colombia, Brazil, India and the Netherlands and examines future trends. The first book of its kind, it will appeal to business and government policy makers, academics, and all interested in sustainability.

AndrŠ¹s R. Edwards is an educator, author, media designer and environmental systems consultant who has specialized in sustainability topics for the past 15 years. The founder and president of EduTracks, an exhibit design and fabrication firm specializing in green building and sustainability education programs for parks, towns and companies, he lives in Northern California.



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