Speech By An Unknown Free Man (1789)

“If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you poison us, do we not die?”

By Missouri State Archives — African American Man (MSA), No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55005940

This speech was published in the journal American Museum in 1789. The author was West Indian and lived in England for some time. His pain is piercing. So is the thought that portions of this speech could have been written today.

I am one of that unfortunate race…