Frederick Douglass is currently one of the most culturally relevant intellectuals in American history. This observation prompted J. Justin Ragsdale of the Lest We Forget Museum to introduce his goddaughter Nicole Ross, president of the Hands Across Philadelphia organization, to Kevin Douglass Greene, who is the great-great grandson of Douglass and the spokesperson for the Frederick Douglass Family Initiative (FDFI). The encounter occurred in 2018 at the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C. and has led to a relationship working to bring Douglass’s works via the One Million Abolitionists Project to school-age Philadelphians during a rapidly changing political view of book bans.
Hands Across Philadelphia’s partnership with FDFI helps with an ongoing transformative initiative to inspire local area youths to find and develop their work skills in an effort to keep them out of the crosshairs of gun violence. This is a goal that continues the legacy of another organization founded in the 1970s with the same name. According to Ross, the murder of another individual named Ross [no relation] in the early 1970s inspired the original group to become activists and work to end violence. Taking inspiration from the story’s originators, Carlette and Kenneth Brooks, the new group adopted the same name in 2008 with about 12 members who continued this legacy.
Since then, they have been working with other organizations and businesses, such as the NAACP, the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, and Brown’s Shop Rite, to host ongoing and one-off events like The Hands Across Philadelphia Black History Essay Contest, which was made available to high school students in 2014. About 25 students have won various prizes including $100 and $50 gift certificates to Brown’s. Additional activities included the almost yearly 5K peace walks along 52nd Street and Woodland Avenue to Jefferson Street.
Portrait of Frederick Douglass taken by George Kendall Warren in 1876. | Image: Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Greene visits Philadelphia yearly to assist and speak at events scheduled around Douglass’s birthday on February 14. The One Million Abolitionists Project began in 2018 in honor of the 200th anniversary of Douglass’s birth in 1818. Since it’s inception, the goal has been to get one million copies of a special bicentennial edition of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and a special Douglass Family Edition republished by Forefront Publishing and Simon & Schuster, into the hands of young people to inspire and empower them. Co-founder of FDFI, Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a descendant of Douglass and Booker T. Washington, said that about 50,000–70,000 books were distributed quickly, largely due to grants from foundations, corporate sponsorships, and individual donors.
Morris said the resurgence of book bans “energized and ignited us to get this book into the hands of students, even if the book was being banned, anywhere that students gather: churches, organizations, and youth groups. We get the books into their hands any way we can.”
Book banning is not an issue that Ross encounters in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. Instead, the book has reached around 870 students in schools such as Einstein Science Technology Leadership Academy, Strawberry Mansion High School, East Norriton Middle School, John Hartranft School, School of the Future, Norristown High School, several more.
Although funding is an issue—most of it comes from donations and the pockets of board members—the group said the benefits have made the project worth it. Both Ross and Greene recounted a visit to Norristown High School where a teacher approached them stating that he had received a copy of Douglass’s book years earlier and how it was an inspiration to his teaching career.
In Douglass’s 1872 speech, “Self-Made Men,” he stated, “Properly speaking, there are in the world no such men as self-made men.” The comment was made during Reconstruction and just prior to his taking on the role of president of the Freedman’s Bank. His self-development was due in part to the people in his life, including his wife, Anna Maria Douglass, whose story not only inspired him to achieve his own freedom prior to their marriage, but it also supported the creation of the Underground Railroad.
Ross added that the speech serves as a reminder about the work that Hands Across Philadelphia is doing. Board members have grown frustrated with children remarking on all the violent deaths that they witness in the city. This has prompted the organization to expand its programs to include drone training, cyber security education, coding, and AI automation to assist in keeping young people out of trouble and focused on their prospective careers. There is also a noncombat sports initiative “emphasizing fitness and focus without physical sparring” with boxing drills, footwork, jump rope, and mindfulness sessions with support from boxers Tim Witherspoon, Nate Miller, Jarron Ennis, and others. They host group trips to Muhammad Ali’s former training camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania where Ross helps children “fight for their future—not with fists, but with focus.”
Kevin Douglass Greene, the great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass, poses with pageant winners at a Juneteenth celebration. | Photo courtesy of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiative
There is no strict criteria for how local area schools are selected to participate in the One Million Abolitionist Project. They either reach out to Ross as a local representative of the project or through her connections or they contact school administration and teachers who may be interested. Most schools are eager to receive the literature, especially since the books are free.
Morris said that the continuing inspiration for this project is the smiles of the children affected by it. He recounted a story about a 10-year-old girl he met who was anxious for his attention during a school visit. Morris said the girl had learned that her “[four greats] grandmother was born into slavery and taught herself to read and write in secret. After getting her freedom, she became a businesswoman and a philanthropist. ‘This all means that I have greatness flowing through my veins,’ she said.”
