Power Concedes Nothing

For the last 15 years, the home of Thornwillow Press has been Newburgh, New York—a small, historic city in the Hudson Valley, just 60 miles north of New York City. On August 11, 1870, Frederick Douglass traveled to Newburgh and delivered a speech to celebrate the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which secured the rights of African American men to vote. Inspired by this historic occasion, a city-wide initiative began two years ago, with members of the community planning readings, tours, and other events intended to celebrate our history and increase civic engagement.

Now, on the eve of the 150th anniversary of that historic visit, and with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement taking place against the backdrop of an unprecedented pandemic, we find ourselves preparing for another landmark election, and turn once again to the great Frederick Douglass for inspiration.

“If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”