Audio Performance: "No Struggle, No Progress"
Please listen to the rap written and performed by the students in Professor Ontiveros' ENGL142 class (Baltimore City group).
The students about their work: "Given the option of doing an author page, we decided to expand on the idea, giving new life to the immortal story of Frederick Douglass’ fight against slavery. With this short rap, we attempted to sum up the man’s life by describing all of the most important details that transformed him into the figurehead of abolition and literature that he became. We especially wanted to highlight his time in Baltimore, where he lived with the Auld family and served as their household slave. During his time there, he developed a yearning for freedom that remained unquenched even once he escaped his own fetters. The importance of music to the slave community was close in our minds when creating this project, and we wanted to represent that in a way that expanded beyond the restrictive confines of mere words. We chose the background music carefully, and its melancholy melody is a purposeful reflection of the “deepest sadness” that so many slave songs convey (Douglass, p. 11). "
The lyrics can be found below:
No Struggle, No Progress
Barely knew his mother
When the boy was born
The life of a slave
With a family torn
He grew up in the weeds
Of a Maryland plantation
And when he first saw freedom
He was beaten
Without Hesitation.
Shared the name of German royals
And the sixth Lord Baltimore
But the only king he knew
Was the cotton evermore.
His name was Frederick Douglass
It’s the narrative of his life
He fought the racist slavers
And he made them pay the price.
The kid was born
On an unknown date
Because the slavers thought
It would keep him from hate
He didn’t love his mother
Cause how could he?
When they pulled them apart
In the name of slavery
When you take a kid
And make him your mule
He becomes nothing more
Than your farmhouse tool. 
And that’s what he was
Till he met the Aulds
When they taught him some letters
And how they’re scrawled
He’d trade some kids
A share of his bread
So they taught him words
Till he was well read
He picked up a book
And then another
And pretty soon
He was reading like no other.
But all of a sudden
In 1833
His very soul
Was sent to Covey
The man was said
Could make them crack
But Douglass knew
That he could fight back
And on that farm
He found his man
And even the beginning
Of his escape plan
Hired to a master
By the name of Freeland
Said he’d much prefer
To-live in “free land”. 
He tried to escape
With some friends you see
But they got caught
In their attempt to flee
And soon enough
He went back to Auld
He was educated now
And he was appalled
To see the state
That he was in
So he changed his fate
Cause he knew he could win
Dressed as a sailor
Papers from a seaman
Escaped by train and boat
‘38 he was a free man!
(pause)
Right away
He took the cause
He didn’t wait
And he didn’t pause
He jumped right in
To fight the power
To bring an end
To slavery’s hour
And all the while
He worked his hands
By building ships
In Cape Cod sands.
Pretty soon
His name got round
So Garrison
Invited him to town
To speak about
His pained story
And his support
Of Anti-slavery
With message in hand
Douglass was a preacher
And pretty soon
He was a world-class leader.
In 1845 He shared with us,
Narrative of the Life
Of Fredrick Douglass
He knew he hadn’t
Gotten that far
So he went and published
His own North Star. 
More years passed
And the war began
So it was time
To change his game plan
Endorsed by Abe Lincoln
Douglass travelled to recruit,
African Americans to
Be a Union troop
By joining the army
Slaves won their freedom
And Douglass fought hard
To bring them to Canaan.
A narrative ended In 1895
But his legacy
Will forever be alive.
And that’s the story
Of Fred Augustus
The man who brought
Slavery to Justice.
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Special thanks to the students in Professor Ontiveros' ENGL142 class (Baltimore City group).
Image sources: Slaves, Douglass in Chair.