Why Frederick Douglass Never Smiled In Pictures

[@dekyne3227]

In his time period their wasn't anything to smile about

[@mikelomez9313]

True but almost every person doesn't smile in photos back then because from what I understand you had to remain still for a long period in order to get the photo.

[@jasonfink985]

He had a white wife. That's something to smile about. 😂

[@BendApparatus]

​@@jasonfink985 so you're saying he was the 1st basketball star...😏

[@michaelbolden4144]

Generally speaking there's not too much to smile about now either, when factoring in all the variables of oppression as well as considering our communal plight that we all continue to share as Americans of African descent.

[@SOULRELIEF22]

🎶🎵🎶"Steal away! Steal away! Steal away to JESUS!" JESUS had delivered us! It was time to sing and shout! We left JESUS behind, or the REVIVAL would have been ongoing!

[@MahsaSara]

Marian Anderson "No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise."

[@kingrapid]

💯💯💯👌👌👌🤌🤌🤌👏👏👏😎😎😎🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️✊️✊️✊️

[@RolloRafferty]

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” - Robert F Kennedy

[@barkobummer]

...which would then rapidly extinguished by the feudal class hiding behind mega c0rporations

[@cw4608]

He was a very handsome and intelligent man whose pictures portray a warrior willing to go to any length for his cause.

[@debrapaulino918]

Agree. He could easily been a womanizer but was a one woman man. His second wife after the death of the mother of his four children was white. They were only married a couple yrs when he passed.

[@ninaj.4885]

@@debrapaulino918 I'm not sure about the one woman man part. He did his first wife real dirty.

[@DJK-cq2uy]

It is cool you recognize his good looks n determination...I've listened to George foreman preach n he mentions his good looks from time to time

[@lettiegrant9447]

So you were there?

[@career5690]

@@ninaj.4885Really? Tell us about it.

[@Queen.of.Quotes]

Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. Frederick Douglass I hear the mournful wail of millions! Frederick Douglass

[@cassiusdhami9215]

“I have no love for America, as such, I have no patriotism. I have no country.” -Fredrick Douglas

[@cassiusdhami9215]

"For revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy America reigns without a rival." -Frederick Douglass

[@musicartlover963]

Wow! Powerful words!!!!!

[@kathygaither5746]

That's about right.

[@andycandal5934]

He could go back to Africa...why he didn't ?

[@thetraveler1182]

@@kathygaither5746 about right for HIS TIME and experience. We live in a world that Mr.Douglass could have only dreamed of and even that was beyond

[@mnoir8888]

In the early days of photography, no one was obsessed with fake SMILING as Americans are now. Edward S Curtis took volumes of photographs of Native Americans and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone smiling in his pictures. Photography was complicated and expensive and used to record one’s likeness. It wasn’t on their phones and wasn’t just a light activity. Much preparation had to be applied. No one smiled for photographs back then.

[@AttaMan]

Just say you didn’t watch the video.

[@genox3636]

​@@AttaManhe's right tho.

[@gretaferebee3179]

If you fid smile, it simply resulted in a distraction in your facial features. Everyone held completely STILL for ALL PHOTOS.

[@Mr.Rocklight]

Pride ❤ Pride ❤ Intelligence. Frederick was a Wiseman ❤ Honesty ❤ still miss you ❤

[@rudyalarcon3532]

It was not a good time to smile. That was the message.

[@haisee1671]

This man knows the value of timing emotions in crucial situations.

[@AB_1211]

Amazing that there are so many photographs of him yet his voice was never recorded.

[@katrinawall7758]

He was a handsome man.

[@958298bordeaux]

A handsome elegant Ancestor who didn't play

[@sonnyliston4741]

What the f, NOBODY smiled in photos back in those days.

[@ebarbee44146]

You people can be so numb and ignorant. This revisionist history you want to portray will never take the place of truth.

[@scottsheridan278]

True. Smiling and showing of one's teeth in pictures was considered rude in this period, by everyone.

[@jenniferslowley4319]

This dignified gentleman knew how to read and respect a room, and the times. He wasn't trying to be a supermodel, he was and still is a respected scholar.

[@sailordaigurren8225]

People generally didn't smile in photos back then, in part because of how long it took.

[@brendaturner5015]

My father was born in 1942, and he still doesn't smile on pictures, when we ask him to smile,you can tell it's fake,so we don't 😊

[@juditrotter5176]

I contrast his quiet strength, maintaining his dignity.

[@Koshy210]

A photograph speaks a thousand words that is powerful to the core.

[@gloriouse4458]

DOUGLAS WAS SPIRITUALLY GUIDED 👍🏼🍃💓🙏🏽

[@Spencer7660]

I don’t expect him to smile after how he was treated

[@benjaminbreland86]

This was an excellent presentation. Thank you

[@3rdmm]

Nobody smiled in oil portraits either.

[@rebeccagutierrez1960]

Almost nobody sniled in pictures in the past, not just him. My parents were born in 1924 and 1927, and in their pics, they didn't smile...that was a thing.

[@soulonice99]

Please forward this video to the 'Essence Awards' website, public relations, marketing. They need a lesson.

[@n.c.467]

Actually, daguerrotype picture-taking was completely unlike today's digital photos. It could not capture fleeting smiles and other nuances. One had to sit stock-still, holding a single pose for lengthy periods of time, to capture a daguerrotype image ...which is why smiles were absent in the final picture

[@cauliflowerpower41]

He's beautiful

[@BOSSNASSTY123]

Nobody was smiling in a single photo that was show 🤣

[@parrotcracker6629]

Back then, it took a very long time for the camera to capture anything and one single move could create a blur. It's hard to smile for a very long time and you have to concentrate on staying still as well. This is nothing but BS reporting.

[@xavierclayton9990]

White answer.

[@tonyborelli.]

get real. none of the other photos showed smiles either. grow up

[@abdallahmuhammad-bey8810]

There wasn't nothing to smile during slavery.

[@ninaj.4885]

Nobody smiled in these pictures, did they? I can't think of hardly any where the person smiled.

[@parkermudsen1063]

Him and Red Foxx resemble each other

[@coltonsimmonds6991]

'Whats The Point In A Fake Smile For Freedom'.

[@LyricalXilence]

No one smiled in photos back then. Why is this a question?!

[@Dog.eatdog]

It is nothing special that Douglas didn't smile in his portraits. In the 1800´s that was absolutely the norm. It is almost impossible to find a studio portrait of that time where people smile.

[@LOVE-j1d6m]

Yes, but blacks were depicted as smiling, trying to indicate that slavery was not as horrific as it was. Frederick Douglass knew that and showed the opposite of what whites and blacks saw in other pictures of black people.

[@sailordaigurren8225]

This

[@CadyCadwell]

this anti American propaganda media will always find away to racially segregate and destroy US fom the inside, this mtfkr doesn't even have the balls to cover the ongoing modern slavery in their own country...

[@NaturalCupcake]

Wow@ these people. So you think they're the ones who produced this video? So many times it's non-"these people" producing media and speaking for those people. Look at who the senior producers are for this company. And in some cases, it's your people selling narratives.

[@shaymay2892]

​​@@tonyborelli. But you clicked on "these people" 's video.

[@michaelhughes9553]

Why doesn’t he smile in photos? It seems like the opening line of he was born into slavery and had to escape would be answer enough, but I’ll keep watching…

[@MYInteriorArchitect]

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ فِعْلَ الخَيْرَاتِ ، وَتَرْكَ المُنْكَرَاتِ ، وَحُبَّ المَسَاكِينَ ، وَأَنْ تَغْفِرَ لِي وَتَرْحَمَنِي ، وَإذَا أَرَدْتَ فِتْنَةَ قَومٍ فَتَوَفَّنِي غَيْرَ مَفْتُونٍ ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ حُبَّكَ ، وَحُبَّ مَنْ يُحِبّـُكَ ، وَحُبَّ كل عَمَلٍ يُقَرِّبُنِي إِلَى حُبِّـكَ

[@josephcadwell6773]

Many people in early photographs didn’t smile.

[@roddanlives2650]

Man, people did not smile in photos back then.

[@GoLongAmerica]

I don't think it became a common practice to smile in photos until the 20th century.

[@Romeoleus]

This is a factual misrepresentation. Virtually NO photographic subjects EVER smiled when they were photographed until the early 20th century! Speculation as to why Douglass didn't smile is nonsense.

[@leobriccocola8141]

Frederick Douglas explicitly disliked it when an artist depicted him with a slight smile. In one letter, Douglas expressed frustration that the smile made it appear as if he was untroubled or unburdened by his experiences as an enslaved person. This is likely a major reason behind his love of photography as it granted him control over his own image. There's an excellent article titled "Frederick Douglass’s Camera Obscura: Representing the Antislave “Clothed and in Their Own Form” " that explores this.

[@cozmowiz5593]

I cant help but notice you watched the PBS special on Frederick Douglas.......well done and nicely presented. Bravo

[@TheOrionOracle]

What will make you know what is the difficult path to Paradise? It is the freeing of a sl ve. Surat Al-Balad 90:12-13

[@annieroche22]

Apparently , he liked Ireland. The one country where he began to feel properly free.

[@shaymay2892]

.......how in the World did Obama slip into this. These men are _two_ different people!

[@divox9pqr]

Smiling in a photograph was not conventional behavior in this period. I am aware of only one photograph where Lincoln has a slight smile. But the showing of teeth in photograph was considered poor taste.

[@noexit4458]

It’s funny, none of the other figures you were showing: Emily Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln, or Sojourner Truth was smiling for their portrait either. They took photographing a serious matter back then.

[@original_USA_cowgirl]

If you look at black peoples pictures of that time nobody smiled....tf was there to smile about?

[@BravoDeus]

Wrong! No one smiled back then as you saw from all the other subjects as well as FD. There was no such thing as a snapshot back then. One had to sit for TEN minutes for the image to burn into the film. It is impossible to smile for that long perfectly it would just cause a blur. Which is common in photos of that era typically of the hands. The snapshot came with the advent of the flash which burned the image instantly. This video should have been strictly about how he posed not about his lack of a smile.

[@GoLongAmerica]

Everyone posed the same for photos back then, and no one smiled in them, not even President Lincoln.

[@shannons.571]

Thank you, i enjoyed learning from this video. It was informative.

[@brazaniankamrazian104]

This was such a dope video thank u, sorry for the shadowban damn

[@oolong2]

It was generally not common to smile in photos back then anyway. So he was basically doing the norm.

[@xavierclayton9990]

So you're ignoring slavery ? Typical white comment.

[@oolong2]

@@xavierclayton9990 When you make assumptions about the people you're responding to you look like a fool.... What does my comment have to do with slavery?

[@shaymay2892]

So, the focus was primarily on his _posing_ and facial expressions.

[@bang8534]

With the hell he was catching, there was nothing to smile about. How can you smile with vile beasts on your back?

[@hopes.t.1092]

Thank you for sharing, I really enjoyed the video. No matter how old I am, I love learning.

[@lordcron]

Quit simply, there was nothing to smile about. Should he have felt grateful to be free from something that should never have happened in the first place?! Hell No! It wasn't a game for him or any other person of color at that time.

[@natemickens88]

I love it!!

[@harvestcanada]

Excellent work.

[@ourpeoplespoll1474]

For the title, there wasn’t anything to smile about. Slavery was very very bad! Teach the kids what it REALLY was, we don’t care about their guilty feelings. It HAPPENED and it’s HISTORY

[@barkobummer]

did you say history, I am not so sure, try telling Floyd's family, and all those blacks who lost their lives at traffic stops or whilst buying ice creams, who later "couldn't breathe" once the police intervened in the name of "law enforcement". Sounds like legal lynching/shooting, but I guess that's okay, given it's all "legal".

[@doloresboston8571]

They have no issue and are content with our children continuing to be inflicted with generational pain due to them and their ancestors.

[@patricebrown777]

100% 👍🏽

[@dreamlife2351]

Excellent channel 🕊

[@liteazwell1913]

This is complete BS. Having studied the history of photography in depth at JMU, I know for a fact that the exposure time was so long that people had to sit still for 15 minutes for a portrait. Nobody smiled because a smile cannot be held that long unless you are a Rockette.

[@yvonneplant9434]

Lincoln never smiled in photographs either.

[@barrytelesford5265]

and they shot him

[@juanitajones6900]

Very few people, if any, smiled in 19th century photographs. Which makes me wonder why you had to use this particular topic to discuss Frederick Douglass.

[@minerran]

Many people don't smile in photos today. Many times I don't unless my wife forces me to because I don't think I have a nice smile. We can't draw any conclusions at all from F. Douglass not smiling. Also when I see photos from that time period, the people usually didn't smile so it might have been common at the time.

[@barkobummer]

you are not wrong, what is there to smile for ...blacks were constantly beaten, raped and murdered, and lynched, it would be a miracle to smile about your own destructions. totally agree with you but in modern times, the blacks have learnt to accept their fate more willingly to accept being shot at during traffic stop for example, once they accept that, they'll be happier. Welcome to Amarika.

[@aboriginalstraightshooter7967]

​@@barkobummerNo they weren't! I've read books written in that time frame almost more than half of black we're doing quite well. Contrary to what you been indoctrinated to believe, when I started pulling up my family records they were doing well at that time. Yes there were issues with white people coming to steal kill and destroy. But it was not as prevalent as they make it seem and we have never been a weak people. Propaganda didn't start in the last 50 years it's been here since they got here. & many weren't enslaved smh

[@derrickburden1472]

He was a real one he went thru hell and stood for blacks I'm thankful

[@I.Stevens]

What was there to smile about!

[@TheSoloist1Alone]

🙏🏾✊🏾

[@NuraCaicedo-xh2ok]

I drew Frederick Douglass when I was waiting in the welfare office one day

[@CaxaJIun]

it is helping me to under stand more👍

[@marcus-hp8wp]

Because Newports made his teeth yellow

[@coreylakshmanaswamy4741]

My guy would’ve killed it on instagram I tell you what

[@sunnyhoney7665]

What was there to smile about during that era????

[@SuperKwame1]

I am 60 yrs old man from Africa, I don't remember taken any pictures with a smile!

[@Jdotrhh]

Clearly the man had gone through a lot

[@dplj4428]

Did the photo media of his time require people to be motionless?

[@desouzawilly8343]

How can he smile and his own people are in pain of evil masters

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

Comment during pre-roll ads as a guess. The photos were taken on tin-type photography and required long exposure times. Pretty much no one smiled for portraits during the 1800s because it was too hard to hold still for the time required for the picture to turn out.

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

I was wrong. I thought tin-type lasted longer, or rather thought paper photography was developed later. Douglas even stated his intentions so there is no way to misconstrue his expression. None of us know everything. Never be afraid to admit you were wrong about something.

[@fatimaperez9181]

@@The_Opinion_of_Matt thanks

[@Corrupted-file]

I wish people would stop drawing parallels between Frederick Douglass & Barack Obama…they were NOT cut from the same cloth. Please show some respect to Mr. Douglass.

[@mikejunior80]

Frederick Douglas is a legend.

[@Starboy-mp2ci]

Why? What was it to smile about back then?

[@Yenchantress1isaStarr]

It is a PSYOP.

[@djenkins555]

He was a freemason. Ultimately, he did more to hurt Black people.

[@collinsdarkwa281]

Very Interesting

[@MovingInnerMountains]

🔥

[@b20di3]

I pretty much was sure of this already but to be sure I just did a search for "when did smiling in photos become common" and got the answer of 1920s. So FD not smiling was likely the norm... not an unusual exception.

[@brendadavis4554]

He went through a lot. Maybe he didn't have all his teeth or maybe kicked out his mouth. 1800's was terrible. They were lucky to get a picture periodt!

[@kevinconrad6156]

Great video. Of course not smiling was easier to hold for the long pose it took for a photo back then. Mr Douglas knew the power of imagery. He is not looking at you but it sure seems he is starring into ones soul.

[@dplj4428]

His face reminds me of football legend Jim Brown.

[@derrickburden1472]

Why he doesn't have a big Hollywood movie

[@Jamie-nt3eh]

Being a black person in America at a time when slavery was law would you smile?

[@beverleyreid7572]

What a handsome man though!

[@dennisboateng7875]

this was cool

[@kreativeforce532]

Cuz shit wasn't sweet back then. Also because he's a man. Stoic. Intelligent.

[@paulbong4845]

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[@HeidiNewsom]

*KAREN TUDOSE LUCY*

[@HeidiNewsom]

"" "" Search her on google by the name above she is the one guiding me through stocks market.....!!!!!

[@tylerhackner9731]

What a legend

[@OCDishChick]

Well done!

[@frederickcook87]

✊🏾❤️✊🏾

[@williebateman3613]

We’re to keep god’s laws amen 💪🏾💐💕

[@RockwellsAccountability]

I agree what was their to smile about in those time, not a dang thing was funny 🤫🧘🏾‍♀️.

[@davidmills9685]

They didn't smile because you wernt supposed to smile if they did the picture would come out blurry and that wasn't just because for only blacks,also you wernt supposed to show your teeth the reason why people didn't smile back then it was considered impolite .

[@soniadrummond2169]

Why they didn't smile they saw things that was probably unpleasant and the treatment

[@nblbully6420]

The real first black president

[@1m2rich]

Neither did Lincoln. People at the time wanted to be important and serious...of all races.