Musical to honour anti-slavery activist who came to Scotland as a fugitive
A new stage musical is to be created to highlight Scotland’s links with an escaped slave and freedom fighter who would go on to become one of the world’s leading abolitionists.
Frederick Douglass was known as “Scotland’s antislavery agent” when he stayed in Edinburgh during a twoyear campaigning visit to Britain and Ireland in the mid-19th century.
Now arts agency Creative Scotland is funding the development of a production which is hoped to follow in the footsteps of Douglass by going on tour around the country to spread the word of his personalstoryandhighlightscotland’s own links to the slave trade.
Neo Vilakazi, the Edinburghbased writer, composer and producer behind the project, said it would tell how Scotland played a prominent part in the life of the “anti-slavery hero.”
Douglass, who was born into slavery in a plantation in Maryland in the United States in 1818, went on the run as a “fugitive slave” when he was 20, disguising himself as a sailor.
He fled to Britain in 1846 after publishing his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave - in which he named and shamed his white slave owners.
While he was living in Edinburgh,douglassvisitednumerous cities and towns including Glasgow, Arbroath, Ayr, Dundee, Falkirk, Fenwick, Greenock, Hawick, Kirkcaldy, Montrose, Paisley and Perth to try to inspire anti-slavery activism among his audiences.
His visit came in the wake of wealthy Scottish plantation owners in the United States securing a share of £20 million incompensationpaidoutbythe Governmentfollowingtheabolition
of slavery in the UK. He also campaigned against the Free Church of Scotland and its acceptance of donations from American slave owners.
Experts say Douglass, described by historians as one of the most important Africanamericanvoicesin19th century Scotland, was hugely influenced by his time in Edinburgh,wherehewas“treatedas
a man, an equal brother”.
A plaque honouring Douglass’s links with Scotland was unveiled three years ago in Tollcross in Edinburgh, where he lived and organised his campaignsfrom.amuralwaspainted there last year in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Originally from South Africa, Vilakazi got the idea for his show, which will feature elements of gospel music, after discoveringdouglass’sconnectionswithscotlandatanational Library exhibition in 2018.
He said: “I happened to be walking past the National Library and saw that they had a Frederick Douglass
exhibition on. He is one of my heroes, but I had no idea he had set foot in Scotland. “Although he had just published a book, he was still a fugitive when he came here. His speaking tours caused a big stir at the time and got very heavily involved in Scottish politics.
"Alotofpeopleinscotlandand America will know who Frederick Douglass is but I don’t think many of them will know he spent so much time here. He is such a powerful figure that his story really should be put to music.hewasalsoarenowned baritone, not only for his oratory, but for his singing. Gospel music was a big part of his life.”
The Duke of Sussex has said the "toxic" atmosphere created by the British press forced him and his family to leave the UK.
Harry said his mental health was being destroyed by the coverage, in an interview with James Corden, host of the US talk show The Late Late Show.
The duke also addressed the controversy over The Crown's portrayal of his family's history and defended the regal drama, sayingitdoesnot"pretendtobe news".
He added he was "way more comfortable" with the popular Netflix series' depiction of the monarchy then with articles written about the Sussexes.
The Queen's grandson spoke candidly about family life, revealing son Archie's first word was "crocodile", how the Queen gave the 21-month-old a wafflemakerforchristmasand that Meghan calls him "Haz".
He also revealed the Queen anddukeofedinburghcanuse Zoom and have seen Archie "runningaround"incalifornia.
Harry stressed his decision to move to America was "neverwalkingaway"butwasabout "steppingbackratherthanstepping down", and insisted: "I will always be contributing. My life is public service."
His comments were made before it was announced Harry and Meghan would be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey where they are expected to talk in-depth about their lives in America and the reasons for moving there.
Asked by Corden how he sees his life after lockdown, Harry, 36, replied: "My life is always going to be about public service and Meghan has signed up to that, and the two of us enjoy doing that.
"Trying to bring some compassion and make people happy and try to change the world in any small way that we can."
The pair chatted during an open-top bus tour of Los Angeles
in an interview recorded before Harry and Meghan were stripped of their prestigious patronages last week after confirming they would not be returning to the UK.
Harry added: "It was never walking away. It was stepping back rather than stepping down. It was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw.
"We all know what the British press can be like, and it was destroying my mental health. I was like 'this is toxic'."
The duke went on to say: "So I did what any husband and what any father would do - I needed to get my family out of here."
Much has been written about Harry and Meghan's decision to step down as senior
royals for personal and financial freedom early last year - dubbed Megxit.
Harry and Meghan have since forged ahead with their lives, signing lucrative deals thought to be worth well over £100 million - with Spotify and Netflix to give them the capital to pursue their new lifestyle andpublicgoals.askedwhathe thinks about The Crown, Harry replied: "They don't pretend to be news. It's fictional but it's loosely based on the truth.i am way more comfortable with Thecrownthaniamseeingthe storieswrittenaboutmyfamily, or my wife or myself."
Harry joked that he would want Homeland star Damian Lewis to play him.