Entry #1 Date: Unknown

 

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way. Hello, I am

Frederick Douglass, and if you are reading this, I would

like you to gain knowledge about the severity of my

time as well as my personal experiences, and empower

you to do perform a good deed in your society today. I

am a slave. I learned to write but a week ago, and I

stole this journal from my Mistress, Sophia Auld, at the

dark of night. I do not know the date at this time, but

then again, I did not know any dates at any time. To

this day I do not know my age, and none of my fellow

slaves knew their age either. I wanted to start off my

entries when I arrived in Baltimore to live with the Auld

family, Thomas, Sophia, and their little boy, as

caretaker of the child. Looking back at Colonel Lloyd’s

plantation, the thought of Captain Anthony struck fear

in me. The thought of the whips and days out on the

fields were sickening, and we never got the best of our

work; meaning, he always found a flaw. I entered my

new house praying for a better future, and my thoughts

were satisfied when I  

saw the Auld family for the first time. The smile that

Sophia was wearing went from ear to ear, and it

foreshadowed lots of enthusiasm and kindness in the

future. Even Mr. Auld looked excited, and their little

boy was so small that he did not have many emotions

yet. For once in my life, I was excited for tomorrow.

Entry #2 Date: Unknown

 

I woke up the next morning on the mind-set of success,

thinking that I have reached a goal as a slave. My

ultimate goal, of course was to escape, but I was

certain that the Auld family would want a slave of

higher quality to take care of their child. At the time of

my first break that day, Mrs. Auld was kind enough to

teach me the alphabet, and eventually how to read. It

was fascinating of how many symbols there were in the

alphabet; all twenty-six, and how each letter has a

different sound. I was very surprised at the sounds that

two letters can make together, such as “th.” Just when

I thought that my

lessons would succeed, a dramatic twister rolled

though the meeting; Mr. Auld ruined the lesson, but he

uncovered something incredible to me. I remember his

exact words; he stated, “Learning will spoil the best

slave in the world. Now, if you teach that slave how to

read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever

unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become

unmanageable, and of no value to his master.” These

few sentences changed everything for me. It revealed

that the key to escaping slavery was, indeed, learning

how to read. If a slave gains knowledge, he is smart

enough to escape. However, the real twist happened

with Mrs. Auld. Her caring face turned to that of a

devil, and her kind words became as hurtful as the

words of Captain Anthony. In fact, her personality

became even worse than her husband. I thought that

my prayers were kind to me, but in reality, they were

ignored.

Entry #3 Date: Unknown

 

Today, the thought of escaping the depths of slavery

was a very tempting idea, but I had countless

mountains to climb before I could run away. The first,

and

possibly the most challenging, was learning how to

read. I mentioned that my mistress had given me a

lesson, but that was hardly enough information to help

me learn to read. I barely remembered the sounds that

vowels made! However, I was able to find a copy of the

novel The Colombian Orator, and whenever I could, I

read the book. It was about a slave fighting with his

master, so I could relate to that very easily. It helped to

know how to talk, and knowing all of the words and

what they mean, but on paper, I could not tell the

difference between vowels and consonants. I spent

almost five minutes trying to get through one word, and

eventually, the thought of learning how to read was

sickening. If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

This thought was much more comforting. I know that

one day, hopefully in the near future, I would learn how

to read.

Entry #4 Date: Unknown

 

Today was about a year after the incident with Demby,

a poor slave who was

killed by his owner, Mr. Gore. I was never a slave of Mr.

Gore, but I have witnessed his cruelty, for his name

complimented his personality. Demby was a very

supporting slave to others, and I met with him every

Sunday night with a few other slaves. He and I became

very good friends, and still, to this day, I always think of

him. One day, Mr. Gore was not quite satisfied with

Demby’s work in the fields, so he ordered Demby to

take of his shirt and kneel. Demby did so, and by

watching the first lash of Mr. Gore, I knew that this

would be a disaster scene. Each whip seemed to be

harder than the last, and finally, Demby could take no

more. He stood up, sprinted to the creek, and plunged

into the water. Mr. Gore followed, and gave Demby the

count to three to come back for more lashes. If he

stood still, Mr. Gore would shoot him. Demby stood

still, and I remember seeing the braveness in his eyes,

and it expressed the feeling of doing something right.

When three was called, Mr. Gore proceeded with his

plan, and I remember Demby today as a hero. In

memory of Demby, I encourage you to do something

good for someone or your community. Demby stood up

for not just himself, but he was carrying the full weight

of all the slaves in the

south. The outcome was not the best, but the legacy

that he left was better than it would have been if he

lived.

Entry #1 Date: 4/12/63

 

Hello, my name is Martin Luther King Junior, and I have just been

arrested with my colleague Ralph Abernathy. I am charged for

demonstrating without a permit. On my last protest, I discovered this

journal, and I was completely moved by Frederick’s words. I am not

sure what happened to this journal over the years, but my guess is that

Mrs. Auld found out about this project and disposed of it. Reading

through Demby’s memorial day, I cannot express how proud I feel for

him. Some people might think that standing up will only help the

person he or she stands up for, but an action as simple as saying “no,”

like he did, can affect much more people than he could imagine. I have

to bear the cruelty of segregation on a daily basis, and I have not been

involved with any slavery. However, Demby shined a bright path for

Ralph and I. It was today that I realized that my goal is to make others

feel how I felt today. If this is being read, I challenge you to take action

and perform a good

deed, just like Demby did, because the feelings afterward are priceless.

On the other hand, I am sitting here now in prison, with so much guilt.

My plan was to stand up to segregation, and so far, I have lead myself

in the wrong direction. On the other hand, I am experiencing Frederick

Douglass’s words, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” We

know today that Frederick eventually learned to read, and, with

struggle, of course, he escaped to New York. I hope, with all my heart,

that this is the end of my struggling. If not, I can still look forward to

my progress, because I know it will come.

Entry #2 Date: 4/13/63

 

Word got around today that Malcolm X was suspended from a Nation of

Islam leader. This is very disappointing, considering he was someone

that I looked to as a role model for standing up for the black

community. Despite, that, he went down for the good of someone else,

in this case, John F. Kennedy. He criticized the assassination, but he

stated that it was wrong. He said that, whoever, killed him, should

have let him be, since he was doing the right thing of trying to stop

segregation. This story reminded me of

Demby, the slave who stood up for himself, and his community. Both

of them went down, but put their community up. I take these citizens

as role models, and their simple actions made their community feel

more important then they thought of themselves. Just like Frederick

Douglass, I encourage you to do something right in your society today.

The aftermath of the action will help many others with their feelings,

their stress, and their life. Someday, Malcolm X will take an inspiring

step of progress.

Entry #3 Date: 4/23/63

 

The stories of Demby and Malcolm X inspired me to perform a good

deed of my own, and I have been proceeding with my plan. The past

eleven days, I have been drafting a letter to the council protesting

segregation in the south. These days have been an enormous struggle;

I have had to bear the aspects of prison-the sickening cafeteria food,

the ugly smell of the cells, and, rising above all, the painfulness of utter

boredom. I have Ralph to talk to, but he is almost worse than me,

meaning that he literally has nothing to do. At least I have been

writing the letter! Like I mentioned last week, my goal was to make

others feel how I did

while reading through Demby’s story, and this letter, I hope, will

contribute to my aims. Just like Frederick said, “If there is no struggle,

there is no progress.” My struggles have been in a large quantity,

considering my unfair charge to prison and the boredom. I envision a

bright future for blacks and whites, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and

Catholics, who will be able to join hands in freedom together.

Entry #1 Date: 2/18/14

 

Greetings, I am John Ashe, President of the United

Nations General Assembly. I realize that this journal

was passed on throughout Martin Luther King’s

generation, but eventually, the King family decided

they wanted to pass it on the United Nations

headquarters. The United Nations has read through

this journal, and we are very inspired by Frederick

Douglass’s quote “If there is no struggle, there is no

progress. As the President of the United Nations

General Assembly, I understand Frederick’s thoughts.

Possibly my greatest achievement with my job was

proceeding with the World Food Program’s plan to help

give food to those in need from the earthquake in Japan

a few years

ago. Some of the World Food Program’s employees

traveled half way around the world to deliver a small

portion of food to each family affected by the natural

disaster, suffering homesickness and sadness along the

way. However, these people saved hundreds of

thousands of lives from starvation. The employees and

the hungry struggled to live after the disaster, but in

the end, progress was made. I strongly suggest that

you do something for the benefit of others if the

opportunity is found. As you might know now, the

United Nations has developed eight millennium goals to

complete by 2015, but we are struggling to start our

plans. Nevertheless, I believe that progress will be

made sometime in the near future.

Entry #2 Date: 2/19/14

 

All through this day, I have had to withstand the wave

of stress. Throughout the duration of the second half of

our assembly today, the United Nations discussed

about the conflict of the shortage of energy around the

world. Based off of 2007, the world energy output must

rise by 29% to 640 quadrillion British thermal units by

2025. This will meet the demand

of the world. All in all, our ultimate goal now is to

provide a sufficient supply of energy to the needy.

Nonetheless, a 29% increase in the world energy output

is an increase on the verge of being impossible to

complete in only eleven years. I am sitting here, at my

desk, with my brain tied in knots, trying to figure out a

way to make this happen. It seems like the only thing

that is keeping me going is Frederick’s quote, “If there

is no struggle, there is no progress.” With only ten

years to complete our new goal of insuring global

energy, on top of that, we only have a little more than a

year left for our eight millennium goals to be

completed. It has been an extremely stressful time for

my coworkers and me. Even through these difficult

times, I remain confident that progress will be made

over the next year, and once the goals are reached, the

aftermath will be priceless. Our progress will be

present in the near future.