Before his papers were destroyed in a fire, this infamous abolitionist drafted compelling

plans for all black Americans to leave the racist United States.

But why didn't his blueprint for a freedom expedition come into fruition?

This is two-minute black history, what you didn't learn in school.

Often called the father of black nationalism, abolitionist Martin Delaney dedicated his

life to the freedom of black people.

But he wasn't just any abolitionist, he called for black people to not only be free of

slavery, but free of the United States.

In 1852, Delaney penned a manifesto, urging black Americans to leave the United States.

And by the end of the decade, he had traveled to Nigeria, Canada, and Central America in

search of a place for the formerly enslaved to land.

By 1862, Delaney became the first black field officer in the US Army's history, agreeing

to the idea of black soldiers fighting for their own freedom in the Civil War.

But his ideas of freedom and equality spark conversations we still need to have today.

Delaney never lied when he wrote this.

We are a nation within a nation we must go from our oppressors.

But the struggles of white sponsored efforts, like Liberian colonization, show that we couldn't

just replicate the same efforts that brought our people to the United States.

Delaney refused to allow white supremacy to dictate where he could go, or how he could

live as a black person.

Today, we can still work towards liberation through the inspiration of his self-determination

and the truth that will never get free if we don't expand our imagination.

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