Garrison’s final public statement demanded equal rights for Black Southerners

Evidence

On April 24, 1879, Garrison had hoped to address a rally for the Exodusters at Boston’s Faneuil Hall, but he was too weak to attend. Still, he made sure his voice was heard, sending a reverberating statement. … He had hoped for immediate emancipation when all hope had been lost. He now hoped for immediate equality when all hope had been lost. The thrilling statement of hope on April 24, 1879, proved to be the last will and testament of William Lloyd Garrison. Four weeks later, he was dead. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 694

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Garrison’s abolitionist arc traced in earlier chapters of Kendi’s book, and to the broader abolitionist-to-Reconstruction significance of ‘Liberty and equal rights for each, for all, and forever’ as a throughline of racial-justice rhetoric.