c. They needed to take ownership of their freedom.
Frederick Douglass appealed to African-Americans to be active in fighting for their own freedom from slavery and oppression. Standing in a church pulpit in Syracuse, New York, in 1863, Douglass said, "Who would be free themselves must strike the blow. I urge you to fly to arms and smite to death the power that would bury the Government and your liberty in the same hopeless grave. This is your golden opportunity."