Frederick Douglass

I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes - a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter under which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection.

Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was never supposed to have learned how to read. He was to have been kept ignorant and in chains, working for one master after another. When he was twelve a woman broke the law and taught him a few letters. He then picked up reading from white children and began to read. "As he learned and began to read newspapers, political materials, and books of every description, the young Douglass was exposed to a new realm of thought and experience that led him first to question and then to condemn the institution of slavery itself."

Douglass taught other slaves to read. This was stopped by the white masters with whip and clubs. He was regularly whipped. He tried to escape three times finally being successful in 1838. He became an abolitionist and eventually became one of the most famous abolitionists of his time. He met with President Lincoln and said that he "was the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color."

Frederick Douglass (February 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. Called "The Sage of Anacostia" and "The Lion of Anacostia", Douglass is one of the most prominent figures in African American history and a formidable public presence. He was a firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, female, American Indian, or recent immigrant. He was fond of saying, "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong."

Douglass was a newspaper Publisher. Founding the paper The North Star it had a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean. Taking as its motto "Right is of no Sex — Truth is of no Color — God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren," the North Star served as a forum not only for abolitionist views, but also supported the feminist movement and the emancipation of other oppressed groups.

One of the reasons that February was chosen for Black History Month is because it was Douglass' birth month. On a side note I have to mention that he was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey.
You can read more about Douglass here and here and   This was adapted from this source.