Language as Resistance

"I imagine them hearing spoken English as the oppressor’s language, yet I imagine them also realizing that this language would need to be possessed, taken, claimed as a space of resistance. I imagine that the moment they realized the oppressor’s language, seized and spoken by the tongues of the colonized, could be a space of bonding was joyous." 

- Bell Hooks 

Text: Liberty for Slaves (1857 speech by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper) 

The contextual delivery of the speech "Liberty for Slaves" can be established in pertinence to the mid 1800s in the United States, whereby the African American community continued to be suppressed and shackled by slavery under the prevalence of the popular white supremacy ideology. Nevertheless, Harper, born as a free black woman, played a crucial role in the movement promoting the emancipation of slaves as she became an eminent abolitionist speaker, invoking members of her own community to believe in the cause and unite as a whole to defy societal confines and spark a revolution. 

One important element to note in Harper's works is her immaculate articulation of the speech in Standard English as opposed to the expected African American Vernacular that was employed by members of the black community in the times. Subsequently, Harper effectually utilizes her eloquence and command over Standard English as a literary weapon to fortify her resistance against white domination, by therefore adopting the primary language of the people and essentially using it against them.

Through a series of remarkably curated phrases like "The law of liberty is the law of God, and is antecedent to all human legislation," and "trails my womanhood in the dust," Harper solidifies the persuasiveness of her powerful argument crafted in the true essence of Standard English. Moreover, the passionate tone underpinning Harper's speech, as unveiled through her carefully manipulated diction and rhetorical devices, propels the target audience to be empowered and therefore take advantage of the linguistic imperialism they encountered as a community.

To convey her argument, Harper also centralizes majority of her argument on the basis of religious outlooks and weaves in biblical references as a means to highlight the irrationality of racial segregation and more specifically the legitimization of one race to reign supreme. Accordingly the efficacy of the argument is further augmented by Harper's elegant form of linguistic expression and complementing rhetorics including vivid evocative imager, appeal to emotions, logical declarations and thought provoking rhetorical questions. 

Thus, Harper's speech "Liberty for Slaves" effectually embodies the notion of resistance that the African American community had "possessed" in a sense the "oppressor's language" and used it as a space or conduit to empower members of the community.