Truth to Power | Cassius Marcellus Clay | KY's Antislavery Slaveholder | Anne Marshall | 12-12-25

This week on Truth to Power, we bring you a community conversation about one of Kentucky's most notorious antislavery slaveholders! "Cassius Marcellus Clay: The Life of an Antislavery Slaveholder and the Paradox of American Reform" was the topic of discussion at the Filson Historical Society's Gertrude Polk Brown Lecture Series on the evening of Thursday, December 4, 2025 at the Kentucky Center for Performing Arts' Bomhard Theater. Cassius Marcellus Clay, a fiery nineteenth-century Kentucky antislavery reformer, was both admired and despised. A duelist, newspaperman, and ally of Lincoln, he fought slavery’s expansion while still enslaving people himself. Historian Anne E. Marshall’s biography reexamines Clay as emblematic of white Americans who opposed slavery’s economics more than its injustice. By portraying Clay’s contradictions, Marshall reveals why emancipation required war and why true racial equality faced enduring resistance. Marshall is an associate professor of history at Mississippi State University and on December 4th she was in conversation with the Filson's President, Dr. Patrick Lewis, who fielded audience questions. Watch the event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRSKtIEte_8 On Truth to Power each week, we gather people from around the community to discuss the state of the world, the nation, the state, and the city! It's a community conversation like you won't hear anywhere else! Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org