Read this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
My Dear Friend:
You remember the old fable of "The Man and the Lion," where the lion complained that he should not be so misrepresented "when the lions wrote history."
I am glad the time has come when the "lions write history." We have been left long enough to gather the character of slavery from the involuntary evidence of the masters. One might, indeed, rest sufficiently satisfied with what, it is evident, must be, in general, the results of such a relation, without seeking farther to find whether they have followed in every instance.
In this portion of the letter, when the writer says it is time for the “lions to write history,” he means:
Slaves can finally tell their stories without punishment.
Slave owners can no longer punish slaves.
The government can no longer pay farmers who use slaves.
The people can mingle freely regardless of color.