To celebrate Black History Month, The Urban Daily will be reviving its “Black History Retold” series. The initiative began last year as we featured celebrities reading excerpts of works authored by some of the most influential figures in Black History.

To kick things off, Angela Yee, beloved NYC radio personality, reinvigorated a portion of one of  Fredrick Douglass’ most famous speeches in which he said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

This excerpt is an amazing teaching experience that not everything is promised and handed to you, rather effort is often required. In the end it will make the victory that much sweeter. There’s beauty in the struggle, and even more in the success. The portion also means a lot to Angela as she recalls being in the early days of her career and just grinding and hoping things got better. As successful as she is now, Angela has a pretty simply explanation for those yearning to achieve their goals: “Hardwork, dedication, and sacrifice.”

Watch Angela recite Fredrick Douglass’ classic speech above.