[NFBV-Announce] Day 22 of Black History Month

[jackibruce6 at gmail.com]

Hey NFB Family and Friends,

 

The following is the next edition of African American history makers. Enjoy!

 

Phillis Wheatley (or Phyllis Wheatly), born in 1753 in West Africa), was a
poet and author. 

 

The young girl who was to become Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped and taken to
Boston on a slave ship in 1761 and purchased by a tailor, John Wheatley, as
a personal servant for his wife, Susanna. 

 

She was treated kindly in the Wheatley household, almost as a third child.
The Wheatley's soon recognized her talents and gave her privileges unusual
for a slave, allowing her to learn to read and write. 

 

In less than two years, under the tutelage of Susanna and her daughter,
Phillis had mastered English; she went on to learn Greek and Latin and
caused a stir among Boston scholars by translating a tale from Ovid.

 

Though Wheatley generally avoided the topic of slavery in her poetry, her
best-known work, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" (written 1768),
contains a mild rebuke toward some white readers: "Remember, Christians,
Negroes, black as Cain / May be refined, and join th'  angelic train." 

 

Phillis was escorted by the Wheatleys' son to London in May 1773. That same
year, her first book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, where
many of her poems first saw print, was published. Immediately causing her to
become the  first African-American woman to published a book (of poetry) in
the United States  as well as the first to make a living from her writing. 

 

She died December 5, 1784.

Submitted by Jeanette

 


Peace,

Jacki Bruce

Corresponding Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia
 <mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com> mailto:jackibruce6 at gmail.com
 <tel:(757)291-1789> tel:(757)291-1789
 <http://www.nfb.org/> www.nfb.org
 <http://www.nfbv.org/> www.nfbv.org

Follow us on Twitter @NFBVirginia
Find us on Facebook @NationalFederationoftheBlindofVirginia

Live the life you want.

The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends
who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day we work
together to help blind people live the lives they want

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org/attachments/20210222/6bdfd01e/attachment.html>