Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped in Africa, brought to New England on a slave ship, and purchased by a wealthy Boston family in 1761. She had just lost her two front teeth, which likely meant she was seven years old. She wrote her first poems in English four years later and was soon published in a regional newspaper. Wheatley’s elegy for George Whitefield, which drew international attention in 1770, was her first major breakthrough. By that time she had gathered enough poems for a manuscript, but she could not find an American publisher. In 1773, Wheatley delivered her book to Archibald Bell, a London publisher, who distributed a successful first edition later that year.
Some people benefit today from working 3 jobs and never seeing their kids. Those people probably hate their kids and love working like slaves. I don't know anyone like that. But if I put on my Desantis thinking cap they totally exist.
Wow I'd never heard about Wheatley's end. Only knew her as the beginning of most histories of Black American poetry. As I recall Helen Keller had to face a similar tribunal, where she (or rather Anne Sullivan) was accused of plagiarizing an early short story. When I taught in school it seemed common amongst my fellow teachers to accuse ESL or international students of plagiarizing if their work was ever "too" good.
I agree about her deft command of iambic verse, and her rhetorical power:
"Our God forgetting, by our God forgot!"
Some people benefit today from working 3 jobs and never seeing their kids. Those people probably hate their kids and love working like slaves. I don't know anyone like that. But if I put on my Desantis thinking cap they totally exist.
/S just in case you think otherwise.
Ugh. Well said. Gaslighting is too kind a word for it.
Wow I'd never heard about Wheatley's end. Only knew her as the beginning of most histories of Black American poetry. As I recall Helen Keller had to face a similar tribunal, where she (or rather Anne Sullivan) was accused of plagiarizing an early short story. When I taught in school it seemed common amongst my fellow teachers to accuse ESL or international students of plagiarizing if their work was ever "too" good.
Excellent point. It’s awful that similar bias persists. Writing is hard enough without being suspected of plagiarism!
Thank you!
Thank you for this! 🙏🏼
Thanks for reading ❤️