Mother of African American Literature - Phillis Wheatley

This week I am going to talk about a woman who literally wrote her way to freedom, Phillis Wheatley. Kidnapped from Africa as a small child, Wheatley would gain fame and notoriety as a result of creative writing capabilities. Wheatley was able to meet some of the most infamous men of her time including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock. So why is it we know so little about her? Listen to this weeks episode and find out.

Sources Used This Episode:

• Phillis Wheatley Historical Society
• LINK: phillis-wheatley.org/facts/
• Poetry Foundation - Phillis Wheatley
• LINK: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/phillis-wheatley#:~:text=(1770)%20was%20Wheatley's%20first%20published,Newport%2C%20Rhode%20Island%2C%20Mercury.
• Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage by Vincent Carretta
• The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.