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Description

Narration

1

Portrait of Phillis Wheatley over a cross tombstone. The title: “An Unlikely Poet” appears.

A European captures slaves from a West African slave market.
The Tombstone of John Wheatley, Phillis’ owner. An etching of a slave ship deck, packed with emaciated slaves.

The poet Phillis Wheatley had a short and difficult life, despite her status as the very first published African American and the creator of the African American literary genre. Taken from her birth home of Gambia, she was sold into slavery when she was only seven years old. Her real name is lost to history-- Wheatley was the last name of her slave owners in New England, and Phillis was the name of the ship that brought her into captivity.

2

A slave auction at an American port. Zoom in on captives who look frail and sick.

An etching of a classroom or church, zoom in to focus on a young African American girl in the front row.

She was frail and sickly when she arrived in America, and the captain sold her at a steep discount-- he figured she was about to die anyway. However, her new owner, Susanna Wheatley, soon recognized her talent for learning, and did something that was unthinkable for the time: she began teaching Phillis to read and write.

3

Statue of Phillis Wheatley.

By thirteen, Wheatley was already writing exceptional poetry, and by the time she was eighteen, she had a collection of 28 poems ready for publication.  

4

The front page of her book, with the title: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, and information about the author and her status as a slave.

Her first volume, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, quickly made her an international success. Households all over England and New England celebrated the slave woman who could write such beautiful verse, and used her to argue against the popular idea that Black people were incapable of higher learning or sophisticated art.

5

A painting of freed slave men and women, dressed in European high society clothes. Portraits of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

The sun rising behind clouds, with overlayed poems from Wheatley: “Why, Phoebus, moves thy car so slow?
So slow thy rising ray?
Give us the famous town to view,
Thou glorious king of day!”
and
“On Being Brought from Africa to America

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God...“

She visited with famous writers, foreign nobility, and even met with Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Her poetry is remarkable for its masterful use of classical verse and meter, together with its rich literary and Biblical references. Wheatley loved the “great experiment” of America, even expressing gratitude for her conversion to Christianity after “...Being Brought from Africa to America”

6

A photo of slaves in the field.

A shot of the front door of a church, pans up to the sun in the sky with the text:
“Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.”

But Wheatley never forgot her African roots or the thousands of her fellow slaves who weren’t lucky enough to learn to read and write. She urged her readers to overcome their own prejudice and remember the humanity within all people.

7

An African-American woman in European clothing, looking isolated. A black servant woman standing alone in a kitchen. Another black woman standing alone outside, wearing shabby clothes.

Video of a single leaf hanging on to a branch in the snow. The text: “Phillis Wheatley 1753-1784.”

She was granted her freedom and allowed to marry soon after her master’s death, and although she kept writing, she found that most White Americans were unwilling to pay for the work of a slave woman. She soon slipped into poverty, losing two children to illness and working as a housekeeper to make ends meet. As she grew sicker and more isolated, she tried one last time to publish a book of poetry dedicated to Benjamin Franklin, but failed to find any support. On December 5th, 1784, at age 31, she died, followed three and a half hours later by her only remaining infant son.

Portrait of Wheatley over a sunrise, with excerpt of her poem: “Where e'er Columbia [America] spreads her swelling Sails:

To every Realm shall Peace her Charms display,

And Heavenly Freedom spread her gold Ray”

Toni Morrison being awarded a medal by President Barack Obama.

Although her life was full of suffering and disappointment, Phillis Wheatley always held on to her belief in the promise of America and paved the way for future generations of Black and female authors to find the success and recognition that ultimately eluded her.