Phillis Wheatley’s real name is lost to history. The young girl was named for the slave ship that carried her to the United States from West Africa. Purchased as a house slave in Boston, Phillis defied all the odds to become a prolific poet celebrated around the world and the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry in the United States. Eventually, she used her considerable talents to convince the people who owned her to return her freedom to her. 




The story of Phillis’s complicated journey is followed by a conversation with world renowned poet Nikki Giovanni, who talks to Jo about the origins of African American poetry and the evolving narrative about Phillis Wheatley’s place in history.




Main Sources
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, published by Archibald Bell in London in 1773
Various publications mentioned throughout the episode which published Phillis Wheatley’s poems and letters during her life.
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
The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundtation.org)
The Phillis Wheatley Historical Society (http://www.phillis-wheatley.org/)

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Phillis Wheatley’s real name is lost to history. The young girl was named for the slave ship that carried her to the United States from West Africa. Purchased as a house slave in Boston, Phillis defied all the odds to become a prolific poet celebrated around the world and the first African American woman to publish a book of poetry in the United States. Eventually, she used her considerable talents to convince the people who owned her to return her freedom to her.  The story of Phillis’s complicated journey is followed by a conversation with world renowned poet Nikki Giovanni, who talks to Jo about the origins of African American poetry and the evolving narrative about Phillis Wheatley’s place in history. Main Sources<ol>
<li>Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, published by Archibald Bell in London in 1773</li>
<li>Various publications mentioned throughout the episode which published Phillis Wheatley’s poems and letters during her life.</li>
<li>Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage - by Vincent Carretta</li>
<li>The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers - by Henry Louis Gates</li>
<li>The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundtation.org)</li>
<li>The Phillis Wheatley Historical Society (<a href="http://www.phillis-wheatley.org/mr-george-whitefield/">http://www.phillis-wheatley.org/</a>)</li>
</ol> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

The stories we tell about the past matter. But what happens when an entire category of changemakers is overlooked? Fierce, a new podcast from iHeartRadio and Tribeca Studios, will shed much-needed light on the fierce women that history has undervalued. In each episode, award-winning journalist and best-selling author Jo Piazza will tell the story of one historical figure's life while connecting her legacy to a modern woman standing on her formidable shoulders today.

A Storytelling Adventure: The Women who Changed the World

Fierce

Phillis Wheatley: For the Love of Freedom

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/34f9e6b7-698c-45d6-8767-ae27016fa2fa/transcript

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