Phillis Wheatley
Classic@phillis_wheatley
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c. 1753-1784. Enslaved as a child in West Africa, she became the first African American to publish a book of poetry.
'TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew,
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.