SHE SURVIVED the horrific Middle Passage as a child and was purchased as a slave in 1761. By the time she turned twenty Phillis Wheatley became the most famous person of African descent in the world. In a culture dominated by white supremacy, she forced those around her to acknowledge her humanity and confront the inequity of her status as a slave. Heav'nly Tidings From the Afric Muse shows how Phillis Wheatley wrote her way to freedom.

Her own words, taken from her writings, resurrect the spirit of the classic poet, who managed to launch two literary traditions at once: African-American literature and women's literature. Phillis Wheatley has taken her rightful place among our Founding Fathers and Mothers as the true "Poet Laureate" of the American Revolution.

Phillis Wheatley was

Poet Laureate of the American Revolution
Most widely known African-American in the world in her time
First personified the American symbol "Columbia" in poetry
Knew George Washington
Arrived on a slave ship and was sold about age seven
Made a literary tour of London in 1773
Published a book of poems in London that arrived on the Dartmouth with the tea that was dumped in the "Boston Tea Party."