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We tend to hear about European and North American missionaries, often overlooking how much missionary work was carried out by native peoples themselves. In this episode, we'll explore how two people born into slavery in North America went on to bring the gospel to Jamaica and Sierra Leone. Join Grace, Sean, and Priscilla as they discuss these two missionaries with Dr. Vincent Carretta, Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at the University of Maryland and author of Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century. Show Notes: Articles about George Lielle and David George: https://placefortruth.org/george-liele-first-baptist-missionary-in-jamaica/ https://placefortruth.org/david-george-from-anxious-runaway-to-zealous-pastor/ Equiano https://placefortruth.org/olaudah-equiano-waking-up-christians-to-the-evils-of-slavery/ Phillis Wheatley https://alliancenet.org/episode/phillis-wheatley/ Unchained Voices https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813190762?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview University of Maryland Emeritus Professor of English Vincent Carretta. Prof. Carretta explores the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of the first African-American to publish a book of poetry in English, Phillis Wheatley Peters. He offers insight into Phillis' […]
In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng interview University of Maryland Emeritus Professor of English Vincent Carretta. Prof. Carretta explores the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of the first African-American to publish a book of poetry in English, Phillis Wheatley Peters. He offers insight into Phillis' early life in West Africa, her transatlantic voyage aboard the slave ship Phillis, and her arrival in Boston in 1761. He discusses her enslavement by the Wheatley family, her exposure to Christianity during the Great Awakening, and her exceptional education in classical literature. Additionally, Prof. Carretta highlights how her poetry drew upon timeless poets like Homer, Virgil, Milton, and Pope, and how her first published works reflected themes of piety, imagination, and liberty. He concludes the interview with a reading of a passage from his book, Phillis Wheatley Peters: Biography of a Genius in Bondage.
Why do we talk about Phillis Wheatley and the American Revolution? Vincent Carretta, Professor emeritus of the University of Maryland, and author of Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage joins us to talk about Wheatley's life, career, and influence. Professor Caretta has just edited The Writings of Phillis Wheatley , as well as the writings of The Letters of Ignatius Sancho , and he has written Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man. We discuss these writers in this Revolutionary moment in the Black Atlantic.
John J. Miller is joined by Vincent Carretta of the University of Maryland to discuss the poetry of Phillis Wheatley
This episode celebrates the 1 year anniversary of Jah9's third studio album Note to Self (March 2020). We discuss how Jah9 has grown from living in Tanzania for a year, we deconstruct race identity, she shares how she has continued to work on herself and how you can surrender to yourself via a Note to Self reboot that will be a Feel Good retreat hosted in Zanzibar this year (details at Jah9.com). We wrap-up with a chat about how the music of both East and West Africa are influencing the future of her musical sound. Don't miss this conversation. Join me #ForPosterity. You may stream Jah9's music on all music platforms and watch her live performance at the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, virtual edition, on March 5, 2021. Details are available at jamaicajazzandblues.com and on their social media accounts. Music notes: "Hey You" from Jah9's Note to Self (2020). Reading notes: Vincent Carretta's Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century (2003 is the updated edition).
We discuss biographies this episode.Their power resides in their place in history. New facts emerge, new understandings reshape our understandings of the person. Biographies remind us the ways the present influences the past. Biographies we mentioned in this episode“Steve Jobs, Insanely Great” by Jesse Hartland“Jonas Salk, A Life,” by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs“Daughters of the Samuri: A Journey From East and West and Back” Janice P. Nimura“Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage,” Vincent Carretta“A Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames,” by Kai Bird“The Bully Pulpit,” Doris Kearns Goodwin “Bolivar: Aerican Liberator” by Marie Arana“The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government,” by David Talbot“Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty,”by Jerry Oppenheimer“Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty” by Daniel Schulman“King of the World: Muhammed Ali and the Rise of an American Hero,” David Remnick“Catharine the Great: Portrait of a Woman,” Robert K. Massie
With Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), Phillis Wheatley became the first English-speaking person of African descent to publish a book and only the second woman -- of any race or background -- to do so in America. Written in Boston while she was just a teenager, and still a slave, Wheatley's work was an international sensation. In Phillis Wheatley, Vincent Carretta offers the first full-length biography of a figure whose origins and later life have remained shadowy despite her iconic status.A scholar with extensive knowledge of transatlantic literature and history, Carretta uncovers new details about Wheatley's origins, her upbringing, and how she gained freedom. Assessing Wheatley's entire body of work, he discusses the likely role she played in the production, marketing, and distribution of her writing. She developed a remarkable network that transcended racial, class, political, religious, and geographical boundaries.Vincent Carretta is a professor of English at the University of Maryland. His most recent books are Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man, winner of the Annibel Jenkins Prize, and The Life and Letters of Philip Quaque, the First African Anglican Missionary, coedited with Ty M. Reese. Recorded On: Sunday, February 26, 2012
Few people can claim to have created a literary genre… Phillis Wheatley did. By the time she was twenty, her name- taken from the slave ship that carried her to America and the family that bought her upon arrival- would be known throughout the world. Extraordinarily well-educated for a woman of her time and place- much less a slave- Wheatley began writing poetry at a young age. The 1773 publication of her first book, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame and, ultimately, freedom. Though she's celebrated as the mother of African American literature and her poems are taught in schools to this day, Wheatley remains a shadowy figure. In Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (University of Georgia Press, 2011), Vincent Carretta lets the light in. It's a daunting task. When one is writing about 18th people of African descent, sources are often scarce. But Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, rises to the challenge and painstakingly pieces together what is known about Wheatley's life. In particular, Carretta illuminates how Wheatley's evangelical Christianity was a subtle rebellion against slavery and also the means by which she got her words into print. The Phillis Wheatley that emerges in Biography of a Genius in Bondage is an alarmingly modern character- canny, innovative and determined to get her poems into print. That she was able to do so as a woman in the 18th century is impressive. That she was able to do so as a slave is extraordinary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Few people can claim to have created a literary genre… Phillis Wheatley did. By the time she was twenty, her name- taken from the slave ship that carried her to America and the family that bought her upon arrival- would be known throughout the world. Extraordinarily well-educated for a woman of her time and place- much less a slave- Wheatley began writing poetry at a young age. The 1773 publication of her first book, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame and, ultimately, freedom. Though she’s celebrated as the mother of African American literature and her poems are taught in schools to this day, Wheatley remains a shadowy figure. In Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (University of Georgia Press, 2011), Vincent Carretta lets the light in. It’s a daunting task. When one is writing about 18th people of African descent, sources are often scarce. But Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, rises to the challenge and painstakingly pieces together what is known about Wheatley’s life. In particular, Carretta illuminates how Wheatley’s evangelical Christianity was a subtle rebellion against slavery and also the means by which she got her words into print. The Phillis Wheatley that emerges in Biography of a Genius in Bondage is an alarmingly modern character- canny, innovative and determined to get her poems into print. That she was able to do so as a woman in the 18th century is impressive. That she was able to do so as a slave is extraordinary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Few people can claim to have created a literary genre… Phillis Wheatley did. By the time she was twenty, her name- taken from the slave ship that carried her to America and the family that bought her upon arrival- would be known throughout the world. Extraordinarily well-educated for a woman of her time and place- much less a slave- Wheatley began writing poetry at a young age. The 1773 publication of her first book, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame and, ultimately, freedom. Though she’s celebrated as the mother of African American literature and her poems are taught in schools to this day, Wheatley remains a shadowy figure. In Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (University of Georgia Press, 2011), Vincent Carretta lets the light in. It’s a daunting task. When one is writing about 18th people of African descent, sources are often scarce. But Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, rises to the challenge and painstakingly pieces together what is known about Wheatley’s life. In particular, Carretta illuminates how Wheatley’s evangelical Christianity was a subtle rebellion against slavery and also the means by which she got her words into print. The Phillis Wheatley that emerges in Biography of a Genius in Bondage is an alarmingly modern character- canny, innovative and determined to get her poems into print. That she was able to do so as a woman in the 18th century is impressive. That she was able to do so as a slave is extraordinary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Few people can claim to have created a literary genre… Phillis Wheatley did. By the time she was twenty, her name- taken from the slave ship that carried her to America and the family that bought her upon arrival- would be known throughout the world. Extraordinarily well-educated for a woman of her time and place- much less a slave- Wheatley began writing poetry at a young age. The 1773 publication of her first book, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame and, ultimately, freedom. Though she’s celebrated as the mother of African American literature and her poems are taught in schools to this day, Wheatley remains a shadowy figure. In Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (University of Georgia Press, 2011), Vincent Carretta lets the light in. It’s a daunting task. When one is writing about 18th people of African descent, sources are often scarce. But Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, rises to the challenge and painstakingly pieces together what is known about Wheatley’s life. In particular, Carretta illuminates how Wheatley’s evangelical Christianity was a subtle rebellion against slavery and also the means by which she got her words into print. The Phillis Wheatley that emerges in Biography of a Genius in Bondage is an alarmingly modern character- canny, innovative and determined to get her poems into print. That she was able to do so as a woman in the 18th century is impressive. That she was able to do so as a slave is extraordinary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Few people can claim to have created a literary genre… Phillis Wheatley did. By the time she was twenty, her name- taken from the slave ship that carried her to America and the family that bought her upon arrival- would be known throughout the world. Extraordinarily well-educated for a woman of her time and place- much less a slave- Wheatley began writing poetry at a young age. The 1773 publication of her first book, entitled Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, brought her fame and, ultimately, freedom. Though she’s celebrated as the mother of African American literature and her poems are taught in schools to this day, Wheatley remains a shadowy figure. In Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (University of Georgia Press, 2011), Vincent Carretta lets the light in. It’s a daunting task. When one is writing about 18th people of African descent, sources are often scarce. But Carretta, a professor of English at the University of Maryland, rises to the challenge and painstakingly pieces together what is known about Wheatley’s life. In particular, Carretta illuminates how Wheatley’s evangelical Christianity was a subtle rebellion against slavery and also the means by which she got her words into print. The Phillis Wheatley that emerges in Biography of a Genius in Bondage is an alarmingly modern character- canny, innovative and determined to get her poems into print. That she was able to do so as a woman in the 18th century is impressive. That she was able to do so as a slave is extraordinary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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