Hearing that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the federal arm of public media — has voted to close due to government defunding felt like a gut punch. PBS has been home to programming centered on Black Americana, from Finding Your Roots with Louis Henry Gates Jr. to documentaries that have brought our history to the forefront.
But even as the light on a platform that has championed our culture dims, another is shining bright.
Later this month, the United States Postal Service will release the Phillis Wheatley Black Heritage stamp, the latest in its series honoring notable Black women in American history and the 49th entry in the Black Heritage collection.
Noted as “the first author of African descent in the American Colonies to publish a book,” Wheatley’s story is poetic in itself. Kidnapped from Africa as a young child, she was enslaved in Boston, but nothing could stop her literary brilliance. By age 12, she was reading English, Latin, Greek, and the Bible and putting her poetic thoughts on paper. She traveled to London in 1773 to publish her book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, but not before her words, which delved into critiques on enslavement, Christian hypocrisy, and Black humanity, were put on trial.
In 1772, Wheatley appeared before 18 political leaders in Boston to defend that she, a young, enslaved woman, had authored her work. She was victorious, and an “attestation” was added to the preface of her book to confirm her authenticity. With that, she became the first African American — male or female — and one of the first American women to publish a book of poetry. Her fight is the foundation that has let other Black writers bring their words to light.
Wheatley joins an illustrious list of Black women who have been recognized with their own stamp. Harriet Tubman was the first to be immortalized as postage in 1978. A Lena Horne stamp commemorating the singer, actress, and philanthropist was the last stamp honoring a Black woman, released in 2018. According to the USPS, the Phillis Wheatley Black Heritage stamp will be released on January 29, with a free, open-to-the-public ceremony in Boston.
Other cultural platforms may falter, but the celebration of Black authorship and legacy will continue — every time we mail a letter.