TL:DR? First (recorded) Black man in the New World was a former slave who won his freedom, sailed to the Caribbean and renamed himself “Handsome John.” Which is pimp as fuck.
He rode into Tenochtítlan (modern-day Mexico City) at Cortes’ side when Spanish and Aztec first met (there are drawings from the period showing he was there) (and yes, he was on the side of the oppressor, so to speak, but still)
He was the first free Black dude in Florida (that whole “Fountain of Youth” expedition? He was there helping look for it)
he later (after the Conquest) was recorded as the first person to start a wheat farm in the New World, and grew rich. He literally planted a few random wheat seeds he found in a spare canvas sack from Spain and made a small fortune.
When I say that Black history is American history, THIS is what I’m talking about. This is 400 years before Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. Black History is American History. Period.
