Recently when walking down Commonwealth Ave in #Boston, I noticed that someone had placed a bouquet and a letter on #PhyllisWheatley’s statue. It made it even more beautiful, and though the letter was not to Phyllis but a memorial to someone who perhaps loved Phyllis’ story, it was a lovely addition and tribute to this brilliant young mind of the 18th century. It’s a pity she died so very young, and also a shame that despite her apparent good treatment and exemplary education her “masters” never freed her. The fact that she learned classical languages at a time when only children from high-class families were schooled in that, let alone wrote beautiful poetry and conversed with some of the great minds of her time, make Phyllis especially remarkable. She proved wrong those who doubted that black people had great intellectual capacity, showing the difference access to education made. #heroes #blackhistory #blackexcellence #blackwomen #poet #writer #shero #statues #statue #memorial #beauty #18thcentury #bostonhistory #igersboston #igboston #flowers #sculpture #slavery #americanhistory #revolutionarywar #america #blackamerica #art #womenshistory #womenwriters #womenpoets