the BLACK WRITER a history

Which came first, Black writers or Black Literature? Whichever it was, JUPITER HAMMON played a major part in it's development.

Jupiter Hammon was born into slavery in 1711, in Queens, N.Y.  Although he remained a slave throughout his life, he is believed to be the first Black writer to be published in what would later become the United States of America.

His parents were among one of the first shipment of slaves to Lloyd Manor in 1687, but unlike most slaves, they learned to read and write. Jupiter, as a growing child, attended school with the Lloyd children where he also learned to read and write.

Jupiter Hammon published his first poem, "An Evening Thought. Salvation by Christ with Penitential Crienes," in 176l, and thus laid the groundwork for the tradition we know today as Black Literature.

In essence, JUPITER HAMMON became the first published Black writer in America before it was even the United States of...Think about that!





To read more about Jupiter Hammon GOOGLE his name