# The first African-American writer in the United States.
***La primera escritora afroamericana en Estados Unidos.***
During the era of slavery, there were thousands of talented men and beings all over the world who, despite being chained and deprived of true freedom, it was impossible for their artistic talents to come to the fore. Some showed their skills with music, either as singers or instrumentalists, others united the rhythmic steps of their ancient tribes with the dances of their masters and created new styles that today are considered a classic in the artistic world. There were also those who, using pen and paper, created literary works and majestic poems, such as Miss Phillis Wheatley, born in West Africa in 1753. For a slave to be a writer was unthinkable for the owners and even more so for her to be a woman. It was a hard time for artists like her and despite the thousand torments she went through, she managed to be recognized as a writer and today she is an example of overcoming in a time when everything was dark.
> Durante la época de la esclavitud, hubo miles de hombres y seres talentosos en todo el mundo que, pese a estar encadenados y privados de una auténtica libertad, fue imposible que sus talentos artísticos salieran a flote. Algunos mostraron sus habilidades con la música, ya sea como cantantes o instrumentistas, otros unieron los pasos rítmicos de sus antiguas tribus con los bailes de sus amos y crearon nuevos estilos que hoy en día se consideran un clásico en el mundo artístico. Tambien existieron quienes usando papel y pluma, hicieron obras literarias y poemas majestuosos, tal como la señorita Phillis Wheatley nacida en África occidental en 1753. El que un esclavo fuera escritor para los dueños era impensable y aun mas el que fuera mujer. Fue una época dura para artistas como ella y pese a los mil tormentos pasados, logro ser reconocida como escritora y hoy en día es un ejemplo de la superación en una época donde todo era oscuro.
## Words by Bayron Josué Sánchez
*Palabras De Bayron Josué Sánchez*
"She was called Phillis, because that was the name of the ship that brought her, and Wheatley, which was the name of the merchant who bought her. She was born in Senegal. In Boston, the slave traders put her up for sale:
-She's seven years old! She'll make a good mare!
She was felt, naked, by many hands.
> *“Fue llamada Phillis, porque así se llamaba el barco que la trajo, y Wheatley, que era el nombre del mercader que la compró. Había nacido en Senegal. En Boston, los negreros la pusieron en venta:*
*-¡Tiene siete años! ¡Será una buena yegua!*
*Fue palpada, desnuda, por muchas manos.*
At thirteen, she was already writing poems in a language that was not her own. No one believed she was the author. At the age of twenty, Phillis was questioned by a court of eighteen enlightened gentlemen in robes and wigs.
She had to recite texts from Virgil and Milton and some messages from the Bible, and she also had to swear that the poems she had written were not plagiarized. From a chair, she gave her long examination, until the court accepted her: she was a woman, she was black, she was a slave, but she was a poet."
Phillis Wheatley, was the first African-American woman writer to publish a book in the United States.
> *A los trece años, ya escribía poemas en una lengua que no era la suya. Nadie creía que ella fuera la autora. A los veinte años, Phillis fue interrogada por un tribunal de dieciocho ilustrados caballeros con toga y peluca.*
*Tuvo que recitar textos de Virgilio y Milton y algunos mensajes de la Biblia, y también tuvo que jurar que los poemas que había escrito no eran plagiados. Desde una silla, rindió su largo examen, hasta que el tribunal la aceptó: era mujer, era negra, era esclava, pero era poeta.”*
*Phillis Wheatley, fue la primera escritora afroamericana en publicar un libro en los Estados Unidos.*
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