Page B3
(The ÍPortlanb (ßbsm ier
October 22. 2003
COURAGEOUS^
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Families Urged to Buckle Up
Prodigal Child Shocks America
H undreds o f y ears o f b o o k s,
diaries, articles, o ral histo ry and
m ore tell us o f g ian t h ero es o f o u r
past. H ow ever, they are not a l­
w ays as p h ysically big as one
m ight im agine. O n e case o f point
is the huge im p act a frail A frican
child born aro u n d 1753, w ould
have on this w orld.
A t not m u ch m o re th an 25
pounds, P hillis W h eatley arriv ed
in A m erica ab o ard a slav e ship.
She w as barely stron g en o u g h to
stand on h er ow n as the au c tio n ­
e er slam m ed the h am m er d o w n .
A rich b u sin e ssm a n 's w ife,
Susan W h eatley , took pity
on the sick ly girl th at
day in a B oston har-
g b o r. T h e y e a r w as
1761.
At aro u n d seven
y e a rs o ld , d ir ty ,
painfully ill from the
long jo u rn e y from
S e n e g a l, A fric a ,
the ch ild w as sm all
fo r h er ag e and
hardly a barg ain fo r
an y s la v e o w n e r.
W e can only im ag ­
ine how frightened she
w as a fter b eing forced
on to a slave sh ip w eek s
before, and now stan d in g
h alf-naked in rags, facin g a
cro w d o f scream in g slav e b id ­
d ers.
B ut S usan W heatley an d her
h u sb a n d . J o h n W h e a tle y h ad
o th e r plans. In tim e she w o u ld be
allow ed to help aroun d the house
• d o in g c h o r e s lik e th e o th e r
W heatley ch ild ren , but for now ,
the to o th less starvin g little girl
w ould be given clo th es to rep lace
her tom rags, food, sh elter, and
m ost im p o rtan tly , a c o m b in atio n
o f religion and ed u catio n . C o n se ­
q u e n tly , a s a y o u n g w o m a n ,
P hillis, w ho w as nam ed a fte r the
ship she cam e to A m erica on,
found reco g n itio n fo r h er w rit­
ings.
D ue to h er alm o st fairy tale life,
W heatley often said that she felt
“ sav ed " from a life o f po v erty .
starv atio n , an d sick n ess in A f­
rica. H er co m in g to A m erica and
b eing taught C h ristian ity had a
p ro fo u n d affect o n h er life and
h er w ritings.
Jo h n W id em an in his b o o k .
“ M y S o u l H as G ro w n D eep ,”
tells u s "W h eatley truly felt h er
cap tu re and e n slav em en t as the
w ork o f a m ercifu l G o d , rescu ­
ing h e r from a land sh e called
p ag an .”
w as so im p ressed th at she later
w rote W h eatley and in v ited h er
to L on d o n . W h eatley w as so w ell
you can ach ie v e g reatn ess.
As W h e a tle y ’s poetry c o n tin ­
ued to be p u b lish ed , A m erican s
w ere both fascin ated an d shocked
at h e re lo q u e n t v o cab u lary . W hen
p eo p le b egan to thin k she w as a
fake, h ig h -ran k in g g o v ern m en t
o fficia ls, in clu d in g the g o v ern o r
o f the co lo n y in w h ich B oston
resid ed , step p ed in and valid ated
the w ork.
U pon read in g W h e a tly 's 1770
poem . O n th e D ea th o f th e R e v ­
eren d M r. G eo rg e W h itefield the
E n g lish C o u n tess o f H un tin g to n
(A P) — W hile child safety-seat
use in general is at an all-tim e high,
the m essage to keep kids buckled
up has not taken hold in H ispanic
com m unities, w herecultural differ­
ences and lack o f understanding
about seat belt laws.
As the U.S. L atino population
grow s, federal officials are w orking
to teach H ispanics about the ben­
efits o f child safety seats.
A program. "C ora/on de mi vida."
o r "Y ou are the center o f my life,"
has distributed child safety seats in
H ispanic com m unities. The pro­
gram , a collaboration betw een the
federal N ational H ighw ay T raffic
Safety A dm inistration and the San
A n to n io -b ased N ational L atino
o r fem ale.
S ad ly , h er m istress d ied in
1 7 7 4 a n d h e r m a s te r J o h n
W h eatley d ied fo u r y ears later in
1778. A s a result. W h eatley w as
fo rced in to po v erty an d sold as
a slave. A lth o u g h she m et and
m arried Jo h n P eters, life d id not
turn o u t in h er favor. Peters
w as an irritab le m an w ho
ra re ly fo u n d w o rk and
p r i m a r i l y r e l ie d o n
W h eatley fo r a m eans
o f su p p o rt. W h eatley
w o rk ed as a servant
d u rin g th e day and
tried to k eep u p her
w r itin g a t n ig h t.
5
W h eatley gave birth
to th re e c h ild re n ,
lo sin g all o f th em
d u rin g the birth. She
d ied alo n g w ith her
third ch ild on D ec 5,
1784.
A lth o u g h h e r trag ic
e n d w as a g reat lo ss to
h e r d e v o t e d a u d ie n c e ,
W h eatley left b eh in d an u n ­
p aralleled legacy. W hile som e
feel sh e w as k id n a p p e d from
A frica to be sold as a slav e, m ost
h isto rical acco u n ts su p p o rt the
b e lie f th a t h e r d e s titu te
S en eg ale se m o th er p aid to have
h e r h id d en on th e sh ip as a sto w ­
aw ay, h o p in g she w o u ld find a
b etter life in A m erica.
H e r w o r ld w id e fa m e an d
e lab o rate w ritin g s g av e h ope to
sco res o f o th ers w h o m ay n ev er
have b eco m e w riters if not for
W h eatley . F o r 2 0 0 y ears after
h e r p a s s in g , W h e a tle y c lu b s
th ro u g h o u t the c o u n try h eld on
to h er leg acy , p ro v in g that no
m atter w h o you are, w h ere you
co m e fro m , o r w h a t h o rrib le
c ircu m stan ces su rro u n d ed you,
Phillis Wheatley
Program ‘Corazon de mi vida’ targets Latinos
received in E urope that the C ount­
e ss h elp ed h er p u b lish h er first
m u ltip le w o rk s. P o em s o n V ari­
o u s S u b je c ts , R e lig io u s a n d
M oral. A fter its p u b licatio n in
1773, sh e b ecam e th e first p u b ­
lished A m erican black poet, m ale
C h ild ren 's Institute, is a start in requirem ent. Even those that do
breaking dow n the cultural barriers require seat belts, such as E cuador
that have led to m ore deaths am ong and H onduras, rarely enforce the
H ispanic children than non-H is­ law, Rios said.
M any new p are n ts o f all ra c e s
panic w hite children.
“ W e’re having to totally ed u ­ and e th n ic itie s b e lie v e , w ro n g ly ,
cate this com m unity, totally change that safety sea ts c o st h u n d red s
this b e h a v io r not ju s t because o f d o lla rs. R o d rig u e z said. S he
y o u 're going to get a ticket but n oted that a g o o d safety seat can
because you will save your ch ild ’s be as little as $40. E ven w hen
life,” said program director Irene p a re n ts hav e sa fety se ats, she
said, the vast m ajo rity use them
Rodriguez.
Julio Rios, w ho supervises His­ incorrectly.
panic program s for C hild and Fam ­
Rodriguez said her program ap­
ily Services of W est M ichigan, Inc., peals to the im portance o f fam ily in
said im m igrants are often surprised H ispanic culture and uses trad i­
to learn every state requires infants tional rhym es and riddles to help
to be placed in child seals. Many parents rem em ber to buckle ch il­
com e from countries with no such dren in the back seat.
Group Mana Fights World Hunger
(A P) — The G ram m y-w inning
M exican rock group M ana will pro­
vide m usic and a I itt le diplom acy on
their latest U.S. tour.
The m usicians w ere recently
nam ed goodw ill am bassadors for
the U nited N ation's Food and A g­
ricultural O rganization and will do­
nate $ I from every ticket sold on the
tour to the group.
"M ana will help F A O ’s m essage
to reach younger, active audiences
in Latin A m erica, the U nited States
and E urope," said FA O director
Jacques D io u f in a recorded state­
ment at the g ro u p ’s press co n fer­
ence in Los A ngeles.
M an a's lead singer, FherO lvera,
called the appointm ent “a great
honor,” and lauded the organiza­
tion not only for feeding people
around the w orld but for helping
com m unities create their ow n food
supplies.
The Mexican rock group Mana will help feed the hungry as U.N.
ambassadors.
The pop group, often referred to
as Latin A m erica's U2. also urged
record com panies and stores to
low er the price o f C D s so that fans
"w o u ld n 't be forced to buy bad
quality, pirated copies."
M ana's “ R evolucion de A m or,"
w on a Latin G ram m y this year for
best rock album by a duo or group
with vocal.
Spanish On-Line Services Launched
(AP) — Tienes e-mail. A m erica
Online has launched a service for the
burgeoning market o f U.S. house­
holds where Spanish is mostly or
exclusively spoken. In addition to
the familiar "y ou'vegot m ail" greet­
ing. the AOL Latino service is wholly
in Spanish, down to the instructions
on installation CDs.
The U.S. H ispanic population,
the c o u n tr y 's la rg e st m in o rity
group, has grow n over the past two
years at nearly four tim es the rate o f
the overall population. O nline in-
form ation outlets have responded.
Yahoo! Inc. already has a “Y a­
hoo! En E spañol" site with news,
m aps and even greeting cards in
Spanish, while M icrosoft C orp.’s
MSN has acquired the Spanish-
language Yupi portal.
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