This week, as we look forward to the 250th birthday of America, I want to reflect on an unlikely Revolutionary heroine, Phillis Wheatley. Her history is remarkable.  Born in West Africa in 1753, she was brought on a slave ship, The Phillis, for which she was named.  She was sold to the Wheatley family of Boston, who raised and educated her.  Phillis learned English, Latin, and Greek and wrote her first poem at the age of fourteen.  She published a collection of poetry called Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in 1773, making her the first enslaved person to publish a book.