A TRUE BLACK REVOLUTIONARY

REMEMBERING THE PAST

We'd like to talk to you today about legacy. And honestly, we think that when you hear about all the things John Berry Meachum did in his lifetime, you'll be scratching your head wondering why you didn't know about him until now. Born into slavery in Goochland County, Virginia, in May of 1789, John Berry Meachum earned enough money through his work as a carpenter that by the time he was 21, he bought his own freedom. Soon after that, he generated more funds and purchased his father's freedom. After that, he married a slave named Mary, and he purchased her freedom also. A few years later, he quit his work as a skilled carpenter, became an Ordained Baptist Minister, and opened the First African Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri. If that's enough of a legacy for you, here's where Meachum went above and beyond… he opened a school for black St. Louisans that attracted 300+ pupils, most of whom were too poor to pay for classes but and were educated nonetheless. In 1847, when Missouri banned all education for blacks, Meachum responded by equipping a steamboat with a library, desks, and chairs and opened the “Floating Freedom School” on the Mississippi River beyond the reach of Missouri officials. Seriously… this man was a freedom fighting educator who simply wouldn't accept "no" for an answer. Learn more about the remarkable life and times of John Berry Meachum on his entry at BlackPast.org (link: http://bit.ly/John-Berry-Meachum) and please Like & Share if you do!