August 19, 1791, Banneker's Letter To Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Banneker excelled at excellence he was a gift to the humanity of mankind. Those who looked at color first may have been fooled into ignoring his genius. However, those who looked past color marveled at Benjamin Banneker's astounding intellectual abilities. The shame was that it was more of the latter who ignored his greatness. On August 19, 1791, Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to the​n Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson outlining the ills of forced​ servitude, or American slavery. Today, The Blackman Who Reads Aloud revisits the day 228 years ago today that ancestor Benjamin Banneker​ sent the letter to be delivered to Thomas Jefferson. The inequality of black illiteracy is that so many of our brothers and sisters are blocked from learning about our black history because of the inability to read. We must engage our communities to erase the negative​ impact of black illiteracy. I know that Benjamin Banneker was a Blackman​ who read aloud, the question I ask today is are you expanding your knowledge base and reading. Or are you depending on the media to elevate your thinking? Your African American ancestors can teach and arm you quite a bit with the knowledge of the challenges that they faced.