On this day in 1930, Albert Chinualumogu Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria. Achebe is arguably Africa’s greatest storyteller.
Paul Cuffee (Paul Slocum) was a free African businessperson, merchant, sea captain, an abolitionist, and a supporter of emigration back to Africa. On this day in 1780, Paul and other free Africans including his brother John petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to be exempted from paying taxes because they were denied citizenship. As a result, Massachusetts passed a law that said that “…all free persons of color liable to taxation, according to the ration established for white men, and granting them the privileges belonging to the other citizens.”
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