John Berry Meachum was born into slavery in 1789. After learning carpentry, however, he was successful enough to buy his family’s freedom!
But white cruelty knows no bounds - before he could free his wife, Mary, she was sold to another slaver. But Meachum wasn’t gonna let THAT happen.
He followed her to St. Louis, MO and eventually bought her freedom too! He immediately got to work fighting for the liberation of others in St. Louis, starting the first Black church in the city and opening a school to educate free and enslaved Black folks of all ages.
But the racist establishment didn’t like that either. They tried to shut him down again!
Realizing the threat of Black education, Missouri OUTLAWED it! What was Meachum to do? He got creative in a way you’d never expect.
Meachum got access to a steamboat, installed a library and classroom onboard, and re-opened his new “Floating Freedom School” - on the Mississippi River!
The river was under federal law, not state law - so there was nothing they could do! Meachum’s innovative floating school operated for decades, until his death.
When white supremacy puts up barriers to our success, we can often find creative solutions to circumvent those barriers. Don’t let anyone tell you what can’t be done - when the goal is Black liberation, we have to use any means necessary!