@black.chronicles: John Berry Meachum was born enslaved in 1789, bought his own freedom, walked hundreds of miles to St. Louis with three dollars to find his sold-away family, and bought their freedom too. This is forgotten black history that was never taught in school. By 1825 he was running a secret school in a church basement — 300 students, free and enslaved, learning to read in total darkness. Then Missouri made Black education illegal in 1847. Police raided the church. Arrested him. Threatened him. He bought a steamboat and anchored it in the dead center of the Mississippi River — federal territory where Missouri law could not reach him. He packed it with desks, chairs, and a library. Students were rowed out under cover of night. Black history facts like this don't make it into textbooks because the people in power didn't want you to know that Black men in history found a way around every wall they built. This is black history not taught in school. The Floating Freedom School ran until his final breath. They outlawed his classroom so he moved it to deep water. Now you know his name. Pass it on. #BlackHistory #blackhistoryfacts #historytok #untoldstories #History

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Tuesday 16 June 2026 19:50:11 GMT