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+--- Thread: The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins (/thread-31298.html)
The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins - Techie Farmer - 11-03-2025
A slave owner once almost killed a blind boy for being “useless.”
That boy later became one of the most extraordinary musical prodigies the world has ever known.
In 1849, on a Georgia plantation, Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins was born into slavery. He couldn’t work in the fields, so his owner saw him as worthless. But Tom had a different kind of gift. At just four years old, he wandered into his master’s parlor and started playing the piano perfectly—without ever being taught.
His memory was unbelievable. He could hear a piece once and play it back note for note. Soon, he was performing across America and Europe, reproducing Beethoven, Mozart, and even composing his own works that imitated thunder, rain, and storms with eerie realism.
Sadly, though he earned his owners a fortune, Tom never owned his own freedom or his music. He lived and died as a performer under others’ control. Yet, even in his exploitation, his brilliance could not be silenced.
Thomas Wiggins, “Blind Tom,” remains one of the greatest natural musicians in history—a man who couldn’t see the world but helped it to listen.
RE: The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins - Manger - 11-03-2025
People underestimate how many geniuses slavery buried. For every Blind Tom we know, there might have been hundreds whose talents never saw daylight because of the system. It’s painful to think about.
RE: The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins - The Farmer - 11-03-2025
What hurts is that he never got to enjoy the freedom that his music represented. He performed for presidents but couldn’t own a house or keep his money. That’s like a cage lined with gold.
RE: The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins - Farmqueen - 11-03-2025
He reminds me of Phillis Wheatley, the enslaved poet. Both had incredible talents that forced their owners to see them as human, yet they were still denied full humanity. Colonial hypocrisy in full display.
RE: The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins - Hilux - 11-03-2025
So even in music, colonial exploitation reached that far? Na wa o. I can’t imagine playing piano for presidents and still not owning my own life.
RE: The Forgotten Genius: Blind Tom Wiggins - ZeroWaste - 11-03-2025
What if freedom itself is a kind of music? Tom was never free in body, but his spirit played beyond boundaries. That’s a lesson for all of us.