married name LUCY PRINCE, also called BIJAH'S (ABIJAH'S) LUCE, or LUCE (LUCY) ABIJAH (b. 1730, West Africa--d. 1821, Vermont, U.S.), American poet, storyteller, and activist of the colonial and postcolonial period. Her only surviving work, the poem "Bars Fight" (1746), is the earliest existing poem by an African-American; it was transmitted orally for more than 100 years, first appearing in print in 1855. Continued...