On May 2, 1803, Denmark Vesey, a formerly enslaved man, purchased his freedom with $600 he had won through a local lottery. While this event occurred in the U.S., its significance extends across the African diaspora due to Vesey’s later role in organizing one of the most ambitious planned slave revolts in the Atlantic world. Drawing inspiration from the Haitian Revolution, Vesey sought to unite thousands of enslaved and free Black people in Charleston to rise up and escape to Haiti—a Black republic that symbolized liberation for the African diaspora. Though the revolt was ultimately suppressed in 1822, Vesey’s vision embodied transnational Black resistance and Pan-African unity. His actions inspired abolitionists, revolutionaries, and writers across the Americas and Caribbean. May 2 marks not only his personal emancipation, but the beginning of a legacy that challenged white supremacy across borders and centuries.