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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 17, 2018 18:01:16 GMT -6
Well, I hope we learn what the beast is. If only to ease the minds of those who believe they're real werewolves.
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 17, 2018 18:16:07 GMT -6
A bare bulb atop a rudimentary pole, it stands at center stage, lit by the last person to leave the theatre each night and extinguished by the first person to arrive in the morning. Though stark in statue and artless in form, the ghost light fulfills many functions…some practical, some supernatural.” ~ Jim Dougherty
The history of the ghost light prompted me last year to write a little ghost story revolving around it. I posted it in the Quill and Parchment forum - I think that's the right place?
Parchment & Quill is semi-private. Members with a 100 post count will be allowed to get in. The Sacred Nine is set up so that you have to be a member of a group, (Writer or Reader), to get in. And you have to have 500 posts before allowed in either group. So, it just depends on who you want access to your works. ... ... ... I'm thinking I might increase the post count. 500 P&Q / 1000 TSN?
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Post by Phalon on Oct 19, 2018 4:55:47 GMT -6
It doesn't matter to me, Joxie. I think this is the first time I've posted in either. I think Moonglum would be the person whose opinion you might want; he's posted there prior. “A house is never still in darkness to those who listen intently; there is a whispering in distant chambers, an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. Ghosts were created when the first man woke in the night.” ~ J.M. Barrie, author of "Peter Pan" ...and of the author... "JM Barrie has a fatal touch for those he loves. They die" ~ Piers Dudgeon, biographer, and author of "Captivated; The Dark Side of Neverland" On the surface, "Peter Pan" is a story of the innocence of childhood, but is kinda creepy if you think about it. It's really creepy once you consider the story of the man behind the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/jm-barrie-evil-genius-or-a-misunderstood-ingenue/
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Post by Phalon on Oct 22, 2018 22:43:11 GMT -6
This morning was my six-month appointment with the Dental Dominatrix. At the same time I was squirming afraid in the Dominatrix's chair, BP was an hour away at the Orthodontist's, not squirming and unafraid, though actually experiencing pain, unlike me just getting my teeth cleaned. There is a good reason though, so many people get nervous like I do, going to the dentist's office - we have centuries worth of proof that dentists inflict pain! The Ancient Egyptians had some advanced dental practices...sort of. Skeletal remains have been found with braces on their teeth. Whether they were used to straighten teeth, were thought to be decorative, or just hold the teeth in place is unknown, but the way they did it is cringe-worthy. Gold wiring or catgut was woven in and out of holes drilled into each tooth...without, of course, any modern pain medication! Today we have a multitude of products to whiten our teeth, but in Japan from the 8th century to the late 1800s, when the practice called Ohaguro (which may be translated as ‘blackened teeth’) was banned, women dyed their teeth black permanently! Here is a very interesting article about the hows and whys (to include a Japanese spirit named Ohaguro Bettari, meaning "Nothing but Blackened Teeth): www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/allure-blackened-teeth-traditional-japanese-sign-beauty-005544In the 1500s, even the wealthy had decaying teeth, often even more so than the peasants...because only the upper class could afford sugar. Queen Elizabeth I of England had extremely decayed teeth because she ate sugary foods in excess. By the 14th and 15th centuries, dentists were capable of sculpting bridges and full denture sets. They made them by using cow bones sculpted into the shape of human teeth...and sewing them with gold wire into the patient's gums and jaws. Fashioning teeth out of cow bones, however, was a process carried out by specialists and quite pricey. How about something already in the shape of human teeth? Human teeth, of course, and since there was a surplus of corpses laying around in Medieval times, teeth were just pulled from the mouths of the dead, and sewn into the mouths of the living. Unless you happened to live in Medieval Germany, where the only cure for a toothache was to kiss a donkey. The 18th century must have seen less of a corpse surplus because the poor would often sell some of their healthy teeth to the rich to use as implants. (in a much more recent related story, in 2009, a New Jersey dentist was arrested for being the mastermind behind an illegal body harvesting ring. The dentist paid funeral homes $1,000 per body to harvest parts from cadavers. I wonder if any of his dental patients had false teeth that turned out to be real!?) Early American Walmart-style one-stop shopping? Get your horse shoed, or ax sharpened, or your teeth filled or pulled...all at the blacksmith's. Contrary to popular belief, George Washington did not have wooden teeth. His four pairs of custom-made dentures were crafted from gold, ivory, lead, and a combination of human, donkey, and hippopotamus teeth. The very first electric chair used for execution, was invented by a dentist from Buffalo New York. Alfred P. Southwick worked closely with the New York State Governor, to help bring into force laws which would make execution by the electric chair legal. Oh, and just for fun...a pictorial history of dental advertisements (it's no wonder why I included dentistry in the 31 Days of Halloween!): www.oralanswers.com/dental-history-pictures/ And lest we think it's the dentists that are the only ones inflicting all this nightmarish stuff upon their patients, dentists themselves have some horror stories of their own: Patients mouths filled with maggots, black nubs that were once teeth, pus-filled abscesses, and tarter and plaque so built up, that it was literally the only thing holding the teeth in place; once the build-up was removed, teeth are loose and dangling, or simply fall out. Infected gums and rotten food so rank smelling, it caused the dental assistants to vomit. How about the need for a root canal caused by a tomato seed lodged in the gums so long it had sprouted a tiny tomato plant, or finding an ant crawling in a patient's mouth...because the patient's beard was full of bugs! Payback is hell, even in dentistry.
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Post by Phalon on Oct 27, 2018 5:24:22 GMT -6
Every year I like to add something to my basement cellar full of Halloween props. This year, along with the Black Cat Prank on Hubs that Backfired, it's a concrete Celtic cross. My co-worker found it on the pond embankment the pond at work, where discarded concrete chunks, pavers, bricks and such that our crews pull out of clients' yards when new landscaping is installed; the concrete rubble keeps the road that runs alongside the pond from eroding. My co-worker dug out the cross, thinking I might like it to use for Halloween (I did!) and set it next to my car; the Boyfriend put it in my car's trunk, where it's been riding around with me for the last month or so. I finally got it out yesterday, setting it up at the foot of my front porch. I think the cross might have been run over by a vehicle at some point and is probably why it ended up at the side of the pond; an area of the concrete is broken away with the rebar frame visible and bent, giving the cross an aged and dilapidated to Halloween perfection appearance. With a posable skeleton standing behind it, peeking around the side, it's a creepy prop. Not as creepy though, as these real grave sites: www.unbelievable-facts.com/2015/01/10-unbeliably-creepy-tombstones-memorials.html
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Post by Phalon on Oct 28, 2018 7:19:18 GMT -6
What would the 31 Days of Halloween be without at least one creepy-@ss doll story....and I've got one that paints quite the creepy-@ss picture. But later - I've got to work today. In the meantime, how about a few creepy-@ss doll quotes (taken from this site: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Quotes/CreepyDoll ).... The previous owners of this doll would probably have some spine-chilling stories to tell...you know, if they hadn’t disappeared without a trace. ~ Item description of Haunted Doll, ForumWarz Obscene dolls bare their predatory eyeballs." ~ Gwen Harwood, "Lay-By" "A child's porcelain doll went missing one night, as did a pair of kitchen shears and the town magistrate." ~ text on the card "Creepy Doll", Magic: The Gathering Hey, did you know that dolls in the process of being made look like people in the process of being unmade? ~ Mark Hill, "20 Hellish Nightmares That Used To Be Everyday Life
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Post by Phalon on Oct 30, 2018 6:20:32 GMT -6
WHEN WE RECEIVED THIS PAINTING, WE THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY GOOD ART. A "PICKER" HAD FOUND IT ABANDONNED BEHIND AN OLD BREWERY. AT HTE TIME WE WONDERED A LITLLE WHY A SEEMINGLY PERFECTLY FINE PAINTING WOULD BE DISCARDED LIKE THAT. ~ eBay listing (complete with original misspellings) Doesn't everyone know the First Rule of Dealing with Creepy-@ss Dolls? You don't buy them from secondhand stores, acquire them from mysterious strangers that show up on your doorstep, bring them out of a battered trunk in the dusty attic of the creepy house you just purchased, and you don't bring them home if you find them abandoned in alleyways behind buildings. This also applies to paintings of creepy-@ss dolls. "The Hands Resist Him" has been called the most haunted painting in the world. I'm calling this story "People Will Buy and Sell the Most Ridiculous Things on eBay". Artist Bill Stoneman completed the painting in 1972, it was shown in Charles Feingarten Galleries, reviewed by noted art critic Henry J. Seldis of the Los Angeles Times who wrote "William Stoneham's paintings are at their best when at their weirdest.", and eventually purchased by "Love Story" and "Godfather" actor, John Marley. Feingarten, Seldis, and Marley all ended up dead, the first two within a year of the gallery showing. A curse, or coincidence? Just tidbits of information that add creepiness to the story, but came out after the painting gained notoriety as being haunted. The Hands Resist Him” is a painting of the artist at age 5; he is standing outside, in front of a glass paneled door. Next to him, a head shorter than the boy, stands a Creepy-@ss dead-eyed doll with something in her hands. Hands are seen pressing from the darkness against the inside of the glass door – lots of hands, which appear disembodied. Nobody knows how after almost thirty years since the painting was shown at Feingarten Galleries, it ended up abandoned behind a California brewery that had been turned into an art space, where it’s found by the unnamed “picker” and then ended up in the hands of an elderly couple who proudly displayed their newfound piece of “really good art” in their home… Until… A short time later, the following listing appears on eBay: “WHEN WE RECEIVED THIS PAINTING, WE THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY GOOD ART. A ” PICKER ” HAD FOUND IT ABANDONNED BEHIND AN OLD BREWERY. AT HTE TIME WE WONDERED A LITLLE WHY A SEEMINGLY PERFECTLY FINE PAINTING WOULD BE DISCARDED LIKE THAT. ( TODAY WE DON’T !!! ) ONE MORNING OUR 4 AND 1/2 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER CLAIMED, THAT THE CHILDREN IN THE PICTURE WERE FIGHTING, AND COMING INTO THE ROOM DURING THE NIGHT. NOW, I DON’T BELIEVE IN UFOS OR ELVIS BEING ALIVE, BUT MY HUSBAND WAS ALARMED. TO MY AMUSEMENT HE SET UP A MOTION TRIGGERED CAMERA FOR THE NIGHTS. AFTER THREE NIGHTS THERE WERE PICTURES.THE LAST TWO PICTURES (in the eBay listing) SHOWN ARE FROM THAT ‘STAKEOUT’. AFTER SEEING THE BOY SEEMINGLY EXITING THE PAINTING UNDER THREAT, WE DECIDED, THE PAINTING HAS TO GO.PLEASE JUDGE FOR YOURSELF. — BEFORE YOU DO, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWIND WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. —-WARNING: DO NOT BID ON THIS PAINTING IF YOU ARE SUCCEPTIBLE TO STRESS RELATED DISEASE, FAINT OF HEART OR ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH SUPERNATURAL EVENTS. BY BIDDING ON THIS PAINTING, YOU AGREE TO RELEASE THE OWNERS OF ALL LIABILITY IN RELATION TO THE SALE OR ANY EVENTS HAPPENING AFTER THE SALE, THAT MIGHT BE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PAINTING. THIS PAINTING MAY OR MAY NOT POSESS SUPERNATURAL POWERS, THAT COULD IMPACT OR CHANGE YOUR LIFE. HOWEVER, BY BIDDING YOU AGREE TO EXCLUSIVELY BID ON THE VALUE OF THE ARTWORK, WITH DISREGARD TO THE LAST TWO PHOTOS FEATURED IN THIS AUCTION, AND HOLD THE OWNERS HARMLESS IN REGARD TO THEM AND THEIR IMPACT, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.———— NOW THAT WE GOT THIS OUT OF THE WAY, ONE QUESTION TO YOU EBAYERS. WE WANT OUR HOUSE TO BE BLESSED AFTER THE PAINTING IS GONE, DOES ANYBODY KNOW, WHO IS QUALIFIED TO DO THAT?” The listing goes viral. People reported feeling queasy and alarmed when viewing the photos of the painting; computers on which the painting was displayed malfunctioned and screens went black; children ran screaming from the room upon seeing it, and infants would cry in its presence. Eerie voices were heard or hot gusts of air felt; viewers were gripped by some unseen force, grabbed or tickled by invisible hands, or had their mind controlled by a mysterious entity. Pages of discussion were devoted to the painting on 4chan, Reddit (conspiracies anyone?), and pretty much every other site devoted to the paranormal. The painting eventually sold on eBay for a little over $1,000. Coincidentally, it was purchased by a gallery owner not too far from where I live. The gallery owner contacted the artist, who apparently was unaware his painting became an Internet sensation; he said the “gun” in the painting was actually a dry cell battery with wires coming out of it. The gallery owner was contacted by a paranormal website, asking how things were going since purchasing the painting. He stated (rather sarcastically I think), “unusual things started happening with the first email and counting. Prayers and quotes from the scriptures from a man of faith. Advice as how to cleanse my residence of this evil thing from a Native American Shaman in Mississippi. Reports of people being repulsed, made physically ill, or suffering from a black out/mind control experiences.” I did a little drill, and 18 years later, the owner is still alive (or at least was as of the spring of this year when he was mentioned in a news article as giving an art tour at a local college). This story is a sieve – it's got a lot of holes. My theory is this: Any publicity is good publicity. Since his painting gained infamy, the artist, Bill Stoneman, has been commissioned to do a prequel, a sequel, and just last year, another prequel to The Hands Resist Him. Prints of all, of course, can be purchased, as well as background screen-savers of each. Images of the painting: images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrCwPM5TNhbSVMAKr4nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=the+hands+resist+him&type=newtab&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-100&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-mozilla-100
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 30, 2018 22:48:11 GMT -6
I'm gonna share this here because Grav3YardGirl loves Halloween and creepy-a$$ dolls.
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Post by stepper on Nov 3, 2018 16:37:44 GMT -6
That was a fun series of posts though.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 9, 2018 23:01:42 GMT -6
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Post by moonglum on Nov 10, 2018 4:12:54 GMT -6
I've always been fascinated by the story of the Fitzgerald ever since I heard Gordon Lightfoots song in the seventies. I've read the story many times and revisited it after reading your post. This led me to be sidetracked into discovering another tale, the wreck of the J. Hazard Hartzell. What a curious story. It prompts so many questions.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 10, 2018 9:46:43 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Feb 2, 2019 8:29:14 GMT -6
Starting off Black History Month with a quote about a man that was in the news last week - Julius Campbell.
"Julius was very, very instrumental on that team at simply getting kids to just talk to one another, kids who never talked to kids from another race their entire lives. By doing so, they learned many things about each other that were not passed down to them and for that, the world owes Julius a debt of gratitude." ~ Herman Boone, coach of T.C. Williams 1971 high school football team, the Titans.
Co-caption Julius Campbell, his teammates, and that winning 1971 season was immortalized in the Disney movie "Remember the Titans". Though, like most films "based on a true story" parts of the movie were dramatized (or in this case Disneyfied), the quote above is an actual quote, not a line from a movie.
After graduating T.C. Williams, Campbell went to a junior college, with hopes of transferring to Ohio State to play football. An injury suffered on the junior college's team though, ended his football career. As an adult, Campbell became a speaker about the team’s journey to overcome racial barriers and about bullying in school, until he had to stop due to medical reasons. He died last week, on January 25, at age 65.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 3, 2019 8:42:33 GMT -6
"My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life." ~ Robert Smalls, (April 5, 1839 – Feb. 23, 1915)
Robert Smalls was an African-American born into slavery in South Carolina. During the Civil War he became a ship's pilot, led an uprising aboard the CSS Planter, a Confederate transport ship in Charleston harbor, and sailed it north, freeing himself, his crew, and their families. This was no small feat - it was Smalls' feat (HA!), and it helped persuade President Lincoln into accepting African-American soldiers into the Union Army.
Smalls later became a sea caption, and then a politician, during which time he authored state legislation that gave South Carolina the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 7, 2019 11:58:07 GMT -6
"Be careful, think about the effect of what you say. Your words should be constructive, bring people together, not pull them apart." ~ Miriam Makeba (March 4, 1932 – Nov. 9, 2008)
Miriam Makeba, affectionately known as “Mama Africa,” was a South African singer/songwriter, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, and civil rights activist. She denounced apartheid on the world stage, campaigning internationally for the end of the oppressive policy.
As a result of her activism, the South African apartheid regime revoked her passport in 1960, and they banned her from returning to her country in 1963. Loved and admired around the world, Makeba was granted international passports from Guinea, Belgium and Ghana. She received passports from six other countries in her lifetime, and was granted honorary citizenship in 10 countries.
She refused to wear makeup or curl her hair for performances, proudly wearing her natural hair - what came to be known internationally as the “Afro-look.”
Here she is on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967, singing "Pata Pata".
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Post by Phalon on Feb 8, 2019 8:31:39 GMT -6
"Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals." ~ Dorothy Height ( (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010)
Dorothy Height was a civil rights and women's rights activist, focusing on issues facing African-American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter rights. Often thought of as the matriarch of the civil rights movement, she has a long list of accomplishments; among them are in the 60s organizing "Wednesdays in Mississippi" which brought together black and white women from the North and South to create a dialogue of understanding, holding the position of President of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years, encouraging President Dwight D. Eisenhower to desegregate schools, and President Lyndon B. Johnson to appoint African-American women to positions in government, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 9, 2019 20:29:59 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 9, 2019 23:38:07 GMT -6
"My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life." -- Robert Smalls
www.google.com/search?q=Robert+Smalls
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Post by Phalon on Feb 10, 2019 13:19:22 GMT -6
Two great quotes, Joxie. The one by Robert Smalls I must have especially liked - I posted it a few days ago! (smile)
I drilled today's Black History quote sitting next to BP while she was eating breakfast this morning. I didn't have time to post it then...and don't have the time now either. I kind of got lost in the drill actually; one thing led to another, and I've probably got enough quotes to fill up the rest of the month, along with a road trip, and a museum to visit!
More later. Here's a video to watch in the meantime...
If you haven't guessed, BP's pancake breakfast led me on a journey through the history of black caricature stereotypes, and the racism they perpetuated.
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 11, 2019 0:56:43 GMT -6
I thought it sounded familiar.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 12, 2019 12:47:52 GMT -6
A good quote bears repeating!
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Post by Phalon on Feb 14, 2019 11:42:01 GMT -6
I'm delaying the history of Aunt Jemima for a bit; there's a lot of it, and I decided to write up a longer piece for my writing group meeting next weekend. Today, is February 14th. So how about some Loving for Valentine's Day. ( Sigh. That was corny, even for me.) "Tell the Court I love my wife... ~ Richard Loving Richard Loving and Mildred Jeters had known each other since they were kids growing up in Virginia. Years later, they started to date, and when Mildred became pregnant, the couple traveled to Washington D.C. and got married. They chose to get married in D.C. because Richard was white, Mildred was African American and Native American, and interracial marriage was legal in Washington. It was not in Virginia. After they returned home, someone tipped off the police that they were married, and the Sheriff stormed into the couple's house at 2am, shining a flashlight on their bed to "catch them in the act". Both of the Lovings were arrested, and during the trial, the judge gave them a choice - leave Virginia for 25 years, or go to prison. They moved to Washington D.C.. Their friends and family were in Virginia though, and they would make secret trips back to the state to visit, missing what was their home, and not caring much for the "city life" in D.C.. With the civil rights movement beginning to gain strength, they appealed to the judge that handed down their sentence of exile, but after hearing nothing back from him for almost a year, they took the matter to a higher district court in the state. Finally, they heard back from the judge that tried them in court nine years earlier: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix." The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the ruling. Next the case went to the United States Supreme Court in 1967. The Lovings did not appear in the courtroom, but Richard Loving sent a letter to the judges: "Tell the Court I love my wife and it is just not fair that I cannot live with her in Virginia." The Court agreed, and laws against interracial marriage were overturned in sixteen states that still had such laws (except in Alabama; it would take until 2000 for interracial marriages to become legal in that state). Richard and Mildred, after nine years of marriage, were finally considered a legally married couple in the state they called home. They, and their 3 children lived together in Virginia for eight more years, until Richard was hit and killed by a drunk driver in a car accident. Mildred lost an eye in the accident and never remarried; she died in 2008. www.history.com/news/mildred-and-richard-the-love-story-that-changed-america* * * Today, February 14th, is the one year anniversary of the Parkland shooting, when on Valentine's Day a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 16 students, one faculty member, and injuring 17 others. So many shootings have taken place since that it seems a lot longer, to me, than just a year that's passed by. For the students that survived, their teachers, their parents and families, and the families of those killed who must relive that horrific day over and over in their minds, it must seem as if it just happened yesterday. It must seem to them to never go away.
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Post by katina2nd on Feb 15, 2019 20:55:17 GMT -6
Found this on a site about seven Of The Most Unrecognized Women in Black History, not sure if this particular lady has already been mentioned here.
Septima Poinsette Clark.
Known as the “Grandmother of the American Civil Rights Movement,” Septima Poinsette Clark was an educator and civil rights activist who played a major role in the voting rights of African-Americans. In 1920, while serving as an educator in Charleston, Clark worked with the NAACP to gather petitions allowing blacks to serve as principals in Charleston schools. Their signed petitions resulted in the first black principal in Charleston. Clark also worked tirelessly to teach literacy to black adults. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter awarded her a Living Legacy Award in 1979. Her second autobiography, Ready from Within: Septima Clark and the Civil Rights Movement, won the American Book Award.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 16, 2019 8:15:42 GMT -6
I read that same article, Katina, which is where I found today's Black History quote:
"I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." ~ Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer is credited with coining the phrase "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired" during her fight to exercise the right to vote for herself and others in Mississippi in the 60s. For her voting rights activism, encouraging and helping thousands of African-Americans to become registered voters, she was extorted, threatened, harassed, shot at, and assaulted by white supremacists and police.
While attending a pro-citizen conference in South Carolina, Hamer was arrested with others, and in the jail was repeatedly assaulted and beaten so severely that she never fully recovered from the injuries she received.
It didn't stop her though, from running (unsuccessfully) for Congress in 1964 and 1965 in Mississippi, and fighting for women's and civil rights for the rest of her life.
She died in 1977; on her tombstone is engraved "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." Among the many awards she received during her lifetime, she was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.
A side note that relates to our book discussion on "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks": It was Fannie Lou Hamer who coined the term "Mississippi Appendectomy" (which appears in chapter six of the book), the euphemism used for Mississippi's compulsory sterilization plan to reduce the number of poor blacks in the state. In 1961, she was given an involuntary hysterectomy by a white doctor while having surgery to remove a tumor.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 17, 2019 9:34:34 GMT -6
"Now's the time for all good men To get together with one another We got to iron out our problems And iron out our quarrels And try to live as brothers' ~ The Pointer Sisters
The song "Yes We Can Can", written by Allen Toussaint, advocates for unity and tolerance. It was first recorded by Lee Dorsey in 1970, but it was The Pointer Sisters who brought it into the spotlight on their debut album in 1972. "Yes We Can Can" reached number 11 on Billboard's Hot 100, becoming The Pointer Sisters' first hit, and their debut album was certified gold.
Although the song encourages peace "without stepping on one another" to make the world a better place than it is, years after recording it, the sisters, upon arriving at a music industry party, were taken to the back door; because they are black, it was assumed they were servants.
Anita Pointer, in a 2015 interview, said "I don’t know if America will ever get it right before I’m gone. Maybe in another lifetime, people will understand that we’re all people and we should love everybody."
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Post by Phalon on Feb 23, 2019 9:35:34 GMT -6
Some friends and I were talking about the Oscars, and the movies nominated for "Best Picture". One of them mentioned "Green Book" - I had never heard of the movie, but knew what it was based on, only because a few weeks ago I saved a link to my favorites to used for this thread during Black History Month.
"There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal rights and privileges in the United States. ~ Victor Hugo Green (1892 - 1960)
The quote appears in the introduction of the very first edition of "The Green Book". Victor Hugo Green was the author and publisher of "The Negro Motorist Green Book", which later (1954) was titled "The Negro Travelers Green Book". It was most commonly referred to as simply "The Green Book". The guide was published from 1936 to 1966.
As Americans began their love affair with automobile travel, black Americans found that they had few options regarding overnight accommodations, places to eat, or even fuel their cars. Segregation laws in the South barred blacks from many hotels, restaurants, attractions, and gas stations. In northern cities, though segregation laws didn't exist, blacks were still unwelcomed in many places.
Green, who lived in Harlem, sought to make it easier for the black traveler by compiling a comprehensive list of establishments that welcomed them. In cities where there weren't any hotels or motels that would accept African-Americans, Green listed "tourist homes" in which owners would rent out rooms in their houses.
Victor Hugo Green published 15,000 copies of "The Green Book" each year, and when he died in 1960, his wife, Alma, took over the publishing until 1966. With the passage of "The Civil Rights Act of 1964" ending segregation, the necessity for the book became obsolete.
It took 30 years, but Victor's Introduction of the first "Green Book" had finally come to fruition.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 25, 2019 7:40:22 GMT -6
“Maybe the law ain’t perfect, but it’s the only one we got, and without it we got nuthin” ~ Bass Reeves
Bass Reeves, it's believed, was the real life person that inspired the “Lone Ranger” character. He was a Deputy U.S. Marshal, was a master of disguise, an expert marksman, had a Native American companion, and rode a silver horse.
A former slave, Reeves escaped West during the Civil War where he lived in what was then known as Indian Territory, living with the Cherokees, Seminoles, and Creek Indians, and learning their languages, until he was freed by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in 1865.
Reeves worked for 32 years as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, the first black U.S. Marshal. He brought in some of the most dangerous criminals of the time - 3,000 felons - but was never wounded, despite having his hat shot off on separate occasions.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 27, 2019 10:48:14 GMT -6
"We're all human. And we all just want a chance: a chance at life, a chance in education, a chance at a future, really...you don't have to be rich to be a humanitarian. You don't have to be rich to help somebody. You don't gotta be famous. You don't even have to be college-educated. I mean, I wish I was...especially today...
But it starts with your neighbor, the person right next to you, the person sitting next to you in class, the kid down the block in your neighborhood, you just do whatever you can to help in any way that you can. And today I want to challenge each of you to make a commitment to help one person: one organization, one situation that touches your heart. My grandmother always used to say if you've got a dollar, there's plenty to share." ~ Robyn Fenty
The quote is from the Harvard Humanitarian of the Year acceptance speech awarded Robyn Fenty in 2017. Most of the world since 2005, when she was only 17, has known her by just her middle name: Rihanna.
She's the ultimate bad-a$$, unapologetically so - a music icon, clothing designer and fashion icon, and a sex-symbol with various awards too long to mention, who doesn't give a d@mn about what anyone thinks of her. Often labeled a bad role model for her provocative music and dress, she also gives endlessly of herself to charities (founding two charitable organizations herself), funds scholarships, raises money to improve healthcare and education for the impoverished worldwide, worldwide HIV prevention projects, and cancer research, and is an ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education. She might look and sound the quintessential bad-b!tch - Rihanna wrote the book on being a bad-b!tch, but books can't always be judged solely on their cover.
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Post by Phalon on Mar 3, 2019 8:58:45 GMT -6
I missed the end of Black History Month and yesterday, BP reminded me that March is Women's History Month, so here's a quote from a woman whose accomplishments should be recognized in both...
“There are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together.” ~ Harriet Jacobs (February 11, 1813 - March 7, 1897)
Harriet Jacobs was an escaped slave who became an active abolitionist. She published Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in 1861, under the pseudonym "Linda Brent", first as serialized newspaper articles, then as a book. Notable not just for being a slave narrative written by a a woman, it was one of the first books to frankly address the sexual abuse of slave women, and their effort to protect their roles as women and mothers.
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Post by Phalon on Sept 13, 2019 6:10:24 GMT -6
Sunday's creepy-@ss, chopper-riding Evil clown cruising through the neighborhood, yesterday's gloomy sky without an ounce of sunlight...and the store at work without an ounce of electricity, and the poor little dead warbler on my front steps. Coincidence? Or a prelude to....
Dun-dun-dun...
It's Friday the 13th and the night of the Full Harvest Moon.
Stay safe out there, Kidlets.
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