#[ Topic: Personal ]

[rainbowsky]

For anyone who's needed a laugh/smile as much as I have lately, I give you this sweet little guy.

[bixels]

me too, luna.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Perhaps a controversial take, but I don't think the phrase "make nazis afraid again" actually reflects what often happened in real life both in history and in the current day. I've seen way too many comfortable, celebrated nazis who were and are nothing but unafraid and emboldened.

I feel a more accurate slogan would be "make nazis afraid."

[pseudophan]

dan thinking girls playing a drinking game with their friends wouldn't spill their sexual preferences is so funny. babe they'll share that sober without anyone even asking what are you on about

[hurristuff]

For this Disability Pride Month, I saw a post that was shittybad and it made me angry. So have this

[elodieunderglass]

History of Black jockeys in the USA: tumblr starter pack

The gif above was created by animating the motion study of “Annie G,” plate 627 of Eadweard Muybridge’s 1887 work, “Animal Locomotion”. The horse is a mare named “Annie G.” The jockey, unknown, is a Black man. It is one of the earliest motion studies on record, and captures some of the first humans and first animals to be recorded this way. (The earlier 1878 Muybridge study of the mare Sallie Gardener is more famous but you can’t really see the jockey.)

The Black jockey is referenced (fictionally) as an ancestor n Jordan Peele’s film Nope (2022) which also looks at the relationship between Black men, horses, and the consumption for entertainment of both of their bodies.

Fold into that what we are learning about today’s acceptance of the jockey-as-consumable, of their body as an accessory, of their wellbeing as mostly irrelevant; but then remember that once upon a time, people cared a lot more about horse racing. This is a big, tricky topic in American horse racing. There was a time in American history when Black jockeys were enslaved and forced into a job that we know is dangerous and consuming. Later there was a time in American history when Black jockeys were incredibly influential and important, competing equally alongside white jockeys, and they were deliberately pushed out of a sport they had mastered.

“The Undefeated Asteroid,” Edward Troye, 1864. Enslaved horse trainer Ansel Williamson, right, holding saddle. Ed Brown, jockey on left adjusting his spurs, was the young enslaved jockey. The groom is unidentified.

Press Keep Reading for an essay/signposts to resources. It’s intended as a jumping-off point for curious people and historians to learn more. TW for racial discrimination and discussion of weight.

As we know by now, jockeys are considered consumable/disposable by their sport; they are athletes whose names are less memorable than their mounts and their working conditions are tough. The sacrifices that jockeys make today to remain strong and light are hard enough when the jockey is willing. They have hard weight limits on their profession. And one of the very dark horrors of this was that young enslaved Black men of small stature and riding ability were singled out and used as jockeys. Their sacrifices would not have been willing. While this essay is about the Black athletes who willingly entered the sport post-abolition, I think it’s important to be up-front about the history of enslaved jockeys in America. Jockeys like Ed Brown (above) were forced into the job very, very young.

Horse racing is a bonkers calling, but it’s also one that people willingly follow. Post-abolition, there were many Black American jockeys who were incredible athletes, their records and statistics still impressive today. In a surge of excellence around the 1890s, Black jockeys rose to remarkable influence and power in America, becoming household names above even the horses, travelling the world, greeted with admiration, true celebrities with their faces on merchandise. At the very first Kentucky Derby, raced in 1875, 13 of the 15 jockeys were Black men.

Between 1890 and 1899, African American jockeys won the Kentucky Derby six times. By the early 1900s, they were history. The key push to exclude Black jockeys came when White jockeys began violently attacking their African American counterparts by boxing them out during races, running them into the rail, and hitting them with riding crops. These attacks prevented Black jockeys from finishing in the money, and endangered fragile and valuable racehorses. Soon after the attacks began, African American jockeys found they could not get rides. Anxiety over job insecurity appears to have played an important role in White jockeys’ actions: there were only a limited number of riding slots. White jockeys would have benefitted in any circumstances from the exclusion of Black jockeys, but in the late 1890s the US was in a depression, and unease about finding rides was especially high. Combined with a growing anti-gambling crusade that reduced attendance at racetracks and eliminated some tracks entirely, jockeys found demand for their services contracting.(National Bureau of Economic Research)

Professor Pellom McDaniels, describing the impact of this on legendary Black American jockey Isaac Burns Murphy:

MCDANIELS: If black people are supposed to be inherently inferior, to have someone who demonstrates success in material terms unravels this idea and therefore those whites during this time period who believe themselves to be inherently superior, something's broken in their psyches. And Murphy represents that kind of attack on white supremacy.

Isaac Burns Murphy, one of the best American jockeys of history, had an unprecedented rate of wins (something like 44% which is almost impossible.) he was born into slavery, but his mother managed to escape with him as a toddler to a Union Army camp. He was inducted into the Jockey’s Hall of Fame in 1955 and Eddie Arcaro was quoted, “there is no chance that his record of winning will ever be surpassed.” (How could it?!)

Today, the American Racing Museum honours many Black jockeys of history in their Hall of Fame, telling some truly incredible stories that are worth browsing.

Like James Winkfield. Born in America 1882, died France 1974. won the Kentucky Derby twice. Left America due to this rising backlash against the growing prominence of Black jockeys, the KKK in particular explicitly objecting to his celebrity and earnings by sending him death threats. Winkfield therefore rode and trained in Europe, settled in Russia, FLED THE 1919 REVOLUTION WITH 200 HORSES?, married an exiled Russian aristocrat (????) and, lest he know peace for five minutes, defended his horses from the European Nazi invasion with a pitchfork(!!!!). Fleeing WW2 to America, where the new racial segregation was now being widely embraced, Winkfield found hotels that had once welcomed the celebrity athlete suddenly turning him away (never forget that segregation was artificial and deliberate.) I am still stuck on him sneaking 200 thoroughbreds out of Russia. Here’s his Britannica article and Hall of Fame bio.

The campaign of racism and terror was successful at driving Black athletes from the profession, and Winkfield was the last Black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Jim Crow swept through the USA, and white people in the South comforted themselves with “lawn jockeys,” racist caricature lawn ornaments of Black men in jockey silks.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that Black jockeys began winning high-stakes races in the USA again.

Hopefully this has spurred (ha!) your interest. Here are some links if you find yourself interested in more!

American racing museum: Jockey hall of fame

Kentucky Derby Museum’s Black Heritage in Racing collection

How and Why Black Riders Were Driven from American Racetracks (summary paper, National Bureau of Economic Research)

There is no competition: the legacy of black jockeys (1975 entry in Sepia magazine preserved here. Note that James Winkfield’s picture incorrectly identified as Isaac B Murphy.)

This 1975 photo is from the article above and describes Cheryl Smith, “first Black American female jockey to hold a license.” I haven’t been able to find out much about her, but I’m not a historian - let me know if she takes your interest as a topic!

It looks like there are some big interesting books on the subject, though I haven’t read them myself. If you’re interested in doing a research project, here they are!

The Great Black Jockeys: The Lives and Times of the Men who Dominated America's First National Sport, by Ed Hotaling, 1999

Isaac Murphy: The Rise and Fall of a Black Jockey, by Katharine C Mooney, 2003

The First Kentucky Derby: Thirteen Black Jockeys, One Shady Owner, and the Little Red Horse That Wasn't Supposed to Win, by Mark Schrager, 2023.

[infernoflorys]

media: narcissists only get their supply from directly abusing everyone around them until everyone is manipulated and forced to see them as god.

my friend: i appreciate that you did this task for me. you are a good friend

me, grinning, blushing, twirling my hair, getting the supply: haha no problem man

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who is this sassy lost child?

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[transfaguette]

It's less that Steven universe didn't kill the fascists and more that they had fascists in the first place AND didn't really punish them in the slightest

listen man. did steven universe really “have fascists.” or was it fundamentally a story about emotions and love and family and growing up with the set dressing of something more grand to make it exciting. which, i’m not even saying they never wanted to make sociopolitical statements, they did, or that the wires between the themes and worldbuilding never got crossed in bad ways. but maybe you could just walk away saying “well, that was imperfect and I would have handled things differently” and understand this criticism only exists through the lens of hyperliteralism and also years of smear campaigns against the creator.

[lilislegacy]

hot take: people on here hold percy to WAY too high of a standard. they either refuse to accept he has a real flaw or they call him a terrible person anytime he’s not the epitome of loveliness

like… he’s an asshole sometimes. why can’t people see that? why can’t people accept that? we don’t have to justify everything he does. has he been an asshole to annabeth? yes. has he been an asshole to nico? yes. was he TRYING to be mean? NO. he was either upset or uninformed or focused on bigger things. does it explain it? yes. does it excuse it? no. but it doesn’t mean he’s a horrible person. he’s just a PERSON.

it’s the same with annabeth. yes she’s prideful and condescending sometimes. okay…? AND?? she’s still a kinder and braver person than most of us will ever be. and same with nico. he is an amazing person but he has also done some things that are absolutely not okay. you know why? because no one is perfect. it’s okay to accept that our favorite characters do bad stuff but are still good people.

THEY ARE 50% HUMAN. WHY CAN’T THEY BE HUMAN?? LET THEM BE HUMAN. ITS OKAY TO NOT BE PERFECT ALL THE TIME 😭😭

[flamingphoenix916]

I always love Georgie but she's especially pulling her weight today. So incredibly validating to get a character who responds to everything with the appropriate levels of alarm.

I love the OIAR, but even Celia was like "oh! That's probably bad!" and then hatched crazy Evil Master Plan instead of Georgie's "you're being followed by a WHAT" "you were researching WHERE" "IT TOOK YOUR STORY???" "if this is who I think it is, we're cooked" Truly, she has what it takes to be in charge (preservation instincts).

[ioannemos]

"love your neighbor as yourself" is the second greatest commandment. "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind" is the first. i think some people get it reversed and that's why they get so offended when Christians put God first

[telemachea]

the implications of the show possibly making armand muslim are devastating. marius renames arun 'amadeo' meaning 'lover or beloved of god' which was ALREADY gross in the books since it places him as this godlike figure armand had to worship. and then later on, with the cult in rome and santino, he was forced into worshipping satan which caused a whole crisis for him even when book armand was christian. but if show armand is muslim everything gets a whole lot worse. in islam the biggest most unforgivable sin (if you don't repent) is shirk, or idol worship. by fashioning himself as armand's god, marius not only removed armand's cultural identity from him, he has tainted his faith which is arguably one of the only things armand could've held onto. marius essentially damns armand in one of the most irreversible ways possible by grooming him the way he did with religion as a weapon. and it gets even worse with the cult since armand is not only forced to commit shirk but to reject allah, one of the last ties he has to his cultural identity, completely. armand therefore becomes a metaphor and an example of what colonialism inflicts upon the colonised

[idliketobeatree]

genderqueer edwin for the loveliest @rexrevri, happy birthday! 🩵

[loislaneandherhimbohusband]

i think that we as a community need to really understand that clark kent isn’t desperately in love with lois lane.

he is violently in love with lois lane.