#DR ANN MOTHER

[creatorping]

mom, you rock!

Just my bizzo, with the chizzo surgical skills, girl

[muffy-official]

I feel like I can't seem to make anything proper again, just another little crisis so have those random doodles and whenever I'm there mentally again I keep worrying way too much and trying to not think I'm annoying with my character stuff sorry for the semi vent, but somehow this week's been weird private matter wise😭

Gabs might also have to make it clear she's no nurse, that she's only capable of basic things+ stitching, but she'd aid grunts and other expop who got friendly fire'd immediately if needed. With primes she's a bit hesitant but gets the job done. One time she wouldn't care about anything is if pulling sleeves or pant legs up too high cuts blood circulation after a while as she refuses to cut the fabric to have it go up better. You gotta endure it once it's done

Also screw yall/j *genderbends the prime asset as a excuse to draw these suit sets*

[lazyveran]

shego shld have been all over mrs possible like a rash

[fideidefenswhore]

extremely annoyed in retrospect how often the phrase 'great whore' was scripted in BE.

[thegracefullion]

10 Generations. 10 Different Heroines. 1 Legacy. Welcome to the Literary Heroine Legacy Challenge! I’ve been itching for a good legacy to revive my love for the Sims 4, and I haven’t found one so I wrote one myself.  I was inspired after reading Emma— the family dynamics, drama, and romance were everything I ever wanted in a Sims challenge. So I modernized the stories and adapted them to fit this game.  Special shoutout to Designergirl81, who I met through MissLollypopSims’ Discord! The generations of Anne of Avonlea and Dorothy were their brainchildren. 💗 I designed each generation to reference a famous literary heroine. This is a very story-oriented challenge but feel free to bend, tweak, and change as much as you can! Sims Challenges aren’t meant to limit your fun. 😉 TL;DR: Play your own way while letting these rules guide your storytelling! The official tag of the challenge is #TheLiteraryHeroineChallengeTS4. Have fun! Check out the rules here or keep reading!

Basic Rules

Play on any life span you want but I recommend playing on Normal life span.

You are encouraged to play with female heirs. Of course, this is optional!

You are discouraged from using money cheats. Some generations have stories that are related to their social class— so try to stay true to the story as much as you can.

You can live wherever you want unless the generation states otherwise.

Feel free to customize each generation’s race and sexual orientation

Unless specifically stated, each generation has to finish their aspiration and career.

Even if most of these books are classics, I wrote this with a more modern take on it. You don’t need any mods or CC to fit the eras’ aesthetics— but if you want to, you totally can!

⭐ means there’s a recommended mod for this!

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 1: Elizabeth Bennett 📚 Do not consider me now as an elegant female, intending to play you, but as a rational creature, speaking the truth from her heart. 📚

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that all Sims 4 challenges must start with an heir. In this case, that’s you, which is surprising because everyone else in your life has decided that you are plain, especially when compared to your other two sisters. Lately though, you start to sense that you’ve been getting more attention from your neighbors. One particular Sim hasn’t been able to leave you and your family alone… and you don’t like them at all, not one bit. Well… maybe just a bit.

Aspiration: Successful Lineage 

Traits: Family Oriented, Hot-Headed, Bookworm OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Journalist

→ Master the Writing skill. → Live in a rundown family home passed down by your parents with two sisters until you are married. → Have a negative relationship with a neighbor. → Reject a proposal from your work boyfriend. → Build a relationship with your neighbor after you reject the proposal of your ex. → Have a scandal involving one of your sisters that your neighbor supports you through. → Fall in love and marry this neighbor then move in with him. → Have two children.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 2: Emma Woodhouse 💗  It is very difficult for the prosperous to be humble.  💗

Growing up, you were always the sheltered one. Your father was very protective of you, and therefore never let you out of his sight. Of course, that didn’t stop you from becoming well-loved by the entire town. You were known for throwing the best dinner parties and befriending everyone your father and mother knew. Needless to say, this got to your head a bit. You weren’t arrogant, you were confident. In everyone’s eyes, you could do no wrong. Well, everyone except your childhood best friend— who was never afraid to call you out for being a bit clueless at times. 

Aspiration: Neighborhood Confidante OR Party Animal

Traits: Self-Assured, High Maintenance, Music-Lover OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Romance Consultant or Lawyer

→ Master the Charisma and Piano skills. → Host at least 5 gold-star dinners. → Have a childhood best friend who’s a bit older than you. For example: When you’re 17 (end of teenage years), they’re already 20 (start of young adult years). * → You can’t have good friends who are your age until your childhood best friend ages up into a young adult. → Make a new friend that you treat like a “project” until you two fall out. Choose if you two will reconcile in the future. → Profess your love to your childhood best friend during a heated argument. → Marry your best friend and live with your mother and father in your childhood home until your parents die. Have one child. *It goes without saying to only get with your childhood best friend when the two sims are both young adults 🙂 No super uncomfortable age gaps, please.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 3: Scarlett O’Hara ✨ “Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back.” ✨ All your life, you grew up spoiled. Your mother and father were so in love, and you almost expected to have a story as romantic and easy as theirs. However, when your high school flame elopes quickly with someone else right after graduation, you start to spiral. No longer able to get things your way, you begin to self-sabotage and jump from relationship to relationship. Deep down you know you should stop and smarten up but frankly, my dear, you don’t give a damn.

Aspiration: Soulmate— you fail this 

Traits: Materialistic, Genius, Jealous OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: None until your divorce then become a Manual Laborer + Barista

⭐ Recommended Mods: Healthcare Redux Mod, Extreme Violence Mod

→ Don’t master any skill. → Have a high school flame who elopes with someone else. → Elope immediately with someone else. Have them die tragically.* → Marry another person quickly who you have bad compatibility with. Get negative romance with them right before they pass.* → Marry a third time. Have them catch you in a compromising moment with your high school flame, which leads to a divorce that leaves you with nothing. → End up working two part time jobs to keep your household running. → Have 4 kids with your 3 husbands (you can cheat for twins, if you want). *You decide how they die. I recommended having mods like the Healthcare Redux and Extreme Violence in your game for realistic roleplay reasons— but if he gets tragically eaten by a Cowplant that works too! 🙂

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 4: Jo March 🧾 “When the first soreness was over, she could laugh at her poor little book, yet believe in it still, and feel herself the wiser and stronger for the buffeting she had received.” 🧾 Growing up was not easy for you. Your childhood was incredibly unpredictable with your mother jumping from relationship-to-relationship. And when things started to stabilize emotionally, you ended up in poverty.  Luckily, you had your siblings to cling to, and a passion for writing that’s unmatched. You wrote a ton of things across different genres, except for romance which you didn’t quite understand. In fact, everyone always expected you to be a little woman, not rough or wild, but you knew in your heart that’s not what you were destined to become.

Aspiration: Best-Selling Author

Traits: Creative, Unflirty, and Ambitious OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Author

⭐ Recommended Mods: Writing Career Overhaul, SNB Banking

→ Master the Writing and Logic skills. → Be best friends with all of your siblings. → Start selling short stories as a teenager to help pay the bills. → Get a best friend in high school who professes their love to you during graduation. Turn them down. Optional: Have them marry one of your other siblings. → Move away to the city to focus on your writing. Always send 30% of your income to your mother until she dies. → Due to a tragedy in the family, adopt a child of one of your siblings.* → Win a Starlight Accolade for one of your novels. → Never marry but live a fulfilling life. *They are to be the next heir to preserve the bloodline. You can adopt more if you want.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 5: Anne Shirley 📖 “I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.” 📖 You were adopted by your aunt and lived a happy childhood. Despite being surrounded by family drama, you never let it dampen your spirit. You struggled with social cues and caused mayhem wherever you went— of course, that never stopped you from making your voice heard. You were, afterall, raised by someone who was never afraid to make a point. However, unlike your aunt, you always longed for romance. You always imagined big declarations of passion— but perhaps it’s time to learn that love creeps to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways.

Aspiration: Academic OR Soulmate

Traits: Romantic, Socially Awkward, and Loyal OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Education Career

⭐ Recommended Mod: Education Overhaul

→ Master the Research and Debate skill. → Have a childhood enemy that you become best friends with in high school. → Go to University and study Language and Literature. → Fall out with your best friend while in University. → Start dating someone you meet in University but break up right after graduation. → Get a job in the Education Career and write on the side. → Reconnect with your former best friend and realize you love them. → Get married to your best friend. → Retire from the Education career and become a freelance writer in your twilight years.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 6: Nancy Drew 🔍 “I don't promise to forget the mystery, but I know I'll have a marvelous time.”  🔍 Every bedtime, your mother read you stories that she and your grandmother wrote. Among all of those, it’s your grandmother’s mysteries that impacted you the most. There was something so thrilling about being a heroic, fearless woman who helped others out. Because of this, you gained a bunch of friends who loved you very deeply. With their support, you grew up as a well-known detective who can solve any case.  It was a fun life, but you eventually settled down in Henford-On-Bagley to have a family of your own.

Aspiration: Friend of the World 

Traits: Generous, Nosy, and Outgoing OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Detective OR  ⭐ Zerbu’s Simvestigations Mod

→ Master the fitness skill. → Be close friends with both your parents. → Have 2 best friends who are either your roommates (Discover University) or live in the same apartment complex as you (For Rent) for your entire YA life. → Get engaged to someone you meet on-the-job. → Before marrying your fiance, go on a trip to Selvadorada with your 2 best friends and explore the Jungle Temples. → Settle down in Henford-On-Bagley and have a farm life of your own. → Never move away once you settle in Henford-On-Bagley.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 7: Dorothy Gale 🐶 “If we walk far enough, we shall sometime come to someplace.”  🐶 Growing up you knew that there was more to the world than what was outside your own backdoor.  Afterall, your mother was a famous detective— if she went on her own adventures, why can’t you?

With her and your father’s support, you spend your young adult life traveling. You made some great friends along the way (and even some loves), but eventually you start to wonder if there is no place like home.

Aspiration: Local Aspirations— complete at least two

Beach Life

Mt. Komorebi Sightseer 

Fount of Tomarani Knowledge

Traits: Adventurous, Dog Lover, and Loves Outdoors OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Any Freelance Career 

⭐ Recommended Mods: SimNation Travel, Home Region

→ Have a dog that goes everywhere with you. → Live in 3 or more worlds during your Young Adult life. → Make 3 best friends that each teach you a valuable life lesson. → After making your three best friends, use reward points to add the following traits: Brave, Savant, and Incredibly Friendly. → As an adult, realize you miss your family and return home. → Have a long distance relationship with the father of your children.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 8: Wendy Darling 🌟 “She was a lovely lady, with a romantic mind and such a sweet mocking mouth. ”  🌟 You grew up waiting. First, for your father’s seasonal visits… which eventually stops when you become a teenager. Next, for the opportunity to leave Henford-on-Bagley to pursue your dreams of becoming an actress. And finally, for your first love, a man who refused to propose to you, no matter how long you waited for him to. Eventually you grew tired waiting and decided to grow up. You married a sensible man, had a child, and gave up your dreams of becoming an actress. Still, you held on to the dreams of your first love and end up reconnecting in a night of passion that leaves you pregnant with his child. Realizing that he’ll never grow up, you decide to dedicate your life to your family and husband.

Aspiration: Master Actor/Actress - you fail this or the⭐ Housewife Aspiration (after you marry)

Traits: Perfectionist, Proper, and Cheerful OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Actor/Actress

→ Master the Parenting skill. → Have a distant family dynamic with your father who never lives with you. → Join the drama club and meet your first love. Optional: He has the childish trait. → Give your first love all of your major romantic milestones. → Lose touch with your first love when you move to Del Sol Valley. → Marry a man you’d consider as sensible. Have one child with him. → Have a one time secret affair that results in another child. → Dedicate your life to your children afterwards.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 9: Alice Liddell  🐰 “It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”  🐰

There were times you felt like you never truly belonged anywhere. While everyone at home lived and abided by your parents’ rules, your head was always in the clouds. Sensibilities and propriety were never in your vocabulary, much to the disdain of your father and the rest of your siblings. Still, you were a free spirit that could never be controlled. After moving out as a young adult, you fell in love with cooking and mixology. You also met a group of misfits who were as different as you. Every Sunday, you’d host special “tea” parties with them, that broadened your worldview and made you realize that the world gets curiouser and curiouser with each passing day.

Aspiration: Master Mixologist or Master Chef

Traits: Clumsy, Foodie, and Childish OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Culinary Career

⭐ Recommended Mods: Basemental, Grannies Cookbook, Open Love Life

→ Master the Cooking and Mixology Skills. → Have a juice/nectar hobby on the side. → Have a club with people who have weird or eccentric traits.* → Fall in love with someone with the Erratic Trait. → Host “tea” parties every Sunday in your own home. ⭐ Optional: Use the Basemental Mods and have your Sims get high on dope/drunk on alcohol during the tea parties. → Dye your hair a different, brighter color. → Live in a quirky and colorful house. → Befriend a rabbit who you talk to constantly. Name them The Mad Hatter. → ⭐ Optional: Be in a polyamorous relationship with Romantic Boundaries OR the Open Love Life Mod → Have two children. *You decide what weird and eccentric means.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Generation 10: Countess Ellen Olenska  🎨 “The real loneliness is living among all these people who only ask one to pretend.”  🎨

You appreciated your mother’s lifestyle. You saw the world for what it could become, and not what everyone wanted it to be. However, you worried about your younger sister. You saw her innocence and wanted to protect it. When you turned into a young adult, you moved away and took your sister with you to start anew. However, life was not always easy. Straight out of teenhood, you married someone from a different city and had a tumultuous relationship with him. You separate with him and continue to care for your sister. You’re able to provide for her through your paintings, which also brought you a lot of fame. When she grew up into a Young Adult, she formed an attachment with a man that… intrigued you. She married him. This kept him in your life, but made it difficult for you to ignore your feelings. One night, you find yourself alone together, and you must make a choice: stay with him and break your sister's heart, or leave forever to give them peace. You have a price to pay either way— we can't behave like people in novels without consequence, can we?

Aspiration: Painter Extraordinaire

Traits: Gloomy, Art Lover, and Family Oriented OR choose/roll for the last trait

Career: Critic 

⭐ Recommended Mods: RPO, Wonderful Whims, Custom Relationship Bits, Soulmates

→ Master the Painting Skill. → Become a Level 3 Celebrity with your paintings. → Marry someone who isn’t your soulmate straight out of high school. Have a negative relationship with him before separating. ⭐ Optional: Only temporarily separate with him using the RPO Mod. → Be best friends with your sister. → Become soulmates with the partner of your sister without consummating the relationship. → When you’re an adult, invite your sister’s partner over, and make a choice— woohoo together and break your sister's heart, or end the emotional affair. → If you woohoo together - Tell your sister the next day and become enemies. Name your child after them. → If you end the emotional affair - Move away from your love and get back together with your ex-husband. Die without having your own children.

[freyafrida]

haha, working a little bit backwards here -- but yes, totally, "she thinks he is her own" is another excellent passage! i agree with @brightriverstation, too, that it reads like anne having a sense of humor about it, or being a bit indulgent in the way she talks about susan. which sounds condescending, but i don't thiiink it is…more like, the blythes do generally treat susan like a goodhearted grandma or aunt; much like anne nods along affectionately when marilla and mrs. lynde are being old-fashioned and saying things anne doesn't really agree with, so she is with susan.

all the writing around susan portrays her as lovable and comic, and certainly all the info we can tease out from anne, gilbert, and shirley's (non-)reactions is that the blythes don't see her as overstepping or anything -- she's important to them and they're only ever grateful and happy that she loves shirley and the rest of the kids so much; i don't think anne would argue that there's any kind of competition over who loves her kids more, or that love is finite. within the story, the characters certainly don't take any issue with susan.

[lol i wrote a whole paragraph here then realized i was just repeating what you said that i think, even though anne doesn't see her that way, people do read susan as overstepping bc shirley's two traits of "weirdly missing from the text" and "raised primarily by susan" get intertwined in readers' heads as though the two things are related, that the latter caused the former. although i do think it's supported slightly by susan's POV being kind of possessive, devoid of any other context because...we get so little shirley context!]

Btw how much of Shirley putting this off do you reckon had to do with his boyish fear of “a scene”?

oh, SO much, and this is one of my fave shirley details lol. it feels very right for him, being sensible and quiet and matthew-cuthbert-esquely afraid of being the center of attention.

i do think shirley doesn't consider susan to be on the same level of…authority, perhaps, or filial respect as his parents. part of that is likely simple social mores -- it's mentioned in the books a few times that the blythes treat susan more familiarly than most people would with "the help", but well, shirley doesn't "owe" her respect the same way he's socially expected to respect his parents. but also, as mentioned, susan treats the blythe kids (shirley to a greater extent, but all of them) like an indulgent grandma -- see also, her defending rilla's vanity where anne wants rilla to grow out of it -- and i think shirley's enlistment reflects that treatment, in the opposite direction: he's willing to have hard conversations with his parents, but perhaps tries to protect susan (and avoid a "scene" lol) by not telling her. (i do also really like the thought that he wants anne and gilbert's blessing 🥹)

idk whether susan would be specifically hurt by shirley keeping her in the dark...there's the mentions, of course, that she thinks he can do no wrong and in that regard, she may not be able to consider/accept that an action of his can hurt her. susan does also say a few times that she 'knows her place' in the household; which suggests she doesn't really expect shirley to treat her the way he treats anne. at the same time -- as mentioned, we mostly see susan's POV re: shirley, and she can come off a bit...anxious over her place in his life -- e.g not wanting anne to tuck him in. i can see her being hurt at the evidence that shirley didn't 'need' her blessing, even if intellectually she knows he wouldn't have asked for it.

(also re: how long susan raised shirley -- truly! "most of his infancy" was just like...a guess, although i do also get the sense that regardless of how long anne was actually ill, susan just 'went on' being shirley's primary carer even after she recovered. which probably would've been a relief for anne, seeing as she still had four other kids to take care of. so maybe there's an argument susan actually raised shirley most of his childhood.)

Any thoughts on Shirley’s relationship with Susan compared to Anne and the way he starts calling Susan “Mother Susan”? I kinda feel like Susan stole one of Anne kids ☠️

Omg a million thoughts.

I think for Shirley, or any other more minor canon character that doesn’t get a huge amount of time in the spotlight, that it’s easy for readers to grab onto sparse canon fragments and expound on them tenfold because really – it’s all you have. For instance say X character is mentioned only twice in a novel, and each time they happened to be wearing pink sunglasses… now in fanon the jump is “X’s favourite colour is pink, and they only wear pink because they love it so much, and they always dreamed of having pink hair…” (this is a supremely stupid example, but you know what I mean?) and so on, and imo you can get really exaggerated versions of certain characters this way. And I do think this is sometimes the case with Shirley (even though it’s an impulse I understand, and one born out of necessity), and this is how we end up with some believing or thinking Shirley isn’t as much of a Blythe as the rest of his family, or that he prefers Susan to Anne, or that he isn’t very close to Anne, or even as you say, that he continued to call Susan “mother Susan” after the war. When really, we have no textual evidence to support that it did continue. It’s one of those things like yeah sure, it is possible… but it’s equally as possible that it didn’t. (And I personally doubt that it did. When I read that scene, I see a moment where Shirley is declaring for his girl, so to speak. He isn’t sure if he’ll come back from his service – after all, Walter already didn’t – and he wants Susan to know she’s been/is a Mother to him. There were many different types of ‘good-byes’ and ‘thank-yous’ to be said before boys went on to wear khaki for their country. It’s perfectly natural that Shirley would’ve done this for Susan, and it is very very sweet.)

It’s interesting though with Maud, because she does provide a lot of surrogate-type mothers in her books and short stories, and while she effortlessly proves the ferocity of the strength of these found-family bonds, she also can draw some pretty firm lines there. Like when Marilla won’t permit Anne call her “aunt Marilla,” because Marilla doesn’t believe in calling people by names or titles that don’t belong to them. For Shirley, there’s that line in Rainbow Valley narrative where Maud gives the ole air-quote to Susan’s “mothering” of Shirley – put there to pointedly differentiate from plain mothering.

Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery

My own preoccupation on this subject has always been like, welllll what about Shirley? What did he feel? And it’s again, very hard to resolutely say. We just know too little. We only know Susan’s feelings. Like at the end of Anne of Ingleside, when Anne and Gilbert leave for a second honeymoon, and Shirley goes with Susan to her sisters house instead of Avonlea with the rest of the bigger kids… the text doesn’t tell us that this was necessarily Shirley’s choice. It doesn’t say, “Shirley wanted…”, instead it says: “Susan took…” (btw I don’t mean this to reflect poorly on Susan, only highlighting that it doesn’t give us any insight into Shirley’s feelings lol). Meanwhile, we do have examples of Susan putting Shirley to bed each night and ‘allowing’ Anne to on special occasion, but even in those, we also emphatically hear that Shirley still wants Anne to be the one tucking him in, despite it all.

Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

Then we’ll flip-flop and have something like Shirley going to Susan about his bumps and scrapes, and to avoid “well deserved” spankings… which all things considered, this is a less of a motherly trait, so much as an indulgent grandmotherly trait (keep in mind, Susan was described as ‘elderly’ back in HOD days).

🫠 So yeah lmao all this to say/for the TLDR, at least for me and what can be fairly deducted from the text, that Anne and Susan are basically equals in the matter of Bringing Up Shirley… and that we definitely can’t say it’s canon that Susan is an usurper (or baby stealer!) of Anne in this way.

[nerdykeppie]

Launching Tuesday - Historically Queer, our next enamel pin collection!

We Have Always Been Here.

Ten pins - two pairs, five single pins, and the La Maupin mega pin (she needed extra room for her headdress) - each with multiple unlockable colorways.

We launch Tuesday, 9/12, at 3PM Eastern, noon Pacific. Follow us on Kickstarter to be notified when we launch -- or just to help out! The visibility to Kickstarter from having followers on our campaign helps a lot. :D

Featured in this campaign:

Enheduanna, oldest named author. Incorporating trans themes into writing thousands of years old.

David & Jonathan, king & prince whose love surpassed the love of women.

Sappho, Lesbian poet. She should need no other introduction.

La Maupin, also known as Julie d'Aubigny. The original disaster bisexual. Opera singer, swordswoman. May have burned down a convent.

Publick Universal Friend, American religious figure. Going by gender-neutral pronouns since the year the Declaration of Independence was written.

Anne Lister & Ann Walker, the Gentleman Jack & her wife. Acknowledged as the first same-gender marriage in modern Britain.

Dr. James Barry, British surgeon. A transgender man, Dr. Barry performed the first C-section done by a European in Africa in which both mother & child survived. He is also credited with vastly improving conditions for wounded soldiers in the British military.

Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American genius. Listing Tesla's inventions would take a series of posts. Liked pigeons better than people.

If you don't see your favorite historical figure, don't fret! We've planned multiple sets of Historically Queer figures. We can't use them all up at once. :) Help ensure we can make future sets by helping us create this one!

Frequently Asked Questions under the cut.

Hey, what flag is that on Sappho?

That's the Sapphic flag, created by @tepkunset. NerdyKeppie's owner, Spider, is a butch lesbian who uses that flag for their art.

Hey - what about [historical figure]? How could you forget [historical figure]? This is erasure!

We didn't forget, we promise - this is the first of several installments of this project. After the absolute stress of the last Kickstarter when we had 300+ different SKUs by the end of the project, we decided to take a more focused approach to Historically Queer. We attempted to provide a good cross-section of identities, and will continue to expand in future projects. Spider has a huge folder on his computer full of planned pins and reference images.  

But historically...

Yes, we know that it isn't totally proper to use today's terms to discuss people who lived a long time ago. But also, how else do we talk about our community history in a way that's understood, and celebrate our shared queerness, other than to use the words and iconography which are understandable to us now? We celebrate our shared history with the words and understandings most accessible to all of us, and we hope that by providing not just the pins but a few elementary facts about these historical figures, we'll encourage people to read more about them in their original context.

[mariacallous]

Cecile Richards, a prominent advocate for women's rights and other progressive causes, died Monday. In a statement, her family confirmed her death, saying she passed away at home, "surrounded by family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie."

"Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives," the statement said.

Richards was best known for her work leading Planned Parenthood through a particularly challenging time which included threats to its funding and the first election of Donald Trump to the presidency.

During more than a decade at the helm of Planned Parenthood, Richards was often called upon to defend the reproductive health organization against attacks from political opponents.She and her movement faced mounting challenges after Trump, who ran for President in 2016 on a promise to overturn the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade, was first elected.

At the Women's March in Washington the day after Trump's inauguration in 2017, Richards addressed thousands of marchers and promised to fight his policies.

"Today we're here to deliver a message: we're not gonna take this lying down, and we will not go back," Richards told the crowd.

The next year, Richards announced she was leaving Planned Parenthood. After leaving the organization, Richards focused her efforts on leading Supermajority, a group she'd co-founded to mobilize female voters.

In the years to come, the Trump administration would take steps designed to reduce access to abortion, including cutting off funds for groups that make abortion referrals, like Planned Parenthood, through an overhaul of the Title X family planning program.

Over the course of his first term, Trump named three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, who, in June of 2022, would ultimately vote to overturn decades of abortion-rights precedent.

Despite setbacks for the abortion rights movement and a diagnosis of brain cancer, Richards embodied an "indefatigable" determination, says former Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis.

"Her belief [was] you can't give up before you even start, and that it's always worth a fight," Davis said.

Davis worked closely with Richards during a high-profile battle to defeat an anti-abortion bill in Texas in 2013. Now a senior advisor to Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, the group's political arm in Texas, Davis says Richards still inspires her to keep fighting.

"You want to give in to the weariness and give in to just giving up," Davis said. "When I'm tempted to feel that way, I think about Cecile, and I know a lot of people do."

Richards herself drew inspiration from the legacy of her mother, the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, who was known for her sharp wit and down-to-earth demeanor.

During a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2015, a male lawmaker asked her if she expected the committee "to be easier on you because you're a woman?"

"Absolutely not," Richards responded. "That's not how my mama raised me."

The hearing stemmed from the release of secretly-recorded videos by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group that accused Planned Parenthood of selling fetal body parts. Planned Parenthood said the sting videos were edited to be deliberately misleading.

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, Chief Medical Officer at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers in the St. Louis area, knew Richards for more than a decade through their advocacy for abortion rights.

"I think she really changed the way that the movement engaged publicly; she was a very visible and bold presence," McNicholas says. "She wasn't afraid to take questions, to say the word 'abortion.'"

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat with a long history of advocacy for reproductive rights, credits Richards with an instrumental role in making sure the Affordable Care Act, which passed under President Barack Obama, included contraceptive coverage.

Murray says despite the setbacks the movement has faced in recent years, she sees Richards as an example of continuing to fight.

"I would take what Cecile has done in her lifetime and use it as a charge to all of us now: you move forward, you fight for what you believe in, you have the courage to stand up and say what is right," Murray says. "You take those setbacks, learn from them, and move forward, and she's always done that."

In an Instagram post in January 2024, months after her cancer diagnosis, Richards described going through a whirlwind of treatments, time with family, and focusing on what was most important — including her continued activism.

"After all," Richards wrote, "as my mother used to say: 'Why should your life be just about you?'"

As her health continued to decline, Richards addressed the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

She spoke of the joy of recently becoming a grandmother, and the challenges many women have faced since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

"One day, our children and grandchildren may ask us, 'When it was all on the line, what did you do?' And the only acceptable answer is, everything we could," Richards said.

In November 2024, President Joe Biden honored Cecile Richards with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a private ceremony at the White House. In a statement, Biden praised Richards for her "absolute courage and conviction" and "an inspiring legacy that endures in her incredible family, the countless lives she has made better, and a Nation seeking the light of equality, justice, and freedom."

[book--brackets]

Summaries under the cut

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie—where nothing not even a fallen star, is what he imagined.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann—a boy and his two dogs...

A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee County. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains—and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. And close by was the strange and wonderful power that's only found...

The Witches by Roald Dahl

This is not a fairy-tale. This is about real witches. Real witches don't ride around on broomsticks. They don't even wear black cloaks and hats. They are vile, cunning, detestable creatures who disguise themselves as nice, ordinary ladies. So how can you tell when you're face to face with one? Well, if you don't know yet you'd better find out quickly-because there's nothing a witch loathes quite as much as children and she'll wield all kinds of terrifying powers to get rid of them.

The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan

Since his mother's death six years ago, Carter Kane has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the globe with his father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. But while Carter's been homeschooled, his younger sister, Sadie, has been living with their grandparents in London. Sadie has just what Carter wants—school friends and a chance at a "normal" life. But Carter has just what Sadie longs for—time with their father. After six years of living apart, the siblings have almost nothing in common. Until now.

On Christmas Eve, Sadie and Carter are reunited when their father brings them to the British Museum, with a promise that he's going to "make things right." But all does not go according to plan: Carter and Sadie watch as Julius summons a mysterious figure, who quickly banishes their father and causes a fiery explosion.

Soon Carter and Sadie discover that the gods of Ancient Egypt are waking, and the worst of them—Set—has a frightening scheme. To save their father, they must embark on a dangerous journey—a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and its links to the House of Life, a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake--and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure.

Brian had been distraught over his parents' impending divorce and the secret he carries about his mother, but now he is truly desolate and alone. Exhausted, terrified, and hungry, Brian struggles to find food and make a shelter for himself. He has no special knowledge of the woods, and he must find a new kind of awareness and patience as he meets each day's challenges. Is the water safe to drink? Are the berries he finds poisonous?

Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage--an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane. Most of all, Brian leaves behind the self-pity he has felt about his predicament as he summons the courage to stay alive.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

On San Nicolas Island, dolphins flash in the surrounding blue waters, sea otter play in the vast kelp beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, a girl named Karana spent eighteen years alone.

Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that killed her younger brother, constantly guard against Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. Her courage, self-reliance, and grit has inspired millions of readers in this breathtaking adventure.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Leo Borlock follows the unspoken rule at Mica Area High School: don't stand out--under any circumstances! Then Stargirl arrives at Mica High and everything changes--for Leo and for the entire school. After 15 years of home schooling, Stargirl bursts into tenth grade in an explosion of color and a clatter of ukulele music, enchanting the Mica student body.

But the delicate scales of popularity suddenly shift, and Stargirl is shunned for everything that makes her different. Somewhere in the midst of Stargirl's arrival and rise and fall, normal Leo Borlock has tumbled into love with her.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

As a young horse, Black Beauty is well-loved and happy. But when his owner is forced to sell him, his life changes drastically. He has many new owners—some of them cruel and some of them kind. All he needs is someone to love him again....

Whether pulling an elegant carriage or a ramshackle cab, Black Beauty tries to live as best he can. This is his amazing story, told as only he could tell it.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Doomed to - or blessed with - eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less a blessing that it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Here’s a thing I think every amateur wannabe historian should learn sometime.

Sometimes, a tomboy is just a tomboy. Not every girl or woman who didn’t want to be a glorified babymaker was secretly a butch lesbian.

I don't really understand where you're coming from with this, given that you just reblogged a post about Butch Lesbian Odysseus AU. like...it's not really an issue, that I'm aware of?

(this is especially odd because most of the big contenders for Famed Historical Western Tomboy titles- ie "woman who presents in a masculine manner and/or shows interest in masculine activities as a genuine expression of personal taste" -I can think of...were in fact queer)

(George Sand? bi. Anne Lister? un-secretly a butch lesbian. Louisa May Alcott? inconclusive on WHAT her deal was, but if that woman was cishet in modern parlance, I'd be very surprised. Rosa Bonheur? lesbian. Missy/Max/Mathilde de Morny? literally made out with Colette onstage and shocked Paris of all places.)

(I can think of plenty of women who didn't want to be "glorified babymakers"- by which I will charitably assume you mean "these women did not want the conventional lives expected of women," and not, "housewives were useless and/or brainless" who were straight. like most women, they expressed varying degrees and types of femininity in personal presentation. not wanting to be a housewife and mother and not being feminine are not necessarily linked. but a large number of the ones that people might call Tomboys, and who gained fame, were uh. were queer. not all, to be sure! but there is definitely not a huge crowd of Woke Historians just clamoring to label every unconventional woman a butch lesbian)

(is there an issue with laypeople online not understanding relationship and image nuances in the past? sometimes. but I find that's less "assuming tomboys are queer" and "not knowing about photographic conventions around Joke Crossdressing, and/or theatrical promo images for trouser roles.")

(Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, first female US army surgeon, comes to mind as a "tomboy" who's not known to be queer- and even then, she married a man, but we don't know for certain that she was Straight.)

[lyle-and-erik-menendez]

Notes from Interview with Dr. Ann Burgess | Revisiting Menendez

Ann spoke with Erik on numerous occasions in preparation of the trial, interviews, therapy and attempts to get him to draw his story were completed. Ann also reached out to Lyle who refused and continued to work with John Conte, Lyle in the past and up to this day appears to be much more discriminating on who he interacts with then Erik. As a result much of her conclusions come directly from Erik, though she did interview the brothers together and spoke to Lyle at court multiple times, Erik was her patient. 

She makes a comment that Lyle made Erik go in first, Ann says the reason was “Maybe because he thought he wouldn't if he didn't”

I don’t understand what she means by this. Does she mean Erik wouldn't follow? Or that Lyle couldn't go through with the murders? 

Lack of Planning into crime: anger and fear based, out of the blue, unconcerned with where parents were, people hear the shooting and did not shut any doors, no silences on guns, had never shut a gun before, randomness of shooting was driven by fear, Jose 6 Kitty 10 - overkill, Ann mentions another similar case at the same time where an incest survivor killed her father, went into treatment not prison when the evidence was belatedly brought up.

Jose and Kitty: No one cared about the gunshots, no one tried to assist despite hearing. Is this due to how disliked they were in the neighborhood or more about Jose’s shady business deals being an open secret? Police also did not do much in terms of crime scene investigations, letting the brothers go

 Ann discusses Erik and PTSD, she claims at the time of the trial she did not consider Erik to have PTSD and makes no more comments about this aside from discussing the change between generalized anxiety and PTSD

Lyle struggled with relationships and schools, both boys acted out in unnecessary ways like theft ( they had money ) this is considered a red flag now in reference to abusive households or other concerns with young people who rebel against their homes and societal expectations. The boys bought Rolex watches and gave them away to friends and family. Ann also mentioned how tennis was helpful for Erik’s mental health, ‘dissociation’ ‘mental health’ in the way that he could focus on that and nothing else for hours at a time as the tennis was rigorous. 

Ann claimed that Erik saw he and his brother as “Conjoined twins” as well as his main form of support whereas Lyle saw them as ‘little brother - big brother’, she said it could be hard to get Erik off the subject of Lyle, which she did not find unusual as they did everything together, including the crime that they were discussing. Lyle would get angry at Erik but Erik would never get angry at Lyle and mentioned that Erik would “wouldn't dare as he was his main support, when the mother made her feelings clear”. 

Ann also spoke to Kitty Menenedez’s therapist and found out these details. That Jose had multiple affairs with women over the years. Kitty was 'obsessed’ with Jose. Kitty went to all the tennis tournaments of the boys and never missed them, and Jose and Kitty both would aggressively intimidate teachers to change grades.

Something I find odd as well is that for a family of that stature hosting parties and entertaining is a huge way to both continue business, socialise and throw around wealth, for them to do so is out of character as well as out of the social circles they were running around. This to me would imply that the family would separate themselves from mainstream society as much as possible to continue with fantasy images and not risk exposure.

Ann goes on to mention from Kitty's therapist that Kitty ‘viewed sons as trophies’. Considers Kitty to be a narcissist but Jose not sociopath, psychopath or antisocial, Pathological in regards to sons however he expressed what she called ‘muted sadism’ instead of overt sadism with his sexual abuse. 

Ann considered Jose to have said things to Lyle that Jose would never have said to Erik Erik easily brainwashed “that was his nature”. From discussion with Lyle’s therapist she noted that Lyle kept using ‘mother’ as a metaphor for ‘brother’ in discussing the abuse and reason for the crime. Saying things like “I had to save my mother” when he meant and would later admit to it being Erik that he was always referring to

I think this implies that both brothers had/have a history  with struggling to see Kitty as a perpetrator 

Anne ends the interview with discussion of Jose’s excuse of ‘male bonding’ to normalize and change the narrative of the sexual abuse with his sons. She mentioned that this is typical in incest cases of excuses for why its okay. She mentions that Father-son abuse and the  patriarchal nature of society, which is part of why it's both so prevalent as well as not discussed at the same time.  This is exemplified by the difference between male and female juries and the ‘trying to understand another’s perception’ If someone can’t identify with it, it didn't happen. Her phrasing of the men on the jury and their inability to identify with male victims of sexual violence by anyone ‘ I would never do that this could never happen’ compared to the women ‘ I could see this happening’ in terms of male on male rape and female perpetrators as foreign ideas.

One final note from Ann was that she found it interesting that the focus on the ‘gay’ brother was only on Erik and never on Lyle. She viewed one brother as more ‘picked on' over the other by the prosecution and the public.

[catalinadearagonsblog]

Katharine of Aragon is more in the public consciousness now due to the TV show 'Spanish Princess'. Katharine has of course been an interesting historical figure for quite some time because she is the first wife of the infamous Henry VIII. This book provides a new perspective on Katharine because it includes far more background on her Spanish upbringing, Spanish culture, and how that continued to define her in England during her first fifteen years in the country. Additionally, Heather uses rich primary sources, such as 'The Receyt of Ladie Kateryne', which have either not been sourced or infrequently referred to in other biographies about Katharine. In this, Heather's multilingual abilities - especially her fluent Spanish - are put to good use. No one, for example, has considered he rippling impact of terminating Katharine's marriage on the Trastamara and Habsburg dynasties in Europe. Katherine was as important abroad as she was in England.

' An incisive, illuminating and impressive study that probes deep into the background of Katharine of Aragon, masterfully explored by one of our most engaging historians.'--Nathen Amin, author of Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor

'This vivid and scholarly reappraisal by Heather Darsie casts Queen Katharine of Aragon in a brilliant and compelling new light, placing her Spanish heritage and sharp intellect at the story's heart. No longer simply a supporting player in Henry VIII's "Great Matter", Katharine takes centre stage as a commanding, complex, and formidable political actor.'--Dr Owen Emmerson, author of Catherine and Anne: Queens, Rivals, Mothers

Heather R. Darsie is an independent researcher in the US specializing in early modern history. She focuses on researching the Holy Roman Empire and England in the early 16th century. She is the author of Anna, Duchess of Cleves and Catherine of Aragon - Spanish Princess. She runs the website MaidensAndManuscripts.com.

[nakibistan]

List of notable Muslim allies of queer, trans or LGBTQI+ folks

Imam al-Nawawi – ally of Mukhannathun or trans femmes, female transsexuals and effeminate queers

Saint Khawaja Gharib Nawaz – ally and patron of Hijra and Khawaja Sara communities

Saint Baba Bulleh Shah – ally and patron of Muslim Khawaja Sira communities

Saint Lal Shabaz Qalander – patron of Khawaja Sira & trans Muslim communities

Abu Muhammad Ali Ibn Hazm – ally of queer Muslims

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - ally of transgender & intersex folks

Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi - ally of trans & intersex folks

Amina Wadud - ally of LGBTQI+ Muslims, founder of Queer Islamic Studies and Theology (QIST)

Gulbanu Khaki/Gul Khaki - ally of LGBTQ+ muslims, mother of a gay imam

Khaled Hosseini - ally of transgender & proud muslim dad of a transgender child

Siddika Jessa - LGBTQI+ activist, mother of a gay muslim son

Ani Zonneveld

Pamela Taylor

Laura Silver

Omid Safi

Kecia Ali

Ghazala Anwar

Ensaf Haider

Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur

Farid Esack

Zaitun Mohamed Kasim/Toni Mohamed Kasim

Anne-Sophie Monsinay

Imam Kahina Bahloul

Imam Philip Tuley

Imam Tahir Chaudhry

Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle

Farouk Peru

Abdennur Prado

Ingrid Mattson

Hasan Minhaj

Reza Aslan

Alia Bano

Zaid Ibrahim

Azahn Munas

Ayman Fadel

Inayat Bunglawala

Shahla Khan Salter

Nakia Jackson

Jeewan Chanicka

Taj Hargey

Michael Muhammad Knight

Maajid Nawaz

Shehnilla Mohamed

Mustafa Akyol

Writer Sabina Khan

Activist Jerin Arifa

Urvah Khan - LGBTQI+ ally, co-founder of Muslim Pride Toronto

Imam Khaleel Mohammed

Imam Tareq Oubrou

Imam Dr Rashied Omar

Shaykha Fariha Fatima al-Jerrahi

Shaykha Amina Teslima al-Jerrahi

Scholar Hussein Abdullatif

Maysoun Douas

Fátima Taleb

Aydan Özoğuz

Omid Nouripour

Özcan Mutlu

Ekin Deligöz

Cem Özdemir

Artist Nadia Khan

Marina Mahathir

Siti Musdah Mulia

Karima Bennoune

Grand Mufti Sheikh Assadullah Mwale

Muneeb Qadir

Dr. Amir Hussein

Dr. Sana Yasir

Dr. Sali Berisha

Dr. Omer Adil

Hashim Thaçi

Albin Kurti

Supermodel Nadia Hussain

Irish-Bangladeshi singer Joy Elizabeth Akther Crookes

Salma Hayek

Fouad Yammine

Pakistani Director Asim Abbasi

Pakistani Actress Nadia Jamil

Indian Actor Saqib Saleem

Indian Actor Irrfan Khan

Indian Actor Aamir Khan

Indian Actress Zeenat Khan/Aman

Indian Actress Shabana Azmi

Indian Actress Saba Azad

Indian Actress Sara Ali Khan

Indian Actress Huma Qureshi

Indian Director Zoya Khan

Pakistani Actor Furqan Qureshi

Bangladeshi Actress Azmeri Haque Badhon

Actor Muneeb Butt

Indian Actress Zareen Khan

Indian Actor Imran khan

Pakistani Actress Mehar Bano

Filmmaker Faruk Kabir

Filmmaker Saim Sadiq

Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Riz Ahmed

Zayn Malik

Sally El-Hosaini

Malala Yousefzai

Hafid Abbas

Hojatoleslam Kariminia

Singer Sherina Munaf

Writer Alifa Rifaat

Writer Ismat Chughtai

Activist Nida Mushtaq

Activist Aan Anshori

Abdul Muiz Ghazali

Kyai Hussein Muhammad

Marzuki Wahid

Gigi Hadid

President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) - ally of waria or transgender females

Sinta Nuriyah - ally of trans & waria folks

Politician Keith Ellison

Mayor Sadiq Khan

Politician Ilhan Omar

Politician Rashida Tlaib

Politician Rushanara Ali

Politician Nabilah Islam

Politician Shahana Hanif

Politician Rama Yade

Politician Humza Yousaf

Politician Zarah Sultana

UK Sectratary General Zara Mohammed

Turkish politician Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu

Bengali Influencer Sobia Ameen

Shaykh Michael Mumisa

Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan

Mufti Abdur Rahman Azad - Hijra ally

Sheikh Hasina - Ally of hijra-intersex communities

Lawyer Iftikhar Chaudhry

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Professor Amel Grami

Professor Muhammad Aslam Khaki

Mohammad Hashim Kamali

Mehrdad Alipour

Lawyer Imaan Mazari/Iman Mazari

Shireen Mazari

Syed Murad Ali Shah

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

https://x.com/i/status/1706011542129356979

Read the most insane reasons 10 abusive mothers gave for “transitioning” their child.

Dr. Anne Georgulas’s 7 yo son wanted a girl toy in a McDonalds happy meal and liked a Disney princess

Mary Carter’s 3 yo son looked sad one day. When she asked him why, he said because he was a boy. Mary immediately bought hair ties, gave him pigtails, and “transitioned” him

Emily Torrisi’s daughter liked trucks at 1; boys clothing at 2 and was “transitioned” at 5 yo

Klara Jeynes’s daughter didn’t like pig tails at 18 months; rejected “stereotypical girl clothes” at 2; was “transitioned” at 3 yo

Megan Goebel’s 18 month old played with his sisters clothes and nail polish; he played dress up in preschool; Megan said his obsession with a headband was a “sign”; the “final test” was him not liking t-ball at 4

[ Note: I previously covered this one. ]

Jeanette Jennings’s 3 yo son unbuttoned his onesie and pulled it down “like a dress”

Molly Maxwell’s son “went nuts” over dresses at 18 months; liked shoes, tiaras, and pink; rejected trucks at 2; was “transitioned” at 4 yo

Su Penn’s daughter didn’t like a dress in a magazine and wanted a boy haircut at 2; picked male pronouns at a transgender conference at 5

Beth Clawson’s 2 yo son wouldn’t leave the house without a tutu. Wore towels on his head to mimic long hair

Debi Jackson’s son liked wearing jewelry and “tucked his genitals away” at 2; wanted long hair and liked nail polish, female characters, dresses at 3

BONUS:

Child loving "raw green vegetables" was a sign of transgenderism, mother claims in viral video.

--

[whencyclopedia]

David Walker's Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World

David Walker (l. c. 1796-1830) was an African American abolitionist writer best known for his 1829 work An Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World (also known The Appeal or Walker's Appeal) advocating for a united front in the abolition of slavery and noting the hypocrisy of White Americans holding slaves in the "land of the free."

Title Page of Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World

David Walker (Public Domain)

The Appeal is considered the most radical anti-slavery work written by an African American during the slave-holding era of US history. His advocacy of violence as justified in overthrowing the "peculiar institution" of slavery, as it was sometimes referred to, caused abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (l. 1805-1879) to reject it, although Walker's work may have inspired Garrison to begin publishing his abolitionist newspaper The Liberator in 1831.

There has also long been speculation that Walker's work directly or indirectly led to Nat Turner's Rebellion of 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia. Even though there is no evidence that Turner, an educated slave, ever read Walker, he would not have needed to as the contents of The Appeal were widely disseminated throughout the South by sailors (and others) from the North who smuggled the pamphlet into slave-holding states, where it was quietly read to sympathetic audiences and discussed. The Appeal caused such great concern among slaveholders that stricter anti-literacy laws were passed, among other measures restricting social gatherings of slaves and travel or congregations of free Blacks.

Abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass (l. c. 1818-1895) greatly admired The Appeal and later drew on it in his speeches, and, although Garrison publicly distanced himself from Walker's more radical suggestions, the work also informed aspects of The Liberator throughout its publication. Walker's work influenced and was cited by Malcolm X (l. 1925-1965) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (l. 1929-1968), among many other civil rights leaders of the 1950s-1960s up through today. The Appeal is recognized as one of the most important documents concerning slavery in the United States ever written and still carries considerable weight in discussions of human rights in the USA and elsewhere.

Life & Family

David Walker was born to a free mother and an enslaved father in Wilmington, North Carolina, in either 1796 (the date most scholars agree on) or 1785. In keeping with the law, since his mother was free, he was, too. There is no information on his early life, but, as a young man, he left home and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first Black denomination in the United States, which advocated for activism against slavery. Here, he is thought to have heard the lectures of Denmark Vesey (l. c. 1767-1822), the organizer of a slave revolt in Charleston in 1822, which was betrayed before it could be set in motion.

Vesey was hanged, along with five others, on 2 July 1822 – even though there was no evidence, only hearsay, to convict any of them of organizing a slave revolt – and Walker, then in his 20s, may have been present, leaving Charleston afterwards, or he may have left earlier. He was living in Philadelphia in the early 1820s and was a resident of Boston by 1825. He married one Eliza Butler in 1826, and the couple had a daughter, Lydia Ann. Walker opened a used clothing store near the docks of Boston, gave anti-slavery lectures, and helped runaway slaves and the poor of the city.

Freedom's Journal Front Page 1827

The Afro-American Press (Public Domain)

By 1827, he was writing for the African American-owned Freedom's Journal and may have started writing The Appeal, which was published, at his expense, in 1829. Knowing the work would be confiscated and destroyed if sent through regular channels to the South, Walker enlisted the assistance of sympathetic sailors, both Black and White, to carry The Appeal to Southern ports. He also used his clothing shop to effect by sewing The Appeal into the lining of jackets to be unwittingly carried south.

His distribution plan was evidently a great success since slave-holding states, such as Georgia, condemned and banned the work in 1830, enacting laws to prevent Black sailors from disembarking ships from the North in their ports. A reward was issued by the Georgian authorities of $10,000.00 to anyone who could bring Walker before them alive or $1,000 for his corpse. His friends encouraged him to flee to Canada, but he refused, claiming he would die for the cause of abolition.

He was found dead on 6 August 1830, which led to speculation he had been poisoned (a claim still made today). Actually, he died of tuberculosis, which had also claimed his daughter's life only a week before. He was buried in an unmarked grave in South Boston, and his wife, unable to make payments on their home, lost it. Their son, Edward G. Walker (l. 1830-1901), was born after Walker's death and would later become a lawyer and then State Legislator in Massachusetts.

Edward G. Walker

Unknown Photographer (Public Domain)

Continue reading...

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

The Irish Princess and her dynastic marriage to a Norman that helped shape Europe. Aoife, Princess of Leinster -> Catherine, The Princess of Wales. The Princess of Wales is Aoife, Princess of Leinster and Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke 26th Great-Granddaughter  via her paternal grandfather’s line.

** Aoife or Eva, Princess of Leinster, played a pivotal role in the history of Ireland and the Norman expansion. She was the daughter of Diarmaid MacMurrough, King of Leinster, who sought the help of the Normans to secure his throne and defeat his enemies. As part of this alliance, Aoife married the Norman leader Richard de Clare, known as ‘Strongbow,’ on 25 August 1170. This marriage marked the arrival of the Normans in Ireland, just 104 years after their conquest of England by William the Conqueror.

Through their daughter, Isabelle de Clare, The 4th Countess of Pembroke, the union of Aoife and Strongbow forged a lineage that would shape the future of European nobility. Isabelle became an ancestor of nearly every reigning monarch across Europe. Within a few generations, her descendants included much of the European aristocracy, including all the Kings of Scotland since Robert the Bruce (1274–1329) and every monarch of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom since Henry IV (1367–1413). 

Family Line

Aoife MacMurrough, Princess of Leinster and Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Painting of their wedding, depicting the political and cultural consequences. 

Isabelle de Clare 4th Countess of Pembroke m. William Marshall 1st Earl of Pembroke. 

Eve Marshall m William de Briouze, born  Pembroke Castle.

Eve de Briouze m. William de Cauntelo, Coat of Arms

Millicent de Cauntelo m. Eon la Zouche, Coat of Arms

Eva la Zouche m. Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Lord Berkeley, buried St Mary's Church, Portbury. 

Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Lord Berkeley m. Catherine Clivedon

Sir John Berkeley m. Elizabeth Betteshorne, burial location.

Eleanor Berkeley m. Sir Richard Poynings, burial tomb.

Eleanor de Poynings m. Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland

Lady Margaret Percy m. Sir William Gascoigne 

Anne Gascoigne m. Sir Thomas Fairfax - Gawthorpe Hall, family seat.

William Fairfax m. Anne Baker - Gilling Castle, family seat. 

John Fairfax m. Mary Birch - Master of the Great Hospital at Norwich, Norfolk

Rev. Benjamin Fairfax m. Sarah Galliard - Preacher at Rumburgh, Suffolk.

Benjamin Fairfax m. Bridget Stringer - died in Halesworth, Suffolk.

Sarah Fairfax m. Rev. John Meadows - died in Ousedon, Suffolk.

Philip Meadows m. Margaret Hall

Sarah Meadows m. Dr. David Martineau

Thomas Martineau m. Elizabeth Rankin - buried at Rosary Cemetery, Norwich.

Elizabeth Martineau m. Dr. Thomas Michael Greenhow - died in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland.

Frances Elizabeth Greenhow m. Francis Lupton

Francis Martineau Lupton m. Harriet Davis

Olive Lupton m. Richard Middleton

Peter Middleton m. Valerie Glassborow

Michael Middleton m. Carole Goldsmith 

Catherine Middleton m. Prince William of Wales

*Catherine is also a descendant of Aoife via her mother Caroles maternal line.