#Slavery and Freedom

[philosophybits]

There is no human personality if there is no existence which stands higher than it, if there is no higher world to which it ought to rise.

Nikolai Berdyaev, Slavery and Freedom

[whenweallvote]

Many of us are taught that slavery came to an end with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but for enslaved people in Texas, freedom didn’t come until June 19, 1865.

Swipe to learn about the history of Juneteenth, and why it’s a celebration of freedom, culture, and progress.

[pratchettquotes]

Behind him Of the Twilight the Darkness cackled. "What a piece of work you are, Mister Slightly Damp, freeing the slaves and all. What you think his lordship will say about that?"

Moist shrugged. "He might be acerbic, but a little acerbic isn't all that bad. He's quite a one for freedom is Vetinari, though not necessarily mine."

Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

societies that demonize children and child bearing when their population starts its dramatic decline and women still refuse to have children: 😮

[gingerswagfreckles]

Did you guys know that the KKK also hates Israel. Did you know that just because a group hates Israel does not mean that they are anti-Zionist Pro-Palestinian freedom fighters. Did you know that antisemitism is real. Did you guys know about this.

[a-spacecadet]

Harriet, star actress~ ⋆｡°✩

(She’s playing Glinda the Good Witch! 🫧)

[villain-song]

i love you people

i love you world

we are afraid

but we must not be complacent

love each other

fight for one another

never ever give up

we will survive

we will live

keep imagining a better future

hold it in your hearts

one day there will be no fascism, no white supremacy, no patriarchy, no empire, no dispossession, no capitalism, no oppression, no racism, no cishetamatonormativity, no ableism, no unfree labor, no prisons, no billionaires, no destruction, no regimes of death

let's fight for a better world so that one day there will be clean air, clean water, clean lands, housing for all, healthcare for all, food for all, love instead of hate, unity, solidarity, caring communities, abolition, liberating education, the ability to do what we love, queer liberation, black liberation, liberation for all peoples, sunshine on our faces, life instead of survival, and so much more

loving and hope are happiness.

[spoiledbratblog]

[philosophybits]

There is a difference between the creative idea and the creative act on the one hand, and the product on the other. Creativity is fire; culture is the cooling of the flame. The creative act is upflight, victory over the heaviness of the objectified world and over determinism, the product of creativity in culture is a dragging down, a process of settling.

Nikolai Berdyaev, Slavery and Freedom

[contemplatingoutlander]

In this column, Charles Blow provides the historical context for Juneteenth, and the continuously "evolving" struggle for "freedom" for Black people in the U.S. This is a gift🎁link, so anyone can read this entire column even if they don't subscribe to the NY Times. Below are some excerpts:

Last week at a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn of the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris said that on June 19, 1865, after Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, “The enslaved people of Texas learned they were free.” On that day, she said, “they claimed their freedom.” [...] Although it’s a mark of progress to commemorate the end of American slavery, it’s imperative that we continue to underscore the myriad ways in which Black freedom was restricted long after that first Juneteenth. [...] Most Black people couldn’t claim their freedom on June 19, 1865, because their bodies (and their free will) were still being policed to nearly the same degree and with the same inveterate racism that Southern whites had aimed at them during slavery. The laws governing the formerly enslaved “were very restrictive in terms of where they could go, what kind of jobs they could have, where they could live in certain communities,” said Daina Ramey Berry... the author of “The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, From Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation.” [...] Upon arrival in Galveston, the Union general Gordon Granger delivered General Order No. 3, which said “the connection heretofore existing” between “former masters and slaves” would become “that between employer and hired labor” and that “freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.” The order also had a curious stipulation: that freedmen would “not be supported in idleness.” [...] A notice from Granger published days later in The Galveston Daily News informed the public that “no persons formerly slaves will be permitted to travel on the public thoroughfares without passes or permits from their employers.” In other words, white people would still dictate where Black people could be. In 1866, a Texas state constitutional convention adopted the state’s Black Codes, codifying suffocating limits on Black autonomy. As the Texas State Library and Archives Commission describes these laws:

In this way, the codes “outlined a status for African Americans not too much removed from their earlier condition as slaves.” Beyond this, for Black people in the 1870s, being a convict in Texas essentially meant relegation to enslavement, because that was when the state’s convict leasing program took off. [...] The question of labor is at the core of how we must understand emancipation and Reconstruction because American slavery, an entire capitalist system representing billions of dollars in wealth, was built on free Black labor, was brought to its knees and would have to be propped up; newly freed Black people were fed back to the machine to keep it running. [...] As Corey Walker, the director of the program in African American studies at Wake Forest University, emphasizes, the idea of freedom, particularly for Black people in this country, is continuously being negotiated and contested, so “Juneteenth marks a moment in the ever-evolving and expanding project of American democracy.” “It is,” he said, “a project that is never complete. It is never fulfilled, even at the moment of Juneteenth. And it’s one that is ever evolving to this day.” [emphasis added]

[pratchettquotes]

The fighting was over in Ephebe. It hadn't lasted long, especially when the slaves joined in. There were too many narrow streets, too many ambushes and, above all, too much terrible determination. It's generally held that free men will always triumph over slaves, but perhaps it all depends on your point of view.

Besides, the Ephebian garrison commander had declared somewhat nervously that slavery would henceforth be abolished, which infuriated the slaves. What would be the point of saving up to become free if you couldn't own slaves afterwards? Besides, how'd they eat?

The Omnians couldn't understand, and uncertain people fight badly.

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

[butterflytblr]

A Call to Abolish Slavery of All Kinds

And even then, if we abolish this kind of slavery trade forever, we still must consider the animal slavery trade as well. They are also beings. They have feelings, they have emotions; they have intelligence. They have loyalty to each other and they are so good to each other and to humans also. And we sell, buy, sell, buy them, just like we did with humans before. That's also not correct. Our world is not correct in many ways. I don't know how long it takes to change all this, but we will have to change it. And we are doing all we can to change this system because it's not right.

There's only one way to do things: it’s the right thing. And this thing is not right. No matter what country or what government, if they have some thinking, some little sympathy in the heart, some understanding of what's right, what's wrong, then this slavery of humans and animals should be abolished long, long time before I was even born. That should be the right thing to do.

[jackelopeofthelake]

So…I just got back from Sound of Freedom…

I feel overwhelmed…

And the fact Disney tried to bury the film for five years and there are press releases now trying to discredit the film and it’s actors should tell you everything…

[internetcatholicism]

I am sure that many of you have seen Sound of Freedom in the last several days. Many of your hearts have most likely been stirred by the stories and statistics, and you want to do something about child trafficking. Me too.

As a survivor myself I have been wanting to help fight human trafficking for a long time, but I've never taken the opportunity to really do something about it, so here I am. Child trafficking happens everywhere, but NONE OF THE PROCEEDS FROM SOUND OF FREEDOM WILL BE GIVEN TO TIM BALLARD'S ORGANIZATION. So now is the time!

If every one of my followers gave one dollar to this fundraiser, nearly $4000 could be raised. Please participate! Your donations go directly to supporting rescues, law enforcement, survivors, and worldwide prevention and education. Your donation makes a difference in the fight against trafficking. Let's put an end to this trade!

[afrotumble]

Henry "Box" Brown:

In 1849, to escape 33 years of his life as a slave, Henry "Box" Brown shipped himself in a cargo box from Richmond, Virginia, to the abolitionist zone in Philadelphia.

Henry Brown completed the 350-mile journey, barely breathing through the air holes he opened in his 60-centimeter-wide cargo box, and spent the remaining 50 years of his life as a free person