#betsy wilkins

[matcha-milkies]

sapphic !! atom eve x reader ⚢

food for thought (all sfw):

☁︎ she absolutely loves manifesting new clothes for you. cute jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, dresses, overalls, bucket hats, heels, sneakers, boots, whatever your style is, she’s all too happy to oblige and bring to life your deepest pinterest-board desires.

☁︎ if you can’t fly but you want to, she will take you flying, bridal style. if you can fly, she loves to skim the clouds while holding hands with you.

☁︎ she lets you brush her hair a lot (and likes to brush yours if it’s long enough).

☁︎ sometimes you two just sit on her bed and make out for a little while her parents are away.

☁︎ if you’re going to school, eve is happy to do chill study sessions with you where the two of you vibe and listen to lofi beats together. if you struggle with anything science-related, it’s eve to the rescue.

☁︎ most of your dates are in gorgeous, secluded areas untouched by civilization, where you have the absolute best view. you sit together on a cliff watching the sunrise, or have a picnic, or sometimes just walk along the beach holding hands.

☁︎ adam is weird about you two being together. not blatantly queerphobic per se, but he has an unsophisticated grasp of sapphic love, i.e. assumes you both have to be lesbians as opposed to bisexual. if you are femme he might be confused because eve is also femme and he does not understand the concept of femme4femme or butch4butch.

☁︎ betsy is well-meaning but doesn’t really get it either. but she adores you and loves to make snacks for you whenever you come over. she’ll always try to make conversation although sometimes it gets awkward.

☁︎ not to be cliche, but rex is extremely jealous at first (maybe of both of you?) he makes little digs at you, but he doesn’t dare do it in front of eve because the one time he tried that, she turned all his meals that day into stale soggy burger mart fries. eventually he does warm up to you, especially if you’re a supe and go on occasional missions together, he would come to respect your skill and your desire to help others.

☁︎ mark is of course a sweetheart to you because he’s just a good kid. he tags along sometimes on missions (if you’re a supe). otherwise you guys just hang out together at the movies or whatever.

☁︎ sometimes eve takes your hands in hers and just stares into your eyes. or brushes her thumb against your temple as you lie across from each other.

☁︎ if you like flowers... you are going to get a lot of them.

[markanddebbie-protectionprogram]

comparison and analysis on eve and mark's colors

i know this miggght be me overthinking but i really need to get it out of my system ahahajshajsha

Pink is definitely Eve's signature color, it's the main color of her costume yet somehow you don't see that in her casual attire. As for Mark, no doubt his signature color is blue (even yellow can be included), and that's obvious in both his costume and his casual attire.

this post contains pics from season 1 and the atom eve special, putting a cut here cause this is lowkey long so,,,, oops-

Eve wore pink a LOT when she was a kid, it's in her every outfit throughout all the time skips in the special. When a character has a signature color, it's something that's reflected in (nearly all of) their outfit/s.

So where did the pink go on Eve's casual attire on season 1? Where did she even got the idea of wearing yellow of all colors when it's so far from her favorite color? There's red that when you mix it with white, it gives you pink. So she could have had a red top and white pants in her current casual attire, but that's not the case.

We got our answer on who she got the idea of wearing yellow from in the Atom Eve special: it was from Betsy.

There's a key thing that I noticed from the shade of yellow Betsy wore and what Eve is currently wearing. Betsy's yellow seemed happier. It was more vibrant.

Comparing Betsy's yellow to Eve, Eve's yellow is lighter. It's dull. As if it was drained of its vibrancy. And with what we saw of Eve's past in the special, it checks out that she must've have become so, so tired of so many things.

In animated series, yellow is often associated with warm, happy, and energetic characters. But when it comes to cinematography, yellow represents other things. From the link, I think cowardice is the symbolism of Betsy's yellow - due to her fear of Eve not being "normal" and her inability to accept Eve as she is. And @mandareeboo even pointed out Betsy telling Eve to "try harder" which leads to the symbolism of yellow that I associate with Eve: insecurity. There is no bigger source of insecurity than having your own parent say that to you, especially at a young age when a lot of things feel they're scary and overwhelming that you need a parent to guide you through it but instead they just tell you to repress yourself.

It's no wonder that Eve's yellow looked pale in comparison to past Betsy's yellow, pretending for years must have been exhauasting.

(Before anyone comment that Zak could be the reason Eve wore yellow instead of Betsy, I have an explanation I'm going to be giving later so please bear with me on this one hahahsdfjahsfda)

Now on to Mark!!

In the Atom Eve special, Debbie wore no shades of either blue or green. In fact, her top's color leans more to give a nod to Nolan's signature color (red). That, and their family pictures from season 1 showed that aside from Debbie, there was a time that Mark wore red too.

Compared to Eve and Betsy, I find it so fascinating that the opposite applies for Mark and Debbie.

We can see that kid Mark's shorts and top are currently the colors of Debbie's top and pants.

It was a nice switch to see the mom's colors reflecting her child. You often see the kid copying the color of their parent/s. This doesn't necessarily mean Debbie copied Mark, as a mom, this is her way of commemorating her son.

The two stripes on Mark is a brighter shade of aquamarine while Debbie's top is a darker shade of Caribbean green, and both colors are near to each other in the color spectrum. Which is definitely something we can describe their relationship: they are close to each other.

I always thought that the stripes across Mark's chest was sort of a subtle design thing to show that he keeps his mom, who represents his humanity, close to his heart. Seeing that Debbie got her colors from kid Mark adds a whole new layer to it.

This is the part where I compare the then & the now:

The reason why I mentioned Eve would never have picked up yellow with Zak in mind was that he was just a temporary figure in her life. Eve used to wear pink so much before, it was her favorite - so one can assume that the color itself brought her joy. You see Betsy wearing pink (this is the episode Eve left "home"). So my reasoning for Betsy wearing this color was to appease Eve, while Eve wore yellow to represent her trying to please her mom.

For Debbie and Mark, it was crucial for Debbie to wear the colors Mark wore as a kid. Throughout the series, we see how desperate Mark wanted to be like Nolan, to be good with his powers so he can be a good hero. One would think that Mark would have incorporated red in his outfit, but he didn't. What stood in the place of red in Mark's outfits was yellow, a color that's close to red in the rainbow arrangement. Using the same link for the meanings of the color yellow in cinematography from earlier, Mark's yellow symbolizes two things: naivety and idealization.

See how Mark has a yellow button-up underneath his sweater? It's his naivety about his father, it's not all out there yet it's on all the ends of his sweater as if making sure you know that the yellow is something that should be seen. And Mark's yellow I in his costume? That's idealization. In his eyes, Omni-Man is (probably, I can't speak for Mark 100%) the best hero. He idolizes his dad, there was never a doubt about it. He has put Nolan in such a high standard that there was more yellow in his costume to represent his idealization rather than his own signature blue.

That's why it's so important that Debbie wore his colors from the Atom Eve special in season 1. That Mark sees that on his mom. It was a reminder of kid Mark. That even then, he was just as precious. That he mattered even wayyyy before he had powers. That he mattered because of his humanity.

[inhales deeply to catch my breath] NOW FOR THE FINAL PART!!

i'm sorry this is so long i had so many thoughts about colors, color symbolism in characters is so personal to me.

you guys can skip these pics and list cause this is kinnnnd of a stretch now hahajsdfha - feel free to go straight at the portion after the bullet points end, that's just my final ramblings dedicated for season 2

Back to topic of colors!! It's obvious at this point how relevant both Mark and Eve's moms are when it comes to their colors. So it leaves me with two remaining things about Mark and Eve: (1) the color red on Mark on his casual outfit and (2) the color pink on Eve on her casual outfit

The only moments we saw red on Mark that isn't blood is when he wore his bag. Now I know this is a pretty small thing but that bag could literally be ANY other color - and it isn't, it's specifically red. It could have been white to match his shoes or black to match his hair but it's neither of that. It's red. It's Nolan.

I think it's really important to know the relevance of that red bag, especially in those two pictures. (1) The moment Todd was harassing Amber and Mark wanted to intervene, it's totally obvious that Mark carries the heavy fact that at the moment, he's powerless unlike his dad. And it sucks. Cause he's his father's son and even though he carries his blood, at the time, he doesn't carry Nolan's powers. It doesn't stop him from defending Amber, but it still hurts bothliterally from Todd's hits and emotionally. Mark's carrying the feeling of inadequacy cause he has no idea how to defend himself in this situation, his dad never taught him how to fight because he didn't have powers.

(2) The second picture was Mark rushing to school because his training with his dad made him late for class. He got powers now, and it's literally dragging him from his education (among other things and that's including his relationship with Amber). His power of flight, no matter how fast it is, doesn't get him to places on time. Even when he got his powers, he still had problems. They actually piled up now.

Now as for Eve, sure her casual attire doesn't have any pink on it but her bags are pink!! (1) The first picture of her was when she and Mark met at school. During my first watch, I found it cute that she held on to the straps cause it's a little habit of mine when I wear backpacks. Then at the (2) other picture where she had her luggage out so she can run away from "home", I noticed they're pink too. And it's a small observation but compared to Mark that just lets his bag hang down, Eve holds on to her bags.

The bags are both pink, and pink is her color. It's not a piece or part of her, it's her. Pink has been something she deprived herself to wear but it's something she still wants to keep, even if it's just with bags. It's the thing she's comfortable to carry, it's something she wants to hold in her hands.

I know bags are a practical item for any student to have and I overthought a lot about their bags' colors but yeah hahasdfjasdfha I'm done with that now

CLOSING WORD TIMEEEE HAHAHADSFAHFAHA

man that was a lot, anywayssss

The season 2 poster showed that Debbie has a new outfit. As for Mark and Eve, they're both wearing their hero costumes.

Slight spoilers from the comics: When Nolan left, there was a time that Mark began to dress himself in a style similar to Nolan (I can't tag op for some reason :(().

I feel there's a big chance Mark and Eve will also have new casual attires this coming second season.

Mark is likely to dress similar to Nolan just like in the comics. He will definitely have questions about his identity now that he knew the truth about Nolan, so I think Mark won't be able to wear his usual colors to show that he's figuring things out.

Mark could also wear that blue and black costume, the one that doesn't have the yellow anymore. Because he won't be idolizing his father's heroic persona anymore.

Mark, of course, misses his dad but he won't be looking up to him anymore after what happened.

As for Eve's season 2 casual look though, now that she has her own treehouse and starting to feel free from her parents, I hope she allows herself to incorporate pink in her clothing. She deserves it <33

[lowthebridge]

In the Eve's game appears that Rex' favourites desserts are the mango mousse and blueberry muffins and pancakes Eve's mom makes for him.

From how it is said Betsy cooks (badly, very badly)...it seems that to Rex's palate anything homemade for him is delicious.

From the game:

And Eve loves choco.

[mandareeboo]

She can't 'try harder'!!!! This is who she is!!! Whether you want to admit it or not, your daughter is autistic- and, though you aren't aware of it yet, superhuman. Asking her to 'be normal' or 'try harder' is basically asking her to pretend. Will that make you happy, Betsy? Forcing your child to pretend the rest of her life?

[105nt]

Norfolk reads - David Copperfield

I finished listening to David Copperfield, read by Martin Jarvis via Audible (it's included, which I find extraordinary, because it's an astounding good piece of work - he is so in character with every word spoken that it is practically a dramatisation (but without all the annoying mood music in the background) and supplemented with my hard copy - this beauty, of which I only have volumes I and II.

My memory of reading this in my early teens is loving Betsey Trotwood and Wilkins Micawber, but being frustrated by Little Em'ly (the fallen woman) Dora Spenlow (the "child-wife") and Agnes Wickfield (the ministering angel), who all seemed so insipid and limited to me next to the literary heroines I admired - Jane Eyre, Maggie Tulliver, Anne Shirley.

Reading it now with the advantage of several decades, I wonder that I didn't appreciate the minor female characters more, because they are truly wonderful - Rosa Dartle with a scar every bit as expressive as Harry Potter's, Jane Murdstone's fine example of an oppressor in the Simone de Beauvoir mode, and Miss Mowcher - what the hell I made of her when I was 12 I can't think - but there she is, a procuress in plain sight.

I still love Micawber and Aunt Betsy best, but characters I would have hated without reservation are now nuanced to me - none more so than Uriah Heep, who is physically as repulsive to me as he ever was, but now I feel he might have had a point when he says that Copperfield always hated him. The book now reads to me as if he wasn't suffered to rise at least partly because he wasn't of the right class. Like Milady in The Three Musketeers - eventually I must have reached an age when I was less concerned about his crimes and more that he was surrounded by a bunch of entitled snobs.

The description of the storm at Yarmouth and the wreck is as fine as I remember:

As we struggled on, nearer and nearer to the sea, from which this mighty wind was blowing dead on shore, its force became more and more terrific. Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and showered salt rain upon us. The water was out, over miles and miles of the flat country adjacent to Yarmouth; and every sheet and puddle lashed its banks, and had its stress of little breakers setting heavily towards us. When we came within sight of the sea, the waves on the horizon, caught at intervals above the rolling abyss, were like glimpses of another shore with towers and buildings. When at last we got into the town, the people came out to their doors, all aslant, and with streaming hair ...

The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls came rolling in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding wave swept back with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out deep caves in the beach, as if its purpose were to undermine the earth. When some white–headed billows thundered on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they reached the land, every fragment of the late whole seemed possessed by the full might of its wrath, rushing to be gathered to the composition of another monster. Undulating hills were changed to valleys, undulating valleys (with a solitary storm–bird sometimes skimming through them) were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings, rose and fell; the clouds fell fast and thick; I seemed to see a rending and upheaving of all nature ...

One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from the deck, and lay over the side, entangled in a maze of sail and rigging; and all that ruin, as the ship rolled and beat—which she did without a moment's pause, and with a violence quite inconceivable—beat the side as if it would stave it in. Some efforts were even then being made, to cut this portion of the wreck away; for, as the ship, which was broadside on, turned towards us in her rolling, I plainly descried her people at work with axes, especially one active figure with long curling hair, conspicuous among the rest. But a great cry, which was audible even above the wind and water, rose from the shore at this moment; the sea, sweeping over the rolling wreck, made a clean breach, and carried men, spars, casks, planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys, into the boiling surge.

Last words to my favourites:

Ilsa is as sharp as Betsey Trotwood, if not as discreet:

'I think Agnes is going to be married.'

'God bless her!' said I, cheerfully.

'God bless her!' said my aunt, 'and her husband too!'

"And now, in short, I proceed to devour that inestimable volume, The Shrieking Pit by Arthur Rees, and if any remain to accompany me on this literary pilgrimage, in due course here shall be found such ruined vestiges as yet

Remain

Of

A

Fallen Tower"

105 (with apologies to Wilkins Micawber)

[rainingmusic]

Paul Pena - I'm Gonna Make It Alright

[artbeacondsm]

interview with emily susanin kessinger, yellow door gallery

credit: Preservation.

Will Signs caught up with Emily Susanin Kessinger of Yellow Door Gallery to learn more about the gallery she and her husband run in their home, hear about her vision for the space, get her take on the art scene in Des Moines and discuss all things Art Week Des Moines.

Why did you decide to open Yellow Door Gallery? 

My husband, Mason, and I have a friend in D.C. (Chris Maier) who runs an amazing initiative called Little Salon. He organizes salons in other people's homes monthly and has creators come together and share their art, music, song, dance, food, drink, whatever. I loved the idea of such events and thought about trying something similar out in Chicago, where we lived before moving to Des Moines. I never got around to it in Chicago but knew it was something I'd pursue when the time was right. So, when we moved to Des Moines in 2016, we decided to try out Yellow Door Gallery – a different yet somewhat related idea here in the community – and it clicked. While our model isn't that similar to Little Salon, I give credit to Chris for the inspiration and for encouraging me to try my own version of salon hosting. Turns out, it morphed in to more that I could have imagined.

So, back to your real question: Why Yellow Door Gallery? For Des Moines. For artists. For something different, something changing, something that expands one's mind and one's view of the world.

What led to the decision to open a gallery in your home, rather than in another space?

While I'd love to have a gallery in another space, I believe Yellow Door Gallery is where it's supposed to (physically) be for now. Running a space elsewhere in Des Moines would take time and money away from other pursuits and interests that I have in life. Plus, I work full-time at Weitz doing marketing and communications, and I love my job and the people there. I enjoy having two vocations and passions that I can switch between.

What is the philosophy that drives how you choose topics and artists for exhibitions, salons and other events at Yellow Door?

I curate the gallery shows with emerging contemporary artists that are pushing boundaries, unique in their practice, and creating art, objects or installations that make me stop and think. Sometimes they're local. Sometimes they're not. Most all of the artists I have shown are friends or friends of friends or friends of friends of friends. Benjamin Gardner and Andy Davis were the first two artists to have a show at Yellow Door. They were local. I've known Andy for 15 years, and he is one of the big reasons I finally launched the space. Mostly because he kept saying, "Why not?" and I listened to that. He believed in it, and I believed it in. And it worked.

I met Benjamin Gardner thanks to Instagram, and he referred the next three artists who I showed at Yellow Door to me directly (THANKS, BEN!). Then, one of the artists he referred whose work I just LOVE, Gyan Shrosbree (of Fairfield), introduced me to the work of Katy Kirbach (of Fairfield/Chicago/Berlin). Then, Katy did a show with her extremely talented friend Zoe Nelson (now of New York). Then, an incredible artist, Heidi Wiren Bartlett, had a performance I saw in Chicago in 2015 that really stuck with me. I found out she was in Iowa City and contacted her there. She wanted to do a show with her friend Kuldeep Singh (of New York), and so it went from there. Referrals, listening to IPR, Instagram, conversations with friends and strangers – that is how exhibitions come together.

I'd say the salons and other events are similar. When you surround yourself with good people doing great things or have friends who know good people who do great things, your network widens and you feel the strength of the community. There have been a few awesome “cold calls” that I've made or that have been made of me. One that sticks out is when April and Josh Visnapuu of Open Door Rep emailed me out of the blue. I was SUPER excited to hear from them and meet them for a coffee date with Mason. They are a driven, adorable couple and were launching a pop-up theatre company. What wasn't to like, and how could I say no? WE BOTH HAD DOOR IN OUR NAMES! So, we partner quarterly and continue to support one another. It's a neat thing.

You’re originally from Des Moines, and your husband, Mason, is a transplant to the city. What are your thoughts on the art scene in Des Moines, and how have you seen it change since you've been back?

The art scene here is growing and vibrant and getting more diverse by the day. We have a freaking Kerry James Marshall now in our public art collection! Mainframe is a major attraction in our city. We have a wonderful Art Center and some rad groups within it (Art Noir, Print Club, Salon 4700). Shoot, Art Week Des Moines is a huge deal, and so is the Des Moines Arts Festival. The Barnum Factory is open and thriving. Art Terrarium in Elevencherry is hosting unique events and bringing artists and creators together. Olson-Larsen and Moberg Gallery continue to have incredible shows of local, regional and national artists, and fun events in and out of their gallery spaces. I love the OL (Olson-Larsen) Guild concept. There are various exhibition spaces around town in places one wouldn't normally think to look, including in Blackbird's Wilkins Building lobby, Baratta's at the Historical Building, Mars Cafe, The Lift and so many others. It's SWEET. And it's only going to get sweeter. I love when people come visit because there's always so much to do within the art scene.

What does Yellow Door Gallery have planned for Art Week 2018?

* RDG Dahlquist Art Studios Tour: Thursday, June 21; 5:30-7:30 p.m.

* June Exhibition Featuring Michael Velliquette and Joey Faerso: Sunday, June 24; 1-4 p.m. (exhibition open June 9 - July 8)

* Art Week Wind Down Yoga at Yellow Door Gallery: Sunday, June 24; 4-5 p.m. ($5 suggested donation)

Visit www.yellowdoordsm.com for details. See these events and others on the full Art Week Des Moines event schedule: www.artweekdesmoines.com/events

What Art Week events are you most excited to take part in?

The Artist Studio Tours that were organized this year each day of DSM Art Week are an awesome feature and super exciting to see on the lineup. I'm stoked to attend as many of those as I can. In addition, there are some great shows up during that time at Art Terrarium, Olson-Larsen and more. I'll see Betsy Hart's work at The Lift during Art Week and attend the Festival over the weekend. It's also fun to check out the Des Moines Social Club's Urban Visionaries show. So much to do in one week. Ah, I better start planning now.

Are there artists that you're looking forward to seeing at the 2018 Des Moines Arts Festival?

It's a secret.

Yellow Door Gallery is a residential alternative gallery space that is shifting the perceptions and dynamics of visual, aural, and performance art. Located in a private home in Des Moines, Iowa, the space connects emerging artists and collectors through salons, installations, concerts, and afternoon teas.

2121 Wakonda Drive

Des Moines, IA 50321

Open Sundays 1-4 p.m. or by appointment.

Interested in making an appointment or sharing your work? Contact info@yellowdoordsm.com.

[blackkudos]

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was an African-American playwright and writer.

She was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Her best known work, the play A Raisin in the Sun, highlights the lives of Black Americans living under racial segregation in Chicago. Hansberry's family had struggled against segregation, challenging a restrictive covenant and eventually provoking the Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee. The title of the play was taken from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"

At the young age of 29, she won the New York's Drama Critic's Circle Award — making her the first black dramatist, the fifth woman, and the youngest playwright to do so.

After she moved to New York City, Hansberry worked at the Pan-Africanist newspaper Freedom, where she dealt with intellectuals such as Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois. Much of her work during this time concerned the African struggle for liberation and their impact on the world. Hansberry has been identified as a lesbian, and sexual freedom is an important topic in several of her works. She died of cancer at the age of 34. Hansberry inspired Nina Simone's song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black".

Family

Lorraine Hansberry was the youngest of four children born to Carl Augustus Hansberry, a successful real-estate broker, and Nannie Louise (born Perry) a driving school teacher and ward commiteewoman. In 1938, her father bought a house in the Washington Park Subdivision of the South Side of Chicago, incurring the wrath of their white neighbors. The latter's legal efforts to force the Hansberry family out culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hansberry v. Lee. The restrictive covenant was ruled contestable, though not inherently invalid. Carl Hansberry was also a supporter of the Urban League and NAACP in Chicago. Both Hansberrys were active in the Chicago Republican Party. Carl died in 1946, when Lorraine was fifteen years old; "American racism helped kill him," she later said.

The Hansberrys were routinely visited by prominent Black intellectuals, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson. Carl Hansberry's brother, William Leo Hansberry, founded the African Civilization section of the history department at Howard University. Lorraine was taught: ‘‘Above all, there were two things which were never to be betrayed: the family and the race.’’

Lorraine Hansberry has many notable relatives including director and playwright Shauneille Perry, whose eldest child is named after her. Her grandniece is actress Taye Hansberry. Her cousin is the flutist, percussionist, and composer Aldridge Hansberry.

Hansberry became the godmother to Nina Simone's daughter Lisa—now Simone.

Education

Hansberry graduated from Betsy Ross Elementary in 1944 and from Englewood High School in 1948. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she immediately became politically active and integrated a dormitory. Hansberry's classmate Bob Teague remembered her as "...the only girl I knew who could whip together a fresh picket sign with her own hands, at a moment's notice, for any cause or occasion".

She worked on Henry A. Wallace's presidential campaign in 1948, despite her mother's disapproval. She spent the summer of 1949 in Mexico, studying painting at the University of Guadalajara.

Move to New York City

She decided in 1950 to leave Madison and pursue her career as a writer in New York City, where she attended The New School. She moved to Harlem in 1951 and became involved in activist struggles such as the fight against evictions.

Freedom

 newspaper

In 1951, she joined the staff of the black newspaper Freedom, edited by Louis E. Burnham and published by Paul Robeson. At Freedom, she worked with W. E. B. Du Bois, whose office was in the same building, and other Black Pan-Africanists. At the newspaper, she worked as "subscription clerk, receptionist, typist and editorial assistant" in addition to writing news articles and editorials.

One of her first reports covered the Sojourners for Truth and Justice convened in Washington, D.C., by Mary Church Terrell. She traveled to Georgia to cover the case of Willie McGee, and was inspired to write the poem "Lynchsong" about his case.

She worked not only on the US civil rights movement, but also on global struggles against colonialism and imperialism. Hansberry wrote in support of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, criticizing the mainstream press for its biased coverage.

Hansberry often clarified these global struggles by explaining them in terms of female participants. She was particularly interested in the situation of Egypt, "the traditional Islamic 'cradle of civilization,' where women had led one of the most important fights anywhere for the equality of their sex."

In 1952, Hansberry attended a peace conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, in place of Paul Robeson, who had been denied travel rights by the State Department.

Marriage

On June 20, 1953, she married Robert Nemiroff, a Jewish publisher, songwriter and political activist. Hansberry and Nemiroff moved to Greenwich Village, the setting of The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. Success of the song "Cindy, Oh Cindy", co-authored by Nemiroff, enabled Hansberry to start writing full-time. On the night before their wedding in 1953, Nemiroff and Hansberry protested the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in NYC.

It is widely believed that Hansberry was a closeted lesbian, a theory supported by her secret writings in letters and personal notebooks. She was an activist for gay rights and wrote about feminism and homophobia, joining the Daughters of Bilitis and contributing two letters to their magazine, The Ladder, in 1957 under her initials "LHN." She separated from her husband at this time, but they continued to work together.

A Raisin in the Sun was written at this time and completed in 1957.

Success as playwright

Opening on March 11, 1959, A Raisin in the Sun became the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. The 29-year-old author became the youngest American playwright and only the fifth woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Over the next two years, Raisin was translated into 35 languages and was being performed all over the world.

Hansberry wrote two screenplays of Raisin, both of which were rejected as controversial by Columbia Pictures. Commissioned by NBC in 1960 to create a television program about slavery, Hansberry wrote The Drinking Gourd. This script was called "superb" but also rejected.

In 1960, during Delta Sigma Theta's 26th national convention in Chicago, Hansberry was made an honorary member.

In 1961, Hansberry was set to replace Vinnette Carroll as the director of the musical Kicks and Co, after its try-out at Chicago's McCormick Place. It was written by Oscar Brown, Jr. and featured an interracial cast including Lonnie Sattin, Nichelle Nichols, Vi Velasco, Al Freeman, Jr., Zabeth Wilde and Burgess Meredith in the title role of Mr. Kicks. A satire involving miscegenation, the $400,000 production was co-produced by her husband Robert Nemiroff; despite a warm reception in Chicago, the show never made it to Broadway.

In 1963, Hansberry participated in a meeting with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, set up by James Baldwin.

Also in 1963, Hansberry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She underwent two operations, on June 24 and August 2. Neither was successful in removing the cancer.

On March 10, 1964, Hansberry and Nemiroff divorced but continued to work together.

While many of her other writings were published in her lifetime—essays, articles, and the text for the SNCC book The Movement—the only other play given a contemporary production was The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window ran for 101 performances on Broadway and closed the night she died.

Beliefs

Hansberry was an atheist.

According to historian Fanon Che Wilkins, "Hansberry believed that gaining civil rights in the United States and obtaining independence in colonial Africa were two sides of the same coin that presented similar challenges for Africans on both sides of the Atlantic." In response to the independence of Ghana, led by Kwame Nkrumah, Hansberry wrote: "The promise of the future of Ghana is that of all the colored peoples of the world; it is the promise of freedom."

Regarding tactics, Hansberry said Blacks "must concern themselves with every single means of struggle: legal, illegal, passive, active, violent and non-violent.... They must harass, debate, petition, give money to court struggles, sit-in, lie-down, strike, boycott, sing hymns, pray on steps—and shoot from their windows when the racists come cruising through their communities."

In a Town Hall debate on June 15, 1964, Hansberry criticized white liberals who couldn't accept civil disobedience, expressing a need "to encourage the white liberal to stop being a liberal and become an American radical." At the same time, she said, "some of the first people who have died so far in this struggle have been white men."

Hansberry was a critic of existentialism, which she considered too distant from the world's economic and geopolitical realities. Along these lines, she wrote a critical review of Richard Wright's The Outsider and went on to style her final play Les Blancs as a foil to Jean Genet's absurdist Les Nègres. However, Hansberry admired Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex.

In 1959, Hansberry commented that women who are "twice oppressed" may become "twice militant". She held out some hope for male allies of women, writing in an unpublished essay: "If by some miracle women should not ever utter a single protest against their condition there would still exist among men those who could not endure in peace until her liberation had been achieved."

Hansberry was appalled by the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which took place while she was in high school, and expressed desire for a future in which: "Nobody fights. We get rid of all the little bombs—and the big bombs." She did believe in the right of people to defend themselves with force against their oppressors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation began surveillance of Hansberry when she prepared to go to the Montevideo peace conference. The Washington, D.C. office searched her passport files "in an effort to obtain all available background material on the subject, any derogatory information contained therein, and a photograph and complete description," while officers in Milwaukee and Chicago examined her life history. Later, an FBI reviewer of Raisin in the Sun highlighted its Pan-Africanist themes as dangerous.

Death

Hansberry, a heavy smoker her whole life, died of pancreatic cancer on January 12, 1965, aged 34. James Baldwin believed "it is not at all farfetched to suspect that what she saw contributed to the strain which killed her, for the effort to which Lorraine was dedicated is more than enough to kill a man."

Hansberry's funeral was held in Harlem on January 15, 1965. Paul Robeson and SNCC organizer James Forman gave eulogies. The presiding minister, Eugene Callender, recited messages from Baldwin and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. which read: "Her creative ability and her profound grasp of the deep social issues confronting the world today will remain an inspiration to generations yet unborn." The 15th was also Dr. King's birthday. She is buried at Asbury United Methodist Church Cemetery in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.

Posthumous works

Hansberry's ex-husband, Robert Nemiroff, became the executor for several unfinished manuscripts. He added minor changes to complete the play Les Blancs, which Julius Lester termed her best work, and he adapted many of her writings into the play To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which was the longest-running Off Broadway play of the 1968–69 season. It appeared in book form the following year under the title To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words. She left behind an unfinished novel and several other plays, including The Drinking Gourd and What Use Are Flowers?, with a range of content, from slavery to a post-apocalyptic future.

Legacy

Raisin, a musical based on A Raisin in the Sun, opened in New York in 1973, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, with the book by Nemiroff, music by Judd Woldin, and lyrics by Robert Britten. A Raisin in the Sun was revived on Broadway in 2004 and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play. The cast included Sean Combs ("P Diddy") as Walter Lee Younger Jr., Phylicia Rashad (Tony Award-winner for Best Actress) and Audra McDonald (Tony Award-winner for Best Featured Actress). It was produced for television in 2008 with the same cast, garnering two NAACP Image Awards.

Nina Simone first released a song about Hansberry in 1969 called "To Be Young, Gifted and Black." The title of the song refers to the title of Hansberry's autobiography, which Hansberry first coined when speaking to the winners of a creative writing conference on May 1, 1964, "t]hough it be a thrilling and marvellous thing to be merely young and gifted in such times, it is doubly so, doubly dynamic — to be young, gifted and black." Simone wrote the song with a poet named Weldon Irvine and told him that she wanted lyrics that would "make black children all over the world feel good about themselves forever." When Irvine read the lyrics after it was finished, he thought, "I didn't write this. God wrote it through me." In a recorded to the introduction of the song, Simone explained the difficulty of losing a close friend and talented artist.

Patricia and Fredrick McKissack wrote a children's biography of Hansberry, Young, Black, and Determined, in 1998.

In 1999 Hansberry was posthumously inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Hansberry as one of his 100 Greatest African Americans.

The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre of San Francisco, which specializes in original stagings and revivals of African-American theatre, is named in her honor. Singer and pianist Nina Simone, who was a close friend of Hansberry, used the title of her unfinished play to write a civil rights-themed song "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" together with Weldon Irvine. The single reached the top 10 of the R&B charts. A studio recording by Simone was released as a single and the first live recording on October 26, 1969, was captured on Black Gold(1970).

Lincoln University's first-year female dormitory is named Lorraine Hansberry Hall. There is a school in the Bronx called Lorraine Hansberry Academy, and an elementary school in St. Albans, Queens, New York, named after Hansberry as well.

On the eightieth anniversary of Hansberry's birth, Adjoa Andoh presented a BBC Radio 4 programme entitled "Young, Gifted and Black" in tribute to her life.

In 2010, Hansberry was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.

In 2013, Hansberry was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display which celebrates LGBT history and people. This makes her the first Chicago-native honored along the North Halsted corridor.

Also in 2013, Lorraine Hansberry was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Lorraine Hansberry Elementary School was located in the 9th Ward of New Orleans. It was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It has since closed.

In 2017, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Works

A Raisin in the Sun (1959)

A Raisin in the Sun, screenplay (1961)

"On Summer" (essay) (1960)

The Drinking Gourd (1960)

What Use Are Flowers? (written c. 1962)

The Arrival of Mr. Todog – parody of Waiting for Godot

The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality (1964)

The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1965)

To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words (1969)

Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays / by Lorraine Hansberry. Edited by Robert Nemiroff (1994)

Toussaint. This fragment from a work in progress, unfinished at the time of Hansberry's untimely death, deals with a Haitian plantation owner and his wife whose lives are soon to change drastically as a result of the revolution of Toussaint L'Ouverture. (From the Samuel French, Inc. catalogue of plays.)

Wikipedia

[vintagenames]

Literature Name Combinations

Charles Dickens

Abel Mortimer

Ada Florence

Alice Henrietta

Arthur Mulberry

Betsy Arabella

Charles Montague „Charley“

Christopher Bayham „Kit“

Clara Harriet

Dolly Hortense

Edith Cornelia

Edmund Barnaby „Ned“

Edward Nicodemus „Tip“

Edwin Zephaniah

Emma Barbara

Esther Charlotte

Flora Caroline

Frederick Sampson

Henry Septimus

Jack Hannibal

James Ebenezer

Jane Lucretia

Jarvis Alexandre

Julius Théophile

Kitty Helen

Lucie Honoria

Mary Lavinia

Nancy Matilda

Nell Cecilia

Oliver Geoffrey

Philip Augustus „Pip“

Polly Sophronia

Rose Georgiana

Sydney Wilkins

Thomas Leicester „Tom“

Walter Solomon

[nsula]

President’s List Spring 2017

NATCHITOCHES – Five hundred and seventy-three students were named to the Spring 2017 President’s List at Northwestern State University. Students on the list earned a grade point average of 4.0. Those named to the President’s List listed by hometown are as follows.

Abbeville – Jabain August, Kayla Marceaux;

 Abita Springs – Harold Simmons;

 Alexandria – Lewis Davis, Dalan Dorsey, Teresa Foshee, William Griffin, Martha Hopewell, Jaliyah Jasper, Micaelee Jeansonne, Spencer Jones, Luke Laborde, Rachel Lavergne, Allyson McCowan, Ashley Mitchell, Katherine Mitchell, Wade Morris, Benjamin Murphy, Emilye Netherland, Ryan Ware, Eric Weinzettle, Elaina Williams;

 Alto, Texas – Cody Birdwell;

 Anacoco – Kristen Eusay, Benjamin Jackson, Haley Jett, Kayli O’Toole, Cassandra Osborne, Lindsay Plummer;

 Athens – Alejandra Monjardin;

 Baldwin – Gerianna Lyons;

 Ball – Sarah Morgan, Payton Pilgrim, Megan Wakefield;

 Barksdale AFB – Heather McGurn, Tova Volcheck;

 Basile – Betsi Smith;

 Bastrop – Emily Carson, Katie Stanley;

 Baton Rouge – Ramya Koritala, Stephanie Leger, Madalyn Mullins, Dakota Newman, Markeisha Patterson, Colleen Reese, Maria Rome;

 Bayside, Nova Scotia, Canada – April Trowbridge;

 Baytown, Texas – Abby Gardea;

 Beaumont, Texas – Dustin Burns;

 Belgorod, Russia – Elizaveta Gerasimova

 Belle Chasse – Alexandria Hughes, Megan Jenkins;

 Belmont – Cade Cramer;

 Benton – Nicholas Clay, Elizabeth Jones, Jessica O’Neal, Maegan Ross, Jenna Smith;

 Bossier City ­– Shelby Ansley, Sara Blankenship, Alexander Butler, Austin Coffey, Amanda Davis, Taylor Freeman, Joshua Greer, Ashlynn Henderson, Oai Lee Huynh, Nourain Jamhour, Tiffany Johnson, Emily Juarez, Chelsea Laverdiere, Mary Katheryn Lummus, Hang Lian, Myra Martinez, Alexa McKnight, Madison Morris, Yadira Ocanas, Shelby Peebles, Taylor Powell,  Jerdine Robinson, Madison Rowland, Kevin Smithey, James Taylor, Kellie Toms, Gennadiy Vavrenyuk, Jordan Wilcox;

 Boyce – Curtis Fennell, Carlie Gauthier, Hannah Miller, Lachan Misner;

 Breaux Bridge – Shayla James;

 Broussard – Amber Potier, Amelia Soileau;

 Buda, Texas – Kathryn Wristen;

 Bunkie – Emily Arnaud;

 Burleson, Texas – Addison Pellegrino, Donato Susca;

 Bush – Ashleigh Ranatza;

 Campti – Bridget DaGama, Floyd Turner;

 Cartagena, Colombia – Jorge Ojeda Munoz, Paula Martinez Marrugo;

 Catagena Bolivar, Colombia – Aura Hernandez Canedo;

 Centreville, Miss. – Taylor Priest;

 Cheneyville – Katelyn Baronne;

 Chopin – Daisy Delrie, Mary Guimaraes;

 Church Point – Kristian Burrow, Jennifer Thibodeaux;

 Citrus Springs, Florida – Megan McDonald;

 Colfax – Angela McCann, Katie Woodard;

 Converse – Heather Bryson, Ashley Forgues Brock, Wade Hicks, Elaina Richardson, Triston Waldon;

 Cottonport – Christopher Juneau;

 Coushatta – Sydney Anderson, Caroline Doughty, Jon Hester, Baley McAlexander, Shalondria Rainey, Jacob Shaver, Macie Wood;

 Covington – Kelsey Cassidy, Andrea Mier, Kenneth Sears, Crystal Tucker;

 Creole – Brooklyn Frerks;

 Cut Off – Zachary Breaux;

 Cypress, Texas – Alexis Warren, Mercedes Wiles;

 DeRidder – Brandy Bryant, Sara Bishop, Lauren Callis, Karli Chambers, Jennifer Jarell-Bell; John Pearce, Kristina Pfantz, Claudia Rouleau, Jacqueline Rushford;

 Delhi – Shelly Godard;

 Denham Springs – Tiffany Duval, Lyndsey Girlinghouse, Stacy McClendon, Amy Thomas;

 Des Allemands – Brooke Verda;

 Desoto, Texas – Janet Jackson;

 Destrehan – Hannah Boquet, Patrick Juneau, Shannon Walsh, Stephanie Webre;

 Deville – Aaron Belgard, Dana Davis, Candice Dryden, Kenedy Lampert, Alyssa Roberts;

 Dodson – Josie Greer;

 Duncanville, Texas – Fernando Zuniga;

 Duson – Desmond Prejean;

 East Windsor, N.J. – Andreia Martins;

 El-Rehab, Cairo, Egypt – Arwa Hezzah;

 Endicott, N.Y. – Tonya Rackett;

 Eros – Alecia Smith;

 Eunice – Victoria Hebert, Victoria McGee;

 Ferriday – Elizabeth Guerrero, Deyon White;

 Florence, Miss. – Stephanie Bailey;

 Florien – Cullen Hopkins, Caroline Matthews, Megan Wilmore;

 Forest – David Stephens;

 Forest Hill – Leslie Chavez, Charli Stanley;

 Forney, Texas – Jayden Wheeler;

 Fort Polk – Jamie Curtis, Robyn Foxworth, Shaunda Gordon, Kelsey Hart, Kenisha Smith, Sandra Valdez;

 Franklin – Mariah Pellerin;

 French Settlement – Tommie Espy;

 Frierson – Brittany Furrow;

 Garland, Texas – Alec Horton;

 Geismar – Emilee Hawkins;

 Georgetown – Brittany Farris;

 Glen Burnie, Md. – Kathern Speicher;

 Goldana – MacKenzie Johnson, Harley Godwin;

 Gonzales – Katelyn Marchand, Molly Moran;

 Grand Cane – Emily Miller;

 Gray -- Tevyn Johnson;

 Grayson -- Alicia Foy;

 Greer, S.C. ­– Carola Colon;

 Gretna – Brandi Bealer;

 Hallsville, Texas – Emma Hawthorne;

 Hammond ­– Blaike Peters;

 Harleton, Texas – Madalyn Evers;

 Hartselle, Ala. – Teresa Smith;

 Harvey – Taylor Bourgeois, Jessica Love, Jessica Rousset;

 Hassik – Vasquez Narvaez;

 Haughton – Jordge Cardenas Nunez, Michelle Feaster, Connor Geer, Aly Hesson, Alexis Hoeltje, Lucas Moncla, Jamie Phillips, Logan Turner, Bridgette Wilson, Hunter Woods;

 Heath, Texas – Megan Lohmiller;

 Hermon, Maine – Allessa Oakes;

 Hineston – Tylee Busby; Madison Morrison;

 Houma – Shelby Glynn, Blair Kramer, Sarah Lajaunie, Chelsea Thibodeaux;

 Houston, Texas – Kendall Westfall,

 Huntington, Texas – Travis Carrell;

 Huntsville, Ala. – Elizabeth Gilliam;

 Independence – Kaylan Showers;

 Iota – Katie Latiola;

 Iowa – Nicholas Fisher;

 Jena – Dustin Decker, Haley Decker, Tyler Thomas;

 Jennings – Janee Charles, Wesley Simien;

 Jonesboro, Ark. – Alanna Benoit;

 Jonesville – Coleen Cagle, Shana Jefferson, Kameron Stevenson;

 Kentwood – Jenna Morris;

 Kings Mountain, N.C. ��� Ashley Counts;

 Kaplan – Gabriel LeMoine;

 Keithville – Alexis Britt, Rachel Opbroek;

 Kendrick, Okla. – Chelsey Goldsmith;

 Kenner – Christina Arrechavala, Brooke Petkovich;

 Kiev, Ukraine – Kateryna Avram;

 Kinder – Stewart Wheeler;

 Kingwood, Texas – Eric Piccione;

 Lafayette – Taylor Aucoin, Anjelique Duplechin, Emile Lege, Jacklyn Marr;

 Lake Arthur – Layne Watkins;

 Lake Charles – Laura Cornish, Krista Dixon, Karley Hebert, Alyce Jimney, Rebekah Keller, Jordan Reich;

 Larose – Eric Bourg, Nicholas Hebert;

 Lawtell – Karoline Guidry;

 Lecompte – Hannah Glaze;

 Leesville – Destin Bennett, Kelly Bishop, Alexis Bynog, Charlotte Cassin, Caitlin Deon, Brianna Easterling, Ovina Forque, Jessica Gabor, Emily Jackson, Zachary Keeton, Jessica Mango, Miranda Mize, Brooke Perkins, Victoria Perkins, Danielle Smyth, Haley Tucker, Jacob Underwood, Lakyn Ward, Matthew Ward, Jessica Taylor;

 Lena – Tracy Benjamin, Nathaniel Dubois;

 Logansport – Trenton Timmons;

 Longview, Texas – Samantha Morris;

 Luling – Alexis Rice;

 Lutcher – Rebekah Taylor;

 Madisonville – Ashley Johansen. Christopher Snow, Jensen Volz;

 Mandeville – Nina DeSmith, Michelle Price;

 Mangham – Rebekah Aultman;

 Mangilao, Guam – Maria Magdalena Bansil;

 Mansfield – Hannah Hughes;

 Mansura – Renada Jenkins;

 Many – Hannah Allen, Chelsea Beasley, Jacob Ellis, Nicholas Ezernack, Angelica Galban, Sarah Heard, Abby Hinds, Heidi Knight, Emily Leone, Chastity McCrory, Jonathan Pilcher, Sabrina Ross, Samantha Simmons, John Sullivan;

 Marble Falls, Texas – Sarah Lewis;

 Marksville – Emily Ryan;

 Marthaville ­– Kelsey Claspill, Hanna Pardee, Lirette Thomas;

 McKinney, Texas – Beatrice Attura, Anne Repp;

 Melrose – Molly Dickerson;

 Meraux – Dana Methvin;

 Metairie – Kaitlyn Arena, Ariel Landry, Shawn Lawler, Cameron Mayfield, Lisa Roberson;

 Midland, Texas – Channing Burleson;

 Midlothian, Va. – Tatijana Rangel-Ribiero;

 Minden – Amanda Curry, Aubry Dennis, Ryan Harmon;

 Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – Kayla Bomben;

 Monroe – Kianisha Dillard, Anna Rogers, Savanna Whitten, Gail Wilson;

 Montgomery, Texas – Jake Rice, Kyle Swanson;

 Mooringsport – Jacklyn Dublin;

 Morgan City – Jeremy Orgeron;

 Morse – Kylan Poullard;

 Mt. Albert, Canada – Erin Sitarz;

 Muleshoe, Texas – Caitlyn Barber;

 Murrieta, Calif. – LaQuitta Wilkins;

 Natchitoches – Tyler Anderson, Francisco Ballestas-Sayas, Kayla Bordelon, Harvey Briggs, Deasia Burrell, Daniel Coffey, Fabian Correa Guette, Jessica Cross, Mazie Dubois, Kirsten Fontenot, Carlos Gomez Garcia, Angel Greer, Hannah Haigh, Ashytn Hare, Zachary Heard, Ashlyn Hogan, Jennifer Johnson, Shayla Johnson, Jeremy Jones, Emilie King, Florence Kilgore, James Lake, Lindsay Lee, Robert Lee, Heather Lockwood, Alba Maloff, Thomas Matuschka, Marissa Oster, Abigail Poe, Jonah Poe, Kaytie Proctor, Brandy Ranel, Amelia Ryland, Emily Salter, Josie Stamey, Faith Stanfield, Nicholas Swank, Madeline Taylor, Eva Venzant, Barbara Vercher-Smith, Richard Walks, Madysen Watts, Ryan Wright;

 New Iberia – Kristine Trahan;

 New Llano – Reaz Khan, Matreena Sablan;

 Newark, Del. – Sabri Thompson;

 Noble – James Connella, James Curtis, Harlee Possoit, Breana Remedes;

 Oak Grove – Heather Allen;

 Oakdale – Katelyn Johnson, Kirstin Richard, Mary Wharton;

 Oconomowoc, Wisc. – Natalie Jaeger;

 Opelousas – Tracey Antee, Toria Smith, Erika Stanford;

 Pelican – Justin Cooper, Mary Myers;

 Pioneer – Moesha Smith;

 Pineville – Raegan Brocato, Snow Buckley, Mason Caubarreaux, Kaylee Chronister, Raymond Fletcher, Lacey Hebron, Morgan Humphries, Michael Martin, Ashlee Mitchell, Stacey Ramsey, Katie Rayburn, Jodie Roberts, Candice Smith, Allison Williams;

 Pitkin – Aimee Calmes, Mattie Stewart;

 Plain Dealing – Jacob Horton;

 Plaquemine ­– Ma Kayla Washington;

 Pleasant Hill – Samatha Davis, Laura Spann;

 Pollock – Zackary Phillips;

 Pontchatoula – Brandon Dalon, Marisa Durand, Raley Pellittieri;

 Prairieville – Jakalyn Hills, Caitlin Miller;

 Provencal – Taylor Craft, Kara Gandy, Bailey Scarbrough;

 Quitman – Katheryn Gaulden;

 Raeford, N.C. – Brittney Carpenter;

 Rayne – Meraiah Young;

 Ringgold – Joseph Hays, Lauren Nelson;

 River Ridge – Emily Digangi;

 Robeline – Bergen Oge, Courtney Rachal, Fawn Slaughter, Jeffrey Watley, Caleb Wester;

 Rocklin, Calif. – Madeline Mason

 Rosepine – Summer Cooley

 Rostov-on-Don, Russia – Vladislava Litvinova;

 Ruston – Karenthia Crosby Onwudebe;

 Sachse, Texas ­– Ryan Verloin DeGruy;

 Saint Francisville – Jordan Bringedahl;

 Saint Rose – Alexis Mancuso;

 Sanford, N.C. ­– Joseph Tippit;

 Saumur Maine et Loire, France – Yohann Yjjou

 Schriever – Holly Cantrelle;

 Scott ­ – Katelyn Kidder

 Seattle, Wash. – Lauren Agan;

 Shelbyville, Texas – Sarah Ryder;

 Shongaloo – Kayla Mouser;

 Shreveport – Lindsey Adkins, Karianna Baker, Brittany Barnes, Angelica Bartlett, Ezar Bess, Hannah Bolton, Crystal Brown, Erin Brown, Brianna Burke, Nicollette Carswell, Phillip Clark, Crystal Claunch, Celeste Clifton, Hannah Crnkovic, Emily Dean, Kaitlyn Doyal, Jackson Driggers, Sarah Dunn, Reagan Escude, Lashayla Ester, Ronald Evans, Irishia Finister, Tyler Gardner, Nickolas Juneau, Adrianne Kelly, Emalee Kennon, Cole Laird, Bih-Lih Lau, Erin LeClair, Jaylon Lewis, Casey Long, Joycelyn McConnell, Rici McDonald, James McGrail, Rosemary McMaster, Madison Milligan, Hannah Nicholls, Hayden Pilcher, Taylor Poleman, Emily Rankin, Anna Richardson, Zachary Sanders, Jarred Sepulvado, Kathryn Shrader, Tyler Smith, Destini Sweet, Rachel Taylor, Michael Thrower, JeVannica Williams, Suzanne Williams Tiffani Williams, Jonathan Zavalydriga;

 Simsboro – Autumn Smith;

 Slaughter – Ciara Gibbs;

 Slidell – Claire Harvey, Jourdan Waddell;

 Spain – Judit Castillo Gargallo;

 Spring, Texas – Victoria Harris;

 St. Mars lo Briere – Marion Cormier;

 St. Martinville – Alli Douet;

 Stockbridge, Ga. – Alisa Newsome;

 Stonewall – Brooke Meade;

 Sulphur – Tina Honea, Elizabeth Perez;

 Summerfield – Mackenzie Scriber;

 Sunset – Emma Warren;

 Tatum, Texas – Randall Sullivan;

 Temple, Texas – Weston Scholten;

 Texarkana, Texas – Karlie Purdy;

 The Woodlands, Texas – Robyn Beatty;

 Thibodaux – Nia Walker;

 Tomball, Texas – Anthony Lucas;

 Trout – Harley Lisenby;

 Vinton – Emily Walter;

 Waco, Texas – Haylie Hickman;

 Waskom, Texas – Mary Alexander;

 Waukomis, Okla. – Colby Koontz;

 West Monroe – Abigail Beck, Brandy Chapman, Maggie Harris, Kayla Telano;

 Winnfield – John Collins, Mia County, Andrew Harrel, Rebecca Hodnett, Anissa Jones, Kelsey Jordan, Brittany Parker;

 Winnipeg, Canada – Tyra Duma;

 Woodworth – Elizabeth Bonnette, Taylor Henry, Ashley Kennedy-Rowell;

 Wylie, Texas – Kylie Nodorft, Grace Punch, Kali Roberts;

 Zwolle – Cheyanne Ebarb, Holden Rivers;

[goddamnmuses]

Invincible Fancast - Part 5

Arthur Rosebaum - Mark Hamill

Principal B.N. Winslow - Reginald VelJohnson

Bi-Plane - Michael Keaton

Adam Wilkins - Steve Monroe

Betsy Wilkins - Donna Lynne Champlin

[7newx1]

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) will call for a ban on for-profit charter schools and a temporary moratorium on funding for public-charter-school expansion in a campaign speech to be delivered Saturday, CNN first reported.In his Saturday speech in South Carolina, Sanders plans to endorse the NAACP's claim that charter-school expansion has had an adverse effect on African Americans who suffer from the resulting lack of funding for public schools. In order to combat this alleged harm, Sanders will call on the government to cut off public funding for all charter schools until an extensive audit has been conducted.While other 2020 Democratic contenders have expressed skepticism about the role of charter schools in improving America's educational standing, Sanders is the first aspirant to explicitly call on Washington to cut off their funding.Sanders's plan would also limit charter schools' ability to develop innovative curricula by mandating that they comply with many of the same oversight measures applied to traditional public schools.Opponents of the plan argue that it would harm the very people it intends to help, namely low-income African Americans and other minorities who continue to struggle with high attrition rates and disproportionately low standardized-test scores.Amy Wilkins, senior vice president of advocacy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, emphasized the pro-charter school stance adopted by three NAACP chapters in California that oppose the national organization's position.“Sanders's call is out of touch -- as usual -- with what African Americans want,” Wilkins said in a statement to CNN. “More disturbing, the senator -- for personal political gain -- would literally lock African-American students into schools that have failed them for generations.”Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has prioritized school-choice advocacy during her tenure, proposing, among other things, a $5 billion federal tax credit that would fund scholarships and education programs for private schools.

[mandareeboo]

Ma'am I understand marriage is a sanctity thing and important but at this point JUST DIVORCE HIM, why do you let him do this to your daughter.

[myinformationforyouworld]

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) will call for a ban on for-profit charter schools and a temporary moratorium on funding for public-charter-school expansion in a campaign speech to be delivered Saturday, CNN first reported.In his Saturday speech in South Carolina, Sanders plans to endorse the NAACP's claim that charter-school expansion has had an adverse effect on African Americans who suffer from the resulting lack of funding for public schools. In order to combat this alleged harm, Sanders will call on the government to cut off public funding for all charter schools until an extensive audit has been conducted.While other 2020 Democratic contenders have expressed skepticism about the role of charter schools in improving America's educational standing, Sanders is the first aspirant to explicitly call on Washington to cut off their funding.Sanders's plan would also limit charter schools' ability to develop innovative curricula by mandating that they comply with many of the same oversight measures applied to traditional public schools.Opponents of the plan argue that it would harm the very people it intends to help, namely low-income African Americans and other minorities who continue to struggle with high attrition rates and disproportionately low standardized-test scores.Amy Wilkins, senior vice president of advocacy at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, emphasized the pro-charter school stance adopted by three NAACP chapters in California that oppose the national organization's position.“Sanders's call is out of touch -- as usual -- with what African Americans want,” Wilkins said in a statement to CNN. “More disturbing, the senator -- for personal political gain -- would literally lock African-American students into schools that have failed them for generations.”Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has prioritized school-choice advocacy during her tenure, proposing, among other things, a $5 billion federal tax credit that would fund scholarships and education programs for private schools.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://yhoo.it/2QjsZPj

[takebackthedream]

New York's Religious Schools Reveal Hazards of "School Choice" by Tim Wilkins

On a recent trip to New York City, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos visited two schools—not the public schools her agency is charged with overseeing, but two Orthodox Jewish yeshivas. 

Photo credit: Shutterstock / cc

DeVos used the opportunity to advocate for her lifelong crusade, “school choice.” As head of the Education Department, she’s proposed vastly expanding vouchers for private religious schools using public education funding, shattering the Constitutional barrier between church and state.

While fourteen states allow tax dollars to fund religious school vouchers, thirty-seven state constitutions contain Blaine Amendments, limiting state funding to religious schools. Many states have enacted policies that contravene or chip away at the Blaine protections, to the delight of DeVos, who has urged such restrictions be “assigned to the ash heap of history.”

Nowhere is this more evident than New York, as a bitter dispute has escalated over the lack of academic instruction offered by yeshivas, which accept state funding but reject state education laws. DeVos came to New York to court the monolithic ultra-Orthodox vote. She is also backstopping a single state senator, Simcha Felder, who alone has tilted the balance of power toward public funding of religious education in the state.

Should DeVos and other “school choice” advocates get their wish, New York’s experience with yeshivas may portend what is to come as public education budgets are hijacked to fund private religious schools in many more places.

Over the last few years, former students and parents have gone public to expose yeshivas that do not provide required secular studies. This includes basic English instruction. Generations of children who attend these schools were born and raised in New York, yet only speak Yiddish.

Preventing children from learning to fully assimilate, speak English, or attend college helps religious leaders and educators keep their rapidly growing community close to home. The nonprofit Young Advocates for Fair Education, or Yaffed, has led the campaign encouraging whistleblowers to step out of the shadows.

Posted on Yaffed’s website are unnerving testimonials describing a culture of dictatorial control, total academic neglect, peer pressure, censorship and even racist indoctrination. As Yaffed activist Naftuli Moster writes in a post on Medium:

“In most Hasidic elementary schools, boys receive just 90 minutes of instruction in secular studies. That usually consists of just English and math. In most Hasidic high schools, boys receive no secular education at all. They spend up to 14 hours a day in Yeshiva, but study exclusively Judaic studies.”

Also emerging from the debate are shocking demographic statistics, with insular Hasidic communities in Rockland County qualifying as the poorest in the state with poverty rates over 70 percent, and others in Orange County close behind. With a general poverty rate of 15.4 percent statewide, census data show approximately 43 percent of Hasidic households in poverty, with greater percentages receiving cash assistance, food stamps, public health care, and Section 8 housing. These trends owe to extremely large family sizes, a tradition of young marriage, and a distinct lack of marketable skills.

Because so many yeshivas do not “register” with New York state, they do not issueofficial high school diplomas or offer Regents exams. In Rockland County, only about23 percent of boys and 42 percent of girls in Jewish religious schools are eligible to graduate with state-recognized diplomas, compared to about 94 percent in other nonpublic schools.The projections for growth in the ultra Orthodox community have also stirred concerns over economic sustainability, infrastructure, housing density, and overdevelopment.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned last May amid misconduct revelations, was regularly apprised of the non-compliance in the yeshivas, as were his deputies in the civil rights division and public integrity bureau, to no avail.

A long-promised investigation by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has suspiciously stalled out. Asked about the controversy, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer advised advocates to press the mayor to complete the investigation as only sixteen of thirty-nine yeshivas have been investigated in almost three years.

State education law says non-public schools receiving public funding must offer academic instruction that is “substantially equivalent” to public schools. Religious groups have applied political pressure to convince officials to ignore the law, using campaign cash and public relations to deflect from the basic legal question, for example saying parents have a right to choose religious instruction for their children.

Such is the power and influence of the Orthodox Jewish bloc, represented ably by the national organization Agudath Israel. New York City councilman Daniel Dromm, who chaired the education committee for years, recently noted that no one with statewide political aspirations dares to cross this constituency.

Many from the community have observed that parents and students want the secular studies but face heavy social pressure to not make waves and stay in the school associated with their particular sect. Naftuli Moster, the founder and executive director of Yaffed, has been subjected to public smears, intimidation and even death threats as his organization has worked to garner attention to the issue.

The politics that enable New York’s radical yeshivas trace back to manipulative redistricting in 2011. Empowered by a group of breakaway Democrats, Republicans created a state senate district in Brooklyn sometimes referred to as the Jewish “super-district” because it is so densely populated with Orthodox, ultra-Orthodox, and Hasidic Jews. This led to the election of a not-so-loyal Democrat, state senator Simcha Felder, who used his pivotal position in an evenly divided senate to hand control to the Republicans.

East Ramapo, a school district in the New York City suburbs, has about 8,500 students in public schools and almost 28,000 in private Jewish religious schools. The ultra-Orthodox community won a majority on the school board in 2005, and began to defund public schools. Layoffs followed, with deep cuts to arts, sports, clubs and high school electives. They even eliminated kindergarten classes mid-year, leaving the predominantly minority public school parents in the lurch.

Worse still, the school board began closing schools and selling the property to the yeshiva network. One public school was closed and offered for sale to a yeshiva group at millions under market value, prompting an investigation from the office of Attorney General Schneiderman.

The story of the East Ramapo school board includes years of contentious votes, protests, scandals and lawsuits, chronicled thoughtfully in 2014 by the public radio program This American Life. But the adversity continued, by 2015 resulting in the appointment of state monitors and new oversight duties for the state education commissioner.

But the monitors had their veto power stripped away in legislative wrangling, and in 2017, state education commissioner MaryEllen Elia doled out millions in taxpayer dollars for non-mandated religious school transportation in exchange for baseline budget approvals.

Earlier this month, however, East Ramapo voters failed to pass a school district budget, meaning the district will be run on a contingency budget for the next school year and again face “dire” cuts.

Commissioner Elia has drafted guidelines for curriculum compliance that have angered the yeshivas. Sensing that Elia is poised to impose new enforcement regulations, the Orthodox bloc called in favors. Last April, Senator Felder again leveraged his one decisive vote to hold the budget vote hostage at the last second, demanding a carve-out of the education rules for yeshivas. The incident generated statewide and national attention, exemplified by a series of revealing videos released by Fox News.

In the final days of the 2018 legislative session, New York state senate majority leader, Republican John Flanagan (who ostensibly owes his leadership position to Simcha Felder), proposed a bill that would to strip authority away from the Commissioner in favor of “local control,” making the state defer to “curriculum experts” familiar with the yeshivas unique brand of instruction.

Predictably, the bill was considered “dead on arrival” in the Democratic-led state assembly and never got a vote, so the session ended without resolving the issue. Democrats seem confident they can take back the state senate in November, in which case Felder has sold his tie-breaking vote for the last time.

But Betsy DeVos’s visit made clear her strong bias for religious schools. Under her leadership, the Trump Administration seeks less government oversight for private religious schools, perfectly content to deny fundamental courses like social studies, science, history, civics, physical education, health and geography to students who invariably grow up to bloc-vote in lockstep behind their religious leaders.

First published at The Progressive

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Swimjunkie Challenge: An Open Water Swimming

Swimjunkie Challenge is the only open-water swimming series that offers long distance destination swims in the Philippines. Racers travel to swim anywhere from 2.5KM to 10KM in exotic but challenging swim locations.

For the first race of the season, 280 swimmers made their way to Lobo, Batangas on May 6, to swim 2.5KM and 5KM along the Verde Island Passage.

On its second year, the Swimjunkie Challenge held at Lio Beach in El Nido on June 10, 2018. The race is co-presented by Lio Tourism Estate, supported by the LGU and its Mayor Nieves Rosento and sponsored by Seafood Island and Wilkins Pure Water.

The Swimjunkie Challenges were created by Betsy Medalla, a former Philippine National Swim Team Member and the first Asian to make the iconic cold water swim crossing from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand in Cape Town, South Africa.

Today, the number of races per year has more than tripled with some races generating more than 300 participants. Now swimmers are no longer limiting themselves to 2KM but more and more are open to the challenge of swimming longer distances.

The Swimjunkie Challenge Series has been instrumental in encouraging swimmers to not only transition from pool swimming to the open water but to attempt longer and longer distances.

In August 19, 2018, the flagship race of Swimjunkie Series, Swimjunkie Challenge will be held in Caramoan with 5KM and 10KM swim.

What sets the Swimjunkie Challenge series apart from other races? – “Recognized for establishing the Philippines as an open water swimming destination and helping to protect the marine environment in the process.”