#homestead act benefits

[alwaysbewoke]

[lectorel]

Dalish Political Opinions:

I've been working on worldbuilding regarding Dalish culture and beliefs, as a framework for writing stories more focused on Dalish characters and clans. This is a rough draft of what different clans might believe and practice, and how those attitudes could differ.

The Future Homeland:

Building a Neo-Arlathan: The great city should rise again, as the jewel of the Dalish culture. We'll benefit most from having a single, large city with strong defenses and room for the clans to overwinter.

Reclaiming the Dales: The Dales should be ours. We should have a wide range of settlements from tiny homesteads to a capital city, dispersed and defended so that we can never loss everything in a single siege.

Founding a Third Kingdom: We need to find a new place to live and build a kingdom, bringing the best of Arlathan and the Dales to a fresh slate.

Nomadic Life: the Dalish are best served by continuing to be nomads, with only semi-permanent encampments and small settlements. We are best served by finding better ways to bring wealth with us and defend ourselves while on the move, not putting a target on our backs by having a fixed location.

Religion: 

Literalists: These are the stories we have, which we believe are the truth of what happened. The moral and social rules they lay out should be followed as strictly as possible

Reconstructionists: Our myths may be missing information or misconstrued. What matters is that we act in good faith, keeping to the core tenets, and continue searching for more evidence of our past. The details of the rules are less important than the intent.

Functionalist: it doesn't matter if our myths are true or not. What matters is the fact that they're ours, and they show us what it means to be Dalish. Rules can be discarded entirely if they no longer work for a clan.

Diplomacy:

Non-Dalish Elves:

Isolation: we should have nothing to do with anyone outside the Dalish Clans. In an ideal world, we would have a country all our own that no one outside of the clans even knew existed. The elves of the cities are not our concern.

Expansion: we should actively be bringing non-dalish elves into the clans. In an ideal world, all elves would be Dalish.

Collaboration: We should develop positive relationships with elves outside the clans, without recruiting. In an ideal world, the Dalish would be independent but have friends, business partners, lovers, and allies who were of many faiths.

Dwarves:

Alliance: The dwarves' religious beliefs are perfectly compatible with Dalish beliefs, and both groups specialize in areas the other lacks. We're natural allies, and should seek to strengthen ties.

Non-Interference: The dwarves are not our problem, and there is nothing they can offer us that would make it worth getting involved in their politics or the mess of the darkspawn in the deep roads.

Hostility: The dwarves have never helped us, they've never acted even when it would cost them very little. They have no magic. They're not like us, and they can't be trusted.

Humans:

Hostility: Fuck Orlais, fuck tevinter, and fuck everyone who allies with them. Shemlens can't be trusted.

Strategic Ties: Many, if not most, humans are awful, but individual ones can be trustworthy. Maintaining ties with the morally upright among them will keep us safer than a universal rejection.

Sympathy: We have a great deal in common with the poor and unwelcome of human society. What is done to them, and what they do in response, could make them valuable allies if we approached them in the correct way.

Qunari:

Most clans outside of the free marches don't have an opinion about the qunari. Clans within the free marches range from 'well they scared the shems' to 'and they scared us'. It's expected to be a major subject of debate at the next Arlathvhen

Magic:

Political beliefs about magic can generally be split into two attitudes: enthusiastically embracing it, or accepting it with reservations. (There are a few fringe clans who reject it entirely, and require non-mage keepers, firsts, and seconds, and a few more will allow non-mages as keepers without requiring it, but they are very rare.)

Political opinions about magic map very neatly to geographic location - the closer a clan's territory is to Tevinter, the more suspicious that clan is of magic. It was the northernmost clans that took the precept of the three mage minimum and decided it would also be their maximum.

Northern clans, if they're sending extra mages away, will travel south to make sure the young mage isn't picked up by Tevinter. Not doing so can result in a clan's leadership being declared illegitimate at the Arlathvhen.

As a result, most non-Dalish are not aware of the variety of opinions regarding magic, and assume that all Dalish clans allow only three mages.

Dalish clans in Rivain, on the other end of the spectrum, pride themselves on having as many mages as possible, to the point that not having a mage available to be a clan's Second is a bad omen and sign of potential disaster. This has, in the past decade, lead to what the Dalish call 'Rivaini diplomacy' - the practice of Rivaini clans sending members to live with clans adjacent to Tevinter, for the chance to adopt any young mages the clans send away.

[enbycrip]

Okay, I’ve now seen the unaltered version of this cartoon being shared uncritically by too many fucking leftist pages.

The original first image read “You can have these 200 acres for free if you grow some turnips on it or whatever”. I’ve had to alter it (badly) to made it clearer what it actually refers to.

It refers to the US Homesteading Acts, where white settlers were offered legal deeds to 200 acres of land if they kept it under an agreed and attested level of cultivation for 5-10 years (different acts had different provisions).

The *specific* reason this was offered was literally as part of the US’ policy of indigenous American genocide. They were designed *specifically* to get land belonging to and utilised by indigenous Americans into the white, European-designed legal system the US utilised (and still utilises) with a trail of ownership to *white* people so that that could be weaponised to force indigenous American tribes off their land.

It’s not “people had it better in the past”; it’s specifically “a certain group of people were actively privileged over another group and recruited to benefit from the genocide of the second group so they would take part in that genocide”.

Genocides, by and large, don’t simply happen because of baseless ideological hatred. They’re driven by material and economic interests, and the ideology is put in place to cover and legitimise this - whether to the people taking part in it or to the wider world.

In most of the world today, and *certainly* in settler colonial and former colonial powers like the US, Canada, and the UK, any calls for social and economic justice that erase genocide and colonialism, and the material benefit our states today have attained due to them, are *still* taking part in genocide and colonialism, and so are we, as individuals, if we allow this discourse to go by unchallenged.

[wordsbymae]

👀‼️ big gruff farmer man perhaps catching his house ‘wife’ keeping themselves uhh..company (they’re jacking it off babeeyy(or flicking the bean for the girlies, I think???))

I just wanna say the way you worded this was so funny to me. I love it. and yes I think that's what some people call it? I should know but I would also never say that lol. This is also kinda from his pov and the reader is gn :)

swearing and implied smut! you've been warned. Don't like it then scroll away please

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He was gone for much longer than he liked.

It was worrying.

He trained them well, of course, and had strict rules and promises of rewards and harsh punishments. But you never really knew do you?

They could have been pretending this whole time, making him believe they were conditioned. Or they might have a break in their training, a flaw. Something that sets them off. Or worse, a nosy do-gooder rocking up to the homestead asking silly questions.

It was all so worrying.

He left as quickly as he could, dropping off this year's bull calves to the sale yards. He would collect his money later, maybe even bringing his pumpkin for a drive.

No, of course not. What a silly idea.

He drove home as fast as his old stock truck would let him. The gears screeched and revved as he went around corners.

The house quickly came into view. The homestead overlooks the valley on top of a hill.

After roaring the truck up the dirt driveway, dust billowing behind him, and nearly running over his pumpkin's prized hens, he parked and jumped out.

There were no strange tyre tracks that weren't his. The washing had been done as he asked. Smoke was lazily drifting from the chimney, a sign of dinner on the stove. It seemed like everything was ok, that there was no need to worry.

But they weren't there to greet him. His love wasn't standing by the door waiting with open arms and a smile. There were no soft words nor a kiss on the cheek.

That was worrying.

He marched up to the front door and ripped it open. Expecting them to be just behind it, just moments until opening the door themselves.

But they weren't.

The farmer slowly walked in slowly, listening carefully.

Had they left? Runaway? Did someone take them? What if they were hur-

A soft moan came from upstairs.

It was nothing more than a breath but it was damming.

With careful and quiet steps, the farmer made his way to the bedroom. The closer he got the louder the moans become.

He was furious.

Did his pumpkin really think they could sleep around with someone else?

Who the fuck even was it? They didn't know anyone else than him.

Were they really such a cock hungry whore they would let anyone fuck them?

He stopped just before the door. The moans and sighs were deafening, he could tell his pumpkin was close.

He grabbed his revolver from his jeans and checked to see if it was loaded (not very gun safe mate)

Somebody needed to die tonight and it sure wasn't gonna be his pumpkin.

He kicked the door with a vengeance and raised the gun up ready to murder the fucker who didn't understand how much his love meant to him.

He was expecting pumpkin to scream, maybe even the fucker too as well, maybe even a fight.

He wasn't expecting his love to scream alone in the bedroom.

"Where is he?" he growled, the gun now pointing at the floor. "He under the bed?"

"Where's who?" pumpkin shouted while pulling the sheets over their naked body.

"Don't act stupid pumpkin! Where's the dead man who's been fucking you!"

"What?" they asked confused.

He should give them credit, they were quite the actor.

"Pumpkin, you can't save him alright. He's gonna end his last day with a bullet in his skull. So just tell me where he is and I'll give you the benefit of not having to see it." he growled, opening closests and looking under the bed.

Nothing, there was no one.

This fucker was quick. Did he jump out the window?

"There is no one else! It's just me" pumpkin urged

"You think I'm a fool, don't ya sweet pea. I heard you fucking him!"

Pumpkin's face went read

"See! You were fucking another. So where'd he go? Outside?" he said, about to make his way outside, swap his revolver for a rifle on the way out.

"No! I wasn't sleeping with anyone else... I, while I was"

"You were what? Cmon spit it out"

"I was...Touching myself" pumpkin whispered, face dark with embarrassment.

"Oh"

"I promise I wasn't sleeping with someone else... I don't even know anyone else"

"Yeah, I know" he grumbled sitting on the edge of the bed "I was just worried"

"You kicked our door off the hinges and had a gun pointed at an imaginary figure, you were much more than worried."

"Fine! I was jealous. You got me" he scoffed, he didn't like admitting to his sins. A moment passed, pumpkin still naked under the thin cream sheets.

"who were you thinking of?"

"Pardon?"

"when you were touching yourself and getting all flustered. Was it me?"

"Maybe..." they giggled

"That ain't a funny joke. If it wasn't me tell me who it was and I'll kill him"

"It was you, I promise" pumpkin rushed, the farmer had a sense of humour like a rock.

"Good. I better be the only one you think of....I'm still jealous"

"Of who? Of you in my head?" pumpkin sassed

"Watch the attitude, do I have to wash that mouth out?"

"No sir," pumpkin said, face stern. Too many jokes at his expense often led to punishment.

"I was gonna say I'm jealous of your hands' sweet pea. Getting to touch you when I'm not here. It's not fair, darlin', it ain't right for a Husband to not be the one to bring his partner pleasure. Ain't natural." He stated, a hand on pumpkin's cheek "I think you need to be punished"

"Punished?" pumpkin whispered.

"Of course! To teach you a lesson to not touch what doesn't belong to you. Now bend over pumpkin, show your husband what's his"

[indigosfindings]

tiff thoughts part 2

seeds was like. fine i guess? idk, it had some pretty composition & good scenery shots, and the style emulation of tiktok/IG was flawless (& i wish it had been leaned into more past the first act lol), but it overall parsed as kind of simplistic, directionless, punch-pulling, & budget-constrained. for as much of a thriller as it's trying to be, there's little sense of threat or escalation. some of the humour was pretty funny, esp when it (very intermittently) leans into internet-style jokes, but a lot of it was also reeeally dry

sharp corner was really, really good. an extremely tight character study. im obsessed with the sort of inversion of "defending the homestead" it presents. astonishingly realistic depiction of Main Character Syndrome with an unwaveringly meticulous & attentive rendition of the pursuant thought processes. the decisions wrt the rural scenery and the cast demography (eg the protagonist inviting himself to a black man's funeral as part of his entitled absorption of suffering) reaffirm my belief that the neuroses in question are best taken as, like, an extension--a really creative one!--of white supremacy & colonial fantasies of atomized self-sufficiency

ick was solid. the central theming (monster/infection as (in joseph kahn's own words) longstanding & festering in an embodiment of the modern culture of crisis (& also, like, stagnancy/alienation)) is surprisingly meaty but held back imo by the noncommittal tone. im 100% able to fuck with an insincere movie, but i think one is kinda kidding oneself to suggest that a film in the key of, like, 'scary movie' is meaningfully bringing light to any loftier ambition. the political satire is present but barebones, and the bothsidesy have-your-cakey insistence on attempting to skewer both the right and the left (plenty of Conspiracy Nut type jokes, and plenty of "Woke Soyboy" type jokes), while admittedly demonstrating a rare-among-filmmakers degree of awareness of The Moment (albeit putting that to little use), when combined with the solipsistic tone, ultimately gives 'south park' more than anything. i will concede tho that it does have some really funny moments ("im calling the president"), and i think it's worth a watch purely for the insanely idiosyncratic visual style--i cant overstate how much it aesthetically parses like a feature-length music video (feat. plenty of needledrop-as-punchline moments too!). it's 90 minutes but feels a LOT longer (and not even in a bad way!)

the assessment was fucking WILD, i absolutely loved it. insane performance from alicia vikander. clashing incentives make extremely compelling drama, & textual richness is mined from the high concept--im enamoured with the idea of two people, assured in the security of their own social position, running aground of an abusive state apparatus, and the pull-no-punches approach to painting the scenario in shades of perversion & violence only enriches it further... it's as if the movie begs the viewer to remember times & places & ways that they & others have been dehumanized, deanonymized, stripped down & humiliated as part of some system's function. the biggest weakness is prpbably that the setting--an overtly eugenicist dystopia--is BEGGING to cast a dozen more shades of gray over the narrative concerns wrt reproduction & reproductive futurism, but the screenplay doesnt seem to have been written with any interest in that. i was initially wary about the (VERY) detailed epilogue, but ive settled on feeling that it recontextualizes earlier suspicions in a way that is more to the film's benefit than not. also i was thrown off by the extent to which elizabeth olsen looks and sounds like caitlin reilly lmao

[ausetkmt]

Teachers enraged that Florida’s new Black history standards say slaves could ‘benefit’

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article277539723.html

The Florida Board of Education Wednesday, July 19, passed new standards for teaching Black history in public schools that included a controversial measure that says slaves could have benefited from their enslavement. pportal@miamiherald.com

The approval of Florida’s new Black history curriculum didn’t surprise Crystal Etienne.

A seventh-grade civics teacher in Miami-Dade County, she has seen it coming since 2022. She attended several civics training sessions over the last year — including the one where the instructor claimed presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson opposed slavery, even though both were slave owners — so the changes were somewhat expected. Still, the state’s newly adopted standards for teaching Black history left Etiennne mortified.

The Florida Board of Education certified the new standards Wednesday, causing an uproar among many. Some of the more concerning changes included teachings about how enslaved people benefited from their bondage, an attempt to contextualize American slavery within the global history of slavery and the false equivalence of anti-Black violence with acts of Black resistance.

Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, who attended the Wednesday meeting, pointed to part of the middle-school standards that would require instruction to include “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

“I am very concerned by these standards, especially … the notion that enslaved people benefited from being enslaved. It’s inaccurate and a scary standard for us to establish in our educational curriculum,” Eskamani said.

Etienne, the West Homestead K-8 Center teacher, was equally disturbed.

“It’s disgusting to use children as pawns in their adult scheme,” she said, calling the changes an “indoctrination” into “white, Christian nationalism.” “They feel like if you’re teaching the bad, it somehow takes away from the good and it doesn’t. If I’m not allowed to teach the evolution of the country and the changes that have been made, what am I doing?”

“This is fascism at its best,” added Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of the United Teachers of Dade, which represents teachers in Miami-Dade public schools. “This is exactly what fascist governments do when they censor teachers, when they go after education, when they try and suppress content from being taught.”

Since the Florida Legislature passed a slew of education laws over the past two years — from giving parents power to challenge books to restricting how gender identity and sexual orientation is taught from Pre-K to eighth grade — teachers have been worried, Hernandez-Mats said.

But these changes related to Black history are “not a way that students should be educated,” she said.

“This is narrowing minds,” Hernandez-Mats said. “We want children to be well-rounded, well-educated, to have access to high-quality education... when you restrict teachers from teaching with honesty and teaching with truth, obviously that’s going to impact conversations that we’re able to engage in with our students.”

Follows changes to AP African American course

The controversy over how Black history will be taught in Florida’s public schools follows a decision by the College Board earlier this year to leave out references in its new AP African American Studies course to the Black Lives Matter movement and slavery reparations, among other topics. The Board’s decision came after Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the pilot course.

READ MORE: Black leaders blast College Board’s changes to AP African American Studies course

Florida already underperforms at teaching Black history. Although the instruction has been required since 1994, only 11 of the state’s 67 school districts sufficiently teach Black history, according to Bernadette Kelley-Brown, principal investigator and former chair of the African American History Task Force, which monitors how districts heed the law.

“This new statute now basically says if African American history is being taught, it is going to be taught in such an inappropriate, historically inaccurate, watered down way that it makes it untenable,” said former State Sen. Dwight Bullard, a Democrat, who attended the Board of Education meeting in Orlando on Wednesday.

The meeting seemed designed to deter the average person from going, Bullard said. It was held on a weekday in the back of resort with $28 parking (more than $30 for valet). After the guidelines were explained, a public comment portion ensued during which the vast majority opposed the changes. Then the board voted to approve the curriculum.

A former high school history teacher, Bullard couldn’t fathom telling his students that there’s a “silver lining in slavery.” He then took it a step further.

“Imagine the blowback of the same teacher trying to give you the upside of Nazi Germany,” said Bullard, now the senior political advisor of Florida Rising, a voting rights group in Florida. “Not only would it not be allowed, there would be bipartisan outrage over the idea that any teacher, a teacher or a curriculum trying to give the sunny side of Adolf Hitler. Yet we now have an African American history statute that is supposed to now give you this notion of the benevolent master, or the upside or benefit of being enslaved in America. It’s crazy.”

To Marvin Dunn, a man who has made a career off of keeping Florida’s Black history alive, most recently through his “Teach the Truth” tours, the issues with the new curriculum were plentiful. He called the “attempt to reach some sort of equivalency for racial violence in our history” flat-out wrong. He called the idea that enslaved people benefited from their subjugation “evil.” And he called the sparse mention of lynchings, which was only found twice in an explanation of guidelines, downright disrespectful.

Awakening Black parents

Dunn also questioned why students had to learn about “slavery in China, slavery in Asia, slavery in Africa” in a Black history course, something he saw as an an effort to show that “we were just another country that had slavery.” American slavery, however, was very unique.

“It was the only system of slavery in the world in which the people who were enslaved were defined as property, were reduced to chattel property,” Dunn said.

“For a Black child to sit in a Florida classroom and hear that their ancestors benefited from enslavement, how do you think” they will react? Dunn asked. “They are going to be hurt, they are going to be angry, they are going to tell their parents that this is being taught in the school.”

That, if anything, is the only positive takeaway from the situation: “These standards have awakened a sleeping giant that’s Black parents in this state,” Dunn said.

Etienne agreed, adding that she’s already in contact with many parents who have voiced their displeasure. She, for one, doesn’t have a choice but to abide by the new guidelines.

What she will do, though, is encourage her students to do their own research. To think critically. To answer their questions honestly.

“My plan is to give them as much information as possible so that they can make their own decisions,” Etienne said.

[mostmouse]

Starting an Adaman x reader fic because I’m so freshly obsessed. Here’s the first chapter :> also posted on AO3 under the same user!

The One Chosen by Arceus

Your previous life was difficult, but at least you had indoor plumbing. But hey, at least this life has Adaman. You two begin a relationship and Adaman is interested in how you'd like to progress based on your customs from where you're from. Your preferences, however, have him a bit dizzy and flustered, but aren't entirely unwelcomed. It'll just take a bit of time.

Chapter 1: Your Future That Was and Your Present That Is

Living in the past was hard. Especially when you had had all the blessings of modern life. Essential items like indoor plumbing, laundry pods, and instant noodles. Then of course were the other, more progressive blessings. Such as having autonomy over your body, your sexuality, and the freedom to dress and act how you wanted.

You were lucky you weren’t part of either the Diamond or the Pearl clans, as they were much more rigid in tradition than that of the Galaxy Team. A few benefits to being in the past was that everything was... simpler. You could just do what you wanted, you didn’t need a 9-5 chaining you to a desk or slaving away in retail. However, you also couldn’t stop at a street cart for a quick meal, either.

You heaved a heavy sigh, hauling a large piece of wood up to your homestead. Your pokemon were around you helping with other degrees of difficulty. You insisted the smaller ones didn’t need to help, but they seemed to ignore you, proving they were just as big and strong as the others. It warmed your heart to know that pokemon weren’t really all that different from your time. They were of course, much much less domesticated than you were used to, but with TLC and persistence, they were as loyal as your team back when you were from.

“Putting them to work, I see.” Huffing laughter sounded behind you, and with a loud ‘oomf’ you dropped the heavy wood to the ground. Your pokemon were more than used to Adaman coming around and paid him no mind as they continued to haul wood and slash it into smaller pieces.

“I don’t make them, they want to help. Of course, it’s incredibly appreciated all the same. I’ll have to make something delicious for dinner. You swing by to eat with us?” You were clad in only a rudimentary sports bra and casual pants, your new age tattoos on full display. Of which had Adaman respectfully, and bashfully, looking away.

“I- uh, yeah. If you don’t mind.” You gave him a second to compose himself before he met your eyes once more. You smiled somewhat apologetically. You were used to doing house work in athleisure, and considering you lived alone out in the coastlands, far from Iscan, you weren’t thinking of anyone seeing you. In this time, it was scandalous for a woman to be so disrobed, especially in the outdoors, and more importantly - in front of a man who wasn’t her husband.

You had made it clear to Adaman when he first saw you in such attire that back when you were from, it was completely normal for women and girls to expose their shoulders. Normal even for some young women to expose their midriffs, chests, and back. Of course, he wasn’t necessarily a man for fashion, but he enjoyed the stories all the same. And you found him on more than one occasion leering at you - but you had the decency to not bring it up. At least not at that time.

Sidling up next to you, he motioned to the wood at your feet, “Need some help?”

“Ah, no thanks. Actually, with you here, I can get started on dinner. These cuties are bomb with cutting the wood, but making dinner is more suited for people hands, don’tcha think?”

Your grin had him entranced, though your words went over his head a bit. “They’re a bomb? Are they going to explode the wood?” He watched as your face morphed into a smirk. “Hey! Don’t give me that look, I may be the all wise leader of the Diamond Clan, but how am I supposed to know what all your new age phrases mean?”

“Have I not said ‘bomb’ yet? Interesting... well it's a little old for slang in my time, too, so I guess it's not surprising I haven’t said it.” You shrugged nonchalantly, waving Adaman up to your porch as you both went inside to prepare dinner.

“Ha, you saying old fashioned things? I can count on one hand the things you’ve said that I’d consider old fashioned.” His sly grin had you elbowing him in the side. “So, what’re we making?” Rubbing his hands together, he looked to you eagerly.

“Stew! Again...” You laughed sheepishly, it was your main go-to dinner dish. Easy to make, easy to taste good, and easy to eat for a few days. You expected a groan from your unexpected dinner date, but instead he rubbed his belly and had a dreamy look on his face.

Sighing aloud, “Mmmmm... Your stew... It's so good! I won’t ever get tired of it. Think I could take some home later for Mai and the others?” His eyes were fixated on yours, your cheeks warming a bit.

“Yeah, of course! I always make tons anyways, I’m used to feeding a lot of people, so honestly, you taking some off my hands is a favor.” Scratching the back of your head, “And thanks for not being annoyed, I know it must not be very enjoyable to eat the same thing over and over when you come and visit.” You couldn’t help it, honestly. It was the easiest thing to make. Plus, you could toss in a bunch of stuff and it still would taste amazing.

Adaman laughed loudly, “Please! If it was bad maybe I’d complain, but it’s absolutely delicious, I look forward to it every time I visit. Honestly, I miss it when I’m not here. No matter how often I make it with you, I can’t quite replicate it back at the Settlement.”

You grinned, walking backwards towards the kitchen, holding a finger over your lips, “Aye lad, ‘tis a family secret.” You laughed at his confused expression, moving around the counters and grabbing spices you had tediously collected. “Next time I’m in the Settlement I’ll make some for you and write some notes for a recipe. Just remember,” Sitting everything in front of you, you moved to the Rotom fridge you had, “Nothing needs measuring. You feel it from here.”

Adaman watched as you held your hands to your chest, eyes closed. “To your heart?” Blinking at each other, you burst into laughter.

“Sorry, sorry. I meant here.” You made a big show of rubbing your belly with your tongue sticking out. He grinned as he leaned forward on the counter, watching you closely with every move you made. “Tonight, we’ll be having stantler meat!”

You presented him with the wrapping of fresh meat from a stantler you had killed earlier in the day. He smiled softly, resting his hands atop yours that sat on the bundle. The both of you closed your eyes as he whispered a prayer, thanking Almighty Sinnoh and Mighty Dialga for the life of the stantler and for blessing you with the meal.

Keeping your eyes closed, you breathed deeply for a moment. Everything in this time was different. You had to learn how to field dress your dinner, how to preserve it, and how to thank it for its life and for how it was now sustaining you. Everything felt much more connected in this simple life you now lived.

Gasping slightly, you gave a start as Adaman kissed you softly. Opening your eyes, your cheeks warm, you met his soft gaze. “Sorry, you just looked so peaceful. Couldn’t help myself.” You smiled easily, leaning forward and nuzzling his nose with yours before you gave him a quick kiss back.

That was how it's been for the past few months. You couldn’t deny the spark you had for each other, the heat in your chests gathering every day you spent together. He had helped you build your house halfway through when he finally sniffed you out. He had told you it was a coincidence, and had sworn Calaba to secrecy when he begged her to have Ursaluna track you based on a scarf he had from you. He had tried to enlist Iscan for help, but the man refused to oust you without your prior permission.

It was a favor he anxiously awaited the Pearl Warden to call upon everyday, but most importantly - it had led to you. He had been overly flustered in the beginning as he helped you build your house. Your revealing clothes had been a culture shock to him, especially when he had seen all your new world tattoos.

It wasn’t as if tattoos were uncommon, he knew many people who had them. However, they weren’t done with such artistic style, detail, and colors as yours had. Many of them were of pokemon he had never seen, let alone heard of. You had spent those evenings together next to the fire, breathing in the salty air as you showed him each art piece and described the pokemon depicted. Some were just art that you liked. He knew if a select few of his people saw you undressed like you usually were, they would sneer and judge you.

But he welcomed the change. Welcomed the happiness you brought him. At first it was fascination with you falling from the sky, then about your connection with the rift and the Lords of the land. He kept telling himself it was just all the new interesting curiosities that seemed to surround your very existence. How you were chosen by Dialga, how it seemed you were truly blessed by Arceus, how you saved all of Hisui.

It took him time to realize he was in love with you. Longer than he’d like to admit, but he rationalized it in his heart, that it wasn’t time wasted but instead time used to understand you and himself. How you fit into his heart and soul. He had come to such a realization while he was helping you construct things for the house. Every day spent designing, building, preparing, decorating. Every time you explained what you had in your home back where you were from, how you mistified him with the forms Rotom could take and how you utilized the small pokemon, and others as well to make life easier in this untamed world.

“Adaman... Adaman... Hey! Adaman! Are you listening to me?” He jumped slightly, your voice in his ear and your hands tugging at his hair. With a flush from the sudden excitement of you pulling his hair and saying his name right into his ears, he jerked back. “What were you thinking about, oh wise one?”

Huffing a small laugh, he moved around you, grabbing the large cauldron from the floor by the... fridge, you had called it. “About how I’m about to expire from hunger, I mean really - how long is this going to take?”

He grinned as he heard you gathering everything together and rushing towards him. “Shouldn’t be too long, I have some bone broth I made earlier. Of course, the stew will always taste better the longer it sits for.” The two of you grinned at each other. You couldn’t help as butterfree gathered in your tummy.

Every time Adaman smiled at you felt like the first time. He had your heart in knots, and you were sure that you were in love with him. You hated how in this time, everyone was so conservative. Suffocatingly so. You paid little attention as Adaman dropped the cauldron into the already burning fire pit, or how he went back inside to grab the aforementioned broth. You focused instead on portioning out some spices, cutting what needed to be cut, and crushing what needed to be crushed.

You felt as if you were grinding your frustrations down as well. Yes, everyone here was either mildly conservative or extremely so. You knew it would be a blow to his reputation if anyone saw you wantonly kissing the Diamond Clan leader. How scandalous indeed, to be seen kissing someone you weren’t promised to on the mouth. How they would balk at the thought of you kissing his neck and leaving marks.

You wanted your relationship with Adaman to go further. To be physical in more ways than just hot and heavy kissing. But you had no idea how to even broach the subject. He had never made a pass at you to go further than kissing, had only somewhat begun to reciprocate your neck kisses. No petting or groping or grinding. It was driving you mad. You wanted to jump his bones, but you were sure he had never been with anyone, he just wasn’t the type to fool around, no matter how much he seemed like a flirt.

However, you were sure Iscan knew to an extent how close the two of you were. The Warden was no stranger to the coast and had found you early on. Adaman had seen him around as well and had pulled aside his clansman in a hush of whispers. At the time you were worried some what that Iscan would tell the other Diamond Clan people that their leader was frolicking on the coast with a barely clothed outsider. But you quickly realized such assumptions were needless when you remembered his relationship with Palina of the Pearl Clan, not to mention how trustworth and honorable he was. Your secret was safe with the noble Warden of Basculegion.

“Boo!” You startled from your lost thoughts as a warm strong hand held your wrist tightly, keeping the knife secure as an arm looped around your waist.

“Adaman!” He laughed easily behind you, body against your sparsely clothed one, soft clothes rubbing you. “Thank you for holding my hand, at least now I can’t say you were at fault for me disemboweling myself.”

Loud gagging echoed behind you as you laughed louder, his warmth leaving you as he came around to dump the broth into the pot, grabbing the bones as they threatened to fall in. Setting them aside, he added the meat as you dumped all the spices in. “Can you grab the veggies from the fridge? I forgot to get them. Oh! And another knife, there’s a lot so we can share cutting them up.”

“You’ve got it, boss.” You cackled as he walked away, his own laughter drowned out by yours. Almighty Sinnoh, how he adored you. He sauntered into your home as if it were his and he toyed with the idea that had been sitting in the back of his mind for some time now. He just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. You were from a different time, you hadn’t even flinched when he suddenly kissed you for the first time!

If anything, he thought back, you were excited. Thrilled, even. You immediately sought him out, clinging to the front of his haori and pulling him into another kiss. When you had licked his lips with your tongue though is when he pulled away. Your assertiveness, and experience, had made him too nervous.

You had explained to him how doing something like that wasn’t inappropriate, how it was casual and normal to do from the time you were from. He had told you how much he liked you, and you confessed that you cared a lot about him as well. You kissed a couple more times, all closed mouthed, and he thought he would burn up from the inside out.

It wasn’t long before he was kissing you more boldly, though without tongue. It had taken him weeks to be brave enough to do so, but once he let you roam inside his mouth he couldn’t stop himself from craving your kisses. How he dreamed about them, yearned for them, and sought them out actively every time you were together.

He brought the veggies out to you, sitting another cutting board in front of him as well and the two of you began to cut vegetables together in comforting silence, listening to the fire pop and your pokemon chew on the leftover bones.

Adaman let his gaze wander to you. You looked at peace and in your element preparing the meal. You’d make a good wife. Swallowing thickly, he turned back to his own board, tips of his ears red. He hoped you wouldn’t notice. He had been thinking of proposing, maybe... But it wasn’t something he could simply do considering he was the leader of the Diamond Clan. His marriage would at least have to be somewhat political. Either within his own Clan, or possibly someone from the Pearl Clan.

However... You were a part of the Galaxy Team... That in a way could be political. He would have to ask Irida her thoughts about it the next time he saw her. He felt you shift closer to him as you dumped your portion of the veggies into the pot. He smiled, leaning on your shoulder as he followed suit.

“Here, I’ll take them back inside.” You grabbed the knives and cutting boards and made your way back inside. Adaman turned and somewhat shamefully watched you as you walked away. His eyes couldn’t keep themselves away from your backside, or thighs, or shoulders. You had become toned in the time you spent in Hisui, certainly all the physical labor and constant working had taken its toll on you.

Quickly turning back to the cauldron, he swallowed thickly. Tonight would be the night. He would ask you if he could stay with you throughout the night, and sleep together. In the same bed. Together. You and him. He wanted to take your relationship to the next level, but he was also painfully nervous about it all. But he could do this - just sleep. With you. In bed. Together.

Swallowing thickly, he jumped slightly as he heard the door to your home close, signaling your return. He took a deep relaxing breath. He could do this. He could ask you about... sleeping. Together. He would have to make it clear though that that was all he wanted to do. He didn’t want to get your hopes up just to upset you by saying no later on.

He had said it before, too. When your hands wandered over him while you were kissing sometimes. He felt terrible, like he was letting you down or holding you back. But every time you always backed off him completely. Would ask him if he wanted to keep going or to stop. Sometimes he would say keep going, other times he would feel so overwhelmed that he asked you to stop completely. Sometimes he even asked if you could put a kimono on and cover yourself.

He always felt like a bad person afterwards. Like he was hurting your feelings or stealing something from you. Every time though, you always held his face, kissed his forehead, and told him that you wanted whatever he wanted, at any pace he wanted to go. He felt like a child. Sure, he was well past the marrying age for the history of his Clan position, but... He just didn’t have the experience.

He didn’t know what experience you had, however... He was too nervous to talk about any sort of intimate details like that with you. He would pluck up the nerves soon though. He wanted to know, wanted to know what you wanted in this relationship. But first he would have to find out what he wanted from this relationship... Was it even a relationship? What were the two of you, anyways?

A loud sound shook him from his spiraling thoughts, and he thanked Sinnoh for such a distraction. Your pokemon seemed to be fighting over the last bone from the stock earlier and you had gone over to them to sort it out.

“The way you handle your pokemon is incredible, you know. They’re openly being food aggressive and yet you get right between them like it's nothing.” His gaze was full of admiration as he watched you, arm resting on his knee and face in his palm.

You could feel him watching you, body getting hot from the compliments. “Ha, thanks. It's nothing, really. I just... I was raised differently, you know? Pokemon are such an intrinsic part of my life back where I’m from. And here... It’s no different, but still completely different, you know? I trust my team with my life, and I try to treat them as my equals, as my family. Cause that’s what they are, you know?”

You tried to not get lost in your thoughts, “When the Galaxy Team turned their backs on me- well, most of them, all I had were my pokemon. And you and Irida, of course!” You turned back to him from where you were holding your Rapidash’s face in your hands, a large grin plastered across your perfect visage. “I was so lost, and hurt, and scared. But these guys were here for me, and I’ll never take that unconditional love for granted. Not when I’ve lost everything so many times.”

Adaman stood, walking towards you after giving the pot a generous few stirs. Circling his arms around your midsection, he rested his jaw on your shoulder, watching as Rapidash soaked up all the affection from her handler. He knew about who you were before you came to him- or well, to Hisui.

You came from a life of struggle. Of losing things and people close to you. How you treasured every friendship you had, but always scared of holding someone too close. He was thankful to Mighty Dialga that you allowed him into your heart and life. He was happy you let Mr. Professor and Rei in too, and begrudgingly Irida as well. He was afraid, back at the Ancient Retreat, that you’d have chosen Irida over him, for just a moment.

You weren’t close then, not like you were now. But he had realized then that he wanted to be close to you. That he wanted more than just a professional alliance, he wanted you in his life. As a companion.

Inhaling your scent, he nuzzled into your neck, kissing you softly. You sighed happily, hand coming up to pet his hair. He hummed happily before taking a deep breath. “Mind if I stay? Here, with you? For the night, I mean?” He felt you tense under him, hiding his face resolutely in your neck. All his earlier sense of bravado suddenly lost. He didn’t want to see your expression as he followed up with, “Just to sleep, I mean. I’m not ready for anything else just yet... I just... Want to be close.”

Finally, he let you turn in his arms, bashfully looking to the side with pink cheeks. You gently caught his face in your hands, leaning on your tiptoes and kissing his forehead. “Only if you really want to. I don’t want you to feel like you have to, or that you’re neglecting me. I’m happy with what we are right now, and I’d love for us to have a sleepover, too!”

Relief spread through his body as he relaxed, your arms winding around his neck as he leaned forward to kiss you. With more confidence than asking you his question, he licked your lower lip, slipping his tongue into your mouth as you both moaned softly. Indulging in you was so easy, it was if it instantly relaxed him.

Sliding his arms downwards, he kept one around your waist and tentatively moved the other to hold your hip. Tightening his grip, he pulled you closer and moved his lips against yours, pressing his tongue deeper into your mouth. Tracing over your tongue, he brushed along your teeth and cheeks, moaning into your mouth as you sighed happily.

Rapidash, however, was not happy to have lost her attention from her favorite human, leaning down to where Adaman’s hand rested on your hip and nipped him. “Ow! Hey-” His words died in his throat as Rapidash puffed air into his face before nudging him away from you. Leaning forward, she rested her large head across your chest, effectively keeping Adaman from getting close to you again. “Are you just gonna let her do that?!”

His incredulous voice, combined with Rapidash’s haughty behavior, had you in a fit of giggles, laughing so hard you bent forward and wheezed. “H-Hey, come on! You’re not even going to scold her? I see who your favorite is...” Adaman turned before you saw his wide smile, moving back to the cauldron and stirring it once more, scraping the bottom to make sure nothing was sticking.

“Awww, Rapidash, are you jealous, my little lovebug?” Your loud cooing words were meant to tease him as much as it was to soothe your pokemon. “You’re my most favorite Rapidash ever, yes you are! No one is as beautiful and majestic as you! Just look at your wonderful awe inspiring blue flames! Yes you are, you’re just so pretty, my prettiest girl, mommy loves you, yes she does!”

Smiling to himself, he stared dreamily at you, your other pokemon beginning to circle you as well, all begging for attention after listening to you gush over Rapidash. Laughing happily, without a care in the world, he watched as you gave each one well deserved strokes, pets, and kisses.

He sighed contentedly. Leaning back on his hands, his lower back against the log the two of you usually sat on, and watched you. Once you had loved up on your pokemon, you once again sought him out. Your pokemon followed you, circling the two of you and getting comfortable as they dozed off in the evening sun.

Standing before him, you pointed at his lap where he sat, “Is this seat taken? You can say no.” You smiled easily at him, your hair in the wind and he could smell the sweet scent of your soap. Swallowing thickly, he cleared his throat. Scratching the back of his neck, he nodded, and braced himself as you sat happily on his lap.

Relaxing as you didn’t do anymore than sit and look at him, he melted and wrapped his arms around you again. His hands traced your tattoos and admired them once more. “I hope we can get the technology to do this in our time. I wouldn’t mind having Leafeon immortalized on my arm.”

You smiled at him, snuggling against his chest and holding out your arms, admiring your ink as well. “I don’t know if we will, but I do know that you honor your Leafeon in your heart and your conduct.” Turning to look at him, you pursed your lips together at the shining adoration in his gaze, cheeks hot.

“You always say such profound things.” Brushing your hair with his calloused palms, he leaned forward again to kiss you softly. Pulling away, he kissed your forehead. “You say and do things that make me rethink where we are in life. I’ve embraced so much change thanks to you. I’ll always be grateful for what you’ve done for the Diamond Clan and... For me as well. Thank you.”

With another kiss, he lost himself in your warmth and the two of you cuddled by the fire as you waited for the stew to finish.

[tiny-maus-boots]

Garters and Gunslingers - Down South

A/N: before anyone says anything...i am fully aware of the other 238402835923 open projects i should be working on. but this wouldn’t leave me alone. and yes. yes it will very likely sit with one chapter for many moons. but for now it’s a start.

Beca

Making it across the border into Mexico hadn’t been as hard as they had feared. It had been slow going for sure, with Aubrey injured as badly as she was and the Army after their asses they had been forced to take as many switchback trails as they could with frequent enough stops to let their friend rest. None of them had minded really, except Aubrey. She had wanted to keep pushing forward even when they could tell she was sick with pain and fever.

After her confrontation with her family the blonde had been even more quiet than usual. Choosing to focus all of her energy into not slowing them down. Beca understood that, she had never asked what happened in the house that day but she was sure more than the law and the Army were after them. Even now, many months later in relative safety, Aubrey’s smiles were still few and far between and glances over her shoulder far too frequent.

She had thrown herself into the work of building their homestead with as much fervor as she had getting them all down to Mexico. And they had all followed her lead, even Beca, who would have been much happier taking a nap under her favorite napping tree than she was baling hay into the newly built stalls.

“I don’t see why we have to do this now. Ain’t even got cattle yet.” 

Beca grumbled and forked over another pile into the stall Chloe and Stacie were building the walls for. 

"Where would we put ‘em if we had ‘em now?” Beca offered up a stink face at Stacie for her inopportune use of good sense. Stacie winked at her and gave a teasing smile as she hefted another plank for Chloe to nail into place. “C’mon Bec, it’s just a lil honest work.”

"You make it sound as if I don’t like honest work. I love honest work, I just wish it wasn't actually hard work!" 

A lump of hay buffeted the back of her head, bits of straw rained over her shoulders and she turned an outraged face to Aubrey. Aubrey who had her back turned and was diligently, if slowly, piling hay from the bales for Beca to spread around. Aubrey who didn't even seem to be aware that she had done anything at all. Beca grunted and turned back to her work begrudgingly. 

"Why can't work be something I do laying down with my eyes closed?"

There was a beat of silence before Chloe giggled. "Pretty sure Stacie can teach you all about hard work laying down."

“That’s not what I meant!” Heat crept up her face at the thought and Beca gave Chloe a mild glare in her embarrassment. 

Another, heavier mass of hay smacked against the back of her head. She spun on her heel and fixed an angry stare at Aubrey. The blonde raised a shoulder in a shrug as if to say sorry and went back to precisely piling her hay. Beca wasn’t entirely sure it was an accident this second time but she gave Aubrey the benefit of the doubt being that she didn’t seem to be doing it on purpose. The shorter woman gave the blonde another long squint eyed look before she turned back around. Hay, heavier than before, rained down over her head and she whipped around intent on catching Aubrey in the act.

“Did you jus... PAH!!!”

Aubrey didn’t even pretend this time, she just chucked a forkful of loose hay right in Beca’s face. Even still Beca could almost forgive her if it weren’t for the entire too innocent to be real smile on the other woman’s face. 

“Oops. Sorry. Didn’t see ya there, Tiny.”

There was absolute silence, not even flies dared break the tableau with the incessant buzz of their wings. The corners of Aubrey’s mouth quivered as she fought the laugh threatening to come out. It was all Beca could take and she flung her pitchfork to the side with a scream of pure rage before launching herself at the now nearly doubled over with laughter blonde. 

Their bodies collided and they tumbled back into the big loose pile of hay, both laughing and struggling to get the better of the other. It was the first time in nearly a year that Aubrey had laughed openly, let alone this playful wrestling match. Beca growled fiercely and snapped her teeth just a hair’s breadth from Aubrey’s nose once she had her good and pinned.

“Think that’s funny, huh? I’ll show you, Posen. Stacie already done told me all your tickle spots. You’re in trouble now, girl.” 

Aubrey’s eyes widened in worried surprise until Stacie’s low chuckle sounded from just over Beca’s shoulder. Warm breath tickled her own ear when the taller brunette leaned over them. 

“Well… Not all her tickle spots. You need Chloe’s permission to hear the rest of ‘em.”

For a moment Beca’s brain only heard the rushing of what she was sure was the Rio Grande in her ears before Chloe’s teasing voice broke through.

“Not my permission she needs, ain’t my tickle spots.”

It was right about then that Beca realized she was straddling Aubrey’s waist in the middle of a very confusing and flustering discussion. Calm green eyes blinked up at her, full of trust and affection. The truth was Beca had already grown accustomed to the feelings swirling in her chest for the woman beneath her. Falling in love with Aubrey and Stacie hadn’t happened overnight or even since they fled the States.  

She had known from the moment they had all vowed to stick together, come what may. Where one goes, so go them all. Her loyalty for them was just as rock solid as her loyalty to Chloe. That had never been a fact that confused her. What confused her now was the reflection of something more in Aubrey’s eyes. Something that flickered in the jade depths, drawing her nearer and deeper as if bespelled.

A spell that was broken at the deep echoing peal of the pueblo church bell. San Nicolas wasn’t very far from them, close enough to hear the ringing of the bell for Sunday mass. The problem was, it wasn’t a Sunday. A ringing bell only meant trouble when it rang midday like this. They all scrambled out of the barn, eyes searching the horizon in the direction of the town. A smudge too far for her to recognize seemed to drift closer until she realized it was a rider coming full bore toward their property.  

“You got your eye on ‘em, Aubs?”

Aubrey nodded at Beca’s question and disappeared back into the barn to take up residence in the loft with her rifle. Just in case. Her soft voice carried down from just above their heads.

“It’s Guillome Beachamp, listin’ a little bit in his saddle. Looks hurt.”

Chloe ran to the house for her bag without another word. Stacie and Beca glanced at each other with twin weary sighs. Trouble. It had come to them again. It was hard to tell if it was old troubles come to find them or new ones but she was sure they’d be neck deep in bullshit by the time the sun went down. 

“About them tickle spots…”

Stacie grinned widely and winked at her. “Sorry Bec, you’re gonna hafta to ask the missus about that yourself.”

Beca grunted. Well. At least she had something to look forward to. If they managed to survive whatever was headed their way.

[nohiketoosmall]

This is an edited and shortened version of an essay I wrote for my Conservation Science & Community class; I decided to post a version publicly because I thought it was interesting and I liked writing it:

The tribes forced west by the conflict with the United States in the early 1800s included the Potawatomi, who would then be established on territory west of the Mississippi (Loerzel, 2021). However, the loss of land would not be forgotten. In the past several years, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (this is not the only group of Potawatomi peoples, as there were several different groups within the larger tribe) has been rallying to have land returned (Loerzel, 2021). The Illinois House of Representatives ruled in 2021 that the auctioning off of Chief Shab-eh-nay’s land in 1849 was illegal and supported the Nation’s efforts to regain land, although it seems that receiving federal support is still an ongoing issue (Whitepigeon, 2021a). Approximately 128 acres of land was repurchased by the Nation, which is undergoing federal review to be placed into a trust, under the National Environmental Policy Act (Shabehnay, n.d.). There are no public statements I could find on what would be done with the land; Whitepigeon (2021b) describes the situation as “unclear.” However, the fact that the current lands owned by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation are going under NEPA review suggests a positive direction to me.

What could a tribal park look like in Illinois? Chicago may have a large population of Native Americans, but there are no reservations here. Instead of preserving a traditional, continuous way of life and integrating environmental stewardship, environmental justice for midwestern, urban Native tribes may have to include repatriation of land and teaching traditional ecological knowledge (Turner & Spalding, 2013). Tribal parks differ in some ways from Euro-American views of national parks, with an acceptance of some level of renewable resource extraction, such as power generation or plant gathering (Carroll, 2014). They are similar in that they also champion restoration and conservation, acknowledging humans’ reliance on nature and the necessity of stewardship (Carroll, 2014). Both can also benefit as places for eco-tourism for recreational and educational purposes, although they may have differing levels of access depending on the preferences of the tribe (Carroll, 2014). If tribal land is returned in Illinois, it seems likely that a tribal national park would be established in order to foster education but also to emphasize tribal presence and the wish to remain involved in the stewardship of their former land.

Native Americans did not believe in the European structure of land ownership but were stripped of their sovereignty despite trying to work within the colonizers’ system (Carroll, 2014). In 1849, Chief Shab-eh-nay’s land was illegally auctioned off, against the United States’ own established laws. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation have been working for 174 years to get this land returned. This is a case where the legality of ownership has been established as rightfully with the Potawatomi, but there are many more tribes from the Chicago region. For many of these tribes, even if land rights were signed away "legally," it is worth considering whether the tribes were under duress and whether Native land repatriation should be more widely considered.

Chief Shab-eh-nay is the namesake of the town of Shabonna, Illinois, where he rode to warn settlers of an attack by the Sauk tribe, as well as Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve and Shabbona Lake State Park (Village of Shabbona, n.d.). This is what the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (2023) says about the history of Shabbona Lake State Park:

“Originally home to tribes of Native Americans, the park derives its name from Chief Shabbona. Pioneer settlement of the area began in the 1830s. From Shabbona Grove, in the southeast corner of the park, homesteaders spread over the region and began farming the rich soil.” (para. 1)

Sources below cut; this includes other source from the sections I removed from the original post, which was posted on my private class webpage.

Carroll, C. (2014). Native enclosures: Tribal national parks and the progressive politics of environmental stewardship in Indian Country. Geoforum, 53, 31-40.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources. (2023).  About Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area. https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/about/park.shabbonalake.html

Kim, J. (2022). Photos: The 69th annual Chicago Powwow. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/visuals/ct-viz-powwow-indigenous-native-firstnations-photo-20221009-p6jyeagqhvaolefgis3xbwqynm-photogallery.html 

Loerzel, R. (2021). Why aren’t there any federal Indian reservations in Illinois? WBEZ Chicago. https://www.wbez.org/stories/why-doesnt-illinois-have-any-indian-reservations/a0fe743f-9283-441e-810f-f13fe0dc5344 

Mitchell Museum of the American Indian. (2021). Land Acknowledgement. https://mitchellmuseum.org/land-acknowledgement/

Shabehnay. (n.d.). Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. https://www.pbpindiantribe.com/shabehnay/

Turner, N., & Spalding, P. R. (2013). “We might go back to this”; drawing on the past to meet the future in northwestern North American Indigenous communities. Ecology and Society, 18(4).

Village of Shabbona. (n.d.)  History of Shabbona. http://shabbona-il.com/history-of-shabbona 

Whitepigeon, M. (2021a). Illinois House Resolution Supports the Return of Lands to Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Native News Online. https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/proposed-to-return-of-illinois-lands-to-prairie-band-potawatomi-nation Whitepigeon, M. (2021b). Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Seeks Further Support in Reclaiming Illinois Lands. Native News Online. https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/prairie-band-potawatomi-nation-seeks-further-support-in-reclaiming-illinois-lands

[pamphletstoinspire]

The Forgotten Virtue of Patriotism

We live in interesting times. It seems that every week there is another reason for us to despise our rotting culture. From the nonsensical babble of our government leaders, to the woke overhaul of our public institutions, to the drunken spiral of popular opinion, it is hard to find anything to love in our country. And this applies to the United States, to Canada, and I am sure to nearly every Western state.

The Benedict option and Catholic homesteading are certainly attractive options to escape into the wilderness and wait out the storm. But to flee the cities simply to flee the battle for our native land, our heritage, and our culture can be straight-up cowardice. Too many of us take a hands-off approach, simply sitting back to watch the fires burn, share memes, and laugh at the mindless rabble as they throw themselves in. This is not what we are called to as Catholics. This is not what we are called to as men. We have forgotten the virtue of patriotism.

While Catholics, especially those favoring more traditional practices, are well familiar with piety, we too often fail to recognize the extent of this important virtue. Itself an element of justice, piety in its most specific sense is the virtue by which a child renders to his father the honor he is due; rendering honor to our parents is properly called filial piety. We owe our parents honor on account of our very existence, but we owe the same honor—and more—to God for the very same reason; rendering honor to God is properly called religion. Finally, we owe honor to our country on account of the benefits it bestows upon us in fostering our existence, growth, and development; rendering this honor is patriotism.

Thus, patriotism is a matter of justice no less important than the honor a child owes his parents. In fact, Aquinas hardly distinguishes piety toward one’s parents from that toward one’s country, since both one’s parents and one’s country are principles of his being and government, second only to God. Thus, patriotism concerns a real thing that we owe to our country. Further, it is a virtue, which for Aquinas is a good operative habit productive of good works (ST I-II, q. 55, a. 3).

Patriotism is no mere affection for one’s country, a sense of pride or feeling of warm fuzzies when the anthem is sung before a hockey game. It is a good operative habit, that is, an act of the will, a decision one makes to actually render the honor due to his country; and it is productive of good works, that is, real concrete actions. Just as filial piety takes the form of a child obediently carrying out his father’s directives, or religion takes the form of purposeful weekly attendance at Mass and daily “acts of piety,” so does patriotism take the form of real actions that give honor to our country.

What might some such actions of patriotism be? There are the simple examples of standing during the anthem, saluting the flag, or celebrating our national holidays. But it must be more than that. These are nice gestures, much like celebrating a father’s birthday, or kissing our mother, but this cannot be the limit of the honor given.

Just as our parents gave us life, it is our filial duty to care for them in illness or old age. Just as our parents cared for us in childhood and provided all that we needed, so is it our filial duty to support them in times of hardship or poverty. We ought to defend our father’s good name, stand up for him in conflict, and help him fix his car. It is easy to see how these apply also to our relationship with God, and quite often we are willing to fight on His behalf or help repair His Church. But how often do we apply this to our fatherland?

Just as our country—not the government, mind you, which is simply one of the country’s institutions at the service of the whole—provides daily all we need to live, whether food, housing, employment, or modes of transportation, we have a patriotic duty to support our country by paying our taxes, growing crops, hiring employees, or building houses. Our country, like our parents, has given us a heritage in the form of our history, our culture, our principles; and it is our duty to preserve and pass on this heritage. It is our duty to defend our country’s good name against those who seek to redefine it as racist, sexist, and whatever-the-latest-thing-is-phobic; it is our duty to defend our country against her enemies, both foreign and domestic; it is our duty to restore our country’s institutions to proper working order.

Are you free to sit and watch as an army of yahoos take over the government? Sure you are; but you have a moral duty—not just toward your country but toward your children as well—to do what you can to prevent such a disaster and restore the institution should such an event occur (which, in case you missed it, it has).

What can we do then? I wish I had a solution to every problem our countries face today, but I do not. But we can start by actively participating in some of our public institutions. Get good, sensible people in government positions, whether that be school boards and town councils or the federal government. This requires community organization and setting aside petty differences to canvas for a worthy candidate. You can run yourself or find someone else who would be a good fit and nominate him. If necessary, get party memberships—even in multiple parties—in order to vote on party policies or candidates for party leadership. It also means actually voting for the best candidates.

I’d like to briefly address here the phenomenon of abstaining from the vote. Presently, approximately one-third of eligible voters in both Canada and the U.S. do not vote in federal elections, yet 100 percent of eligible voters have complaints about the government. The principal reason I have heard for not voting is that it does not matter who we vote for, since there is no good candidate; the only difference between yahoo A and yahoo B is the hair. Then, there is no sense in voting for a smaller third-party candidate, since he won’t get in anyway.

The solution to this problem is two-fold. First, get involved early to shift the party policies and get good candidates in, as stated above; if you don’t get involved in selecting good candidates, you can’t complain about not having them. Second, go out and vote for the best candidate, even if he is a small third-party guy; if the apathetic and disillusioned third of the electorate went out and voted for the third party, there would be a significant number of third-party members in government. Our elections are not just for the next president or prime minister, but for our local representatives as well, where our votes count for a lot more.

Ultimately, this comes down to the question of charity when it is directed toward our country; and by this I do not mean simply our government but toward the populace as well. Charity desires the best for another; and, in this case, it desires the best for our country, for the institution of the government, and for the populace. But charity, like patriotism, is a virtue, which requires real concrete actions. Charity does not only desire the good of the other, but it pursues the good of the other. What more can you do to pursue the good of your country, her institutions, and her people but to strive to get good people in influential positions?

It is important to preserve our families, to raise our children well, and to worship God as He deserves, but we need to recognize that no matter how we raise our children, they will go out into the world and face the social milieu that we have left there for them. It is up to us to decide what that milieu looks like: yahoo mania, or a rightly ordered society. The virtue of patriotism requires you to honor your country. And, when it is enlivened by charity, it requires of you to fight for its ultimate good and the good of the children who will inherit it from you. When they see the world you have left for them to inherit, do you really want to tell them you sat by idly to watch it burn?

[astropithecus]

According to classical economics, labor is a market, and the "invisible hand" controls wages through supply and demand. So capitalism says once wages get low enough, people will stop working (supply in the labor market will decrease), and that decrease in supply will increase demand and raise "prices" (wages).

Personally, I think there's validity to that idea. Look how quickly wages rose during the "Great Resignation." The issue with just leaving the labor market to self-correct now is that unlike for most of our nation's history, it's unreasonable to expect people to quit their jobs and subsistence farm.

In 1790, 90% of American adults were "unemployed." They worked, but not for an employer, they farmed their own land. Not as a commercial enterprise, just to meet their own needs. Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, homesteading effectively meant if you could find a tract of land and work it, it was legally yours. With homesteaded land granted practically free by the government, Americans could provide food and clothing for themselves through subsistence farming without participating in the labor market. If employers wanted labor, they had to offer a wage appealing enough for people to abandon their farms. Thus the labor market could self-correct - if wages got too low, workers went back to farming, thereby decreasing the supply of labor and increasing demand.

Homesteading officially ended in the U.S. in 1976, although it continued in Alaska into the 80s. Most Americans' skill in subsistence farming atrophied a generation or so before that, meaning the plausibility of homesteading instead of working a job or providing a service had already been diminishing for some time. Also worth noting, homesteading wasn't an entirely positive thing through a social lens, the land the U.S. government gave away rightfully belonged to Native Americans, and discriminatory practices in granting homestead rights (especially in southern states) created racial wealth inequalities that persist today. From a strictly economic viewpoint though, homesteading performed an important function, and with no modern alternative, we've lost a vital part of the American economy. Today, for most workers, there is no longer a viable way to exit the labor pool, and thus no way for the labor market to self-correct.

Even Ayn Rand was in favor of homesteading, it's not some pie-in-the-sky leftist utopian thing, it's how America worked for 200 years. UBI is just a Homestead Act for a 21st century economy. It's nothing but the same freedom American workers had from 1776 until the mid-20th century - the freedom to opt out of the labor market, the freedom to not depend on a business or an employer for necessities of life.

If you're left-of-center you probably don't need convincing, but if you're a die-hard capitalist, realize UBI would unshackle the "invisible hand" of capitalism to once again self-regulate the labor market. It would likely eliminate the need for minimum wage laws, require less industry regulation, and reduce government spending around welfare administration (since UBI is universal, you eliminate all the overhead of processing welfare applications and determining eligibility). If you like small governments, laissez-faire capitalism, deregulation, personal freedom, reducing wasteful spending, eliminating welfare fraud, making America's streets safer from crime, and having a balanced federal budget, you want UBI - it's a policy that promotes all of those things. It's not "socialism" or a "hand-out" or a "redistribution of wealth" - it's just a labor market correction, one that's proven to be effective. There's no reason UBI should be a "left" vs. "right" issue, ask yourself who benefits from trying to turn it into one.

UBI needs to happen. via antiwork

[freyrnigeria]

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was enacted into law by the United States government in 2011 and is enforced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is the most extensive revision of food safety laws since the middle of the 1930s. The primary goal of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is to focus on proactive preventative controls rather than reactive measures taken after contamination has occurred. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) aims to improve food safety throughout the food supply chain for the benefit of public health. The general FSMA requirements and their effect on the food industry will be the subject of this blog.

Preventive Controls for Food for People and Animals It is also based on preventative controls. All registered food facilities are required by law to keep thorough, scientific controls over food safety hazards. Food producers are required to:

Write plans for food safety and put them into action, like a Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) plan. Identify biological, chemical, or physical contaminants as potential threats to food safety. Take preventative measures. Keep an eye on how well these controls work. Make restorative moves when preventive controls are not effective. Food organizations should likewise archive and keep up with records exhibiting consistence with these prerequisites. All types of food are protected from foodborne illness and other safety hazards by the preventive measures outlined in the Preventive Controls Rule, which are applicable to both human food (21 CFR Part 117) and animal food (21 CFR Part 507).

Under FSMA regulations, food companies are also required to document and maintain records demonstrating compliance with these requirements. Records must be kept for at least two years. The preventive estimates illustrated in the law apply not exclusively to human food yet additionally stretch out to creature food, shielding a wide range of food from security perils.

Safe Principles for Developing, Reaping, Pressing and Holding Produce The Produce Security Rule (21 CFR Section 112) under FSMA lays out safe practices for the developing, reaping, pressing, and holding of foods grown from the ground planned for human utilization, explicitly those ate crude. The following key areas are emphasized to ensure that best practices are followed:

Rural Water: All irrigation and washing water for fruits and vegetables must be safe and clean. Natural Soil Corrections: To reduce the risk of contamination, management procedures for compost and manure are required. Laborer Cleanliness: To avoid contamination, workers must adhere to hygiene practices like washing their hands properly and wearing protective gear. Materials and Tools: Cleaning and upkeep of produce handling tools and equipment is essential. These guidelines are intended to lessen the gamble of defilement and foodborne sicknesses at the homestead level, explicitly tending to the interesting dangers related with new produce.

The FSMA established a Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) in light of globalization to ensure that imported foods meet U.S. safety standards. Food importers must ensure that their foreign suppliers produce food that complies with the same safety requirements as domestic producers. The two principal components of FSVP include:

Danger examination of imported food sources Assessment and endorsement of providers. Audits and tests, among other forms of verification, are routinely carried out. This program guarantees security for imported food varieties since merchants are obligated for confirmation of the organizations from which they acquire their providers to guarantee that these organizations adjust to the FDA sanitation principles.

Accredited Third-Party Certification To support the expanding import of food, the FSMA has established an accredited third-party certification system. Foreign food facilities can have auditors from accredited third parties verify compliance with U.S. food safety standards through this system. The import procedure is streamlined by this accreditation, ensuring that food entering the United States satisfies FSMA's stringent safety requirements.

The outsider accreditation is especially useful for providers planning to take part in the FDA's Deliberate Qualified Merchant Program (VQIP), which considers sped up section of items from ensured unfamiliar providers. Although certification is not required, it helps importers demonstrate high food safety and compliance standards.

Protection Against Intentional Adulteration The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) also requires food establishments to assess and address any potential dangers of intentional adulteration, including terrorism. The rule concentrates on:

identifying significant food production process weaknesses. protecting against intentional adulteration by putting mitigation strategies into action. Introduce observing and restorative activity plans when there are purposeful impurities. By addressing potential risks of intentional contamination, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) ensures that food manufacturers can safeguard the food supply from both accidental and intentional contaminants.

Clean Transportation of Food FSMA has rules that straightforwardly indicate sterile transportation of food varieties. The guidelines are essentially pointed toward keeping away from food from getting polluted during transportation. The following are some key areas in this regard:

Refrigeration of transient items. It will not be allowed for raw and cooked foods to cross-contaminate each other. Train transport employees to keep the vehicles clean and service them before use. For food to be safe and healthy when it reaches the grocery store shelves, it needs to be guaranteed at every point, from the farms to several points in the supply chain.

Food Guard and Assurance Plans FSMA forces a prerequisite of food protection plans. Once more, this is security for the human food and creature feed supply from purposeful corruption and other sort of dangers. The following must be done by food establishments:

Perform vulnerability assessments to determine which supply chain points are most at risk. Create methods for reducing threats. Put in place procedures for monitoring and verifying food defense.

This makes sure that the food supply in the United States is safe from terrorism and sabotage that could hurt public health and national security.

Traceability and Recordkeeping The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has enhanced food producers' traceability and recordkeeping. Now, companies must have: in order to identify and resolve food safety incidents more quickly.

Records of definite cycle data concerning their creation, including fixing obtaining and conveyance chains. Facilitate efficient traceability in order to expedite the recall of contaminated products. By quickly locating the sources of contamination and further lowering the costs of food recalls, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) reduces the likelihood of foodborne diseases reaching pandemic proportions.

End The Sanitation Modernization Act (FSMA) addresses a critical change in food handling guidelines, progressing from a responsive to a proactive methodology. This extensive regulation incorporates the whole food store network, from ranches and handling offices to merchants.

For organizations in the food business, consistence with FSMA is fundamental, with explicit cutoff times laid out for meeting different prerequisites. Underscoring the seriousness of adhering to these regulations, noncompliance can result in substantial fines. Freyr's administrative specialists help organizations in understanding and executing the perplexing preventive controls and recordkeeping necessities that can be overpowering for some associations.

Importers benefit greatly from third-party certification, which demonstrates a commitment to high food safety standards and is voluntary. Compliance ensures ethical responsibility for protecting public health in addition to legal obligations.

Freyr's expertise can simplify the process for businesses navigating these regulatory obstacles. Freyr contributes to smooth FSMA compliance by developing food safety plans and implementing supplier verification programs, safeguarding both the business and its customers.

[clarkelawpa]

Protecting Assets with a Florida LLC

Introduction

A Florida LLC (Limited Liability Company)  protects assets in several ways.  First, an LLC. like a corporation, protects its members' personal assets from the LLC's debts.  If, for example, a creditor obtains a judgment against the LLC, it can only recover against the amount that each member of the LLC has invested.  The LLC members’ personal assets are not exposed.

Another asset protection advantage of a multi-member LLC is that it is a "charging order protected entity." This means that a judgment creditor of an LLC member can only receive a charging order—a lien on distributions the member might receive from the LLC—rather than forcing the sale of the member’s interest.  If the LLC members agree in advance that all of them must consent to distribute profits to a member, they can frustrate the efforts of a creditor to collect on a  charging order.   Note that charging order protection does not apply to a single-member LLC.

What is a Florida Limited Liability Company?

Florida LLCs are flexible corporate entities.  One or more members invest assets into the LLC and then receive profits or losses from the LLC’s business operations.  The LLC can be managed by its members, or the members can designate a manager to run the LLC (the manager may or may not be a member of the LLC).

LLCs are governed by the Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act (Chapter 605, Florida Statutes). An LLC must be registered as either member-managed or manager-managed. Chapter 605 sets forth default rules on the rights and duties of the LLCs members and managers. 

The LLC members may but do not need to  execute an operating agreement to precisely define how the LLC will function. The operating agreement typically addresses: how the business will be run, rights and duties of members, and how profits are distributed.  In order to take advantage of the asset protection benefits of an LLC, it is crucial to have a properly-drafted operating agreement in place.

How to Form a Florida LLC

Forming a Florida LLC requires filing Articles of Organization with the Florida Division of Corporations, paying a filing fee (currently $125), and appointing a registered agent.  You can file Articles of Organization electronically, and the turnaround time is rapid.

Pursuant to Florida law, an LLC must file a report annually and pay the applicable fee (currently $140) in order to remain in good standing.

Transferring Assets to an LLC

When deciding which assets to transfer to an LLC, distinguish between safe (exempt) and unsafe (non-exempt) assets. Homestead property for example, is considered an exempt asset in Florida.  Your judgment creditors can not impose a lien on your homestead property, so it is already protected, and should not be transferred into an LLC. Check out our article on Florida homestead creditor protection here.

Instead, businesses, investment real estate, and other non-exempt properties should be placed in LLCs. To reduce collection risks, it’s advisable to place each unsafe asset in its own LLC.  

Collections of  Florida LLC

 Generally, creditors have limited ability to collect against a debtor’s Florida LLC interest. A creditor cannot seize or garnish an LLC membership interest, nor garnish the LLC’s financial accounts or real estate.  

Florida Statute 605.0503 provides that a judgment creditor’s sole remedy against a debtor member of a multi-member LLC is a "charging order.”   This charging order allows the creditor to receive any distributions that the LLC makes to the debtor. However, if the LLC does not make any distributions, the creditor receives nothing. A well-drafted operating agreement can give the debtor the ability to veto distributions and otherwise prevent creditors from participating in management.  

It is important to note that single-member LLCs do not enjoy the same level of protection as do multi-member LLCs.  In Olmstead v. F.T.C, 44 So. 3d 76 (Fla. 2010), the Florida Supreme Court held that a creditor may foreclose on a debtor’s interest in a single-member LLC.  The court determined that the purpose of Florida’s statutory charging order protection for LLCs was to protect the interests of the non-debtor members of an LLC from debtor-members’ creditors. It therefore held that a creditor could foreclose on a debtor’s entire interest in a single-member LLC if a charging order did not prove to be an adequate remedy.

A member’s interest in a Florida Limited Liability Company (LLC) is considered personal property. This is true regardless of where the LLC was established.  This means that, if a creditor obtains a judgment against a member of a foreign LLC who resides in Florida, it may collect against his LLC interest in a Florida court. For this reason, forming an LLC in another state or country is not usually an effective strategy to avoid your creditors.

 Protecting Assets When You Are the Only Member of the LLC

One strategy to get charging order protection while maintaining exclusive control over your LLC is as follows: Create a Florida Limited Liability Limited Partnership (LLLP), which also has charging order protection, alongside your LLC. In this structure, you would be one member of the LLC, and the LLLP would serve as the second member. You would then get enhanced asset protection while maintaining dominion over your assets. The only drawback is that you would be responsible for the fees and paperwork of two entities on an annual basis.

LLCs in Estate Planning

An LLC can also be an effective estate planning tool. You can avoid probate of your LLC interest by putting it into a trust or putting inheritance language in the LLC’s operating agreement. If you die without a succession plan for your LLC interest, that interest will become part of your probate estate.

In summary, a Florida LLC offers robust protection for personal assets and is a vital tool in both asset protection and estate planning. Proper structuring and careful management of the LLC are key to maximizing these protections.

Examples of LLC Asset Protection

Real Estate Investment Protected by Multi-Member LLC Jane owns an investment property in Florida, which she places in a multi-member LLC with her husband, who holds a 1% interest. After a tenant slips and falls on the property and sues for damages, the LLC is named in the lawsuit. Because the property is owned by the LLC, only the LLC’s assets—specifically, the investment property—are at risk. Jane’s personal assets, including her home, savings, and car, are protected from the lawsuit.

LLC Protecting Rental Income from Personal Judgment Sarah and her business partner, Mike, own a rental property through a multi-member LLC. The LLC’s operating agreement states that both members need to approve LLC distributions of profits to the members. Sarah is involved in a car accident unrelated to the business, and the injured party wins a judgment against her personally. The creditor obtains a charging order against Sarah’s distributions from the LLC but cannot force a sale of the rental property or seize the LLC’s assets. As long as the LLC decides not to distribute profits, Sarah’s investment remains protected.

Improperly Commingled Personal and LLC Assets Tom owns a small retail store through his LLC but fails to maintain a clear distinction between his personal and business finances. He regularly uses the LLC’s bank account to pay personal bills. When the business faces a lawsuit, the court “pierces the corporate veil” because Tom did not treat the LLC as a separate entity. As a result, the LLC’s limited liability protection is lost, and Tom’s personal assets are now at risk to satisfy the judgment.

In summary, the protections afforded by charging orders, particularly in multi-member LLCs, offer robust defenses. By structuring your LLC strategically, you can maximize asset protection and minimize the risk of a creditor collecting against your LLC interest.

 Call asset protection attorney John Clarke at (954)556-8952 for assistance with protecting your assets!

[narrowayhomestead]

Exploring Homestead Oil and the Legacy of West Virginia Homesteads

West Virginia, often known for its rich coal mines and stunning Appalachian landscapes, has a lesser-known history that revolves around homesteading and oil exploration. The "Homestead Act" of the late 1800s allowed settlers to claim land and cultivate it, fostering the development of small farms and family-run enterprises throughout the state. Over time, the West Virginia homestead became synonymous with self-sufficiency, a strong sense of community, and deep connections to the land. As oil and gas industries grew, these homesteads saw another opportunity for prosperity: homestead oil.

The Rise of Homestead Oil in West Virginia

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the demand for oil skyrocketed with the rise of automobiles and industrialization, West Virginia found itself at the center of oil exploration. Homesteads, often sitting on vast acres of land, became prime locations for oil drilling. Many farmers began leasing portions of their property to oil companies, allowing for the extraction of oil in exchange for royalties.

The influx of oil wealth transformed many areas in West Virginia. Small towns grew rapidly, with local homesteaders benefitting from the newfound wealth beneath their feet. However, it wasn’t just about wealth. Oil royalties allowed many homesteaders to maintain their way of life, reinvesting into their farms, improving infrastructure, and building up their communities.

The Role of Modern Homesteads

Today, the legacy of homestead oil in West Virginia Homestead continues. While large-scale oil companies dominate much of the landscape, there are still family-run operations and landowners who benefit from oil royalties. Homesteads, like those maintained by NarroWay Homestead, embody the resilience and adaptability of West Virginians. They represent a blend of traditional values and modern business practices, proving that self-sufficiency and industry can go hand in hand.

Conclusion: A Future Rooted in Tradition

The story of homestead oil is one of opportunity and transformation. It highlights how West Virginia homesteads have continually adapted to economic and industrial shifts. Today, operations like NarroWay Homestead continue to embrace the spirit of self-reliance and community, showing that, even in an ever-changing world, there is room for tradition, innovation, and growth in harmony with the land.

[girlinnovators-lillian]

climate warrior girl week

Part One

Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farms

Leah Penniman had been living in the South End of Albany when she finally had enough of her impoverished and dangerous neighborhood, but is wasn't just the violence that drove Leah to move to the rural area of Petersburg, NY its was the inability to find fresh quality food to feed herself and her family. Upon moving, Lead acquired 80 acres which in 2010 would become Soul Fire Farm. Soul Fire Farms as said in their mission statement is “an Afro-Indigenous Centered community farm and training center dedicated to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system.”

Soul Fire Farm has become an imaginative and beautiful success story that has impacted Leah's community exponentially, but it did not come easily. As a black woman working in agriculture Penniham faced exclusion and racism within the agriculture community, which is known to be problematic through systematically racist policies like the Homestead Act of 1862 and discriminatory lending practices by agencies like the USDA which denied people of color land access. Soul Fire Farm faced similar challenges, finding it difficult to secure land and resources. Ultimately these challenges pushed Leah to purchase the 80-acre farm in upstate, New York, but she faced challenges, particularly financially. Along with this Leah dealt with self doubt and internalized stereotypes about Black people being excluded from the farming world, but ultimately her knowledge in farming which she gathered not only through her educational background in science and environmental science but also from her time traveling to different parts of the world to learn of ancestral farming techniques. 

Years later and Soul Fire Farm has had massive success, along with Leah Pennigham becoming a growing activist within her field, including becoming the leading spokesperson for the movement to increase the ranks of Black, Brown and Indigenous farmers. Not only has Leah been successful in growing her own crops which offset carbon emissions , but she is teaching others to do the same. “Hundreds of people are on a waiting list to attend her classes on regenerative farming that reduces carbon emissions and mitigates climate change, refuting a belief that Black people and other underrepresented groups do not want to farm.” (A harvest for the world: A Black family farm is fighting racism in agriculture and climate change. By Darryl Fears ) In 2019 alone it was reported that the team at Soul Fire Farms was able to train 120 people at a week-long farming event, and that four small farms were born out of these alone.

Leah's innovation within her field speaks to an undeniable event happening globally, that women are taking the lead on climate change. Historically speaking women have been the caretaker, this translates into a deep understanding of tending to the needs of our earth. Leah's innovative and multifaceted approach to challenging not only racial stereotypes but catering to the needs of our earth is inventive and could only be born out of an inter personal and emotional understanding born out of systemic barriers and challenges. Soul Fire Farm is a testament to working together as a community, educating each other, and saving our earth all packed into one bad ass farm in upstate New York.

Part Two

Nzambi Matee

Nzambi Matee is an Kenyan engineer, environmentalist and founder of Gon Ggona, a business which takes plastic waste and turns it into building materials. Nzambi's business has some serious benefits beginning with the most obvious is the reduction of plastic waste, by creating a sustainable alternative to classic construction. Along with this Gon Ggona creates jobs and offers the opportunity for inexpensive construction. Overall, reducing carbon footprint. Like any business there are some potential challenges, Nzambi had to make sure that the materials were strong and up to construction standards which took time and tweaking the making process. Along with this Nzambi has had to source funding from different places to make everything come together, which is time consuming and it takes a lot of dedication and passion to fund your vision.

I believe a big reason why we are not seeing more stories like this in mainstream media is the news cycles drive for sensationalized and shocking topics rather than niche and positive stories. There is also a commercial aspect, media focuses heavily on money driven attenties to cover, this could include political nuance as well.

Part Three

Game Changers

"At the trial in June, attorneys for the state argued that Montana’s contributions to the climate crisis are too small to make any meaningful contribution to the climate crisis. But in her ruling, Seeley found that the state’s greenhouse gas emissions are “nationally and globally significant”. I've chosen this quote because I think it highlights a common flaw in our fight towards a better future in terms of climate change, which is that our actions have to be grand to make a difference. The group of teens argued that Montana's policies "violated provisions in the state constitution that guarantee a “clean and healthful environment”, among other constitutional protections."

This case could potentially have a profound impact on climate cases globally, the judge was clear and stern in her understanding and decision. This is important because there really isn't a grey area with climate change, it is a black and white issue that needs concise intervention and acceptance globally.

Young women and young men globally are taking the lead on climate issues for a very straight forward answer, this is the world we will continue to have to live in, should climate change continue to worsen at the rate that it has younger generations will have to watch the demise of our planet. I believe this to be an incredibly depressing reality, younger generations are motivated and inspired to not live in this reality.

[ausetkmt]

Land and the roots of African-American poverty

Keri Leigh Merritt

is a historian and independent scholar. Her research focuses on race and class in US history. Her first book, Masterless Men: Poor Whites, Slavery, and Capitalism in the Deep South, will be published by Cambridge University Press next year.

Edited by Sam Haselby

900 words

African-American family at the Hermitage, Savannah, Georgia in 1907. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

Shortly after emancipation in 1865, African Americans began fighting for the rights to the lands they had long worked – cultivated by their hands, fed by their sweat, and stained by their blood. Yet while the government stifled freedmen’s demands for ‘40 acres and a mule’ as just compensation for generations of unpaid, brutalised slave labour, they simultaneously granted free land to whites.

Indeed, when the failure of land distribution among blacks during the Reconstruction is judged within the context of the Homestead Acts, the reality of the situation is laid bare. The problem was never the radical nature of land reform. The problem was racism.

When judged comparatively with other nations’ emancipatory histories, the Reconstruction experience in the United States is unique. While African Americans were the only freed slaves to be granted political rights so soon after emancipation, those rights were limited for a people without capital or job prospects. Land would have served as the primary source for reparations.

President Abraham Lincoln signed the original Homestead Act into law during the second year of the Civil War. Between 1868 and 1934, it granted 246 million acres of western land – an area close to the land mass of both California and Texas – to individual Americans, virtually for free. To receive 160 acres of government land, claimants had to complete a three-part process: first, file an application. Second, improve the land for five years. Third, file for the deed of ownership.

Because of the date of the Act’s passage, few people from the South initially received any benefit from it. Yet given that it effectively remained in place until 1934, well over 1.5 million white families – both American-born and immigrant – eventually profited from it. And, although the process was rife with fraud, as many homesteaders sold their plots to corporations, the original claimants pocketed the income from land sales, establishing a basis of wealth and capital. By the end of the Act, more than 270 million acres of western land had been transferred to individuals, almost all of whom were white. Nearly 10 per cent of all the land in the entire US was given to homesteaders for little more than a filing fee.

Enacted in 1866 shortly after the end of the Civil War, the Southern Homestead Act (SHA) was supposed to function much like the original Act. During the first year of the SHA, unoccupied southern land was offered exclusively to African Americans and loyal whites, but after 1867 even landless former Confederates applied.

Although the SHA ostensibly offered a solution to several pressing Reconstruction-era issues, in reality, a large percentage of the land offered was un-farmable, being either heavily wooded or covered with swamps. Furthermore, it was hard to administratively arrange homesteading, as many southern states had only one land office. Depending on where the office was located, it could take several weeks to simply make the trip, meaning the bureaucratic duties cost far more than the filing fees for the actual land.

Furthermore, the recently emancipated owned no cash and had no experience in dealing with the government, rendering the process even more difficult. But perhaps the biggest hurdle for freedpeople involved the year-long labour contracts they had been cajoled or forced into signing shortly after slavery was outlawed. Leaving a job before the end date of a contract frequently resulted in virtual re-enslavement on a chain gang. Indeed, blacks had been locked into these contracts until the very date (1 January 1867) that they stopped receiving special homesteading benefits.

By the end of the SHA 10 years later, nearly 28,000 individuals had been awarded land. Combined with the claimants of the original Homestead Act, then, more than 1.6 million white families – both native-born and immigrant – succeeded in becoming landowners during the next several decades. Conversely, only 4,000 to 5,500 African-American claimants ever received final land patents from the SHA.

The Homestead Acts were unquestionably the most extensive, radical, redistributive governmental policy in US history. The number of adult descendants of the original Homestead Act recipients living in the year 2000 was estimated to be around 46 million people, about a quarter of the US adult population. If that many white Americans can trace their legacy of wealth and property ownership to a single entitlement programme, then the perpetuation of black poverty must also be linked to national policy. Indeed, the Homestead Acts excluded African Americans not in letter, but in practice – a template that the government would propagate for the next century and a half.

With the advent of emancipation, therefore, blacks became the only race in the US ever to start out, as an entire people, with close to zero capital. Having nothing else upon which to build or generate wealth, the majority of freedmen had little real chance of breaking the cycles of poverty created by slavery, and perpetuated by federal policy. The stain of slavery, it seems, is much more widespread and lasting than many Americans have admitted. Yet it is the legacy of the Reconstruction – particularly the failure of land redistribution – that so closely coupled poverty and race in the US.