#imprisoned African American poets

[darealprisonart]

High Speed

Another Monday love poem drop. No. 4 HIGH SPEED Skirt, skirt….. We damn near crashed in our Bugatti from high speed smoking weed it was you and I till we die damn near went off that canyon road Wake up call cause it wouldn’t been you and I no mo’ But nothing could break this love Not even death So we flirted with it Played with it This is what you do When you’re Bonnie and Clyde…

[danlous]

Yesterday Missouri executed Marcellus Williams, an innocent man whose conviction was based on weak evidence and who didn't receive a fair retrial he deserved. There was no forensic evidence linking Williams to the murder of Lisha Gayle and the prosecutor's case was primarily based on unreliable testimonies by two felons who were motivated to testify to receive reward money and leniency in their own criminal cases. Many people fought against the execution, including the victim's family, but Williams was still killed. Marcellus Williams was a devout muslim and talented poet, who spent his last years supporting those around him in his role as imam. Never forget that Missouri’s attorney general Andrew Bailey, governor Mike Parson and the US supreme court murdered him by pushing forward with the execution.

Williams' case is far from uncommon. Nobody knows how many people executed or on death row are wrongfully convicted, but the conservative estimation is at least 4%. 13% of the American population is black but African Americans make up 41% of people on death row and 34% of those executed. The death penalty in America has been called a direct descendant of lynching. Many people on death row or executed are also disabled or mentally ill. 200 people have been exonerated and released from death row since 1973, but the amount of innocent people who're never exonerated or exonerated too late is likely far higher. (x, x) Here's one article by Death Penalty Information Center listing just some of the people who were likely innocent but were executed.

Anything like what happened to Marcellus Williams should never happen again but it may happen again already next month on 17 October when Texas is set to execute an innocent autistic man, Robert Roberson, for a crime that did not happen. Roberson was convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter Nikki Curtis in 2003 based on the discredited shaken baby syndrome (SBS) hypothesis.

SBS was a theory posited in the 70s by pediatric neurosurgeon Norman Guthkelch for why some children presented with severe illness with signs of internal head trauma without signs of external injury. However, later medical experts have questioned the validity of SBS as a theory and diagnosis, including Guthkelch himself. Many different non-violent causes of the symptoms have been identified, including a short accidental fall and several illnesses - both which were present in Nikki's case. Nikki was later found to have been severely ill with pneumonia, she had been prescribed a strong drug that isn't prescribed to children of her age anymore, and she had fallen out of bed the night she died.

Roberson was convicted of his daughter's death with virtually no evidence other than the debunked SBS theory. The leading experts have since testified that Nikki died of natural and accidental causes, and also that it's impossible to shake a baby to death without causing neck injuries, which Nikki didn't have. Prejudices and ableism contributed to Roberson's conviction. Roberson has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The hospital staff, investigators and prosecutors perceived his flat affect and 'odd' behavior as signs of him lying and lacking emotion about his daughter death.

Many people have been prosecuted for child abuse over the controversial SBS theory without other proof of abuse, but Roberson is in danger of becoming the first person to be executed for it. Can you imagine first experiencing every parent's worst nightmare of losing your child, and then the state imprisons you for 20 years and kills you? There is still time to prevent Roberson's execution. You can read more about the case and what you can do to help on the Innocence Project website links below. You can also follow Innocence Project on twitter and instagram. Sign the petition and spread the word. Texans are urged to contact Gov. Abbott to ask him to halt the execution. I also recommend people to get familiar with Innocence Project and their other cases and and activism against death penalty in general. My hope is that death penalty will be abolished in the US and everywhere in the world still in my lifetime

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Today in Christian History

Today is Thursday, June 29th. It is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 185 days remain until the end of the year.

1073: Consecration of Gregory VII (Hildebrand). His reign will be marred by continual skirmishing with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.

1315: (traditional date) Death by stoning of mystic and missionary Raymond Lull in Bougie, North Africa (Tunisia). He had been persuaded by a vision to seek the conversion of Muslims, had founded a school to train men to the task, and had studied Islamic culture.

1629: Samuel Skelton and Francis Higginson, Presbyterian reverends, arrive on the ship Talbot to Massachusetts, the first clergymen of that sect in what will become the United States.

1770: John Beck, born to missionaries in Greenland, returns to his land of birth, having completed his formal education in Europe. He will serve as a Moravian missionary in Greenland for over fifty years.

1794: Bishop Asbury preaches the dedicatory sermon for Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Richard Allen and fellow African-Americans after they were segregated from white worshipers in St. George’s Church, Philadelphia.

1861: At Casa Guidi (in Florence, Italy) toward morning the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning seems to be in an ecstasy. She tells her husband of her love for him, gives him her blessing, and raises herself to die in his arms. “It is beautiful,” are her last words. Among her poems is the sonnet “Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet.”

1864: In a ceremony that fills Canterbury Cathedral beyond capacity, Samuel Adjai Crowther is consecrated as the first African bishop of the Church of England.

1875: The first Keswick convention opens, a holiness movement that spreads around the world. Delegates had met for prayer the day before.

1881: Convinced that he is the long-awaited Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, a Sufi Muslim in Kordofan (then a province of Sudan) proclaims “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God, and Muhammad al-Mahdi is the successor of God’s Prophet!” He soon imprisons Christian missionaries and in 1885 will massacre many of the Christians in Khartoum.

1900: Pastor Meng is seized and beheaded at Pao ting Fu, having refused to flee, declaring he will stand by foreign missionaries whose lives are threatened.

1979: Repose (Death) of Archbishop Andrew (Father Adrian) of New Diveyevo Monastery in Jordanville, New York. Born in the Ukraine, he had been forced to flee his native land because of Soviet persecution, eventually migrating to the United States where he established an Orthodox monastery. He was sought out for his deep spirituality.

[alrederedmixedmedia]

Alredered Remembers Henry Dumas, African-American writer and poet, on his birthday.

alredered-mixed-media.com

"America

If an eagle be imprisoned

On the back of a coin

And the coin is tossed into the sky,

That coin will spin,

That coin will flutter,

But the eagle will never fly.

[scotianostra]

Happy 61st Birthday to the Scottish actor Iain Glen, born June 24th 1961.

Ian was born in Edinburgh and was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and University of Aberdeen. He then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Following his graduation, where he won the Bancroft medal, he appeared on stage performing in such plays as Macbeth, and Henry V.

Iain immediately rose to prominence in 1988 with his acclaimed performance as a charismatic gang leader in The Fear for Euston Films. Followed by his multi award winning tour de force as imprisoned Scottish poet Larry Winters in Silent Scream In 1990. Since then Glen has hardly been off our screens some of his roles include, Hamlet, in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Damon Morton, the murderer in Trial and Retribution, which also starred the great David Hayman, and Sports reporter, Stuart Morrison in Glasgow with Sharon Small, who he would later join up with in Christmas at Downton Abbey. One of my favourite role of Glen’s is that of Father Octavian in Doctor Who, and yes I’m a fan!

In 1998 he returned to stage to star opposite Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room, which opened to rave reviews. Three years later he found himself back on the big screen in the eyes of viewers on both sides of the pond with performances in Beautiful Creatures and Tomb Raider playing Angelina Jolie’s arch villain, Powell.

Another favourite series and role for Iain was that of the enigmatic Vaughan Edwards in Spooks in 2010, since then he has appeared as Jack Taylor in the self titled crime series set in Ireland, Sir Richard Carlisle in the aforementioned Downton Abbey and Inspector Ronald Mulligan in another crime series, Breathless. Of course those who are fans of Game of Thrones will know his best, as Jorah Mormont, he was one of the longer lasting characters in the series which regularly bumped off the major characters.

Of late Iain has been in Reyka, a  South African set  crime thriller television series, a second series will be shown later this year. Iain has also been a recurring character in the  American superhero television series as Bruce Wayne.

I’m looking forward to the upcoming series  The Rig, set off the shore of Scotland, fellow Scots,  Mark Bonnar,  Martin Compston and  Emun Elliott are among the cast. He is also dye to star in Wool an American science fiction streaming television series and the film, Operation Napoleon,  set in Iceland it’s about an international conspiracy.

Glenn lives in England with his wife, actress Charlotte Emmerson, in an interview in 2017 Iain says “My parents are still in Scotland, though they’re more fragile and less mobile than they were, so we tend to go to them more often than we did 10 years ago,” he says.

“I love returning to Edinburgh as it’s a great, quality life up there and I’m bombarded with memories from childhood.”

Last year the actor gave his support to  Edinburgh-based Cyrenians organisation,  a charity aimed at tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness.

[fatehbaz]

Claims of the neglect and erasure of the Dutch Caribbean in Caribbean studies are manifold. [...] This has often been the fate of the historiography and literature of Suriname and that of the six Dutch islands in the Lesser Antilles [...].

Expressions of Dutch Caribbean anticolonialism [...] became visible for a wider audience in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Around that time in Curacao and Aruba, the largest of the six Dutch Caribbean islands, public criticism against the colonial system started to appear in newspapers [...]. For a wider audience in the Netherlands, a first critical voice from the Caribbean was that of Suriname-born homo universalis Lou Lichtveld (1903-96), who wrote under his pseudonym, Albert Helman. His first novel, Zuid-Zuid-West, published in 1926, received attention [...] because of the anticolonial epilogue [...]. Lichtveld paid a price for these few pages: he was denied a position as professor in Creole languages at Leiden University [...]. Activism throughout the Caribbean in the 1930s took place [...] as part of labor unrest [...]. Protesters using these platforms in the Dutch Caribbean provoked strong retaliations by Dutch colonial authorities [...]. In both Aruba and Curacao this led to the expulsion of union leaders [...]. Among the expelled reputed union leaders was the Surinamese Louis Doedel (1905-80). [...]

---

Though locally a well-known man, Doedel always stood in the shadow of Anton de Kom (1898-1945), the most visionary and inclusive leader in the agitated Paramaribo society of the early 1930s. After moving back to Suriname from the Netherlands [...], De Kom devoted is time [...] to addressing social injustices. He spoke out in public until 1933, when he was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually forced by the authorities to relocate again to the Netherlands. [...] As soon as he regained his freedom, authorities transported him directly to the harbor, with no other option than to leave the country. Back in Amsterdam [...], De Kom continued to write his book Wij slaven van Suriname (We Slaves of Suriname). With its publication in 1934, De Kom reclaimed the history of his native land in a narration that combined well-source historiography with autobiographical insights and anticolonial tract. But before it could reach a large readership, Wij slaven van Suriname was obscured from the public eye. Authorities feared De Kom’s affiliation with communism [...].

Through the international network of fellow Surinamese activists Otto and Hermina Huiswoud, De Kom was able to publish in English a critical article, “Starvation, Misery, and Terror in Dutch Guyana,” in the Negro Worker in 1934. [...]

In the 1960s interest in Wij slaven van Suriname was revived in the Netherlands and Suriname by Caribbean students [...]. De Kom, however, did not live to see the revival; after joining the Resistance against the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, he was arrested in 1944 and died a year later of tuberculosis, while still imprisoned in a German concentration camp.

Today, De Kom is the best-known anticolonial writer from the Dutch Caribbean [...].

---

[T]he Amsterdam student movement of the 1950s and 1960s -- in which critical Antillean students were also involved -- took interest in relevant international discourses. Debates were organized [...] and famous African American writers such as James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and W.E.B. Du Bois were invited to lecture in Amsterdam.

The late 1950s saw the publication of some Dutch Caribbean literature in a critical Afro-Caribbean tradition. The Surinamese poet Trefossa published a collection of poems, Trotji (Introit), in 1957, the same year in which Curacaoan Frank Martius Arion published Stemmen uit Afrika (Voices from Africa). [...]

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Dutch Caribbean colonies were longtime outsiders in Caribbean decolonization studies. [...] Something indeed had been going on all along, to paraphrase C.L.R. James. Dutch Caribbean thinkers in the governmental centers of Paramiaribo and Willemstad, as well as in smaller places such as Bonaire and Aruba and even in the Dutch metropole, stood up in the mid-twenteith century, voiced criticism, and talked back to empire [...].

---

Text by: Margo Groenewoud. “Decolonization, Otherness, and the Neglect of the Dutch Caribbean in Caribbean Studies.” Small Axe. 2021. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[titosims]

Phillis Wheatley

(c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry.

Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write and encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent.

On a 1773 trip to London with her master's son, seeking publication of her work, she was aided in meeting prominent people who became patrons. The publication in London of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on September 1, 1773, brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work. A few years later, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in a poem of his own.

Wheatley was emancipated (set free) by the Wheatleys shortly after the publication of her book. She married in about 1778. Two of her children died as infants. After her husband was imprisoned for debt in 1784, Wheatley fell into working poverty and died of illness. Her last infant son died soon after.

(Source: Wikipedia)

----

More BHM on Simblr:

@ophelia-nygmos - Nichelle Nichols

@anotherplumbob - Rosa Parks

@oshinsims - Mae Jemison

@ice-creamforbreakfast - Tracey “Africa” Norman

@cupcakegnome - Scott Joplin

@pandorasimbox -  Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley

@pandorasimbox - Nina Simone

@eslanes - Josephine Baker

@simscapades​ - Billie Holliday

[jewish-privilege]

This weekend, I marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. To the left, through the thick cables and ropes of the bridge, I could see the Statue of Liberty, clear and strong. My grandmother had learned the Emma Lazarus poem by heart when she was a child, so I memorized it, too, and now the words came back to me as we crossed into Manhattan: Here at our sea-washed, sunset shores shall stand/ A mighty woman with a torch /whose flame is the imprisoned lightening /and her name Mother of Exiles.

It’s hard for me to see the Statue of Liberty and not think about the hope with which my ancestors came to America. One great-grandfather, alone at thirteen, was sent by his family to seek a better life. Another great-grandfather, the rabbi of a small Belarusian village, was fleeing the pogroms with my grandfather, then sixteen. All of them saw this statue, this vision against the water, emblazoned with the words of a Jewish poet welcoming the exiles to their new home.

...This is not to say that as Jews, our time in this country has always been rosy. Decades after his arrival, my great-grandfather’s synagogue was torched by arsonists the first night of Passover. Everyone remembers the story, especially the crazed guest rushed back to save the Torah scrolls. But nobody thought to tell me the story until I was well into my college years.

There have been the restricted clubs, the school quotas, the countless episodes of bullying and beatings. There was the lynching of Leo Frank and the shooting in Pittsburgh. And yet, Jews continued to come to America to flee the darkest episodes. After my great-grandparents would come the survivors of the Holocaust, the Jews escaping Egypt and Iran, my cousins fleeing the Soviet Union on hunger strikes. For all of them, America was the place we went to willingly, often desperately, to both survive and seek a life better than survival. America was the light at the end of so many dark tunnels.

For the ancestors of so many Black Americans, America was the tunnel. The darkest period. The place that brought death and the opposite of hope.

...Of course, as American Jews, we know about this distinction between our fate and the fate of African Americans. But there is, sometimes, an impulse to see shared cause with racism in this country because we ourselves have been so intimate with tragedy. We know what it is like to be oppressed and killed and wantonly harassed, we think, and we know overcoming it.

Sometimes this impulse is spoken in a message of solidarity: Never Again. Sometimes it is whispered, the comparison prompting a question that is often asked softy, lest the racism be heard too loudly: We came to America, on the heels of so much trauma, and here we flourished. Why does the Jewish story and the Black story in America look so differently?

The truth is simple: We live in a different America, one that offered us a haven. We fled to America and away from the lands of our greatest horrors, while the Black community was forced to overcome their greatest horrors among the people who wrought them.

In the past few days, I have been thinking about what it means that the American Jewish community has processed the tragedy of the Holocaust, that defining tragedy, in a country that also sees the Nazis as evil. In a country where our pain and the horror of our experiences did not condemn the majority of the population but served as further confirmation of their heroic valor, their moral worth and bravery.

What if the Jews had stayed in Germany?

As 20,000 of us marched across the bridge chanting Black Lives Matter, I thought about what it would have meant if the Jews had to process the Holocaust not with Americans but with Germans, with the very people who had organized our murder, and then with their children and relatives and friends. How would we have been forced to hedge our trauma, to delicately navigate the Germans’ feelings, to help them process their own pain and anger at the legacy of what was done? How would we have found the right words to calmly explain why we aren’t yet over such ancient history?

The Jewish experience in America and the Jewish experience of hate and persecution are two different chapters in our history; for Black Americans, they are the same. When we fail to understand that distinction, we risk subsuming the story of Black oppression into our own narrative, and seeing ourselves as aligned with the persecuted in this story. Worse, we fail to understand why and how Black discourse, in the country of their oppression, is so different than the discourse of Jews, in this country of our security.

[blackkudos]

Gil Scott-Heron

Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".

His music, most notably on the albums Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and foreshadowed later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron is considered by many to be the first rapper/MC ever. His recording work received much critical acclaim, especially one of his best-known compositions, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". AllMusic's John Bush called him "one of the most important progenitors of rap music," stating that "his aggressive, no-nonsense street poetry inspired a legion of intelligent rappers while his engaging songwriting skills placed him square in the R&B charts later in his career."

Scott-Heron remained active until his death, and in 2010 released his first new album in 16 years, entitled I'm New Here. A memoir he had been working on for years up to the time of his death, The Last Holiday, was published posthumously in January 2012. Scott-Heron received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) that officially opened on September 24, 2016, on the National Mall, and in an NMAAHC publication, Dream a World Anew.

Early years

Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Bobbie Scott, was an opera singer who performed with the New York Oratorio Society. Scott-Heron's father, Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow", was a Jamaican soccer player in the 1950s who became the first black man to play for Celtic Football Club in Glasgow. Gil's parents separated in his early childhood and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee. When Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he returned to live with his mother in The Bronx in New York City. He enrolled at DeWitt Clinton High School, but later transferred to The Fieldston School after impressing the head of the English department with one of his writings and earning a full scholarship. As one of five black students at the prestigious school, Scott-Heron was faced with alienation and a significant socioeconomic gap. During his admissions interview at Fieldston, an administrator asked him, "'How would you feel if you see one of your classmates go by in a limousine while you're walking up the hill from the subway?' And [he] said, 'Same way as you. Y'all can't afford no limousine. How do you feel?'" This type of intractable boldness would become a hallmark of Scott-Heron's later recordings.

After completing his secondary education, Scott-Heron decided to attend Lincoln University in Pennsylvania because Langston Hughes (his most important literary influence) was an alumnus. It was here that Scott-Heron met Brian Jackson with whom he formed the band Black & Blues. After about two years at Lincoln, Scott-Heron took a year off to write the novels The Vulture and The Nigger Factory. Scott-Heron was very heavily influenced by the Black Arts Movement. The Last Poets, a group associated with the Black Arts Movement performed at Lincoln in 1969 and Abiodun Oyewole of that Harlem group said Scott-Heron asked him after the performance, "Listen, can I start a group like you guys?" Scott-Heron returned to New York City, settling in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Vulture was published by the World Publishing Company in 1970 to positive reviews.

Although Scott-Heron never completed his undergraduate degree, he was admitted to the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where he received an M.A. in creative writing in 1972. His master's thesis was titled Circle of Stone. Beginning in 1972, Scott-Heron taught literature and creative writing for several years as a full-time lecturer at Federal City College in Washington, D.C. while maintaining his music career.

Recording career

Scott-Heron began his recording career in 1970 with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. Bob Thiele of Flying Dutchman Records produced the album, and Scott-Heron was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga and David Barnes on percussion and vocals. The album's 14 tracks dealt with themes such as the superficiality of television and mass consumerism, the hypocrisy of some would-be black revolutionaries, and white middle-class ignorance of the difficulties faced by inner-city residents. In the liner notes, Scott-Heron acknowledged as influences Richie Havens, John Coltrane, Otis Redding, Jose Feliciano, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Nina Simone, and long-time collaborator Brian Jackson.

Scott-Heron's 1971 album Pieces of a Man used more conventional song structures than the loose, spoken-word feel of Small Talk. He was joined by Jackson, Johnny Pate as conductor, Ron Carter on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone, with Thiele producing again. Scott-Heron's third album, Free Will, was released in 1972. Jackson, Purdie, Laws, Knowles, and Saunders all returned to play on Free Will and were joined by Jerry Jemmott playing bass, David Spinozza on guitar, and Horace Ott (arranger and conductor). Carter later said about Scott-Heron's voice: "He wasn't a great singer, but, with that voice, if he had whispered it would have been dynamic. It was a voice like you would have for Shakespeare."

1974 saw another LP collaboration with Brian Jackson, the critically acclaimed opus Winter in America, with Bob Adams on drums and Danny Bowens on bass. The album contained Scott-Heron's most cohesive material and featured more of Jackson's creative input than his previous albums had. Winter in America has been regarded by many critics as the two musicians' most artistic effort. The following year, Scott-Heron and Jackson released Midnight Band: The First Minute of a New Day. 1975 saw the release of the single "Johannesburg", a rallying cry to the issue of apartheid in South Africa. The song would be re-issued, in 12"-single form, together with "Waiting for the Axe to Fall" and "B-movie" in 1983.

A live album, It's Your World, followed in 1976 and a recording of spoken poetry, The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron, was released in 1978. Another success followed with the hit single "Angel Dust", which he recorded as a single with producer Malcolm Cecil. "Angel Dust" peaked at No. 15 on the R&B charts in 1978.

In 1979, Scott-Heron played at the No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden. The concerts were organized by Musicians United for Safe Energy to protest the use of nuclear energy following the Three Mile Island accident. Scott-Heron's song, "We Almost Lost Detroit" was included in the No Nukes album of concert highlights. It alluded to a previous nuclear power plant accident and was also the title of a book by John G. Fuller. Scott-Heron was a frequent critic of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies.

Scott-Heron recorded and released four albums during the 1980s: 1980 and Real Eyes (1980), Reflections (1981) and Moving Target (1982). In February 1982, Ron Holloway joined the ensemble to play tenor saxophone. He toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his next album, Moving Target the same year. His tenor accompaniment is a prominent feature of the songs "Fast Lane" and "Black History/The World". Holloway continued with Scott-Heron until the summer of 1989, when he left to join Dizzy Gillespie. Several years later, Scott-Heron would make cameo appearances on two of Ron Holloway's CDs; Scorcher (1996) and Groove Update (1998), both on the Fantasy/Milestone label.

Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista Records in 1985 and quit recording, though he continued to tour. The same year he helped compose and sang "Let Me See Your I.D." on the Artists United Against Apartheid album Sun City, containing the famous line, "The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh". The song compares racial tensions in the U.S. with those in apartheid-era South Africa, implying that the U.S. was not too far ahead in race relations. In 1993, he signed to TVT Records and released Spirits, an album that included the seminal track "'Message to the Messengers". The first track on the album criticized the rap artists of the day. Scott-Heron is known in many circles as "the Godfather of rap" and is widely considered to be one of the genre's founding fathers. Given the political consciousness that lies at the foundation of his work, he can also be called a founder of political rap. Message to the Messengers was a plea for the new generation of rappers to speak for change rather than perpetuate the current social situation, and to be more articulate and artistic. Regarding hip hop music in the 1990s, he said in an interview:

They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music, and blending those same words into the music. There's not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms, and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing.

Later years

Prison terms and more performing

In 2001, Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years imprisonment in a New York State prison for possession of cocaine. While out of jail in 2002, he appeared on the Blazing Arrow album by Blackalicious. He was released on parole in 2003, the year BBC TV broadcast the documentary Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised—Scott-Heron was arrested for possession of a crack pipe during the editing of the film in October 2003 and received a six-month prison sentence.

On July 5, 2006, Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a drug rehabilitation center. He claimed that he left because the clinic refused to supply him with HIV medication. This story led to the presumption that the artist was HIV positive, subsequently confirmed in a 2008 interview. Originally sentenced to serve until July 13, 2009, he was paroled on May 23, 2007.

After his release, Scott-Heron began performing live again, starting with a show at SOB's restaurant and nightclub in New York on September 13, 2007. On stage, he stated that he and his musicians were working on a new album and that he had resumed writing a book titled The Last Holiday, previously on long-term hiatus, about Stevie Wonder and his successful attempt to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. declared a federally recognized holiday in the United States.

Malik Al Nasir dedicated a collection of poetry to Scott-Heron titled Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets. Scott-Heron recorded one of the poems in Nasir's book entitled Black & Blue in 2006.

In April 2009, on BBC Radio 4, poet Lemn Sissay presented a half-hour documentary on Gil Scott-Heron entitled Pieces of a Man, having interviewed Gil Scott-Heron in New York a month earlier. Pieces of a Man was the first UK announcement from Scott-Heron of his forthcoming album and return to form. In November 2009, the BBC's Newsnight interviewed Scott-Heron for a feature titled The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns. In 2009, a new Gil Scott-Heron website, gilscottheron.net, was launched with a new track "Where Did the Night Go" made available as a free download from the site.

In 2010, Scott-Heron was booked to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel, but this attracted criticism from pro-Palestinian activists, who stated: "Your performance in Israel would be the equivalent to having performed in Sun City during South Africa's apartheid era... We hope that you will not play apartheid Israel". Scott-Heron responded by canceling the performance.

I'm New Here

Scott-Heron released his album I'm New Here on independent label XL Recordings on February 9, 2010. Produced by XL label owner Richard Russell, I'm New Here was Scott-Heron's first studio album in 16 years. The pair started recording the album in 2007, with the majority of the record being recorded over the 12 months leading up to the release date with engineer Lawson White at Clinton Studios in New York. I'm New Here is 28 minutes long with 15 tracks; however, casual asides and observations collected during recording sessions are included as interludes.

The album attracted critical acclaim, with The Guardian's Jude Rogers declaring it one of the "best of the next decade", while some have called the record "reverent" and "intimate", due to Scott-Heron's half-sung, half-spoken delivery of his poetry. In a music review for public radio network NPR, Will Hermes stated: "Comeback records always worry me, especially when they're made by one of my heroes ... But I was haunted by this record ... He's made a record not without hope but which doesn't come with any easy or comforting answers. In that way, the man is clearly still committed to speaking the truth". Writing for music website Music OMH, Darren Lee provided a more mixed assessment of the album, describing it as rewarding and stunning, but he also states that the album's brevity prevents it "from being an unassailable masterpiece".

Scott-Heron described himself as a mere participant in an interview with The New Yorker:

This is Richard's CD. My only knowledge when I got to the studio was how he seemed to have wanted this for a long time. You're in a position to have somebody do something that they really want to do, and it was not something that would hurt me or damage me—why not? All the dreams you show up in are not your own.

The remix version of the album, We're New Here, was released in 2011, featuring production by English musician Jamie xx, who reworked material from the original album. Like the original album, We're New Here received critical acclaim.

In April 2014, XL Recordings announced a third album from the I'm New Here sessions, titled Nothing New. The album consists of stripped-down piano and vocal recordings and was released in conjunction with Record Store Day on April 19, 2014.

Death

Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at St. Luke's Hospital, New York City, after becoming ill upon returning from a European trip. Scott-Heron had confirmed previous press speculation about his health, when he disclosed in a 2008 New York Magazine interview that he had been HIV-positive for several years, and that he had been previously hospitalized for pneumonia.

He was survived by his firstborn daughter, Raquiyah "Nia" Kelly Heron, from his relationship with Pat Kelly; his son Rumal Rackley, from his relationship with Lurma Rackley; daughter Gia Scott-Heron, from his marriage to Brenda Sykes; and daughter Chegianna Newton, who was 13 years old at the time of her father's death. He is also survived by his sister Gayle; brother Denis Heron, who once managed Scott-Heron; his uncle, Roy Heron; and nephew Terrance Kelly, an actor and rapper who performs as Mr. Cheeks, and who was a member of Lost Boyz.

Before his death, Scott-Heron had been in talks with Portuguese director Pedro Costa to participate in his film Horse Money as a screenwriter, composer and actor.

After Scott-Heron's death, Malik Al Nasir told The Guardian's Simon Hattenstone of the kindness that Scott-Heron had showed him throughout his adult life since meeting the poet back stage at a gig in Liverpool in 1984. The BBC World Service covered the story on their Outlook program with Matthew Bannister, which took the story global. It was subsequently covered in other media such as BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live, where jazz musician Al Jarreau paid tribute to Gil, and was mentioned the U.S. edition of Rolling Stone and The Huffington Post. Malik & the O.G's performed a tribute to Scott-Heron at the Liverpool International Music Festival in 2013 with jazz composer Orphy Robinson of The Jazz Warriors and Rod Youngs from Gil's band The Amnesia Express. Another tribute was performed at St. Georges Hall in Liverpool on August 27, 2015, called "The Revolution will be Live!", curated by Malik Al Nasir and Richard McGinnis for Yesternight Productions. The event featured Talib Kweli, Aswad, The Christians, Malik & the O.G's, Sophia Ben-Yousef and Cleveland Watkiss as well as DJ 2Kind and poet, actor, and radio DJ Craig Charles. The tribute was the opening event for 2015 Liverpool International Music Festival.

In response to Scott-Heron's death, Public Enemy's Chuck D stated "RIP GSH...and we do what we do and how we do because of you" on his Twitter account. His UK publisher, Jamie Byng, called him "one of the most inspiring people I've ever met". On hearing of the death, R&B singer Usher stated: "I just learned of the loss of a very important poet...R.I.P., Gil Scott-Heron. The revolution will be live!!". Richard Russell, who produced Scott-Heron's final studio album, called him a "father figure of sorts to me", while Eminem stated: "He influenced all of hip-hop". Lupe Fiasco wrote a poem about Scott-Heron that was published on his website.

Scott-Heron's memorial service was held at Riverside Church in New York City on June 2, 2011, where Kanye West performed "Lost in the World" and "Who Will Survive in America", two songs from West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The studio album version of West's "Who Will Survive in America" features a spoken-word excerpt by Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Westchester County in New York.

Scott-Heron was honored posthumously in 2012 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Charlotte Fox, member of the Washington, DC NARAS and president of Genesis Poets Music, nominated Scott-Heron for the award, while the letter of support came from Grammy award winner and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee Bill Withers.

Scott-Heron's memoir, The Last Holiday, was published in January 2012. In her review for the Los Angeles Times, professor of English and journalism Lynell George wrote:

The Last Holiday is as much about his life as it is about context, the theater of late 20th century America — from Jim Crow to the Reagan '80s and from Beale Street to 57th Street. The narrative is not, however, a rise-and-fall retelling of Scott-Heron's life and career. It doesn't connect all the dots. It moves off-the-beat, at its own speed ... This approach to revelation lends the book an episodic quality, like oral storytelling does. It winds around, it repeats itself.

Scott-Heron's estate

At the time of Scott-Heron's death, a will could not be found to determine the future of his estate. Additionally, Raquiyah Kelly-Heron filed papers in Manhattan, New York's Surrogate's Court in August 2013, claiming that Rumal Rackley is not Scott-Heron's son and should therefore be omitted from matters concerning the musician's estate.According to the Daily News website, Rackley, Kelly-Heron and two other sisters have been seeking a resolution to the issue of the management of Scott-Heron's estate, as Rackley stated in court papers that Scott-Heron prepared him to be the eventual administrator of the estate. Scott-Heron's 1994 album Spirits was dedicated to "my son Rumal and my daughters Nia and Gia", and in court papers Rackley added that Scott-Heron introduced me [Rackley] from the stage as his son."

In 2011, Rackley filed a suit against sister Gia Scott-Heron and her mother, Scott-Heron's first wife, Brenda Sykes, as he believed they had unfairly attained US$250,000 of Scott-Heron's money. The case was later settled for an undisclosed sum in early 2013; but the relationship between Rackley and Scott-Heron's two adult daughters already had become strained in the months after Gil's death. In her submission to the Surrogate's Court, Kelly-Heron states that a DNA test completed by Rackley in 2011—using DNA from Scott-Heron's brother—revealed that they "do not share a common male lineage", while Rackley has refused to undertake another DNA test since that time. A hearing to address Kelly-Heron's filing was scheduled for late August 2013, but by March 2016 further information on the matter was not publicly available. Rackley still serves as court-appointed administrator for the estate, and donated material to the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture for Scott-Heron to be included among the exhibits and displays when the museum opened in September 2016. In December 2018, the Surrogate Court ruled that Rumal Rackley and his half sisters are all legal heirs.

According to the Daily News website, Kelly-Heron and two other sisters have been seeking a resolution to the issue of the management of Scott-Heron's estate. The case was decided in December 2018 with a ruling issued in May 2019.

Influence and legacy

Scott-Heron's work has influenced writers, academics and musicians, from indie rockers to rappers. His work during the 1970s influenced and helped engender subsequent African-American music genres, such as hip hop and neo soul. He has been described by music writers as "the godfather of rap" and "the black Bob Dylan".

Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot comments on Scott-Heron's collaborative work with Jackson:

Together they crafted jazz-influenced soul and funk that brought new depth and political consciousness to '70s music alongside Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. In classic albums such as 'Winter in America' and 'From South Africa to South Carolina,' Scott-Heron took the news of the day and transformed it into social commentary, wicked satire, and proto-rap anthems. He updated his dispatches from the front lines of the inner city on tour, improvising lyrics with an improvisational daring that matched the jazz-soul swirl of the music".

Of Scott-Heron's influence on hip hop, Kot writes that he "presag[ed] hip-hop and infus[ed] soul and jazz with poetry, humor and pointed political commentary". Ben Sisario of The New York Times writes that "He [Scott-Heron] preferred to call himself a "bluesologist", drawing on the traditions of blues, jazz and Harlem renaissance poetics". Tris McCall of The Star-Ledger writes that "The arrangements on Gil Scott-Heron's early recordings were consistent with the conventions of jazz poetry – the movement that sought to bring the spontaneity of live performance to the reading of verse". A music writer later noted that "Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists", while The Washington Post wrote that "Scott-Heron's work presaged not only conscious rap and poetry slams, but also acid jazz, particularly during his rewarding collaboration with composer-keyboardist-flutist Brian Jackson in the mid- and late '70s". The Observer's Sean O'Hagan discussed the significance of Scott-Heron's music with Brian Jackson, stating:

Together throughout the 1970s, Scott-Heron and Jackson made music that reflected the turbulence, uncertainty and increasing pessimism of the times, merging the soul and jazz traditions and drawing on an oral poetry tradition that reached back to the blues and forward to hip-hop. The music sounded by turns angry, defiant and regretful while Scott-Heron's lyrics possessed a satirical edge that set them apart from the militant soul of contemporaries such as Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield.

Will Layman of PopMatters wrote about the significance of Scott-Heron's early musical work:

In the early 1970s, Gil Scott-Heron popped onto the scene as a soul poet with jazz leanings; not just another Bill Withers, but a political voice with a poet's skill. His spoken-voice work had punch and topicality. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "Johannesburg" were calls to action: Stokely Carmichael if he'd had the groove of Ray Charles. 'The Bottle' was a poignant story of the streets: Richard Wright as sung by a husky-voiced Marvin Gaye. To paraphrase Chuck D, Gil Scott-Heron's music was a kind of CNN for black neighborhoods, prefiguring hip-hop by several years. It grew from the Last Poets, but it also had the funky swing of Horace Silver or Herbie Hancock—or Otis Redding. Pieces of a Man and Winter in America (collaborations with Brian Jackson) were classics beyond category".

Scott-Heron's influence over hip hop is primarily exemplified by his definitive single "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", sentiments from which have been explored by various rappers, including Aesop Rock, Talib Kweli and Common. In addition to his vocal style, Scott-Heron's indirect contributions to rap music extend to his and co-producer Jackson's compositions, which have been sampled by various hip-hop artists. "We Almost Lost Detroit" was sampled by Brand Nubian member Grand Puba ("Keep On"), Native Tongues duo Black Star ("Brown Skin Lady"), and MF Doom ("Camphor"). Additionally, Scott-Heron's 1980 song "A Legend in His Own Mind" was sampled on Mos Def's "Mr. Nigga", the opening lyrics from his 1978 recording "Angel Dust" were appropriated by rapper RBX on the 1996 song "Blunt Time" by Dr. Dre, and CeCe Peniston's 2000 song "My Boo" samples Scott-Heron's 1974 recording "The Bottle".

In addition to the Scott-Heron excerpt used in "Who Will Survive in America", Kanye West sampled Scott-Heron and Jackson's "Home is Where the Hatred Is" and "We Almost Lost Detroit" for the songs "My Way Home" and "The People", respectively, both of which are collaborative efforts with Common. Scott-Heron, in turn, acknowledged West's contributions, sampling the latter's 2007 single "Flashing Lights" on his final album, 2010's I'm New Here.

Scott-Heron admitted ambivalence regarding his association with rap, remarking in 2010 in an interview for the Daily Swarm: "I don't know if I can take the blame for [rap music]". As New York Times writer Sisario explained, he preferred the moniker of "bluesologist". Referring to reviews of his last album and references to him as the "godfather of rap", Scott-Heron said: "It's something that's aimed at the kids ... I have kids, so I listen to it. But I would not say it's aimed at me. I listen to the jazz station." In 2013, Chattanooga rapper Isaiah Rashad recorded an unofficial mixtape called Pieces of a Kid, which was greatly influenced by Heron's debut album Pieces of a Man.

Following Scott-Heron's funeral in 2011, a tribute from publisher, record company owner, poet, and music producer Malik Al Nasir was published on The Guardian's website, titled "Gil Scott-Heron saved my life".

In the 2018 film First Man, Scott-Heron is a minor character and is played by soul singer Leon Bridges.

He is one of eight significant people shown in mosaic at the 167th Street renovated subway station on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx that reopened in 2019.

[everydayanth]

Just thought I’d clear up some of the confusion about these two amazing ladies and the photos that keep circling, like these:

“Born almost a hundred years apart, two little captive African girls had some extraordinary similarities in their lives.  Each was named for the ship that was to carry her away from her West African home across the Atlantic.  Each proved to be extremely intelligent and accomplished, and was to become famous in her day.”

They are TWO DIFFERENT WOMEN, equally amazing in different ways. There were/are hundreds of amazing African women whose stories we can tell, thousands, and there’s something about how the internet confuses them that is problematic and frustrating and racist, and tells girls they have to be more than an exception, they have to be perfect to succeed. 

So, without further ado, I would like to introduce you first to Phillis Wheatley:

Her statue can be found as part of the Boston Women’s Memorial, located on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall (Google Maps Location). Phillis was a poet, the first African-American to publish a book (1773), even George Washington praised her work. She was brought to America on the slave ship Phillis (which she was named after) as a young child of 7 or 8. After she published her poems, she was freed, married, and lived a hard life of poverty as her children died in infancy; her husband was imprisoned for debt and she fell sick and died around age 31, followed by her surviving child soon after (a more detailed and engaging biography is available here). You can read her reflective work about morality, religion, and observations of American life as they were originally published or in updated formats. Phillis Wheatley was an intellectual observer and her work is often studied in academic units discussing the impacts and costs of colonialism and slavery in literary lenses, the moral philosophy of western ethics, and the anthropological debates of cultural inheritance and women who surpass “expectations.”

Secondly, I would like to introduce Sarah Forbes Bonetta:

“Sara Forbes Bonetta, otherwise spelled Sarah (1843 – 15 August 1880),[1] was a West African Egbado princess of the Yoruba people who was orphaned in intertribal warfare, sold into slavery and, in a remarkable twist of events, was liberated from enslavement and became a goddaughter to Queen Victoria. She was married to Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy Victorian Lagos philanthropist.... Originally styled Omoba Aina, she was born in 1843 at Oke-Odan, an Egbado village.[2] In 1848, Oke-Odan was raided by a Dahomeyan army; Aina's parents died during the attack and she ended up in the court of King Ghezo as a slave at the age of five. Intended by her captors to become a human sacrifice, she was rescued by Captain Frederick E. Forbes of the Royal Navy, who convinced King Ghezo of Dahomey to give her to Queen Victoria;[3]Forbes renamed her Sara Forbes Bonetta, Bonetta after his ship HMS Bonetta. In 1850, she met the queen, who was impressed by the young princess's exceptional intelligence, and had the girl, whom she called Sally,[4] raised as her goddaughter in the British middle class.”

They are both great stories of exceptional women, and there are some similarities that stand out, but these were two drastically different people, and I will expect a Disney version of the Princess’ life in 2020 because wow, they don’t even have to write it! Phillis Wheatley is an important figure in many ways, and while her story has a sad ending in poverty, it is the reality of a past we often magnify with romance rather than accept the systemic problems of. Both women should be known, and I hope you are inspired to add more research or other women and share their real stories! 

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Other authors that can join BSD

Come on, with the amount of side characters in BSD, I think we can throw more in. You already know what I said about Raichou Hiratsuka (with accessibility, she can easily be added as Yosano’s former colleague or something). 

Here are some other authors, and while I won’t go as extensive as I did for Hiratsuka, I might include some reasons why. All of this is from Wikipedia because I’m a scrub.

Takiji Kobayashi - He writes proletarian literature meaning he wants to support the working class. He wrote a short novel called “Kanikosen” (Crab Cannery Ship) which tells a story about workers who revolt against the company and managers. The author died due to violent torture at age 29 by the Tokko Police.

Takuboku Ishikawa - He was a poet who was known for his tanka and modern-style poetry. He supports socialistic values and naturalism and was acquaintances with Yosano. His major works were two volumes of tanka poems “A Handful of Sand” and “Sad Toys” plus his diaries. 

Naoya Shiga - He was a novelist and short story writer. Okay, I know he married his cousin, but we can leave that part out. His works were praised by Akutagawa but other contemporaries including Dazai were critical of him. We already have some connections.

Takeo Arishima - BSD has a habit of making male authors female (Kyouka and Kouyou). Takeo is another good option since one of his most notable works is called “Aru Onna” (A Certain Woman) which is about a strong-willed woman struggling in a male-dominated society. Yes, he and his lover Akiko Hatano both worked in literature and committed suicide together. He was critical of Christianity and supported socialism and humanism.

Yone Noguchi - Also known as Yonejirou Noguchi, he was a writer of poetry, fiction, essays, and criticism. He was fluent in both English and Japanese. he did live in western society for years and had various romantic encounters. Personally, I think this is an opportunity to use him as a character that’s a spy between the Guild and the Port Mafia or Armed Detectives Agency. 

Ayako Sono (and Shusaku Endo) - Both are Japanese Roman Catholics, but I find Sono far more interesting of the two (because there was more information on her). She was a hardcore conservative and can face off against Yosano since she believed that women had no right to work after giving birth or getting pregnant. She was racist and believed that South African people should live in a segregated zone. She had a best-seller that depicted domestic violence, but a lot of her works depicted normal life. She’d make a good antagonist.

Sawako Ariyoshi - She is far more modern than the rest, but she wrote about the racism within America (especially since she lived before and after WWII). She described relationships between mothers and daughters. I think she would offer a unique perspective, but I highly doubt them adding her since Japan seems to shy away from that dark side of their history (but what country doesn’t?)

Toyoko Yamasaki - I think she might be a little bit too modern to be considered though.

Kono Abe - This has a similar issue to the previous entry, but he has a connection to the universe already. He admired Dostoyevsky, Kafka, and Poe. He’s known for his surrealism and absurd fiction. That means it leaves a lot open for ability.

Ryotaro Shiba - He was known for his historical and detective fiction.

Juza Unno - He is credited for being one of the founding fathers of Japanese science fiction. A lot of his works were influenced by the defeat of WWII which he took as a hard blow. His scientific work was influenced by Tesla.

Chiyo Uno - Another woman ahead of her time, she was a writer and a kimono designer. She was a short story writer, serial writer, and magazine editor who was heavily influenced by American and European culture (like many in the 1920s). She wanted to be more than a wife and mother and became part of the “Bohemian world of Tokyo”. 

Masuji Ibuse - His history is interesting since he was a propaganda writer, but he was also a respected writer at the time. He was heavily impacted by the war and wrote a novel called Black Rain which was based on the historical records of the devastations caused by the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Again, they will probably shy away from WWII, but I thought Black Rain sounded like a cool name, and I don’t really like the idea of shying away from that part of history.

Jun Ishikawa - In real life, he had interests in many people of the BSD universe including the dark era trio (Oda, Dazai, and Ango), Mori, and Mishima who isn’t canon yet but is suspected to be joining eventually.

Fumiko Enchi - She was one of the most notable writers of the Showa period. 

Ayako Miura - She wrote a novel called Freezing Point which sounds like a cool ability. She respected Dazai and Natsume.

Miyamoto Yuriko - She had a different view of socialism and feminism. She was an anti-imperialist, wrote about working-class women, was imprisoned for her beliefs, and was even turned away by fellow feminists because her work was “too masculine”. 

Yasunari Kawabata - He was a naturalist who was the first Japanese author to win the Nobel Peace Prize in literature.

Murasaki Shikibu - She was a very early but a very prominent writer. She wrote the famous “The Tale of Genji”. She was instrumental in developing Japanese into a written language and is regarded as a classical writer.

W. W. Jacobs - One of these things is not like the other! I blame @awkward-akutagawa and their Twitter AU for making me want to make a character that can resurrect people and @awkward-oguri for providing the fuel for this (they have an OC with a similar ability). Known for his humorous writing, he was an English writer (which makes me question whether he’s elligible for the Guild. Maybe he just upped and left?) He wrote a story called “The Monkey’s Paw” which is basically another cautionary tale of “BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR BECAUSE KARMA’S A BITCH”. That would be the basis for the ability. The rest is up to @awkward-atsushi and the other wonderful OC makers.

[darealprisonart]

All My Life

Every Monday, I want to try to be the day I publish one love poem a week. It will only be for 52-weeks. Listening to the music being played in the cell next to me is an OG Crip, well he is older than me by ten years out of Watts Vario Grape. He really goes bacc to what sounded like The Shirelles, and Sam Cook. But what really had my mind going there, as far as a Monday Love poem type of vibe was…

[unity4equality-blog]

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂?

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. Angelou published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She also received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂 - 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲

Angelou attended George Washington High School in San Francisco and took lessons in dance and drama on a scholarship at the California Labor School. When Angelou, just seventeen, graduated from high school and gave birth to a son, Guy, she began to work as the first African American and first female streetcar conductor in San Francisco.

𝗜 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂’𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸

Long before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements brought sexual assault into the national conversation, she wrote in her 1969 memoir about her own experience with sexual trauma, and how her mother’s boyfriend raped her when she was a child. He was convicted and imprisoned, and after his release, he was beaten to death, a series of events that led her to stop talking for a period.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻-𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮

She first joined in 1975, shortly after writing the 1972 film Georgia, Georgia about an interracial romance, but made her official directorial debut at 70 with Down in the Delta (1998). The movie is about a mother who sends her children away from Chicago to live with family in rural Mississippi so that they could learn about their roots.

𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝘆 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲

She boasts three Grammy wins (and five nominations) for best-spoken word albums — in 1993, 1995, and 2002, for On The Pulse Of Morning, Phenomenal Woman, and A Song Flung Up To Heaven, respectively. But her awards don’t stop there. For example, she was nominated for a 1973 Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for her role in Jerome Kilty’s 1972 play Look Away.

(Text source: poetryfoundation.org and TIMES magazine) 

[womenauthorsinhistory]

Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753 – December 5, 1784) was the first published African-American female poet. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write and encouraged her poetry when they saw her talent. The publication of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral on 1 September 1773 brought her fame both in England and the American colonies. Figures such as George Washington praised her work.[3] During Wheatley's visit to England with her master's son, African-American poet Jupiter Hammon praised her work in his own poem. Wheatley was emancipated (set free) shortly after the publication of her book.[4] She married in about 1778. Two of her children died as infants. After her husband was imprisoned for debt in 1784, Wheatley fell into poverty and died of illness, quickly followed by the death of her surviving infant son. #womenartist #womanwriter #neverthelessshepersisted #girlsruntheworld #girlscandoanything #womenempowerment #femaleempowerment #womenartistsinhistory #womenauthorsinhistory #women #womenwriters #womenwritersofinstagram #womenshistory #history #phylliswheatley #revolution #revolutionarywar #americanwomen #africanamerican #africanamericanwomen #africanwoman https://www.instagram.com/p/BowIJwUgTHv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=y5ij567asfm7

[writeloading332]

Mother Butler Guild Handbook

Mother Butler Guild Handbook 2020

Mother Butler Guild Handbook Online

A world without barriers to experiencing the love and wisdom found in the breastfeeding relationship.

The Parents' Association is the combined members of the Mothers' and Dads' Clubs. We endeavor to provide events and avenues for UA parents to connect with the school, other parents, and with their daughters in fellowship, service and programming. Diluc does not feature any additional idle voicelines. Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 01.ogg Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 02.ogg Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 03.ogg Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 04.ogg Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 05.ogg Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 06.ogg Media:VO Diluc Light Attack 07.ogg.

Mother Butler Guild Handbook 2020

3) How does one become a member of the Mother Butler Guild? A) Membership in the MBG may either be by invitation or by application. In either case, the prospective member/candidate is to file her application with the MBG Parish Unit. Acceptance into the Guild needs the approval of the parish priest as Spiritual Director.

Book 1: Dune. A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then take care that you first place him in his time: born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV.

Mother Butler Guild Handbook. For those imprisoned for their faith, may they embolden fellow believers to speak the word of God. In the Wedding in Cana, Mary said 'Do whatever he tells you'. May we accept this invitation to open our hearts to Jesus who came to serve and not to be served. Pope Francis said, 'Instead of being just a.

Thank you for supporting La Leche League International and for making a difference in the lives of mothers and babies!

Mother Butler Guild Handbook Online

Elvira. Mother

During the early days with my third baby, I felt a special connection in my heart and soul with my LLL colleagues and with all the mothers whose breastfeeding wisdom has been passed along.

Read Elvira's Story

Dawn. Mother

I know whenever I contact my (LLLI) friend and mentor Genny, she will have sound, reasonable, educated information to share. I appreciate her help with breastfeeding and mothering...

Read Dawn's Story

Vanessa. Mother

None of the mothers in my family or my husband’s had ever breastfed. They disapproved of my desire to do so, explaining that it was too exhausting and telling me stories of women who failed.

Read Vanessa's Story

Diana. Mother

I was nervous that the (LLLI) moms would judge me badly for feeding my baby with a bottle, but they were incredibly supportive that I was still pumping, even though my baby wouldn’t nurse...

Read Diana's Story

Image 01

The State's Poet

Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy named Louisiana Poet Laureate

Image 02

$1 Million for the Center for Racial Justice

W.K. Kellogg Foundation provides funding

Image 03

President Walter Kimbrough passes the Dillard leadership baton in 2022

Click here to read more

Image 04

New Academic Offerings for Fall 2021

Health science major, criminal justice online introduced

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Episode 14 of 'Conversations on the Oaks'

Zella Palmer talks African American material culture

Image 06

Dillard Featured on 'Revisionist History' Podcast

Malcolm Gladwell examines college rankings methodology, interviews President Kimbrough

[charrisa]

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper | National Women's History Museum

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/frances-ellen-watkins-harper

As a poet, author, and lecturer, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a household name in the nineteenth century. Not only was she the first African American woman to publish a short story, but she was also an influential abolitionist, suffragist, and reformer that co-founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born on September 24, 1825 in Baltimore, Maryland. An only child, Harper was born to free African American parents. Unfortunately, by the time she was three years old, both of her parents died and she became an orphan. Harper’s aunt and uncle, Henrietta and William Watkins, raised her after her parent’s death. Her uncle was an outspoken abolitionist, practiced self-taught medicine, organized a black literary society and established his own school in 1820 called the Watkins Academy for Negro Youth. Frances Harper learned from her uncle’s activism and she attended the Watkins Academy until she was thirteen years old. At that age, children were typically expected to join the workforce. Harper took a job as a nursemaid and seamstress for a white family that owned a bookshop. Her love for books blossomed as she spent any free time she had in the shop. By age twenty-one, Harper wrote her first small volume of poetry called Forest Leaves.

When she was twenty-six years old, Harper left Maryland and became the first woman instructor at Union Seminary, a school for free African Americans in Wilberforce, Ohio. She taught domestic science for a year and then moved to a school in York, Pennsylvania. Shortly after she began working as a teacher, her home state of Maryland passed a law stating that free African Americans living in the North were no longer allowed to enter the state of Maryland. If found, they would be imprisoned and sold into slavery. Harper was now unable to return to her own home. She decided to devote all of her efforts to the antislavery cause. Harper moved in with William and Letitia George Still who were abolitionists and friends of her uncle. William Still became known as the father of the Underground Railroad while he was an office clerk and janitor in the office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Supported by the Stills, Harper began writing poetry for antislavery newspapers. Her poem “Eliza Harris,” was published in The Liberator, and in Frederick Douglass’ Paper. By the time Harper left Philadelphia in 1854, she had compiled her second small volume of poetry called Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects with an introduction by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.