#jamaican civil war

[cleopatrachampagne]

i know i’m far from an expert on history but it always bothers me to see bob marley’s portrait hanging in my local weed shop. like, i’ve loved reggae music since i was young, well before i ever smoked weed, i know listening to music is pretty rad when stoned, and i admit i understand that a lot of prominent figures and concepts idolized by the hippies and revolutionaries of the 60’s and 70’s in the usa eventually became synonymous with drug use, esp marijuana, due to smear campaigns against counterculture so maybe it is a kind of defiance to display it proudly? but while i understand the admiration a lot of disillusioned young people in the usa in the 60’s and 70’s would have felt for the people fighting the class war in jamaica and the reggae music emerging with lyrics about said war but still pushing for peace, for one love, as they worked to topple inequity and corrupt systems while redefining perspectives on race, oppression and intergenerational trauma but how did bob marley become “the weed man” in the cultural consciousness when he was a spokesperson for political change and class revolution? is it only that way in the us? do other countries and cultures see him as more than a stoner icon with his face on rasta memorabilia sold at jacked up prices to college kids who have never even heard of the rastafari revolution, the pan-african movement or the jamaican civil war, idk why but it really does bother me to see a strong voice for peace and change reduced to a face plastered on drug paraphernalia and stoner t-shirts. like… damn. that’s the death of a revolutionary in the capitalist tradition, i suppose. bob marley’s portrait hanging above the bud hut cash register, “grunge” clothing sold by fast fashion corporate hellholes, t-shirts with kurt cobain’s suicide note written on them being sold for 800 bucks a pop, eat the rich stickers for sale on amazon of all places, santa muerte being sold as a goth accessory or a “hardcore” generic tattoo in the us stripped of what she symbolizes to me and many other latina/o people who were raised with mexican neopaganism and folk catholic traditions, sanitized street art commissioned by some silicon valley suit that is purely aesthetics with no heart, no soul, nothing related to the authenticity of artistic vandalism, just imaginary street cred points for a rich dick. i get the same feeling in my stomach seeing the “aesthetic” whitewash of counterculture, the clownery of “alt” culture on apps like tiktok, the cashing in on the suffering of the oppressed for a quick buck and the tragic victory of cementing hippies and beatniks and freedom fighters in the minds of the following generations as degenerate druggies (thanks nixon and crew) that i get when i hear that pop remix of “the hanging tree” and it’s a lot to take in while i’m just trying to buy a box of strawberry cough prerolls.

[cyarsk52-20]

🍲Black food history

:1. Fried Chicken: Originated in West Africa, brought to Americas by enslaved people

.2. Gumbo: African, French, and Indigenous fusion dish from Louisiana.

Barbecue: African and European influences merged in Southern BBQ.

Soul Food: Post-Civil War cuisine developed by African American women.

Juneteenth: Celebratory foods like red velvet cake, strawberry soda.

African Diasporic Cuisines: Caribbean, Latin American, African American.

Foodways of Enslavement: Cooking techniques, ingredients.

Freedom Food: Post-Emancipation culinary innovations.

The Black Chef''s Movement: Modern culinary activism.

Black Food Culture Preservation: Efforts to document, celebrate heritage. 🍲Books:

"High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America" by Jessica B. Harris

"Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine" by Adrian Miller

"The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink" by Andrew F. Smith 🍲Documentaries:

"The Search for General Tso"

"Soul Food Junkies"

"The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross" 🍲African American culinary contributions are vast and diverse, reflecting the community''s rich cultural heritage. Here are some key aspects: 🍲Traditional Dishes

Fried Chicken

Barbecue (ribs, brisket, etc.)

Gumbo

Jambalaya

Soul Food (mac and cheese, collard greens, etc.)

Cornbread

Red Velvet Cake

Sweet Potato Pie 🍲Culinary Influences

African (fufu, jollof rice)

Caribbean (jerk seasoning, curry)

Southern American (biscuits and gravy)

European (French, Spanish, Italian) 🍲Historical Context

Slavery: Enslaved Africans brought culinary traditions.

Reconstruction: Freedmen established restaurants, food businesses.

Great Migration: African Americans introduced Southern cuisine to urban centers. 🍲Iconic Figures

Abby Fisher (first African American cookbook author)

Nat Fuller (renowned chef, Charleston)

Edna Lewis (celebrated chef, author)

Leah Chase (legendary New Orleans chef) 🍲Modern Contributions

Innovative chefs (e.g., Marcus Samuelsson, Carla Hall)

Food media (e.g., "Soul Food Junkies," "High on the Hog")

Food festivals (e.g., Essence Food Festival)

Food justice movements (e.g., Soul Fire Farm) 🍲Regional Cuisines

Southern (e.g., Lowcountry, Cajun)

Caribbean-American (e.g., Haitian, Jamaican)

West Coast (e.g., California soul food)

Midwestern (e.g., Detroit-style soul food) 🍲Books

"The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink" by Andrew F. Smith

"Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine" by Adrian Miller

"High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America" by Jessica B. Harris 🍲Documentaries

"The Search for General Tso"

"Soul Food Junkies"

"The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross" 🍲Websites

The Southern Foodways Alliance

Black Food Studies

The Food and Culture Exchange

[pvnklvr]

——>ᴬᴮᴼᵁᵀ ᴹᴱ

General !! ——> zara!! 15 yrs old , female (she/here) , black (lithuanian + jamaican ) , living in england ! , bisexual

music artists ; ! ——> MITSKII !!! , queen , bikini kill , the beatles , olivia rodrigo , Alessia cara , katy perry , one direction , big theif , adrianne lenker , kittie , rihannna , lana del rey , tyler the creator , ayesha erotica , sex pistols , pure hell , the clash

Tv shows——> brookyln 99 , the last of us , amphibia , shameless , its always sunny in phildelphia , shamelesss , tales of arcadia ,

Movies——> reanimator , bride of reanimator , everything everywhere all at once , infinity war + endgame , avengers civil war , spiderman no way home , elvira , barbie , i saw the tv glow , xmen first class , wakanda forever , the scream franchise , pretty much all horror movies

Intrests——> horror , art , youtube , resident evil , tlou games , life is strange games

Mee !!! ; ⭐️

Posts will be mainly moodboards , art and shit posting !! ;

Moots pls i promise im super duper cool !!

Dont forget ——> Free Palestine!! 🍉🍉

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer Anon]

The Left: How can so many young men join the right?

Me: Can stop treating poor white men as the root of all evil while infantilzing the war criminals like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama?

Left: No they oppressed us!

Me: AAAAAAH!

Remember that whole point of “Stop treating people as fictional characters!” thing this what I meant

Also this idea your ancestors must be pure af to where we are seeing black celebrities and activists have mental breakdowns because they discover they had slaveowners ancestry?

Shit, forgot the blogger here name, he that guy with orange hair from mob psycho 100 as his icon. Not 100% accurate but he pointed how so many people who went to college will have the PG versions of non white cultures

Similar to how one of reason why antisemitism have skyrocketed beyond the moon. Is because the left refuse to acknowledge the embedded antisemitism within Islam societies��unless they think they are mentally incapable of acknowledging, reforming, and get ride of it like most bigotry in western civilization.

Which again using Jlongbone point in her Magical Negroes trailer reaction vid when talking about the film try to portray basic human decency and kindness as a magical thing.

WOULD BE UNIMAGINABLE RACIST AND IS SAYING THE ARABS ARE LIKE LOTR ORCS AKA 100% EVIL!

Who fucking raised leftist gen x and millennials? Did Hitler have a secret protocol in case his empire fail to continue to spread antisemitism in the next generations?

Or they really have a kid cartoon idea of history (which is heavily black and white)

The Left: How can so many young men join the right? Ect.

They're not, well they are but much slower and in lower numbers than women are going hard left.

And I'm sorry to have to tell the people on the left this but, the people on the right feel the same way about your positions as you do about theirs. Hell far left and far right intersect in several places, but nobody want's to talk about that.

Also this idea your ancestors must be pure af to where we are seeing black celebrities and activists have mental breakdowns because they discover they had slaveowners ancestry?

They were endorsing a presidential candidate that likely is a direct descendant of a Jamaican slave trader, their mental breakdowns mean nothing to me.

That and if you go far back in anyone's family tree you're going to find an atrocity or three.

Shit, forgot the blogger here name, he that guy with orange hair from mob psycho 100 as his icon. Not 100% accurate but he pointed how so many people who went to college will have the PG versions of non white cultures

I don't know what that is, but ya noble savage shit is still running pretty heavy in academia.

WOULD BE UNIMAGINABLE RACIST AND IS SAYING THE ARABS ARE LIKE LOTR ORCS AKA 100% EVIL!

Ya you're only allowed to say that about white people for some reason. It's insane the stuff that's coming out of that side of the world, women in Afghanistan can't speak to each other among a myriad of other draconian and just flat out evil rules, that young lady in Iran that if she hasn't been tortured to death by now she's probably had a frontal lobotomy preformed, and iraq lowering the age of consent to 9.

But something something cultural relativism.

Who fucking raised leftist gen x and millennials? Did Hitler have a secret protocol in case his empire fail to continue to spread antisemitism in the next generations?

That would be the TV and he didn't need it, that's something that's always simmering in the background and has been for thousands of years waiting for the next time someone needs a scapegoat.

Or they really have a kid cartoon idea of history (which is heavily black and white)

We had Wishbone, not black and white but not historically accurate either.

We also didn't have the unrestricted access to information that later millennials and younger have had, so may have learned a bit less as a result, I do think we retained more of it though.

[starlightshadowsworld]

The houthis atacked israel Ships because they are antisemitisc plus they are starving yemenis

They might be for Palestine but they are not the Good guys

Israeli ships are being targeted because they are carrying and supplying weapons to Israel.

Which are being used to kill Palestinians.

But also because attacking the ships will encourage other countries to halt trade with Israel.

This actually was a key step in the eventual dismantle of the South African apartheid.

And lest we forget, Israel is an aphartied state.

Aphartied for those that don't know is a policy that is founded on the idea of separating people based on racial or ethnic criteria.

So, racism and thinking your race is more superior than another. Like thinking Israeli's are superior to Palestinians and Arabs in general.

The at the time, Jamaican Cheif Minister Norman Manley during the South African apartheid said:

"The ban on trade with South Africa is logical and proper. And done in respect of a country which denies its own people all the basic human rights. And denies coloured people all over the world every right to human rights intercourse.

Since we cannot send a coloured athlete to South Africa nor even a cricket team with any pretense of dignity. Why should we send our goods?"

I bring up Jamaica because they were one of the first nations to condemn South African apartheid.

They banned trade and travel with South Africa despite still being a British Colony.

Something that in a lot of ways mirrors how Yemen, is one of the first countries to act in direct resistance to Israel.

So no it's not antisemitic, just a tried and true method used to aid in the dismantle aphartied regimes.

But than Pro Israeli's much like the Israeli government see every form of resistance against them, no matter if it's peaceful or violent, as antisemitic and terrorism.

Israel can tell the world it wants to make Gaza into Auschwitz but than be afraid and mad when Palestinians want to be free from the river to the sea.

As for the second part of your ask... What are you 5?

Newsflash, there are no perfect heroes this isn't a movie or a cartoon.

Turkey stands with Palestine, they're sending a case to the International Criminal Court in regards to Israel's genocide of the Palestinians.

Which is great.

Doesn't negate the whole Armenian Genocide and the shit they're doing to Kurdish people.

Britain's over here talking about a ceasefire when they've still got colonies.

They're funding the civil war in Sudan, the atrocities against the Congolese and many many more.

Not to mention shipping weapons to Israel.

All of this doesn't mean they shouldn't be speaking out against Israel.

In fact I'd argue it's a more of a reason for them to speak up, because they have the power too.

Also on the topic of starving Yemen, let's not pretend that the UN didn't drop Yemen from their world food programme.

Seemingly in response to Yemen standing against Israel.

Which means the UN like Israel are inflicting collective punishment. Which is both a war crime and a violation of international law.

Yemen standing up for Palestine is a brave and amazing thing, because they have nothing and are doing everything.

Of course they have their own issues, but that doesn't suddenly make what they're doing to aid Palestinians have any less of an affect.

"They aren't the good guys"

Be fucking for real, every country has blood on its hands.

Some more so than others. And those continuing to cause bloodshed need to be held accountable.

That doesn't change that Palestine deserves to be free. As does Yemen as does every country and people facing oppression.

Isrsel has been actively committing a genocide for 75 years, they need to be stopped.

That's an indisputable fact.

[alivesoul]

Poet, playwright, activist, educator, and essayist June Jordan was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1936. An only child, she was raised by her Jamaican immigrant parents in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. She began writing poetry at only seven years old. Jordan attended high school at the Northfield School for Girls in Massachusetts and university at Barnard College, which she left without a final degree due to her alienation from the strictly white and male literary curriculum there. She married and later divorced Columbia student Michael Meyer, with whom she had one child. Despite anti-LGTBQ+ stigma at the time, Jordan’s writing openly acknowledged her bisexuality.

The author of 27 books—including essay collections, libretti, and children’s books as well as volumes of poetry—Jordan was also a lifelong activist who fought fiercely for civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-war causes. She taught at CUNY’s City College, Yale University, Sarah Lawrence College, and SUNY Stony Brook before being appointed professor of African-American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where she founded Poetry for the People. Jordan’s many accolades include grants and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, the National Association of Black Journalists, and numerous other institutions. She died of breast cancer in 2002. A widely influential poet who worked in accessible language to convey deep truths around identity, Jordan is celebrated today for both her literary writing and her dedicated advocacy for social justice and historically excluded groups.

Why are you posting this @alivesoul?

Because June Jordan taught a class at the University of California Berkeley called Poetry for the People and that class has been permanently cancelled. A shame. Teacher/Poets are essential to any higher learning experience as poetry informs us in every way of the world around us. I can't imagine my college experience without the poetry of Nikki Giovanni, Quincy Troupe and so many others. Beyond that, June is a truth hunter, a truth gatherer, and a truth provider---a modern day griot. I truly hope she finds a safe space within the diaspora to continue her work as she represents the very best of what it means to be Black in this country. The attack on Black intellectuals from Ta-Nehisi Coates to Claudine Gay is truly one of the great academic and cultural crimes of my lifetime and cannot continue to go ignored. Never have I seen so many highly educated and accomplished black men and women so unfairly attacked and discredited. These men and women are literally trying to save the soul of country by shining a light on the FACTS of our history, present AND on those who would profit from lies, greed and violence. If there is one thing I would implore those who read this blog to do, it is to read, study and protect not only our history but those who make it their business to make sure it is never forgotten.

We are excellence.

Peace.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

#20yrsago Amazon discloses many reviews written by insecure, sniping writers https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/us/amazon-glitch-unmasks-war-of-reviewers.html

#15yrsago 700 comments tell the FTC “No DRM!” https://memex.craphound.com/2004/02/13/dd-to-be-reissued-by-wotc/

#15yrsago FTC gets an earful from the public on DRM, practically all of it anti- https://web.archive.org/web/20040314030944/https://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=11796&mode=thread&order=0

#15yrsago Flashbake: Free version-control for writers using git https://memex.craphound.com/2009/02/13/flashbake-free-version-control-for-writers-using-git/

#10yrsago Self-published ebooks: the surprising data from Amazon https://memex.craphound.com/2014/02/13/self-published-ebooks-the-surprising-data-from-amazon/

#10yrsago Tell the IRS that mountains of DVDs are a stupid way to distribute public records https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL0E1-5IhYE

#5yrsago Tracking down Dick Davy, a mysterious “lost” comedian who once championed civil rights and antiracism https://stolendress.com/comedyonvinyl/episode-291-family-albums-episode-6-finding-dick-davy/

#5yrsago Chuck Schumer’s general counsel, once a Goldman Sachs lobbyist, won’t disclose the names of 95% of his former clients https://theintercept.com/2019/02/13/chuck-schumer-mark-patterson/

#5yrsago Burning Man purges one-percenter camp that charged up to $100K, littered like crazy, and ripped off its attendees https://journal.burningman.org/2019/02/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/cultural-course-correcting/

#5yrsago Ios and Android app stores both host Saudi government app that lets men track their spouses’ movements https://www.techdirt.com/2019/02/13/google-apple-called-out-hosting-saudi-government-app-that-allows-men-to-track-their-spouses-movements/

#5yrsago Blizzard/Activision celebrates record revenues by laying off 800 employees https://www.fanbyte.com/legacy/kiss-my-ass-activision-blizzard

#5yrsago Teen journalists profile each of the 1,200+ US children killed by guns since Parkland https://sinceparkland.org

#5yrsago Leak: Apple is demanding 50% of the revenue from its “Netflix for news” product https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/12/18222281/apple-news-subscription-service-50-percent-cut-publishers-media-deal

#5yrsago Phone scammer tried to con William Webster, the only person ever to serve as director of both the CIA and FBI: it did not go well https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/02/12/william-webster-ex-fbi-cia-director-helps-feds-nab-jamaican-phone-scammer/

#1yrato Obama's turncoat antitrust enforcer is angry about the Google breakup https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/13/the-last-man-to-die-for-a-mistake/#dont-let-the-door-hit-you-in-the-ass-on-the-way-out

[bloodmaarked]

she would be king // wayétu moore

first published: 2018 read: 06 july 2024 - 16 july 2024 pages: 368 format: e-book

genres: fiction; historical fiction; fantasy (magical realism); african literature (liberia) favourite character(s): june dey and gbessa least favourite character(s): callum aragon

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 thoughts: gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. i can't believe i only very recently came across she would be king, but i'm very glad i wasted little time in getting around to reading it. in part motivated to make progress on my personal 'read around the world challenge', i thought a fantastical retelling of the foundation of liberia would be the perfect addition, and i have to say that i'm very much encouraged to further expand my knowledge of the country after having read this book.

as i say this was a fictional exploration of liberia's early years rooted in real history. through three main characters it explores the perspective of liberia's indigenous peoples, the freed american slaves who became settlers, and (to a lesser extent) the jamaicans who sought a better life back in africa. the first three chapters which cover these characters' backstories in depth were captivating and i was drawn in right away. from there we have a convergence of their lives, and then further exploration of the dynamics between new settlers and indigenous liberians. i was only vaguely aware of the history of the country, and so the discussion of how the freed men were repatriated there by the ANC, and how the americans saw themselves relative to the indigenous liberians, taught me something important.

at the same time as being informational for me, it was also engagingly written. it was so atmospheric that i felt transported to another place and time, and i could see it play out in my head like a movie. the element of magical realism elevated the story without causing it to lean into a tale of unimaginable fantasy.

i highly recommend this book (just keep an eye out for the trigger warnings beforehand). i've spotted that wayétu moore has a memoir about her life and particularly the escape of her and her family to america after the breakout of the first liberian civil war which is definitely going on my tbr!

[fxdltc88]

James Vernor was a junior clerk at Higby and Sterns’ Drug Store in Detroit when he enlisted in the 4th Michigan Cavalry and was called to fight in the Civil War. At the time (according to company lore), he was experimenting with a stomach calming tonic of vanilla, spices and ginger, which he left behind in an oak cask. When Vernor returned four years later, he found that his elixir had transformed into a zesty, sweet, gingery drink complimented by the wood’s aging process. Soon after, Vernor opened his own pharmacy 235 Woodward Avenue, and its soda fountain became the first – and only! – place in the world to buy Vernor’s ginger ale in 1866.

Vernor was admired as a pharmacist. He closely scrutinized his prescriptions for quality, accuracy, and possible drug interactions. Vernor was meticulous about his work. Everything he did needed to meet his high standards. He served on the State Board of Pharmacy for eight years and was one of the driving forces to pass the state's first pharmacy law. He held Michigan's pharmacy license #1 all the years he practiced.

Like all good pharmacists, Vernor also had a soda fountain in his drug store.

As demand grew, Vernor began to sell his product to other Detroit soda fountains, but required that vendors purchase special equipment to serve the soda in order to ensure its quality. After gaining enough fame, Vernor was able to sell his soda throughout the Midwest. In 1896, he closed his pharmacy and opened a bottling plant at the foot of Woodward so that Vernors could be mass produced. 

James Vernor passed away at the age of 84 in 1927. The Vernor family was once asked when the first Mr. Vernor retired from business. The answer was, "A few hours before he died." He was a hard-working and energetic man. One that made his mark on the city of Detroit with both business and civic contributions.

The second James Vernor came into the business as early as he could, working alongside his father in the old drug store. In the beginning, the father and son team were the only employees. They often worked 16 hour days together washing bottles, making and bottling the ginger ale, delivering it to various sites in the city, and taking care of clerical duties. He was born in Detroit on March 25, 1877. It wasn't until his father died in 1927, though, that he became President of the James Vernor Company. It was in a great way due to the second James Vernor's influence and style that the company grew into an international organization. In 1896, James Vernor II entered the business and his father decided to concentrate full time on ginger ale.

The same standards that had been applied to the consistency of his prescriptions were applied to the consistency of Vernor's Ginger Ale. The water had to be specially purified. The blending needed the finest Jamaican Ginger distilled in the absolute proper proportion with other fruit juices. Even the carbonic gas used was produced by Vernor so it would meet their requirements.

In 1896, James Vernor II entered the business and his father decided to concentrate full time on ginger ale.

The drug store was closed in 1896 and a small plant established at the foot of Woodward Avenue, several blocks from his former drug store's location. The plant was devoted to the blending, aging, and bottling of Vernor's Ginger Ale.

In 1918, Vernor purchased the old Riverside Power Plant. In 1919 a six story main building was erected adjacent to the other two. In 1939, the 10-story Siegel building was purchased and renovated. In 1941, the "most modern bottling facility in the world" was completed at 239 Woodward Avenue.

The plant also had a spectacular soda fountain. Everyone who lived in Detroit in the 1940's and 1950's has a story about going to the Vernor's soda fountain, usually before or after a ride on the Bob-lo Boat. One of the favorite drinks to have was a Boston Cooler. The drink is a milkshake-like mixture of Vernor's and vanilla ice cream. Contrary to many incorrect web sites, the Boston Cooler is not named after Boston Boulevard in Detroit. At that period of time, any soda pop mixed with ice cream was called a Boston Cooler. So, you could have a Hire's Boston Cooler or a Vernor's Boston Cooler. Vernor's copyrighted the name in the late 1960’s.

James Vernor II had a son; another James Vernor. James Vernor III also had a son; James Vernor. Yet, the company did not pass on to either one of them. It is impossible to predict if the company would have remained in the family if either had been president. J. Vernor Davis, the grandson of the founder, took over the presidency of the company.

The James Vernor Company had always been a family owned company. The death of James Vernor II in 1954 forced the company to sell some stock to the public. In 1957, James Vernor III died. His majority ownership of Vernor’s went through a court battle and was ultimately sold to investors. As a result, Vernor’s was no longer in the hands of the founding family. Vernor's became Vernors in 1959. (Note the lack of the apostrophe between the 'r' and the 's'.)

Vernor Davis had been with the firm since 1931. Prior to the death of his uncle, he became president of the company, in 1952. James Vernor III was concurrently named vice president. Under Davis' leadership, company sales grew tremendously. A stockholder's annual report from 1963 indicates sales grew from just over $6,000,000 in 1961 to over $9,000,000 in 1963.

In 1966, the one hundredth birthday of the James Vernor Company, Davis became chairman of the board. That same year, Vernors was sold to another group of investors, members of the New York Stock Exchange. The company would soon go through a number of different owners.

Again in 1971, Vernors was sold to American Consumer Products. By 1979, another company, United Brands, owned Vernors. This ownership would be the one most costly to the City of Detroit. In January of 1985, Cincinnati-based United Brands abruptly ended bottling operations at the plant.

The property was purchased in 1986 by Shula Associates, who had plans to knock it down for a shopping mall. The plant was eventually demolished in 1987. A high-rise apartment building for Wayne State University is now on the Cass Avenue side of the site. On the Woodward frontage, a four story apartment complex with first floor retail space has been built. The property is directly north of the Whitney Restaurant and two properties north of Hop Cat Detroit.

Just two years after abandoning Detroit, United Brands sold Vernors to A & W Brands. All of A & W was subsequently purchased by Dr. Pepper/Cadbury in 1993. In 1996, Dr. Pepper/Cadbury merged with 7UP and moved to Plano. Cadbury continued to own Vernor's until stock holders made the candy company give up the beverage firm. Dr Pepper Snapple was born! The company merged with Keurig and is now Keurig Dr Pepper. The company has been very supportive of the Vernor's brand.

[readyplayerhobi]

My 5* reads of the year so far...if anyone's curious

Silver Under Nightfall - vampire fantasy, polyamorous MMF, vampire hunter/vampires, gothic vibes, Asian coded MC's

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night - Chinese inspired fantasy, magic users, Asian MC's

The Blood Trials - sci-fi fantasy, trials based, forbidden blood magic, survive or die, Black MC, found family

Silver In The Bone - fantasy, Arthurian legend, Tomb Raider vibes, found family

Fourth Wing - romantasy, dragon riders, trials based, survive or die, found family, disabled MC (implied she has a condition causing brittle bones/joints)

The Ashes and the Star Cursed King - sequel, vampire fantasy, vampire civil war

Only Bad Options - sci fi romance, space magic, corporate espionage

Watch Your Orbit - sci fi romance, alien MMC, tentacles, light story, Black Jamaican MC

[claudia1829things]

"VANITY FAIR" (2018) Review

“VANITY FAIR” (2018) Review

When I had first heard that the ITV channel and Amazon Studios had plans to adapt William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1848 novel, “Vanity Fair”, I must admit that I felt no interest in watching the miniseries. After all, I had already seen four other adaptations, including the BBC’s 1987 production. And I regard the latter as the best version of Thackeray’s novel I had ever seen.

In the end, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to watch the seven-part miniseries. In a nutshell, "VANITY FAIR" followed the experiences of Rebecca "Becky" Sharp, the social climbing daughter of an English not-so-successful painter and a French dancer in late Georgian England during and after the Napoleonic Wars. The production also told the story of Becky's school friend and daughter of a wealthy merchant, Amelia Sedley. The story begins with both young women leaving Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for Young Ladies. Becky managed to procure a position as governess to Sir Pitt Crawley, a slightly crude yet friendly baronet. Before leaving for her new position, Becky visits Amelia's family. She tries to seduce Jos Sedley, Amelia's wealthy brother and East India Company civil servant. Unfortunately George Osborne, a friend of Jos and son of another wealthy merchant, puts a stop to the budding romance.

While working for the Crawleys, Becky meets and falls in love with Sir Pitt’s younger son, Captain Rawdon Crawley. When Sir Pitt proposes marriage to Becky, she shocks the family with news of her secret marriage to Rawdon. The couple becomes ostracized and ends up living in London on Rawdon’s military pay and gambling winnings. They also become reacquainted with Amelia Sedley, who has her own problems. When her father loses his fortune, George's own father insists that he dump Amelia and marry a Jamaican heiress. George refuses to do so and thanks to his friend William Dobbin's urging, marries Amelia. Mr. Osborne ends up disinheriting George. However, the romantic lives of Becky and Amelia take a backseat when history overtakes them and their husbands with the return of Napoleon Bonaparte.

I wish I could say that the 2018 miniseries was the best adaptation of Thackery's novel I had seen. But it is not. The production had its . . . flaws. One, I disliked its use of the song "All Along the Watchtower" in each episode's opening credits and other rock and pop tunes during the episodes' closing credits. They felt so out of place in the miniseries' production. Yes, I realize that a growing number of period dramas have doing the same. And quite frankly, I detest it. This scenario barely worked in the 2006 movie, "MARIE ANTOINETTE". Now, this use of pop tunes in period dramas strike me as awkward, ham-fisted, unoriginal and lazy.

I also noticed that producer and screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes threw out the younger Pitt Crawley character (Becky's brother-in-law), kept the Bute Crawley character and transformed him from Becky Sharp's weak and unlikable uncle-in-law into her brother-in-law. Hughes did the same with the Lady Jane Crawley and Martha Crawley characters. She tossed aside the Lady Jane character and transformed Martha from Becky's aunt-in-law to sister-in-law. Frankly, I did not care for this. I just could not see characters like Bute and Martha suddenly become sympathetic guardians for Becky and Rawdon's son in the end. It just did not work for me. I have one last problem with "VANITY FAIR", but I will get to it later.

I may not regard "VANITY FAIR" as the best adaptation of Thackery's novel, I cannot deny that it is first-rate. Gwyneth Hughes and director James Strong did an excellent job of bringing the 1848 novel to life on the television screen. Because this adaptation was conveyed in seven episodes, both Hughes and Strong were given the opportunity retell Thackery's saga without taking too many shortcuts. The miniseries replayed Becky Sharp's experiences with the Sedley family, George Osbourne, and the Crawley family in great detail. I was especially impressed by the miniseries' recount of Becky and Amelia's experiences during the Waterloo campaign - which is the story's true high point, as far as I am concerned. Also, this adaptation had conveyed George's experiences during Waterloo with more detail than any other adaptation I have seen.

Aside from the Waterloo sequence, there were other scenes that greatly impressed me. I really enjoyed those scenes that featured the famous Duchess of Richmond's ball in the fourth episode, "In Which Becky Joins Her Regiment"; Becky's attempts to woo Jos Sedley in the first episode, "Miss Sharp In The Presence Of The Enemy"; the revelation of Becky's marriage to Rawdon Crawley in "A Quarrel About An Heiress"; and her revelation to Amelia about the truth regarding George in the final episode, "Endings and Beginnings". There were people who were put off that the series did not end exactly how the novel did - namely the death of Jos, with whom Becky had hooked up in the end. I have to be honest . . . that did not bother me. However, I was amused that Becky's last line in the miniseries seemed to hint that Jos' death might be a possibility in the near future.

The production values for "VANITY FAIR" struck me as quite beautiful. I thought Anna Pritchard's production designs did an excellent job in re-creating both London, the English countryside, Belgium, Germany, India and West Africa between the Regency era and the early 1830s. Not only did I find the miniseries' production values beautiful, but also Ed Rutherford's cinematography. His images struck me as not only beautiful, but sharp and colorful. I would not say that Lucinda Wright and Suzie Harman's costume designs blew my mind. But I cannot deny that I found them rather attractive and serviceable for the narrative's setting.

One of the production's real virtues proved to be a very talented cast. "VANITY FAIR" featured some solid performances from it supporting players. Well . . . I would say more than solid. I found the performances of Robert Pugh, Peter Wight, Suranne Jones, Claire Skinner, Mathew Baynton, Sian Clifford, Monica Dolan, and Elizabeth Berrington to be more than solid. In fact, I would say they gave excellent performances. But they were not alone.

Michael Palin, whom I have not seen in a movie or television production in years, gave an amusing narration in each episode as the story's author William Makepeace Thackeray. Ellie Kendrick gave a very poignant performance as Jane Osborne, who seemed to be caught between her loyalty to her bitter father and her long-suffering sister-in-law. Simon Beale Russell gave a superb, yet ambiguous portrayal of the warm and indulgent John Sedley, who also had a habit of infantilizing his family. Frances de la Tour was deliciously hilarious and entertaining as Becky Sharp's aunt-in-law and benefactress Lady Matilda Crawley. I could also say the same about Martin Clunes, who gave a very funny performance as the crude, yet lively Sir Pitt Crawley. One last funny performance came from David Fynn, who gave an excellent portrayal of the vain, yet clumsy civil servant, Jos Sedley. Anthony Head gave a skillful performance as the cynical and debauched Lord Styne. I thought Charlie Rowe was superb as the self-involved and arrogant George Osborne. Rowe, whom I recalled as a child actor, practically oozed charm, arrogance and a false sense of superiority in his performance as the shallow George.

I have only seen Johnny Flynn in two roles - including the role of William Dobbin in this production. After seeing "VANITY FAIR", it seemed that the William Dobbin role seemed tailored fit for him. He gave an excellent performance as the stalwart Army officer who endured years of unrequited love toward Amelia Sedley. Tom Bateman was equally excellent as the charming, yet slightly dense Rawdon Crawley. At first, I thought Bateman would portray Rawdon as this dashing, yet self-confident Army officer. But thanks to his performance, the actor gradually revealed that underneath all that glamour and dash was a man who was not as intelligent as he originally seemed to be. Amelia Sedley has never been a favorite character of mine. Her intense worship of the shallow George has always struck me as irritating. Thanks to Claudia Jessie's excellent performance, I not only saw Amelia as irritating as usual, but also sympathetic for once.

Television critics had lavished a great deal of praise upon Olivia Cooke as the sharp-witted and manipulative Becky Sharp. In fact, many have labeled her performance as one of the best versions of that character. And honestly? I have to agree. Cooke was more than superb . . . she was triumphant as the cynical governess who used her charms and wit in an attempt to climb the social ladder of late Georgian Britain. I would not claim that Cooke was the best on-screen Becky I have seen, but she was certainly one of the better ones. I have only one minor complaint - I found her portrayal of Becky as a poor parent to her only son rather strident. Becky has always struck me as a cold mother to Rawdon Junior. But instead of cold, Cooke's Becky seemed to scream in anger every time she was near the boy. I found this heavy-handed and I suspect the real perpetrator behind this was either screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes or director James Strong.

I have a few complaints about "VANITY FAIR". I will not deny it. But I also cannot deny that despite its few flaws, I thought it was an excellent adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel. Actually, I believe it is one of the better adaptations. "VANITY FAIR" is also one of the best period dramas I have seen from British television in a LONG TIME. And I mean a long time. Most period dramas I have seen in the past decade were either mediocre or somewhere between mediocre and excellent. "VANITY FAIR" is one of the first that has led me to really take notice in years. And I have to credit Gwyneth Hughes' writing, James Strong's direction and especially the superb performances from a first-rate cast led by Olivia Cooke. It would be nice to see more period dramas of this quality in the near future.

[ausetkmt]

Protest observer (Walter Gadsden, 17) in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, on 3 May 1963, being attacked by police dogs during a civil rights protest.

On July 11, 2017, a video circulated throughout social media depicting the San Diego police deploying a canine against an unarmed suspect. Posted by a bystander named Angel Nunez, it revealed a large police dog lacerating a Black man’s arm while he was handcuffed and subdued on the pavement. The officers appeared to lose control of the animal, while the man screamed in agony as the dog ripped his flesh. Since the video did not reveal the events leading up to the attack, some viewers suspected the man surely antagonized the animal. Shortly after the original post, however, Nunez provided a second video depicting the preceding events. It revealed no premise for the dog’s attack. The suspect appeared to simply hold his arms in a defensive posture as the dog lunged and tackled him to the pavement.

The image triggered various reactions throughout social media. Though skeptics attempted to explain the procedure, and deny its racial overtones, many believed it manifested yet another example of police brutality. Though police shootings and violent beatings typically dominate mainstream perceptions of police violence, the use of canines to subdue people of color has a deeply racist history that not only engulfs the United States, but much of the western hemisphere.

Scholars note that European colonists brought dogs to the Americas and used them as tools for intimidation and violence against indigenous populations, but the deliberately racialized breeding of canines occurred during the expansion of Black chattel slavery. As slave rebellions erupted throughout the western hemisphere in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a breed called the “Cuban bloodhound” was diffused throughout the slaveholding colonies. Named for the island from which they hailed, they were physically imposing and extremely aggressive. Used in Cuba to confine slaves to the plantations, they were eventually exported to quell Black revolts. The British used them against the Jamaican Maroons in the late eighteenth century and the French engaged their services during the Haitian Revolution in the early nineteenth century.

A few decades later, the US government was engrossed in a lengthy conflict with the Black Seminole Indians in Florida, and military officials followed the French and British examples by importing Cuban bloodhounds to help crush the revolt. Following this event, entrepreneurial white southerners interbred the dogs with local breeds, birthing the occupation of professional slave hunting in the antebellum South.1Cuban Mastiff

The targeting of enslaved men and women was so pervasive that Black authors called them “Negro Dogs,” as the fugitive comprised the most lucrative target for the dogs’ owners. These animals held a prominent legacy in the testimonies of former slaves, as their oral histories recollected stories of pursuit, evasion, and, oftentimes violent, capture. The assault on Black people was so widespread that a reader gains a sense of its normalcy in the literature. According to one former slave from Mississippi, “Some folks treated the slaves mighty bad, put nigger dogs on ‘em” Far from a haphazard practice, the business of hunting Black bodies was ritualized throughout the South.

Emancipation brought little relief. The legal subversion of Black Americans continued after the Civil War and the backbreaking requirements of southern agricultural labor during the Jim Crow period largely mirrored its antebellum predecessor. One 1903 headline entitled, “Slavery in Alabama,” accused southern sharecroppers of developing a system of neo-slavery by preying upon impoverished African Americans who remained in perpetual debt: “Planters in want of labor…paid the fines and took the negroes into slavery, ostensibly to ‘work out’ their fines.”2 Such economic exploitation perpetuated debt bondage that mirrored antebellum slavery, and the report detailed how the workers were treated with “great severity” and received whippings for disobedience. Upon any attempt to abscond from the plantation “they were hunted down in the old slavery day’s fashion with bloodhounds.”3

Being “hunted down” with bloodhounds became a familiar experience for Black fugitives, but canine violence was also used to dismantle peaceful protests in the 1960s. Though the “Dogs of Birmingham” often dominate images of violence during the Civil Rights era, the practice spanned much of the Deep South. In 1963, the New York Times reported that police in Greenwood, Mississippi, a city notorious for its violence against Civil Rights workers, used canines to perpetuate anti-Black oppression. James Farmer, national director of the Congress of Racial Equality, condemned the attack of a Black minister by police dogs, declaring, “When that dog’s fangs sank to the ankle of the young minister…they also sank into the hearts of the Negroes of Greenwood.”4 By the time of the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, canine units had threatened and intimidated Black protestors throughout the South.“The author caught by the bloodhounds.” Illustration from Narrative William W. Brown: An American Slave

Despite the public’s outcry against southern police tactics, the violent images of dogs attacking Black victims did little to curb the persistence of this practice throughout the United States. Though police departments assumed that “many lessons were learned since Birmingham,” largely through better training approaches for handlers and their canines, modern statistics remain quite troubling when viewed through a racial context.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is one of the worst repeat offenders. Throughout the 1980s, African Americans leveled complaints that officers jokingly called Black suspects “dog biscuits” as they deployed canines against them. The issue came to a head during the 1991 class action suit Lawson v. Gates, which spotlighted the LAPD’s unlawful use of canines as vehicles of terror and intimidation against minority communities.

Evidence was especially damning, and the plaintiff’s attorneys were able to prove the LAPD deployed dogs principally in African-American and Latino communities, even though “crimes for which dogs are used occur at equal if not greater rates in communities with substantially higher Caucasian populations.”

The case was settled with a monetary payment to 54 plaintiffs, and that the LAPD would institute reform measures for how officers deployed canines. Law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles would later celebrate these reforms throughout the 1990s, claiming bite ratios were markedly down from previous years. However, recent data from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) provides a vastly different picture.

A recent study from the LASD revealed that canine bites in the Los Angeles area were leveled solely against people of color for the first six months of 2013, and the bite ratios against Blacks and Latinos remain disproportionately high. But these contemporary problems do not lie solely in southern California. Following the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, the Department of Justice (DOJ) uncovered that police units in Ferguson, Missouri, persistently used dogs to attack Black suspects, including teenagers. Ultimately, the DOJ report concluded that Ferguson police “appear to use canines not to counter a physical threat but to inflict punishment.”

Including animals in the histories of racial violence, in both colonial histories and the African American experience, contextualizes how conceptions of race are made, consolidated, and reimagined by human populations. We must realize that enactments of police brutality are not solely human-to-human phenomena, but such state-sanctioned patterns of violence are deeply rooted in American history.

[lightdancer1]

The Bussa Rebellion was the Barbadian analogue to the Baptist War:

Like Jamaica Barbados would experience a major rebellion against the slave power on that island. It was one of the realities of slavery that shaped its particular contours and horrors that the slaveowner never forgot that those enslaved were human, that slavery only worked with force, and at times Force flat out failed. The major rebellions of the Caribbean were not matched in the broader Empire outside the First Indian War of Independence of 1857 until the Cold War.

An important means of understanding the difference between Jamaica and Barbados as well is that while the West India Regiments played their part in the defeat of the various Jamaican Rebellions, there they were relatively foreign troops stationed as the Empire's iron fist. On Barbados they were local troops, and as such the Bussa Rebellion was as much a civil war as anything else.

Divide et impera was ever and is ever the classical rule of how Perfidious Albion maintained and maintains its power.

[bumblebeeman]

Bob Marley' Effort to Stop Jamaican Civil War - #bobmarley #historyshort...

[beardedmrbean]

Sorry back to back anon, but the thing about relatability is who writing it. Because I totally relate to characters written by writers who are often

*Check the writers wikis*

Upper middle class or higher…diversity hires, oh was born in la or California, nepo babies, got into positions of influence via friend nepotism

Look I know Hollywood (like every industry ever) always has a nepotism problem

But these modern writers and showrunners are so incestous when it comes to connections. They make Jamie Lee Curtis, Carrie Fisher, and Drew Barrymore (yes I learned about the supposed Barrymore dynasty in Hollywood) have more individual wait

Okay in my Chimera Republic idea, it a fantasy America where we didn’t get the Social Darwinism plague so they became egalitarian much faster than in real life

But many marginalized and discriminated groups that suffer hardships including genocide in the old world was able to gain positions of power in the Chimera Republic.

When a huge war broke out in the old world, there are debate among the marginalized groups if they should save their former oppressors or let them be wipeout and treat their soon dead civilizations like we treat Egypt

Oops, projecting my recent bitterness towards African countries. If I was at a un meeting, I would give the Benin and Nigerian ambassadors the dirtiest looks known to man to give a clue that I know about the Dahomey now

Also I would propose a “No refunds” counter proposal to African countries want reparations

Fuck you people, you guys play a role in the suffering black Americans, Brazilians, Jamaicans, Dominicans, and so many other groups of African descent suffer in the Americas. We are also keeping the bronze items you used as payment

But I think what makes my writing ideas so interesting to other people is that i acknowledge my bitterness and negative side and don’t act self righteous about it. Vs a lot of modern writers who projected it into their works

But this whole idea that we need to make every protagonist relatable…um not everyone have unresolved daddy issues, drink the Marxist kool aid, went to college and got a useless degree, and decided to intentionally live in one of the most godforsaken cities in America

Also can the left stop fetishizing the working class in their writing?

I’m the embodiment of what they desire, but I would rather get laid by a hillbilly confederate flag wearing redneck than dealing with a rootless urbanite for 5 minutes

Wait I live right next to Indiana…

Hello boys, wanna recreate your ancestors favorite pastime in bed with me?….

But these modern writers and showrunners are so incestous when it comes to connections. They make Jamie Lee Curtis, Carrie Fisher, and Drew Barrymore (yes I learned about the supposed Barrymore dynasty in Hollywood) have more individual wait

There's a whole bunch more too, ya. For the most part that's how they wind up getting their first couple gigs after that if they suck even being a nepo hire won't help.

bit before and Also I would propose a “No refunds” counter proposal to African countries want reparations Fuck you people, you guys play a role in the suffering black Americans, Brazilians, Jamaicans, Dominicans, and so many other groups of African descent suffer in the Americas. We are also keeping the bronze items you used as payment

The more people that learn about all that the more people that will mover over to that line of thinking, bronzes were probably purchased since the african countries weren't paying us to take their slaves off their hands, they were selling them.

Which they were bought then they're ours now, cry harder.

But I think what makes my writing ideas so interesting to other people is that i acknowledge my bitterness and negative side and don’t act self righteous about it. Vs a lot of modern writers who projected it into their works

Folks do enjoy honesty, semi rare commodity these days so it's refreshing when you get it in large doses.

But this whole idea that we need to make every protagonist relatable…um not everyone have unresolved daddy issues, drink the Marxist kool aid, went to college and got a useless degree, and decided to intentionally live in one of the most godforsaken cities in America

They'll find a way to make anyone relatable, even if they have to change everything about them. Fandom be nuts like that.

Also can the left stop fetishizing the working class in their writing?

Doubtful, maybe if they decided to join them they could, but those are icky blue collar people and beneath them.

At least in my observation of leftists and leftist spaces it's what the majority opinion on them is.

I’m the embodiment of what they desire, but I would rather get laid by a hillbilly confederate flag wearing redneck than dealing with a rootless urbanite for 5 minutes

You're not the embodiment, you actually take responsibility for yourself and are doing ok in life, that's just what they say they want. As for what they actually want we've been over that before.

Again my take there at least.

Wait I live right next to Indiana… Hello boys, wanna recreate your ancestors favorite pastime in bed with me?….

Take it away Little Stevie

[scentedchildnacho]

I don't know I think the man who pulled up at me where there is no parking is the same man that stalked me in several areas......it's just what he does as a psychiatrist stalks up to victims and tries to electroshock victims with his car to see if humans can survive extreme heat

He got out of his car and clicked something like he had a gun then opened his trunk but then he just drove away apparently shooting me finally and putting me in the trunk was not a good option

So I just prayed to God to finally give my spirit justice he was a weird disgusting man and deserved no comforts and to finally give my sacrifice his things and may he finally know my severe pain and deprivation while I lord over the world as my true vanity

Im sorry but people like me were kind and don't deserve having to really really pee with everything locked up behind a gun....so if God is true and real no God would give things to people as vile and repulsive as car man engines his dick kills the whole world

I was so frightened I was like dear God finally give me tanks though finally give me something much larger and meaner then these work terrorist wars and may they be as terrified as they have terrified let it finally be over full military quarantine

Lord over others under fascism...

He stalked me behind a fence in las Cruces new Mexico he drove up at me by a federal mail building in Escondido....he has been trying to shock me to death in many ways

Its a stalker that's why I keep moving or people won't finally notice him showing up as too many jobs with too many state 🆔 with different names

I was really screaming nothing but fuckos but people still give them my comforts....so after Barcelona on the christian history of heresy I'm really tired of dying of a peace God

Stupid bitch puts her nudity near an engine or near nuke sand.....im sorry but I'm tired of them trying to kill me with their nudity problem....still no payments to me made

I dont want to die of its stupid bitch cult....so if I can I will put them in crazy mad ward mesh and tell it it's on bed rest till it's a civil human being to itself get out of my face

No I didn't call police...its having to call someone about all ones problems in life when there was prior legislated conversations about the problem

I don't know all the police will do they act kind of ineffectual and they do know all about that man and will stop and shock him at times more convenient to them I assume

I've watched cop shows......so I assume that was maybe my case worker and they will stop him eventually and ask him where my monthly payments are and why I don't have a membership to shower regularly

That is what cops do about child welfare cases......its why doesn't he have anything for his actual physical diagnosis mental regime

The blacks around are being expulsion stereotypes so that cult also can finally go to a ward and emigrate or deport but God get the fuck away from me with your drug problem

They have a street dealer that kind of alters their need to stalk around calling outside their nasty smoke problem that test psychoactives in food so eventually people will stop making them states

Myal difference between jamaican and African....if whites here finally stop stealing my funds to cover obligations to Africans then

Their white racists and they kill other white people to cover their problems with other populations

A drunks history of Harriet Tubman...I sure do hope she arrives to go where I cannot

That's people like this clear cutting nothing but car motorcycle company....it has projects fucking over nature all over the world and you have to die of good relief efforts elsewhere

They need relief in many areas and you have to die of other people's finally getting their just relief

That is why white religions teach people to not get into pleasure and valuation too much or your just day could really fuck over a treaty and backlash ya later

People like me do believe in the Confederacy and creation of the ku Klux klan so I have to be called white and tortured till I lash out in stereotypical ways