#spelman college archives

[packedwithpackards]

Spelman Seminary, companionship, Sophia B. Packard, and Harriet E. Giles

Harriet Elizabeth "Hattie" Giles and Sophia Brett Packard in a photograph sometime before 1891. Image from Spelman College Archives and NYPL.

In 1881, Sophia Brett Packard founded Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary with her longtime companion, Harriet E. Giles. The school would later be renamed Spelman Seminary in 1884 in honor of John D. Rockefeller's wife, Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman, who was an active abolitionist and school teacher, since the latter had paid the balance to keep the school open, which opened its doors in 1888. Sophia would continue onward on the school's board of trustees, then as president until her death in June 1891, when there were 464 students and faculty of 34. There's more to this story than the four paragraphs on Sophia's Wikipedia page.

Sophia, my fifth cousin five times removed, was born in New Salem, Massachusetts in January 1824 to Winslow Packard (1790-1852) and Rachel Freeman (1788-1844). She had five siblings: Joseph Fairbanks (1812-1883), Jane (b. 1815), Mary (1815-1838), Hubbard Vaughn (1817-1861), and Rachel Maria (b. 1818). She would graduate from the Charleston Female Seminary in Massachusetts, work at the Connecticut Literary Institution in Suffield, be secretary for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. By the early 1880s she was committed to helping improve education for Black people, specifically Black women, in the South. She would later be described as a "woman of rare executive ability" and having an earnest, strong character. [1]

There is more to be said. You may have noticed earlier that I described Harriet E. Giles as her life-long companion. This is first evidenced by the fact that Sophia died from sickness while on a summer vacation with Harriet, and would be buried in Athol, Massachusetts. Harriet, who lived until 1909, and born in New Salem, Massachusetts like Sophia, would become the president of Spelman Seminary when Sophia died. One writer would call Harriet and Sophia a lesbian power couple, noting that they met each other in the mid-1850s when Harriet was a student at New Salem Academy and Sophia was the preceptor. Both would be buried next to one each other in Silver Lake Cemetery. They would also be described as "close friends and supportive coworkers" by Harry G. Lefever in his article on the early origins of Spelman College. He also noted note the New England-progressive outlook they brought to the school, noting their emphasis on liberal and industrial courses, but employed assumptions about gender roles, which became part of the curriculum while being self-sacrificing and putting others before themselves. At the same time, they never fundamentally challenged social injustices or inequities, either by staying silent about redistribution of land for formerly enslaved peoples, not actively lobbying to end lynching within the South, or having Black people in leadership positions. [2]

Further evidence shows Harriet and Sophia living together in Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut in 1860, within the Mather household, in this below census extract:

Sophia and Harriet are highlighted by a yellow box. Source is 1860 United States Federal Census for Sophia B Packard, Connecticut, Hartford, Suffield, Year: 1860; Census Place: Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: M653_79; Page: 667; Family History Library Film: 803079

The same is the case in 1865, when they are living in the same household in Worcester, Massachusetts, along with many other teachers and students. She would still be living in Worcester, Massachusetts until at least 1867. At first I couldn't find her in the 1870 census, and her 1890 passport application does not mention Harriet. However, digging into it more, I found them together in Suffolk, Massachusetts, and it turns out that Harriet submitted a passport application at the same time as Sophia. Additionally, when Harriet died in November 1909 of pneumonia, an obituary in The Sumpter Enterprise at the time described Sophia as Harriet's "friend and co-worker". The Atlanta Constitution would use similar language in their obituary. They were both called "devoted Christian woman" in another article about Spellman, which isn't surprising considering Sophia had worked in a church and what became Spellman was originally in the basement of a church before moving to a new location. [3]

Otherwise, a 1853 student lists for New Salem Academy note that Harriet's father, Samuel, is the secretary of the academy, Harriet as a teacher of music. Sophia is not listed there. However, she is listed as a preceptress in 1855 and Samuel is still secretary of the school, and Harriet is a student in the school's classical department. I also found them together in the 1880 census, boarding on 275 Shawmut Avenue (which is seemingly just an apartment building) in Boston within the Ryder household, along with many other boarders. [8] Harriet would also write a moving eulogy to Sophia, and mentions "loving companionship" which is undoubtedly a way to allude to the romantic relationship they had together, whether it can be called a domestic partnership, romantic friendship, or something else:

It is not necessary to euloigize one so widely known. Her work speaks for her; and the monuments she has erected, will endure from generation to generation, in the lives made better by her influence. How large her bundle of sheaves! How thickly studded her crown with stars for those she has won to Christ! We mourn not for her, but for the work, and the workers who will so greatly miss her loving companionship and wise counsels. Surely "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."

Both also opened the Rollstone School in March 1859 together, which ended after both accepted teaching positions at the Connecticut Literary Institution. They both, would also, teach at the Oread Institute in Worchester from 1864 to 1867, with Sophia as co-principal and Harriet as teacher of ornamentals and music. They also both co-founded the Woman's American Baptist Home Mission Society in 1877.

"Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles with Spelman Seminary Students" in 1886, via  National Alumnae Association of Spelman College

Spelman Seminary would later become Spelman College when its name changed in 1924. Otherwise, one article in The Springfield Daily Republican on November 25, 1939, possibly accessed using one of the libraries here, notes that an oil painting of Harriet was gifted to the Swift River Valley Historical Society. It is likely still in their collections, even though it is strange since the society wasn't incorporated until 1962.

While we don't know everything about Sophia, Harriet, and their relationship, which some have described as an iconic same-sex couple among many others, we can say that their legacy certainly lives on to this day.

Notes

[1] The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 2 (James T. White & Company. 1921), 270-271; "Spelman - Packard" clipping in The Boston Weekly Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 30 Jun 1891, Page 3.

[2] The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 2 (James T. White & Company. 1921), 271; "Spelman - Packard" clipping in The Boston Weekly Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, 30 Jun 1891, Page 3; "Oread Institute," Lost Womyn's Space, Apr. 27, 2011; Riese Bernard, "16 Lesbian Power Couples From History Who Got Shit Done, Together," Autostraddle, Mar. 31, 2017; Harry G. Lefever, "The Early Origins of Spelman College," The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education No. 47 (Spring, 2005), pp. 60-63.

[3] Massachusetts, U.S., State Census, 1865 for Sophia B Packard, Worcester, Worcester Ward 7, image 4; U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 for Sophia B Packard, Massachusetts, Worcester, 1867, Worcester, Massachusetts, City Directory, 1867, Image 173; U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for Sophia B Packard, Passport Applications, 1795-1905, 1888-1890, Roll 344 - 01 Mar 1890-31 Mar 1890, Image 368; 1870 United States Federal Census for Hattie Giles, Massachusetts, Suffolk, Boston Ward 08, Year: 1870; Census Place: Boston Ward 8, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_645; Page: 39A; U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for Harrich Elizabeth Giles, Passport Applications, 1795-1905, 1888-1890, Roll 349 - 09 May 1890-16 May 1890, Image 43; "Harriett Giles obituary - clip 1" in The Sumter Enterprise, Epes, Alabama, 02 Dec 1909, Page 3; "Harriett Giles obituary - clip 2" in The Sumter Enterprise, Epes, Alabama, 02 Dec 1909, Page 3; "Miss Harriett Giles Dead; Was President of Spellman" in The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, 14 Nov 1909,  Page 8; "Death notice for Harriett Giles" in The Clayton Record, Clayton, Alabama, 26 Nov 1909, Page 1; "Spellman Seminary" in The Rochester Daily Register-Gazette, Feb. 16, 1898, via Ancestry.

[4] U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923 for Harriette E Giles, New Hampshire, New Salem Academy, 1853, pages 2, 3 (exact source is Catalogue of Trustees, Instructors and Students of New Salem Academy, Massachusetts, for the year ending November 10, 1853 (Greenfield, MA: Charles A. Mirick, 1853), 2-3); U.S., High School Student Lists, 1821-1923, New Hampshire, New Salem Academy 1855, page 3-4, 6 (exact source is Catalogue of Trustees, Instructors and Students of New Salem Academy, New Salem, Mass., for the year ending November 15, 1855 (Greenfield, MA: Charles A. Mirick, 1853), 3-4, 6); 1880 United States Federal Census for Hattie S. Giles, Massachusetts, Suffolk, Boston, 715, Year: 1880; Census Place: Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts; Roll: 558; Page: 62A; Enumeration District: 715.

Note: This was originally posted on May 8, 2023 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[audrelordewritesback]

Prologue

Audrey 'Audre' Geraldine Lorde was born on February 18, 1934, in New York City to Linda Gertrude Belmar Lorde and Frederick Byron Lorde. Both parents were of West Indian origin (Grenada and Barbados, respectively), and much of Lorde's writing reveals how her Caribbean heritage shaped her family's dynamics, her evolving identities, and her Black feminist activism in the U.S. and internationally.

Notably, the title of Lorde's 1982 text, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, was influenced by her mother's stories from life on the Grenadian island of Carriacou, as well as Lorde's time spent there with her mother and women kin. She writes in the epilogue, "Zami. A Carriacou name for women who work together as friends and lovers."

The publication is evidence of Lorde's multifaceted role as a poet, folklorist, historian, activist, and philosopher. It is written in the genre of biomythography, which Ted Warburton defines as "a weaving together of myth, history, and biography in epic narrative form, [representing] a style of composition that represents all the ways in which we perceive the world."

With the text, Lorde brings readers into her world as it was shaped by her embodiment as Black, woman, lesbian, disabled, working class, and citizen of an imperialist nation. Individuals wanting to learn more about history from the perspective of Black women might also find Lorde's recollection of the World War II and Korean War eras, McCarthyism, school desegregation, and other domestic and international issues particularly insightful.

Then and now, Audre Lorde's writing is resistance and a means of survival. Navigate the page tabs within this teaching guide to learn more about Zami and its author's enduring legacy. Plan a visit to the Audre Lorde Papers, held in the Spelman College Archives, too!

Lorde at her desk in 1981 around the time she began writing Zami. (Photo credit: Joan E. Biren)

Teaching Guide Learning Outcomes

Teaching Lorde provides many gems for all people, including knowledge about the power of community-building, standing up for oneself and others, and engaging in radical acts of self-preservation. Lorde was witty, curious, assertive, transgressive, empathetic, and strong-minded, which is evident in her writing and sociopolitical activism. Her identifiers – Black, woman, lesbian, poet, warrior, mother, feminist, activist, teacher – can inspire others to embrace all that makes us who we are without shame or fear. Moreover, educators and students alike can learn to use our various identities as launch points of connection across difference.

At the end of this guide, learners will be able to:

•Understand how Lorde’s writing serves as a site of healing and resistance;

•Explain Lorde’s conceptualization of the Erotic and “self-preservation”;

•Identify how Lorde writes about Black women’s sexuality;

•Understand how Lorde reimagines friendship, solidarity, and community;

•Identify how family, region, and environment influence identity development in Lorde’s texts;

•Identify Lorde’s critiques of U.S. empire, capitalism, homophobia, racism and other oppressions;

•Explain Lorde’s contributions to Black feminist thought and other sociopolitical movements across her lifetime.

[banji-effect]

Her handwriting is beautiful

[theunclassifiedcool]

Ralph Lauren has teamed up with alumni from Morehouse and Spelman colleges to created a limited-edition collection inspired by the two HBCUs and their history. The collection features an all-Black cast and creative team on set with campaign images, shot by photographer Nadine Ijewere, that look as if they’re pulled from a vintage yearbook and a film on the historical significance of HBCUs.

Do I need this?

If your style leans toward collegiate, old-school Americana, you’ll definitely find something here. The collection features cable-knit sweaters and cardigans, blazers, pin-striped suits, plaid skirts, and more. Then there are, of course, pieces with historical significance, like maroon Morehouse blazers and white dresses students often wore to the school’s induction ceremony. For anyone whose style is a bit more casual, there are “Spelman”-emblazoned crewnecks and varsity jackets in the school’s colors. From the looks of the campaign images, the collection is pretty wearable and versatile even if neither school is your alma mater. If you are an alum of either school, you can shop the collection a day earlier.

Pictures: Nadine Ijewere/Polo Ralph Lauren

Article: https://www.thecut.com/author/chinea-rodriguez/

[madamlaydebug]

Audre Lorde (1934–1992) photographed by Jack Mitchell in 1983. Lorde's archive can be found at Spelman College (Atlanta, GA).

Source: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Object Number: 2016.83.8

[profeminist]

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid,” wrote activist, poet, author and feminist icon Audre Lorde, who in life and legacy has become a beacon for subsequent generations on the intersections of race, gender and sexuality. Now, Lorde’s legacy will be further cemented at Spelman College, the esteemed HBCU and global leader in the liberal arts education of Black women, which announced on Tuesday it has raised funds for the first-ever Queer Studies chair at a historically Black college or university, to be granted in Lorde’s name.

Per a release from Spelman:

Named after poet and civil rights activist Audre Lorde, the Queer Studies chair was announced to much fanfare. Lorde was selected by Stryker as the chair’s namesake for her groundbreaking and life-long commitment to civil rights and progressive social change. She had a strong connection to Spelman, speaking on campus on several occasions and donating her personal papers and other artifacts in 1995 to the Spelman Archives, a part of the College’s Women’s Research and Resource Center. The Audre Lorde Papers have been open to scholars since 2009 following a grant from the Arcus Foundation, founded by Stryker, which enabled the papers to be processed and displayed for students, faculty and researchers from around the world.”

Read the full piece here

[marvelheaux]

T’challa’s Outside Daughter (Chapter 2)

T’challa x BlackDaughter!Reader or O/C

A/N : Here’s chapter 2! Sorry I didn’t upload this earlier, I was really busy :( I hope that you like it! Be sure to check out the story links below or search the “Zyra Udaku” tag for stuff pertaining to the fic. Enjoy! - Lanna xx

Description : Zyra is the first born of King T’challa. She moved to the states and grew up with her Single mother with hardly any contact with her father. Queen Mother Ramonda decided that with all the drama and secrets going on, that it's time to bring the family together .

Story Links:

Main Character + Faceclaim

Character List

She met one of her father's  Exes (oneshot)

TOD Prologue , Chp1

Warnings: Possible Grammar Errors, Angst, Strong Language

Words: 2K

FLASHBACK (one year ago)

        The king and the royal council gathered for a  meeting (more like a parent meeting) was in effect to discuss a verbal feud that had been going on between the King’s daughter Sariyah and the River Tribe Elder’s youngest daughter Kailee. According to Princess Sariyah, it was alleged that Kailee ‘purposely’ bumped into her at the mall and didn’t ‘properly apologised to her’ . This matter turned ugly when Sariyah’s friends were egging her on causing them to both exchange insults. Kailee’s insult ; “I’ll beat yo ass like your daddy should! Don’t play with me” is the main reason for this meeting.

“She started it!” Sariyah whined, whilst standing next her her father’s throne. “She had the nerve to threaten me!” She was trying to explain her side so she can validate her ‘innocence’ to her parents.

Kailee rolled her eyes.

“When I said I’ll beat yo ass, I mean that shit”

“Kailee watch you mouth umntwana!” the tribe leader shouted sternly to his daughter.

Kumkani DID NOT have time for this. He actually had to handle some business with the UN officials and hoped that this silly disagreement would be resolved quickly.

“SILENCE!” The room stood still as the King spoke.

“ There is no proven evidence that my daughter started this fight. Kailee, I assure you if you insult my daughter like that again, there will be consequences.”

“WHAT? I didn’t do anything to her! She called my sister a slut!”

“Meeting adjourn-.”

“If only you put as much energy into Zyra like you do with her..”

“Eh?”

Everyone in the room stunned and shocked by Kailee’s wild statement. Who didn’t clutch their pearls, threw their hands dramatically on their heads. This cause the King to jump out of his royal seat.

“EXCUSE ME? IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU REPEAT WHAT YOU SAID!”

Queen Ramonda attempted to plead to  her son, but she failed.

“Kumkani-”

“Ndicela uphinde! KAILEE!”

Kailee smirked with satisfaction as she gracefully stood up from her seat and projected her voice.”

“Ahem. I SAID! IF YOU PUT AS MUCH ENERGY INTO ZYRA, YOUR DAUGHTER, WHO LIVES IN NEW YORK-

“KAILEE PLEASE LEAVE! NOW!”

“Gladly. Have a great evening Kumkani.” Kailee flashed a snarky smile at King T’challa and left with her father, who was very angry at her for her rude outbursts.

The King's wife Nicolette stood up, confused. “T’challa what is she talking about? Who IS Zyra?”

During this time, The three remaining tribe elders and leaders, quickly made their way out the door, trying to avoid questioning from the Queen. Flashbacks of Zyra’s toddler laughter, and her heartstopping smile, played in his mind as he struggled to avoid his wife’s needy gaze. He stood at the place window overseeing Golden City as a distraction.

“Ramonda?” She looked to her mother-in-law for reassurance, but all she got was a solemn glance.

“Someone answer me!”

Queen Ramonda decided to leave the room promptly instead of getting in the middle. She had been quiet about her estranged granddaughter for years, solely because she wants her son to learn from his mistakes. Anything that happens between now and the future, HE has to fix it.

On the other hand, Nicolette was tired of her husband dancing around the truth and a throbbing pain in her head was brewing.

“T’challa, is it true? Do you really have another daughter?”

More images of Zyra popped up in his head; when he held her as a newborn for the first time, ‘Dada!’, her first words, the tears in Raechella’s eyes , the look on Zyra’s face whenever he pushed her away- It all was starting to consume him.

He turned slowly to face his wife, who is clearly not pleased with him.

“Yes”

Nicolette broke a cold sweat as she was trying to take in what was going on.

“When were you gonna tell me this? When she pops out of nowhere?”

“This was not how you were suppose to find ou-”

“Do better!” she spat bitterly, as she stormed out of the throne room with tears in her eyes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nicolette slumped over the balcony of the Queens’ quarters, taking in the glorious wakandan sunset, as she recapped this afternoon’s events. She turned off her kimoyo beads, because she doesn’t want to hear T’challa’s ‘apologies’. ‘How could he? After all these years.’ She questioned herself. ‘How can he keep such a secret from me?’ Everything makes sense to her now. Why she was never allowed into the King’s office before T’challa was crowned King. Why T’chaka and Ramonda spoke in codes about calls to and from New York. Why the photo of a little girl that she found was snatched from her hands from T’chaka’s personal assistant. It confirmed all the media blogs, wakandan theories and rumors of a “Bastard child and a Secret Baby Mama” that she was encouraged by T’challa to forget about.

Her busy thoughts were interrupted by a touch of someone’s hand, which caused Nicolette to jump out of her skin.

“A penny for your thoughts, My sweet?” Queen Mother sang sweetly while handing her a cup of chamomile tea.

They both sat on the balcony chairs. “I just can’t believe T’challa would hide this from me, from us.”

Nicolette took a sip of her tea. “Can I ask you something Umazala?”

“Mhmm”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s not my place. Period.” Queen Ramonda stated, as she sat back in her chair with her legs crossed.

“He is a King now, and he need to act like a man and stop running from his past like a coward. This was a life lesson for him.”

Nicolette glanced at the view over the balcony in deep thought.

Her mother-in-law sat her teacup and saucer down and stood up.

“Come with me my dear.”

Ramonda led her to T’chaka’s old private archives stored in her quarters. Nicolette’s stomach churned as Queen Mother brought out a large photo album along with letters and some of Zyra’s belongings. She started to feel desperate for answers. As she browsed through the album, Nicolette’s face lights up. She came across baby photos, some with shuri and action photos of her at competitions. Zyra’s high school photo, and her graduation photo from Spelman College made her smile.

“She’s beautiful”

Her mother-in-law nodded in agreement. “Yes she is. I miss her so much.”

“...and she looks just like him.”

Ramonda and her daughter-in-law had long discussion about Zyra and her mother, and their experiences in the house before she came into the picture until the moon rose.This was all new to Nicolette. T’challa never striked her as the type to lie. But anything goes at this point.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nicolette woke up to an empty bed after a restless sleep in the guest bedroom. After yesterday’s events, she was still mad at her husband and she was not in the mood for him to be trying to get on her good side, so she decided not to retire in the matrimonial bed last night. She was just about to freshen up when she heard a soft knock on the door. She sighed annoyingly because she knows who was on the other end.

“Good morning entle.” T’challa said softly.

“Hi” she said dryly, as she ushered him through the door and fold her arms. Her dry demeanor threw him off. She was obviously still mad at him .

“I’m sorry if I hurt you my queen. I didn’t mean to keep this from you.”

T’challa sat on the bed and looked up at his wife, like a dog that disobeyed his owner.

“ Keep the sorry ass apology! You owe it to your daughter, not me! You hid a whole child for years and you never told me anything! Do you have any idea how this is gonna make me look?”

“I did it to protect our relationship and the throne’s legacy.”

Nicolette’s blood boiled as she heard her husband chat shit out of his mouth. She felt like she didn’t know this man anymore.

“T’CHALLA DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF? You abandoned a your child and harassed her mother and all you care about is a legacy?” She paced back and forth.

“You robbed your child of a relationship with you and her siblings. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“ You sit there and be a horrible father that you are, but I am going to get to the bottom of this.” Nicolette shot T’challa a nasty look before storming out the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T’challa was desperately trying to win back his wife’s affection and her trust but she was not having it. He couldn’t hide Zyra forever . He knew that the day would come when he had to finally face his daughter head on and he was dreading it. It was all his fault. He was still guilty of the way he treated his daughter and her mother. ‘She would never forgive me’ He frequently thought. ‘I’m pretty sure she hates me.

Meanwhile, Queen Ramonda loaned Nicolette the late King T’chaka’s archives so she can do research on her own; watching her Youtube videos from her channel, past cheer performances, as well revisiting past photos and her contact information.

After careful deliberation, she decided to contact Zyra’s mum Raechella. She was very sceptical about calling her, cause she know how  “baby mamas” can have a negative reputation at times, but she thought it was the right thing to do. Plus Ramonda reassured her that Rae was the opposite.

Back in New York, Raechella was at work and receive a phone call from “Queen Ramonda” and quickly excused herself to answer, thinking it was an issue of high urgency. She was confused when a strange female voice responded on the other line. She introduced herself as Queen Nicolette, T’challa’s wife, and Rae was quickly on edge, bracing for a detrimental response. However, her tone seemed positive, explaining her reason for the phone call and apologising about the situation. With that, she agreed to have a sit down with Nicolette at her house.

IN NEW YORK

In a couple of days, Nicolette made an impromptu visit to New York to have this, much needed sit-down. She showed up in hopes of seeing and meeting Zyra for the first time,but was disappointed to hear that she was away in Atlanta Georgia, for a cheerleading competition. Rae welcomed her with opened arms which surprised her, because she had no idea what was about to transpire. She was also stunned by Rae’s maturity, substantial intelligence and of course her beauty. During the sit down, Nicolette was very inspired by her story- being a single mother and also being an independent working woman and bonded over motherhood. She looked through even more photos and achievements of her stepdaughter’s childhood and was in complete awe.

While they were both saying their goodbyes, Nicolette noticed something as she grabbed Rae’s hand.

“Oooo that’s a mighty gorgeous ring. Hitched?” as she giggled.

“Yes I’m engaged” Rae responded with a cheesy smile. Raechella had been recently engaged to her boyfriend Dr. Reed N’kosana, and couldn’t be happier.

“Congratulations I’m so happy for you! You deserve it!”

“Thank You so much! Take care!”

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BACK IN WAKANDA

Nicolette and Ayo stepped out of the quinjet , and T’challa was speed walking in a distance, trying to greet his wife.

“My love how was your trip?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nicolette said harshly, as she ignored her husband’s attempt of affection and headed into the palace.

--------------------------END OF FLASHBACK-----------------

Ndicela uphinde - please say that again

Umntwana - child

Umazala - mother-in-law

Entle - beautiful

** HEY GUYS SORRY  IF THIS SUCKED. BUT IF YOU DO LIKE IT, BE SURE TO REBLOG AND COMMENT. YOUR FEEDBACK MEANS ALOT! - LANNA xx :)

Taglist: @mxrvelous-bxrnes @melaninjoys @champagnesugamama @ginghampearlsnsweettea @kida114 @brianabreeze @royallyprincesslilly @kumkaniudaku @dramaqueenamby @mbakus-bae @killmongersmistress @theifandbegger @sarahboseman @randomassfandomwho @queennanayaa @jadesid @deansbbysblog @pananegra @sisterwifeudaku @skysynclair19 

[robinsoncenter]

[Qsc_asuw] Week 9 Newsletter

Welcome to Week Nine! <3 

QTBIPOC Artist        Spotlight of the Week: 

Gabriella Grimes is a 23 year old        queer artist from New York City. Under the handle ggggrimes, their work        focuses on portraying people of color, many of whom are queer. One of        ggggrimes’ goals is challenging common perceptions of race, gender, and        sexuality in the western world. They want their viewers to question        society’s rigid views of the gender binary, and why individuals expect        artists to adhere to this binary.

ggggrimes is inspired by queer        predecessors and current activists to help young queer people        understand that they’re valid and their existence is important.        Similarly, they acknowledge the humanity of people of color in their        artwork, showing them hurting, healing, and simply living happily.        Buy their art here! 

The Queer & Trans People of        Color Alliance (QTPOCA) will be        meeting this Friday in the ECC Asian room! 

The SEED Scholarship is due this Friday, March 8th!      

This             scholarship is open to any undocumented student who will be             attending UW during the 2019-2020 academic year. The application             will close on March 8th, 2019 at 11:59 PM. If you have any             questions please email asuwraza@uw.edu       

Here is the application link:         http://tinyurl.com/Seedscholarship2019

               MESC & SARVA        #MeToo in the Middle East        (Tuesday, March 5,        2019) 4 PM - 5 PM @ Husky Union Building Room        340     

Join             Menosh, a Clinical Social Worker, Mental Health Therapist, and the             previous Director of the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence             Activists. We will be having a warm and intimate discussion with             other Middle Eastern and Muslim women about issues relating to #MeToo.       

ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION:       

Event             venue is mobility aid accessible, the HUB’s front entrance is             wheelchair accessible.

        An             all-genders restroom can be found on the 3rd floor, down the             hallway from the Q Center. Gender binary bathrooms with multiple             stalls can be found on each floor of the HUB.

        The             Husky Union Building is near landmarks such as Allen Library,             Padelford and Sieg. For a map, search HUB on the campus             maps: http://www.washington.edu/maps/.

        The             HUB is not kept scent-free, but we ask that you do not wear scented/fragranced             products (e.g. perfume, hair products) or essential oils to/in the             event in order to make the space accessible to those with chemical             injury or multiple chemical sensitivity.

Alchemy Poetry        featuring Ben Yisrael and Ebo Barton

(Tuesday, March 5, 2019) 7 PM -        8:00 PM @ Alchemy Poetry 

1408 E Pike        Street, Seattle, Washington 98122                Join us at Lovecitylove for our 5th installment of the series on        Tuesday, March 5th, 2019        featuring Ben Yisrael and Ebo Barton!

Alchemy is a curated performance art space that elevates        voices that are often silenced. Performers in our community focus on        the brilliance of storytelling by offering personal stories and        reflections that are socially relevant. We are powerful artists and our        space allows our audience to witness the craft at its highest form. We        believe that art is a divine power to create community.                $5 Admission        ALL AGES        Limited        Showcase Mic Spots                Every first, third and sometimes fifth Tuesday of the month        at 7pm, we call on two featured performers and a showcase mic at        Lovecitylove.                ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:       

Entry             door to LoveCityLove is at least 32 inches wide

        Restroom             is single stall. 

        There             is a grab bar installed in this restroom, clearance measures             TBD. 

        There             are 2 couches, and 20 folding chairs available in the space. We             ask that the audience prioritize folks that need to be seated             during the show. 

        Parking             is paid street parking, or there is a paid lot on the east side of             the building. 

        We             are located near bus routes 11,12, and 2 and 0.4 miles away from             the Broadway and Pike Streetcar stop

         Dean Spade: Fighting to Win! Critical Queer & Trans Politics in Scary Times        (Tuesday, March 5,        2019) 6 PM - 7:30 PM @ Washington State History Museum        1911 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, Washington 98402      

Join             us to hear Dean Spade - trans activist, writer and teacher -             discuss trans liberation. For more information, please call (253)             383-2318.       

ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:        The Washington State History Museum is wheelchair accessible.

The _ Monologues Art        Festival Auditions, All Art Forms Welcome!        (Thursday, March 7,        2019) 12 PM - 7 PM @ ASUW Womxn's Action Commission Office                AN OPEN CALL FOR STORIES, TRUTHS, AND VOICES IN ALL ART FORMS as a part        of the production previously known the Vagina Monologues, which this        year we proudly present as: The Monologues Art Festival!     

Please             go to our website to fill this form for participating in the             auditions or submitting the different art forms: http://women.asuw.org/

        Join             us on March 7th and 8th, any time between 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm to             share with the Womxn's Action Commission your spoken poetry and             artistic talents, so you can be part of this year's The __             Monologues Art Festival!     

About The __ Monologues Art Festival:                - It will take place on April 15th, 16th and 19th at the Intellectual        House, and it will consist of a production that centers the experiences        of womxn, trans*, gender non-conforming and genderqueer folks through        two nights of spoken poetry/Monologues, and one final night (the art        festival!) where all art forms will be displayed in a gallery/show        event. - The festival will also include artisan vendors from local        communities!                - It doesn't matter if your work is still in progress, if you have        never done this before... this is a supportive space where your        stories, creative processes and truths will be honored, and where you        will have the chance to meet other artists and build future projects        with them.                About the Audition Process:                The Womxn's Action Commission team members will be at our office with        welcoming beverages and a supportive environment: Here, you can share        with us your spoken work/monologue work, as well as share your other        art forms.                - We will notify you of the next steps during the following week, and        schedule 101 meetings with each participant, so we can start walking        through the event.                - Our audition/art submission form is coming very soon! so please keep        an eye on this page and submit your responses as soon as possible.

       The 2nd Annual Lee        Scheingold Lecture in Poetry and Poetics @ Walker Ames Room (Kane Hall) Kane 225        Red Square (University Of Washington), Seattle, Washington 98105        (Thursday March        7, 2019) 5:30 - 8:45 PM)         

The Lee Scheingold Lecture in        Poetry and Poetics is thrilled to welcome Dr. Leanne Betasamosake        Simpson and Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs to the University of Washington on        Thursday, March 7, 2019. A reception will be held from 5:30-6:30 in the        Walker-Ames Room in Kane Hall. From 7:00-8:15, Dr. Simpson and Dr.        Gumbs will each share a short talk on poetry, poetics, and social        justice, and then will be in conversation in Room 220 in Kane Hall. A        book signing will follow. This lecture is hosted by the UW English        Department and is made possible through the generous support of Lee        Scheingold. Free and open to the public.

         Leanne              Betasamosake Simpson is a renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg              scholar, writer and artist, who has been widely recognized as one              of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation. Her              work breaks open the intersections between politics, story and              song—bringing audiences into a rich and layered world of sound,              light, and sovereign creativity.

         Working              for over a decade as an independent scholar using Nishnaabeg              intellectual practices, Leanne has lectured and taught              extensively at universities across Canada and has twenty years              experience with Indigenous land based education. She holds a PhD              from the University of Manitoba, is currently a Distinguished              Visiting Scholar in the Faculty of Arts at Ryerson University and              faculty at the Dechinta Centre for Research & Learning in              Denendeh. Leanne's books are regularly used in courses across              Canada and the United States including Dancing on Our Turtle’s              Back, The Gift Is in the Making, Lighting the Eighth Fire              (editor), This Is An Honour Song (editor with Kiera Ladner) and              The Winter We Danced (Kino-nda-niimi editorial collective). Her              latest book, As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through              Radical Resistance was published by the University of Minnesota              Press in the fall of 2017, and was awarded Best Subsequent Book              by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. https://www.leannesimpson.ca/

As              an educator, Alexis Pauline Gumbs walks in the legacy of Black              lady school teachers in post-slavery communities who offered              sacred educational space to the intergenerational newly free in              exchange for the random necessities of life. She honors the lives              and creative works of Black feminist geniuses as sacred texts for              all people. She believes that in the time we live in access to              the intersectional, holistic brilliance of the Black feminist              tradition is as crucial as learning how to read. She brings that              approach to her work as the provost of the Eternal Summer of the              Black Feminist Mind, a transmedia- enabled community school (aka              tiny black feminist university) and lending library based in              Durham, North Carolina.

         A              queer black troublemaker, a black feminist love evangelist and a              prayer poet priestess, Alexis has a PhD in English, African and              African-American Studies, and Women and Gender Studies from Duke              University. She was the first scholar to research the Audre Lorde              Papers at Spelman College, the June Jordan Papers at Harvard              University, and the Lucille Clifton Papers at Emory University              during her dissertation research.

         She              is the author of Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity, also              published by Duke University Press; coeditor of Revolutionary              Mothering: Love on the Front Lines; and the founder and director              of Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind, an educational              program based in Durham, North Carolina. Following the innovative              collection Spill, Alexis Pauline Gumbs's M Archive—the second              book in a planned experimental triptych—is a series of poetic              artifacts that speculatively documents the persistence of Black              life following a worldwide cataclysm. Engaging with the work of              the foundational Black feminist theorist M. Jacqui Alexander, and              following the trajectory of Gumbs's acclaimed visionary fiction              short story “Evidence,” M Archive is told from the perspective of              a future researcher who uncovers evidence of the conditions of              late capitalism, antiblackness, and environmental crisis while              examining possibilities of being that exceed the human. http://alexispauline.com

ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:   

Restrooms: The              most accessible restrooms are on the basement floor.

         Seating: Wheelchair              seating is available at the front of each auditorium.

         For              mapped and numbered ADA access information: https://www.washington.edu/admin/ada/kane.php

         Parking: The              Central Plaza Garage (underground) is closest, has wheelchair and              disability parking on all levels. Use Kane elevator #168.

         Dial-A-Ride: Stop              #17 is located at the ride shelter at intersection of George              Washington Lane and Memorial Way, and is uphill from Kane Hall.

Winter Quarter        Social Justice Film Series        (Wednesday, March 6,        2019) 6:30 PM       

The             Kelly ECC is back with another social justice film series for             winter quarter!

        Each             Wednesday evening at 6:30, we'll be screening a film in the main             lobby! We hope to see you there!       

February's Focus: Black History        Month        March's Focus: Women's History Month        ------        FILM LINE-UP:        • March 6: Ladies First        • March 13: Neerja                ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:        

The             Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center is near landmarks such as             Alder Hall and Lander Hall.

        For             a map, search HUB on the campus maps: www.washington.edu/maps

        The             ECC’s front entrance is wheelchair accessible. There is an             elevator in the building.

        There             are universal, all-gender bathrooms in the building, as well as             gender binary bathrooms with multiple stalls.

        The             ECC is not kept scent-free, but we ask that you do not wear             scented/fragranced products (e.g. perfume, hair products) or             essential oils to/in the event in order to make the space             accessible to those with chemical injury or multiple chemical             sensitivity.      

University District Metro Bus        Routes can be found here: metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/bus/neighborhoods/university_district.html

The In-Between Tour        with DANakaDAN and Mike Bow        (Wednesday, March 6,        2019) 7 PM - 9 PM @ Hub Lyceum        Seattle, Washington 98195       

Ever             feel like you're not Asian enough? Not American enough? Join             Youtube rapper DANakaDAN and actor Mike Bow for a hip hop style             concert celebrating the feeling of being stuck between two             identities.

Free general admission. Interested in VIP meet and greet        tickets? Email asuwasc@uw.edu        or register for VIP tickets!

ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:       

The             Husky Union Building is near landmarks such as Allen Library,             Padelford and Sieg. For a map, search HUB on the campus             maps: http://www.washington.edu/maps/.The             HUB’s front entrance is wheelchair accessible and the common area             is to the right of the main desk.

        An             all-genders restroom can be found at the 3rd floor, down the             hallway from the Q Center. Gender binary bathrooms with multiple             stalls can be found on each floor of the HUB.

Indigenous and Women of Color Rise (Friday, March 8        2019) 7 PM - 10 PM @ The Seattle Public Library        Central Library, 1000 4th Ave, Seattle, Washington 98104     

As             our world burns, injustice festers around the globe. Patriarchy,             racism, and capitalism are bringing us to ruin. In the face of             this brutality, we need to elevate voices from the grassroots. And             not just any voices. We need radical voices that take no             prisoners, that speak the truth, that rip down the fantasies of             the powerful and inspire us to fight like our lives depend on it.

        On             March 8th, 2019 (International Women's Day), an event will be held             featuring two of these powerful voices: Dominique Christina, the             author of four books and the only person to EVER become a two-time             world champion in slam poetry, and Cherry Smiley, warrior hero,             feminist activist, scholar, and artist from the Nlaka'pamux             (Thompson) and Diné (Navajo) nations.       

The evening program will inform,        educate, empower, inspire, and strengthen our spirit for the injustices        we face: male violence, objectification, sexual exploitation, and        racialization.        Tickets are        available now!                ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:       

All             Library locations, restrooms and meeting rooms are             accessible with one or more accessible public computer             workstations.

        Designated             accessible parking spaces are available at all 27 locations.

        Automatic             doors at all main entrances.

        Elevator             access to all levels, with verbal cues at each floor at the             Central Library.

        TTY-enabled             courtesy (public) phones on Level 1 at the Central Library.       

Service Animals 

In compliance with the Washington State Law Against        Discrimination (WLAD), the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and the        Seattle Municipal Code, service animals are welcome in all areas of the        Library where members of the public are normally allowed to go.

Free, rapid        HIV Testing and PrEP counseling provided by Lifelong.        First come, first serve, walk-in appointments available on the last        Monday of every month during Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters!                 Other Times Offered (All        times at Q-Center from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM)    

Monday,             March 25

        Monday,             April 29

        Monday,             May 27       

ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:       

The             Husky Union Building is near landmarks such as Allen Library,             Padelford and Sieg. For a map, search HUB on the campus             maps: http://www.washington.edu/maps/.The             HUB’s front entrance is wheelchair accessible and the common area             is to the right of the main desk.

        An             all-genders restroom can be found at the 3rd floor, down the             hallway from the Q Center. Gender binary bathrooms with multiple             stalls can be found on each floor of the HUB.

        The             HUB IS not kept scent-free but we ask that you do not wear             scented/fragranced products (e.g. perfume, hair products) or             essential oils to/in the Q Center in order to make the space             accessible to those with chemical injury or multiple chemical             sensitivity. To request disability accommodation, contact the             Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452             (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu preferably 10 days in             advance.

       Let’s Talk is a free        program that connects UW students with support from experienced        counselors from the Counseling Center and Hall Health Center without an        appointment. Counselors hold drop-in hours        at four sites on campus:                

Mondays, 2-4 PM, Odegaard Library Room 222

        Tuesdays, 2-4 PM, Ethnic Cultural Center Room 306

        Wednesdays, 2-4 PM, Q Center (HUB 315)

        Thursdays, 2-4 PM, Mary Gates Hall Room 134E       

Let’s Talk offers        informal consultation – it is not a substitute for regular therapy,        counseling, or psychiatric care. To learn more, visit letstalk.washington.edu.                ACCESSIBILITY        INFORMATION:       

The             HUB’s front entrance is wheelchair accessible and the common area             is to the right of the main desk.

        An             all-genders restroom can be found at the 3rd floor, down the             hallway from the Q Center. Gender binary bathrooms with multiple             stalls can be found on each floor of the HUB.

        The             HUB IS not kept scent-free but we ask that you do not wear             scented/fragranced products (e.g. perfume, hair products) or             essential oils to/in the Q Center in order to make the space             accessible to those with chemical injury or multiple chemical             sensitivity. 

        The             ECC has single-stall gender-neutral bathrooms on each floor, near             the gender-binary bathrooms to which signs are indicated. 

        Odegaard             Library is not ADA accessible nor scent free.  

        All             rooms in Mary Gates Hall are wheelchair accessible. Please contact             the Disability Services             Office at 206.543.6450 or dso@uw.edu.             MGH is not scent free.

Thank you for being a part of our community <3         We are so glad that you are here, and we are so glad to get to know        you!         Have questions about the QSC? Just want to get involved? Find our        office hours online at hours.asuw.org.        To hear more from the QSC be sure to like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter & instagram to stay up to date with        all queer and trans related happenings on campus and in Seattle!                 With love,         Mehria Ibrahimi, Outreach & Engagement Intern. 

[l60]

Group 1: Ella Barksdale Brown

Ella Barksdale Brown Papers (JWJ MSS 41), Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Link to the Archives at Yale finding aid for the collection.

Overview of the collection: Correspondence, writings, financial papers, newspapers and other materials that document the work of Ella Barksdale Brown (1871-1966) as an educator, anti-lynching activist, suffragist, and journalist. The bulk of the papers provide evidence of Brown’s activism and involvement with numerous schools, youth groups, war relief, civil rights and community organizations. Brown, a member of the first graduating class of Spelman Seminary (later Spelman College) in 1887, wrote for several well-known African American newspapers in the early twentieth century, including The Chicago Defender and The New York Amsterdam News.

Digitized collection material:

Series I, Box 2, Folder 71: Correspondence with and printed ephemera from the Circle for Negro War Relief, 1918-1920 (folder 1 of 3).

Series I, Box 2, Folder 72: Correspondence with and printed ephemera from the Circle for Negro War Relief, 1918-1920 (folder 2 of 3).

Series I, Box 2, Folder 73: Correspondence with and printed ephemera from the Circle for Negro War Relief, 1918-1920 (folder 3 of 3).

Series I, Box 2, Folder 75: Correspondence from the Federation of Colored Organizations of New Jersey, 1918-1919.

[factoronto]

MEET THE FAC 2018 RESIDENCY ARTISTS:  Lauren Brown

What drives you to work in both media and art, and how are these two areas intertwined for you?

Media was my first Art. As a youth I would tap my stories on the huge metal typewriter at the far end of our dining room. Often I would add watercolors or pressed flowers as illustrations. In other instances, I would audio record my stories, not realizing I was acting them out and archiving them! During high school in the US, I began writing and producing video, where I began to understand the creative bond between image and the written word. In college, I was allowed to really dissect the way corporate media and film portray and present women, particularly women of color. 

To this end, I very much have Dr. Michelle Hite and Dr. Ayoka Chenzira, the latter who I studied under in the Digital Moving Image Salon at Spelman College, to thank for not only elevating my point of view on how women are presented and consumed, but also in figuring out how to develop much more nuanced and intersectional representations of them.

In your artist statement you speak about wanting to build a prototype for rethinking news and the news cycle. How do you think art can be used to do this in an effective way?

Art has a way of entertaining us while also encouraging us to investigate or critique the deeper systems and players underlying the work. Art acomlishes this by being resonant with the receiver or creating conflict, discomfort that if we are willing to sit with long enough, often leads to further investigation. In an increasingly visual culture, working with interactive mediums such as VR, projection and film, asks the viewer to yield their perspective to that of the artist. Momentarily bringing the public into the mind of the artist and requesting they think about the world the way the artist does.

You mention past work has taken the form of writing, video, and mixed media arts. Why is it important for you to use a variety of art mediums in your work?

See answer #1! Joking aside, my work has always included a mix of text, images, video, collage, paint, found materials etc. Now I’m looking to expand that by layering social media, computer derived art and my most beloved tool of communication,  needlepoint.

There is a lovely fluidity across history of the emergence and then decline of all kinds of media channels and tools. Morse code anyone? In my work, I have found layering these medium across one another often produces visually interesting and thought provoking results.

More from Lauren: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/lauren-brown-jarvis

[womenofcolor15]

Billionaire Donates $2 Million To Create Chair In Queer Studies At Spelman College

Billionaire Jon Stryker just gifted $2 million to HBCU Spelman College to make LGBTQ history. More inside…

Times are changing and so is higher education.

Spelman College (an all-women HBCU school in Atlanta) is seemingly the leader when it comes to LGBTQ inclusion in HBCU education. The country’s oldest historically Black college for women is about to bring new curriculum to their students.

White billionaire/ philanthropist Jon Stryker just donated $2 million to create a queer studies chair, which would be the first LGBTQ chair at a historically Black college or university.

  Happy Heavenly Birthday Audre Lourde! pic.twitter.com/Qi6Yi0wHqe

— Brock A. Mayers (@BrockThinks) February 19, 2019

  It’s named after activist Audre Lorde (1934–1992), a self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, and poet.” She often spoke at Spelman and her papers are housed at the Spelman Archives.

“The more that people understand queer history and LGBTQ issues, the more likely they are to accept and support the LGBTQ community,” Stryker told Forbes in an email. “By empowering and educating the next generation, we can help make a future where LGBTQ people have full and equal protections under the law.”

Jon is the founder and president of the Arcus Foundation, which supports LGBTQ rights and the protection of the great apes. His estimated $3.9 billion fortune stems from Stryker Corp., the medical equipment firm his grandfather founded in 1941, according to Forbes.

“Spelman College has long been at the forefront of LGBTQ inclusion and education among HBCUs,” Stryker said in another statement. “By supporting this chair, the goal is to engage and empower the next generation of LGBTQ advocates to create a better world.”

Here’s what the position will entail:

The chair will teach classes in queer studies—allowing students at the all-female Atlanta college to concentrate in the subject as part of its comparative women’s studies major—and direct community-wide conversations and advocacy around queer issues. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, founding director of Spelman’s Women’s Research and Resource Center, says Spelman would be the only HBCU in the country with a queer studies program.

Spelman College has been putting in work when it comes to LGBTQ inclusion. In 2017, Spelman became second historically Black women's college, after Bennett College, to admit transgender women. Morehouse College (an all-male HBCU in Atlanta) will start doing the same in 2020.

Photos: Getty/Spelman's Twitter

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2019/10/30/white-billionaire-donates-2-million-to-create-chair-in-queer-studies-at-spelman-college-0

[sallymolay]

Lesbian Power Couples From History Who Got Shit Done

Autostraddle writes:

Ethel Mars & Maud Hunt Squire (1894-1954)

These two American artists (top photo) met at the Cincinnati Art Academy in the 1890s and stayed together for 60 years, living for patches in France and in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Maud was known for her book illustrations and color etchings, Ethel for her painting, color woodblock prints and drawings. They collaborated on projects like illustrating the legendary Child’s Garden of Verses. The couple were regulars at Gertrude Stein’s salon in France (and the subject of her word portrait Miss Furr and Miss Skeene). Also, The New York Times says they “loved to behave outrageously.”

Ethel Williams & Ethel Waters (1910s-1920s)

“The Two Ethels” (second photo from top) met at the Alhambra Theater in Harlem — Ethel Waters was a popular blues singer and Ethel Williams was a dancer. They fell in love and summarily merged: Waters got Williams a job working at the cabaret where she worked, they lived together in Harlem and Waters took Williams with her on her first nationwide tour, where Williams would dance to warm up the crowd before Waters’ performances. In the touring revue Oh! Joy! they even did a little bit about being “partners” that winked at queer audience members while refusing mainstream identification. Waters’ managers at Black Swan Records manufactured gossip about Waters, once pushing a piece about how her recording contract stipulated that she couldn’t get married to explain her not having a male partner. Eventually, Ethel Williams left Waters and her job to marry a dancer named Clarence Dotson.

Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard (1855-1891)

Giles met Packard in in the mid-1850s when Giles was a student at the New Salem Academy in New Salem, Massachusetts, and Packard was the preceptor. They hit it off right away, and shortly thereafter shuttled off to Atlanta to start a school for Black women who had been newly released from slavery. Packard was the first president of the school, then known as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary and now known as Spelman College, when it opened its doors in 1888. Giles took over after Packard’s death in 1891. The two women (third photo from top) are now buried next to each other in Silver Lake Cemetery.

Mabel Hampton and Lilian Foster, 1932-1978

Mabel Hampton, born in 1902, had a tumultuous childhood that took her from North Carolina to New York City to New Jersey and eventually to a job dancing in Coney Island just as the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing. She performed with stars like Moms Mabley and Gladys Bently and lived openly as a lesbian, eventually giving up dancing and becoming a domestic worker — for the family of the now-famous Joan Nestle. She met Lillian Foster in 1932, and they were inseparable until Lilian’s death, living together on 169th street in the Bronx and calling each other husband and wife. They were active in the Gay Rights movement, ran their own laundering business, and worked together to collect and organize a wealth of documents, newspaper clippings, photographs and books, including programs from the opera performances she and Foster loved attending, that would help form the Lesbian Herstory Archives, of which Joan Nestle named Mabel a founding member. Mabel’s oral history was preserved by Joan in the archives. (Fourth photo from top)

Sallie Holley and Caroline Putnam (1848 – 1893)

Sallie and Caroline (bottom photo) met at good ol’ Oberlin College, and the noted “anti-slavery team” became agents of the American Anti-Slavery Society immediately after graduation. They traveled on the abolitionist lecture circuit, often along with the legendary Sojourner Truth. After the Civil War, Sallie stayed up North giving talks, raising money to educate freed slaves in the South, and Putnam went to Virginia to teach freed slaves, eventually starting The Holley School, which became America’s first settlement house. Sallie then joined Caroline in Lottsburg, where they integrated themselves with the community, operated their school year-round and unlike some future suffragettes, were dedicated to enabling, preserving and protecting the right of Black men to vote even when white women could not yet do so. Sallie died in 1893 and Caroline in 1917, at which point the school was deeded to an all-Black board of trustees and continued operating for decades.

11 more lesbian power couples here!

[johnangusjacobs]

Wow… “I read an article about Bill Cosby’s  take on the Black Community “After what has come to be known as “the Pound Cake speech…”  Cosby addressed the only black male audience as ‘Men’ showing camaraderie and empathy with their plight as black men trying to learn to navigate the pitfalls of this American society…” Then I heard on an evening entertainment show Oprah refer to a black man as a ‘boy’; I was appalled… I say “Who in the Hell is Oprah Winfrey to demean Black men by using a White Racial Slur like ‘boy???’

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/05/-this-is-how-we-lost-to-the-white-man/306774/

“Last summer, in Detroit’s St. Paul Church of God in Christ, I watched Bill Cosby summon his inner Malcolm X. It was a hot July evening. Cosby was speaking to an audience of black men dressed in everything from Enyce T-shirts or polos to blazers and ties. Some were there with their sons. Some were there in wheelchairs. The audience was packed tight, rows of folding chairs extended beyond the wooden pews to capture the overflow. But the chairs were not enough, and late arrivals stood against the long shotgun walls, or out in the small lobby, where they hoped to catch a snatch of Cosby’s oratory. ”

‘Run!’ says Gayle. ‘This is a no-brainer,’ Oprah says after she stops laughing. ‘Bye! Boy, bye!’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6573893/Oprah-recalls-seducing-Steadman-Gayle-King-talk-sex-dating.html

Yes Ms. O referred to a black man as a ‘boy…’   When Ms. O, who is suppose to be the model example for black people and the black community used a racist degrading word like “boy’ toward a black man, in my book makes her (and Gayle) ‘Racist  Misandrist’… 

Wow…  I guess Gayle King was not referring to her own son but that’s not to say that he has not found himself in the same situation; because he is a black man is this tough American Society which appears to be against the advancement of Black men vs. totally supporting the advancement of Black women…

“Cosby told the audience, “is I’m tired of losing to white people. When I say I don’t care about white people, I mean let them say what they want to say. What can they say to me that’s worse than what their grandfather said?” “As Cosby sees it, the antidote to racism is not rallies, protests, or pleas, but strong families and communities. Instead of focusing on some abstract notion of equality, he argues, blacks need to cleanse their culture, embrace personal responsibility, and reclaim the traditions that fortified them in the past.” “Cosby’s gospel of discipline, moral reform, and self-reliance offers a way out—a promise that one need not cure America of its original sin in order to succeed. Racism may not be extinguished, but it can be beaten.”

“Cosby’s philanthropy won him support among the civil-rights crowd. He made his biggest splash in 1988, when he and his wife gave $20 million to Spelman College, the largest individual donation ever given to a black college. “Two million would have been fantastic; 20 million, to use the language of the hip-hop generation, was off the chain,” says Johnnetta Cole, who was then president of Spelman. ”                                                                                                             

‘This is a no-brainer,’ Oprah says after she stops laughing. ‘Bye! Boy, bye!’ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6573893/Oprah-recalls-seducing-Steadman-Gayle-King-talk-sex-dating.html

I say again, “Who in the Hell is Oprah Winfrey to demean Black men by using a White Racial Slur like ‘boy???'”  I guess she is beginning to believe her own hype and think she is white (sorry ms. O skin whiter will not make you white) but white people know that you don’t call a black man a ‘boy…”

Just check out CNN AC360 “Understanding why you don’t call a black man a boy…” http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/15/understanding-why-you-dont-call-a-black-man-a-boy/  Wow…  I guess Oprah has lost her damn mind… Did you heard what Martha Stewart said about Ms.O when she heard that Oprah smoked reefer??? 

https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/martha-stewart-oprah-winfrey-smokes-weed-marijuana.html

 “Martha Stewart. Outside ABC studios in New York City, TMZ cameramen stopped Stewart as she was exiting the building and yelled out, “Oprah’s smoking now, what do you recommend?” Totally perplexed, Stewart mistakenly assumed that TMZ referring to cigarettes, until they corrected her, to which she responded, “Weeeeeeed????”“End of Oprah” …”  https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/martha-stewart-oprah-winfrey-smokes-weed-marijuana.html

“Gayle King said, “Oprah has smoked a little marijuana, I don’t mind saying,” “I’m not telling tales out of school”. Why would you put your bestie’s friend business out there like that girl? We’re sure Oprah didn’t want no one to know that she smokes that good kush. She’s the spokeswoman for Weight Watchers for crying out loud. Is Gayle trying to fu_ k up sista girl’s shmoney though?” http://earkandyradio.com/according-to-gayle-king-oprah-winfrey-smokes-weed-what/

Wow…  I believe it is time for me, a common everyday Black (an African descendant of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade) American man, to run for the Presidency of these United States of America…  

https://www.zazzle.com/z/1cxrb

What are my qualifications you might ask??? Well first and foremost, I am a Black American man over the age of 35 and under the age of 95… Secondly, my grandfather – John Jacobs was a ‘Civil War Veteran…” 

 Finally my father was a WWI veteran;

and I served in the US Army Reserves for 19+ years and my twin brother served in the Regular Army for many years… 

The Jacobs clan in all NC Strong !!!

Wow…  Besides my people have been in this country a lot longer than most of the white people in Government today…  Like Chris Matthews said, the IRONIC THING ABOUT NATIONALISM IS THAT BLACK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IN THIS COUNTRY A LOT LONGER THAN MOST WHITE PEOPLE…  Yeah, what Chris said…  http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/hardball/2018-11-07

Wow… “Bill Cosby’s ‘Pound Cake Ideology’ vs. Oprah and Gayle’s ‘This is a no-brainer,’ ‘Bye! Boy, bye!’ Racist Misandrist Ideology???” Or “Is Bill Cosby a Crazy Old Black man vs. Has Oprah lost her Damn mind???”

  Wow… “Bill Cosby’s ‘Pound Cake Ideology’ vs. Oprah and Gayle’s ‘This is a no-brainer,’ ‘Bye! Boy, bye!’ Racist Misandrist Ideology???” Or “Is Bill Cosby a Crazy Old Black man vs. Has Oprah lost her Damn mind???” Wow... "I read an article about Bill Cosby's  take on the Black Community "After what has come to be known as “the Pound Cake speech..."  Cosby addressed the only black male audience as 'Men' showing camaraderie and empathy with their plight as black men trying to learn to navigate the pitfalls of this American society..."

[caveartfair]

Three Ways Art History Needs to Change in 2019

Art Is. . . (Women in Crowd Framed), 1983/2009. Lorraine O'Grady Alexander Gray Associates

The field of art history is partial, contentious, and constantly up for debate. The extent to which the discipline has an actual, noticeable effect on culture and everyday life is constantly questioned. But naysayers perilously undermine the loftier ambitions and rewards of engaging with art history in academic, professional, and cultural spheres.

Okay, so this branch of the humanities might not be the most practical subject. Even eminent art historian Erwin Panofsky conceded to this point in his influential 1940 essay “The History of Art as a Humanistic Discipline,” questioning why we bother to engage in such “impractical investigations” at all. Why, he asked, “should we be interested in the past?” His answer is simple: “Because we are interested in reality.”

As one of the most naturally interdisciplinary subjects, art history provides a vital toolkit for us to interpret and understand our world. The way we go about practicing it needs a serious retooling, precisely because art history offers such a nuanced lens to examine our society. A single artwork, Panofsky wrote, encompasses “the basic attitude of a nation, a period, a class, a religious or philosophical persuasion.” History is a living thing; it requires constant tending, updating, and reappraisal to reflect change, our evolving attitudes and circumstances. Below are three steps to attain newfound levels of parity and openness in all art-historical arenas in 2019.

Diversify the next generation of art historians

Graduation, 2017. John Baldessari museum in progress

Mainstream history is an exercise in exclusivity, a story that is “written by the victors,” as the saying goes. It’s also a highly subjective discipline, deeply affected by bias. Howard Zinn saliently explored this issue in A People’s History of the United States (1980), a chronicle of the oft-neglected plights of Native Americans, African-Americans, and women, among other oppressed and marginalized groups. With his “alternative” textbook, Zinn perfectly exemplifies that any change to conventional narratives must begin with the historian.

Art history is no exception; similar forms of exclusion manifest in classrooms, museums, and publications. It’s not news that major barriers to access—pricey master’s degrees, unpaid internships, and rampant nepotism chief among them—have kept the art world disproportionately white, male, and upper middle class. Recent statistics gathered by Data USA found that among those with art history, criticism, and conservation degrees, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, a staggering 70% are white. (Hispanic is next at 11%, Asian at 5.5%, black at 3.1%, and Native squeaks in at 0.2%.)

Compare these numbers with a 2015 study by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It revealed that although there’s a “significant movement toward gender equality in art museums,” with women comprising about 60% of museum staffs in leadership, curatorial, conservation, and educational positions (a relatively low count, considering that women constitute 85.1% of all art history degree-holders), there’s “no such pipeline toward leadership among staff from historically underrepresented minorities.” The study found only 4% of workers in those roles to be African-American, and 3% Hispanic. (For context, 13.4% of the U.S. population identifies as African-American or black, and 18.1% as Hispanic or Latinx.)

The voices of people of color are pivotal when it comes to redressing these oversights and omissions. Last year, art historian Denise Murrell, who is black, offered a compelling correction to the canon. Her “investigations into the understudied black muses of art history,” as Tess Thackara recently wrote for Artsy, became the subject of her Ph.D. thesis and an exhibition, “Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today,” on view at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery (an expanded version of the show will travel to the Musée d’Orsay this March).

The topic unfolded from a long-running list Murrell had been keeping of “instances of black” in Western art. She was particularly struck by the black maid prominently featured in Édouard Manet’s provocative Olympia (1863)—and the fact that little to nothing had ever been written about her. The exhibition, along with the scholarly catalogue that accompanies it, not only fills major gaps in our understanding of modern art and its players, but also reflects on latent bias in the cultural sphere. This is the potential speaking-truth-to-power that results from putting resources into diversifying the next generation of art historians.

This past September, in a major effort to increase diversity in the field, the Walton Family Foundation awarded Spelman College a $5.4 million grant to establish the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies. This fall, the historically black women’s college will offer its first major in art history, with a minor in curatorial studies. The center aims to become one of the country’s foremost incubators of African-American art-world professionals.

In the absence of such dedicated institutions, networks of support have largely been built by impassioned individuals. Thelma Golden stands as one prominent example. During her tenure as director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, she has championed many artists and curators of color. Her acolytes—including the Museum of Modern Art’s Thomas J. Lax, and Rujeko Hockley, co-curator of the 2019 Whitney Biennial—continue her legacy, showing at or working for some of the most influential museums in the world. “Many people of color in the art museum field, myself included,” Golden said in a statement after the grant was announced, “can trace much of our success to mentorship and professional development opportunities provided early in our careers.” Such networks and guiding individuals are key, but without more entrenched institutional support—beginning with academic institutions—the field may very well remain homogenous, a sure path to obsolescence.

Tell a more inclusive story of art

Who Will Write The History of Tears?, 2011. Barbara Kruger Phillips

No matter where art history is played out—in universities, museums, or on the pages of magazines—its practitioners must adapt to the times or risk stagnation. Art history is by nature interdisciplinary; art is contextualized by politics, philosophy, ethics, literature, religion, and economics. Art history programs should therefore encourage students to study these subjects in order to have a fuller understanding of the complex systems encapsulated by an artwork. The general expunction of money or the market from art history, for instance, is more than outdated, it’s backwards; both are integral to understanding the production and circulation of art over the last five thousand years.

Several programs have taken strides to expand the academic approach to the discipline. The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History, for example—founded at the University of Texas at Dallas in 2014, with additional headquarters at the Dallas Museum of Art—is dedicated to an agenda of cross-pollination between the visual arts, sciences, and technology. To that end, graduate research initiatives include courses on art and medicine, a data-driven approach to interpreting art history, and partnerships with international institutions that examine global exchanges in art.

Research and exhibitions that highlight points of cross-cultural connections to show multiple perspectives—speaking to the relative values of art to illustrate class disparity, or repositioning the traditional “center” of art-historical narratives to focus on non-Western contributions—all further the call to “decolonize” the art world. One high-profile success story last year occurred when Charles and Valerie Diker gifted their collection of Native American art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, stipulating that it had to be shown in the museum’s American wing and integrated into the broader story of American art, rather than ghettoized in its own “Native” section. It felt like a game-changing victory to view these works in pride of place among the familiar trophies by white male heroes of 20th-century art.

The need to remedy the lack of visibility on marginalized artists has inspired other art historian–fueled initiatives. A crop of new databases—such as the Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions; Clara, from the National Museum of Women in the Arts; and the Canadian Women Artists History Initiative, run by Concordia University—strive to write women into art history by conducting original scholarship and making it available online.

The public is hungry for the excitement of an unknown discovery or the drama and gore of historical truth, and the many recent calls to hold institutions accountable for their role in representing culture is a rousing affirmation that art—and its temples—is indeed politically engaged. The popularity of guided museum tours that offer alternatives to mainstream art histories further proves this fact (see the “Badass Bitches” tour by Museum Hack, or Alice Procter’s anti-colonialist “Uncomfortable Art Tours”). Some museums are starting to wise up to this shift in public engagement. Tate Britain, to cite one example, now offers “A Queer Walk Through of British Art,” a tour of “queer responses” to its collection in the form of supplementary wall labels attached to works in their permanent galleries.

Break down the divisions between “high” and “low” art

Membership, 1984. Julia Wachtel Whitney Museum of American Art

The commanding art critic Clement Greenberg laid out the necessity of the art world’s modernist project in his now-canonical 1939 essay “Avant-Garde and Kitsch.” Forward-thinking art, he insisted, combats the docile complacency of a general public that is easily manipulated by consumerist forces and fascist regimes, who propagandize campy, mass-produced imagery.

The growing Nazi threat in Europe added special urgency to the Jewish-American critic’s writing, but Greenberg’s essay, while influential, had perhaps unintended consequences. In it, he defined an unbridgeable line between the avant-garde and popular forms of art considered outside the official art world. The stark moral distinction between the two was clear: the former fights fascism, the latter propels it. Such high-minded divisions between so-called “high” and “low” art have been maintained by institutional gatekeepers for centuries, but if the art world is to become a more inclusive place for heterogeneous voices and styles, we must reevaluate the self-imposed boundaries it operates under.

In their new book Aesthetics of the Margins / The Margins of Aesthetics: Wild Art Explained, co-authors David Carrier and Joachim Pissarro trace a history of the institutionalization of taste, rejecting the binary of “serious” art shown in galleries and museums and what they call “wild” art, a wide range of creative enterprises—from street art to fashion to tattoos—that exist in a multiplicity of art worlds operating outside the system. It’s crucial to recognize that the hierarchical division of art forms—traditionally prioritizing oil painting and sculpture over textile arts and other “domestic” crafts—has abetted the exclusion of women, people of color, and artisans of the lower classes.

The first step to erasing these boundaries, Carrier told Artsy, is to recognize that the differences between them are, in fact, largely arbitrary, borne of any system’s need to police its borders. Carrier cited a literal example of the divide: “When you go to MoMA or the Met,” he said, “you see all of these people right outside the doors of the museums selling street art, paintings, and so forth. They’re so close, yet so far; they’re never going to be admitted into the art world.”

In our postmodern age, there might not be easily definable criteria for what constitutes high art versus kitsch, but Carrier cites irony as a major determining factor. Thomas Kinkade, he offered, was “fabulously successful; his paintings were in 1 in every 20 American homes.” Yet he was never taken seriously by the establishment. Carrier senses that this rejection was “because he was not ironical. He did Impressionist scenes that have a sweet view of the world. That’s not accepted in the art world.”

Institutions have, little by little, become more accepting of various art forms over the last few decades. Major exhibitions of fashion and street art—like the Met’s “Heavenly Bodies,” which shattered the museum’s attendance record last year—have drawn thousands of visitors, along with the snooty disdain of some critics. But Carrier is still hopeful. “Anything can make its way [into the art world],” he posited, “but you can’t have everything coming in at once.”

It seems inevitable that major museums will only continue to expand their programming of commercially appealing exhibitions on “wild art” topics like popular music, street fashion, video games, or graffiti. Now is as fine a time as any for university art history programs to similarly seek out ways to take these subjects seriously, and incorporate them into their own curricula. While there are some interdisciplinary programs like this already in existence—mostly under the guises of “Cultural” or “Visual Studies,” the latter offered by the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts—more traditional art history courses could easily adopt this same spirit.

Still, as individuals, we can reap the simple but profound benefits of such openness to aesthetic experience. Researching the book with Pissarro, Carrier said, “opened our eyes to see lots of things that maybe we wouldn’t have looked at otherwise. That’s what we’re advocating. Open your eyes. There’s a lot to look at.”

from Artsy News

[womenoflibraryhistory]

Amanda Rudd

This post was submitted by Jason K. Alston on behalf of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Most of the information in the post comes from a BCALA Resolution of Respect for Rudd drafted by Dr. Sibyl Moses, with other information offered by Emily Guss, who personally knew and worked with Rudd. The image is courtesy of Chicago Public Library Archives, Special Collections.

Amanda Sullivan Rudd, the first female and first African-American commissioner of the Chicago Public Library, passed away on February 11, 2017 at the age of 93. Rudd served as the commissioner for CPL from 1982 until she retired in 1985. Prior to her appointment as CPL commissioner, Rudd served CPL as assistant chief librarian, community relations and special programs (1975), deputy commissioner (1975-1981), and acting commissioner (1981-1982). According to the Chicago Tribune, Rudd was a mentor to numerous younger colleagues at CPL, including eventual Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden. Hayden, in a letter to Rudd’s daughter, said, "Amanda was a trailblazer in the library field and I benefited greatly from her guidance during my time at the Chicago Public Library."

A Greenville, South Carolina, native, Rudd told Ebony magazine in 1982 that she had a love for reading since the age of four, and that this love of reading led her to the doors of Greenville’s segregated public library at age 10. Rudd told Ebony that a white librarian barred her from entering; Rudd, therefore, satisfied her thirst for reading with books that her mother would buy her from a traveling salesman. Ebony stressed through their feature story on Rudd that she was a hallmark success story, going from a southern girl who was denied entry into her local library to heading what was then the nation’s largest metropolitan library system.

Rudd received her bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University and held a master's degree in library science from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Rudd served as a second grade teacher and an assistant director of school libraries in Cleveland during the 1960s. She was also an educational consultant with World Book Encyclopedia in Chicago during the 1970s. After her retirement from CPL, Rudd worked for distributor Baker & Taylor, and constructed annotated bibliographies of children’s books by, for, and about African-Americans.

Rudd is survived by one brother, two children, six grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, seven siblings, and one granddaughter. Rudd’s daughter is Loretta Parham, an OCLC trustee and the CEO and Director of the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library, an independent academic library for the shared benefit of four HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities)--Morehouse College, Spelman College, the Interdenominational Theological Center, and Clark Atlanta University.

[trascapades]

🎨🎙#ArtIsAWeapon "Paint is the only weapon I have with which to fight what I resent." - 👨🏿‍🎨 #CharlesWhite. Learn more about the prolific and influential visual artist at tomorrow's Talks at the Schomburg @schomburgcenter "Charles White Amongst Friends" November 14, 2018 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EST Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture 515 Malcolm X Boulevard New York, NY 10037. Free with RSVP @eventbrite. www.SchomburgCenter.org/calendar ____________________ "LeRonn P. Brooks, PhD @lpbrooks (Moderator), art historian Andrea Barnwell- Brownlee, PhD, Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and visual artist Yashua Klos will discuss Charles White’s #life, #work, #legacy, and his #influence on today’s contemporary artists. Over the course of his four-decade career, Charles White’s commitment to creating powerful images of African Americans—what his gallerist and, later, White himself described as “images of dignity”—was unwavering. Using his virtuoso skills as a draftsman, printmaker, and painter, White developed his style and approach over time to address shifting concerns and new audiences. White’s far-reaching vision of a socially committed practice attracted promising young artists, including many artists of color, and he became one of the 20th century’s most important and dedicated teachers. Presented in partnership with The Museum of Modern Art @museumofmodernart and their current exhibition Charles White: A Retrospective October 7, 2018–January 13, 2019." ____________________ Image 🖼 “Bessie Smith" by Charles White. 1950. Tempera on panel. Private collection. © The Charles White Archives #CharlesWhite #SchomburgCenter #SchomburgTalks #ArtistActivists #Art #SocialJustice #ProtestArt #ArtistTalks #BlackArtists #MOMA #BlackArt #BlackGirlArtGeeks🤓 https://www.instagram.com/p/BqIuMMQlunm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=gpyrtv62p93w