Well, now. Didn’t expect they would do it. I seriously thought that Limbaugh was entrenched and nothing short of him murdering someone would they cut the strings. I’m happy that they are cutting off the hate-filled blather. Who are they going to get now to bang the drum for the rightwingers…?
I just hope they aren’t replaced with more hate-filled blather by someone even worse than Limbaugh and Hannity.
Michael Twitty has this up on some of the food the slaves use to prepare. When I think of the poor folk now, really, it’s not that far removed. One can only do so much with food stamps, and as I’ve posted before, if you’re on a Celiac diet or try to eat organic/non-processed food, it is pretty damn difficult to stay in budget.
From my experience, I do know that all the stuff that they tell you is bad (which is wrong, btw), such as bacon, fatty pieces of meat, and the like, sure do make the cheap meat and vegetables taste oh-so-much better. There were times when I walked through the building in FW, the aromas coming from apartments was soo good, I thought there should be some rule that if you make something that smells that good, you should have to share it with the rest of the building. Heh.
I have to hand it to African American folk–there were some pretty darn good cooks in my building. They used what little they had to make tasty meals.
And I learned something today–that there wasn’t segregation with the whites on plantations. That is heartwarming to hear. Good for them for not lumping all whites together and rejecting those that came around. Poor folk is poor folk, no matter. It’s too bad that after the commonality of being poor is no longer there, that folks no longer feel that community togetherness. Why?
Faith Ringgold has used art to express her feelings during the 60s Civil Rights protests/riots. I love the storytelling aspect of quilts and especially the artsy ones, such as Ringgold’s.
Quilts were ingeniously used in the underground railroad to help slaves escape. …or so I thought…now historians are disputing that. Here is a blog on the controversy. It is kind of weird talking about yourself in the third person in this way–why not just explain who you are and why you wrote this book? Anyway, he does have good points about the stories behind quilts. A commenter said that crazy quilts–quilts that are put together using cloth scraps–were not around when the underground railroad was in force. But I question that because slaves would have had to use scraps to put together quilts–they would not have had the funds to purchase new cloth to sew with, so it makes sense to me that crazy quilts would have been in use.
More here on the controversy. A really good page on the history….and if anyone had any doubts that history is subjective, this page will remove that doubt.
These times were steeped in storytelling, so it would not surprise me to learn that quilters wove stories into their quilts. And then some may not–artistic expression is highly individualistic–different mediums for different folks.
Anyway, I learned something today. Hope you did, too.
(hat tip to fatster at FDL)
John Boehner, while constantly saying “The American people want, need, demand…” while ignoring what the American people want, need, and demand….has promoted the XL pipeline…while investing in the companies tied to it.
I’m just shocked, shocked, I tell you, that a politician who stands to benefit financially from legislation is…promoting that legislation. /snark
Where have all the good ones gone that did what was right for the country and not for their bank accounts…?
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Also from fatster~~
Related to this is a heartwarming story of a small group of folks protesting the Enbridge pipeline….unfortunately, they’re from Michigan…that will be the day when Hoosiers start protesting Enbridge…
I can’t believe they were charged with felonies. Seriously? Like a commenter said on the website, we should be concerned about the crackdown on public assemblies….you know, that First Amendment thingy?
From the comments:
Enbridge is being disingenuous. No one has come to harm from these non-violent protests. On the other hand, from the Athabasca Chippewa cancer rates to the impacts of climate change, many will be harmed if the tar sands industry achieves its goal of tripling production by 2030. Just imagine Bangladesh flooded by rising sees. That’s millions of refugees in that region alone. We should be working to stop changing the climate. We should have global peak emissions by 2020 then steadily decline. Tripling tar sands production is inconsistent with that goal. These protesters are the modern equivalent of Rosa Parks, who incidentally was hated by conservatives also. As FDR said “I welcome their hatred.” It’s a sign you’re doing something right. Go M-CATS.
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I have to admit a chuckle at the enthusiastic guy commenting on how beautiful state Michigan is…which it is…but then the conservative joker does have a point about him never being in poor Detroit, the dumping ground of the Kochs and anyone else who feels like it. But let’s say that MOST of Michigan is quite beautiful… NOT the parts that conservatives and DINO’s (Democrats in Name Only) have polluted.
It’s always interesting to me that these polluters will trash one area, and then move to a non-polluted area. It should be a rule somewhere that if you pollute an area, you must live in that area for the rest of your life…
…not only that, but your children and grandchildren must live in that area, too. Seems fair, eh?
I just love this stuff–it gives so much more of history than just names, places, and dates. The visual and cultural really brings it alive. I wish Michael Twitty had brought up a little more in the historical aspect of the recipes and cooking methods.
I am always fascinated at how wise they were back in the day…the women gathered the nuts, berries, and plants to eat…how did they know which were poisonous and which weren’t? How did they remember one plant from another? And the ability to put spices together is truly a gift.
Well, folks, the Bush family just keeps on giving and giving….
…what exactly they’re giving (perhaps the word is *taking*) is open to debate…
Diane Ravitch has a blog up on the Jeb Bush Miracle . *cough*
Florida school grades released today are “worse than useless measures of educational quality,” according to a local expert on assessment. Bob Schaeffer, Pubic Education Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), explained, “Based largely on scores from the low quality FCAT exam, state officials change the grading formula each year to serve their political agendas.”
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National Center for Fair and Open Testing
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
cell (239) 699-0468~~~~~~~~
And more here on those Lazy Teachers. Really? And how many hours have you spent in a classroom? Or with your own children reading to them or playing with them or asking them about the lessons they learned in school that day….? Methinks thou art a phony…
(I was going to take a break from blogging, but this is so compelling…)
One of the jurors in George Zimmerman’s trial, the only minority, spoke out on the verdict. Democracy Now! explores how the case was mishandled by the prosecution AND commentary on the juror’s misgivings about the verdict.
From Maddy’s own statement, she says she thought that they had to let Zimmerman go because they didn’t have clear evidence that he intended on killing Trayvon that night. But that is a murder charge, not manslaughter. Manslaughter is different from murder by intention, as the attorney states in the DN! interview.
I also think Maddy was intimidated into giving in–because she states she was holding out to the end.
And please, can we stop complaining about jury duty? You can’t complain about verdicts if you’re not willing to do your civic duty and serve on jury duty.
….aren’t normally associated with heavy metal music…but they are now, even if it is symbolic. What a wonderful way to build a bridge. Perhaps Israeli fans and Palestinian fans will both attend concerts …and find that they’re not that different, after all…?
One can only hope….
…hands across the aisle…
Diane Ravitch has this up on the President’s “I could have been Trayvon” speech yesterday. Lots of passion on both sides about his thoughts. Of course, educators are up in arms that he does not address education in raising up poor black boys (and girls), and that the destruction of public schools going on will do more damage than good.
I, myself, am a jumble of feelings about it.
I understand the educator’s feelings. I also know that just because someone is better educated, doesn’t necessarily mean they will not resort to violence to get their way. Look at all the world leaders who are educated and still promote and advocate violence….
I also understand, as best I can as a white woman, President Obama’s passionate response. He has been the target of racial profiling. He knows what Trayvon Martin was experiencing in those moments of being followed by George Zimmerman. He was innocently walking home, doing nothing wrong….and yet, here was this guy, who for all Trayvon knew, was going to rob him.
But I would argue with President Obama’s assumption that white folks don’t know what it’s like to be profiled….as my recent experience in FW has proven. It’s not criminal profiling, but the effect is still the same.
Racism, by either side, is wrong. Like I said, I felt hopeless. Despair. I had treated folks as I wish to be treated. I was respectful to the elders, addressing them as “Miss” or “Mr.”, as I would my white elders. If I didn’t particularly care for someone, I wasn’t disrespectful…but I also didn’t have anything to do with them. It had nothing to do with the color of their skin, but everything to do with their personality.
You know, someone gave me some advice once that resonates here–I had been the subject of bullying after my divorce. The viciousness is really something someone has to experience in order to understand it. After being a victim, you tend to take on the victim persona and see yourself in that light. You begin to believe what others say about you.
The advice I was given was this: There is no doubt that you were victimized. But you need to break away from the victim mindset.
In other words: don’t let others define who you are. Only you get to do that. Don’t let others’ actions define your actions–rise above it and be the person you wish to be, not the person they are trying to make you out to be.
Again,speaking as a white woman, it seems to me that black folks have adopted the victim mindset and sometimes think people are being racist when a) they’re just ignorant ; or b) they don’t like someone not because they’re black, but because they’re being a jerk.
I hope this makes some sense–like I said, I’m a jumble of emotions this morning. Why is it so hard for us to cut each other some slack and try to see each other’s point of view and try to find some common ground?
Eagle 
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