John Brown, catalyst
Facial
Hair Friday: John Brown
Vincent Bartholomew, October 4, 2019, Pieces of History (National Archives)
Abolitionist
John Brown, who was previously clean shaven, grew a robust beard during
his preparations for the raid on Harpers Ferry as a way to disguise
himself to keep it secret. The two years before the raid is the only
time Brown had a beard.
After the raid and his arrest, Brown delivered his final address in a
courtroom in Charleston, Virginia (now West Virginia), on November 2,
1859. His words echo through time: “I believe, that to have interfered
as I have done in behalf of His despised poor,
is no wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should
forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle
my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood
of millions in this slave country whose rights are
disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say ‘let it be
done.’”
While antislavery advocates saw him as a pioneer, his willingness to die
for his cause evoked fear in white Southerners. Even though Brown’s use
of violence was seen as radical, abolitionists and antislavery
activists enshrined Brown as a hero, martyr, and
catalyst for the end of slavery.
continue
think
absolute power depends on absolute control over knowledge, which in turn necessitates absolute corruption
Popular posts from this blog
The truth about Jackson’s savagery was just as disturbing as the fake news. After a particularly bloody battle in 1814, Andrew Jackson’s men counted the dead Indians by cutting off their noses. They collected 557 noses.
and... (this comment)
Jackson ran an ad in the Nashville Gazette, in October, 1804, for the capture of a runaway slave, which stated that in addition to the reward, he would pay an extra $10 per 100 lashes (up to 300), to anyone who willing to inflict them upon his miscreant property. He was known to hold a vengeful lifetime grudge against anyone whom he felt had slighted him, regardless of how minor the supposed offense. His betrayal the Choctow tribe, whom he persuaded to become American allies over the British during the war of 1812, culminated in the “Indian Removal Act” (Trail of Tears), of which he took personal responsiblity to see implemented, resulted in the death of thousands of men, women and children. It’s no surprise that the current occupant of the White…
'There
were Africans in Britain before the English came here': how Staying Power shook British history
“The very serious function of
racism is distraction,” Toni Morrison argued in a lecture in Portland, Oregon, in 1975:
It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and
over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language
and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head
isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working
on the fact that it is. Somebody says you have no art, so you dredge
that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None
of this is necessary. There will always be one more thing.
For the longest time the central distraction for black Britons
was insisting on our existence. That we were black was unarguable. That
we were in Britain was acknowledged if only to be contested. But the
notion that we could be black and British, both from
this place and in our bodies, confoun…
Comments