Before she died I said to her “Sylvia (Rivera), it just drives me crazy when people say to me ‘now was Stonewall a gay rebellion or was it a transgender rebellion’”. And I told her “I just tell them yes”. “Sylvia, what do you say? What would you say if somebody says ‘did you fight back that night because you were gay, because you were a self-identified drag queen, because of police brutality, because you were a sex-worker, you had to turn tricks in order to survive, because you were homeless, because you knew what it meant to go to jail, because you didn’t have a draft card when the demanded to you that night?” And I’ll never forget her answer it was so succinctly eloquent, she said: “we were fighting for our lives”. And the fact is that oppressions overlap in people’s life, as they do in this room. There are people in this room who are carrying heavier burdens of discrimination and oppression. There are people who had more dreams that have been deferred. There are people who have less opportunities, more doors slammed in their face. And that was true at the Stonewall too … But the fact is that when they all came together, shoulder to shoulder, to fight back against a common oppressor that night, they made history. Not in spite of their differences, but because they came to understand the need to fight together against a common enemy. And that was the most important lesson of the Stonewall rebellion for so many of us, that was the power of what we could do when we all came together.
Okay kids today we’re gonna talk about Edmonia Lewis
Edmonia was a sculptor in the 19th century, and was half African-American and half Native American. She was one of the first people of colour from America to earn international fame and success for her artwork. She started sculpting during the civil war and trained under some of the most influential abolitionist sculptors of the time.
Not only was she a successful WOC artist, but she sculpted other people of colour in the neoclassical style:
Forever Free (1867)
Old Arrow-Maker and his Daughter (1866)
The Marriage of Hiawatha (1866)
Do you know how rare it was in the 19th century to have a piece of artwork show black people or Native Americans without them being ‘savages’ or half naked? Let me tell you, it’s pretty damn rare.
She would purposely leave her women more clothed than her male figures to desexualise them, and I probably don’t need to tell you why that was important at this time (if you really want to see how white artists saw black women, look up American Slave and The Virginian Slave).
Unfortunately she was made to make her female figures look more European as she got backlash accusing her of inserting herself into figures BUT they’re still hugely impressive given that most famous sculptors at this time had teams of people working on their work and adding all the details by hand, whereas Edmonia did absolutely everything herself.
Basically I think about Edmonia Lewis a lot and I think more people should know about her.
I posted this YESTERDAY holy shit I’m so happy that so many people are getting to hear about her this is magical
File this under: Things i need for my next Toni Morrison article
I also really love how softly rounded and chubby the lines are.
We are the last generation who can hear from these survivors directly. Do not take that lightly. Do not waste that opportunity. Do not forget your freedom isn’t infinitely guarenteed. And do not, do not, let it happen again.
Really truly, watch the video, reblog it. Teaching about the holocaust is so necessary for our generation before it slips under the rug and people forget about it.
i appreciate the fact that she’s probably one of the only black youtubers in korea that i’ve seen that have discussed this issue in depth. especially since the majority of her videos are humorous. i linked the whole video below!
this is exactly why i can’t get down w k-pop or anything else related to it. the antiblackness is so loved there and it’s allowed to happen w.o question. it’s so disgusting and demeaning. meanwhile diehard, ignorant non-Black k-pop fans will call you racist if you call this out and expect them to be reprimanded bc “they’re from Korea and they’re not as socially aware or as knowledgeable!!!” which is actually hella racist in itself and infantilizing as hell.
When Brock Turner, a former student at Stanford University in California, was sentenced in June 2016 to only six months for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, many people were understandably outraged. And they were even more angry when Turner was released on September 2nd after serving only half of his already meagre sentence.
In response to this miscarriage of justice, Yana Mazurkevich, a 20-year-old student at Ithaca College in New York, decided to create the photo series you can see below. The project, titled “It Happened”, was made for a sexual assault awareness media platform called Current Solutions, and as you can see, the message is pretty powerful. As Mazurkevich wrote on her Facebook page, “In response to Brock Turner’s early release, this photo series aims to continue the conversation on sexual assault, As well as to raise a huge finger to Turner and his 3-month jail time.” (Source)
I am now selling this comic as a printed, hand-stitched zine on etsy- all proceeds will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Find it in my shop here.
Over his lifetime, acclaimed Nigerian photographer, J.D. Okhai Ojeikere, photographed thousands of hairstyles worn by Nigerian and African women. Today, these photographs have been seen around the world and continue to inspire stylists, hairdressers and photographers alike.
To pay homage to Ojeikere’s work, photographer Medina Dugger created the Chroma photo series, which she describes as “an ongoing series that celebrates women’s hairstyles in Lagos, Nigeria through a fanciful, contemporary lens.”
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