Ankle-deep in the river.

Vodun was actively suppressed during colonial times.

"Many Priests were either killed or imprisoned, and their shrines destroyed, because of the threat they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim dominion. This forced some of the Dahomeans to form Vodou Orders and to create underground societies, in order to continue the veneration of their ancestors, and the worship of their powerful gods."

The Affaire de Bizoton of 1864. The murder and alleged canibalization of her body by eight voodoo devotees caused a scandal worldwide and was taken as proof of the evil nature of voodoo even though the confessions that condemned the accused were obtained illegally by torture. Vodou has often been associated in popular culture with Satanism, witchcraft, zombies and “voodoo dolls”. Zombie creation has been referenced within rural Haitian culture,but is not a part of Vodou. Such manifestations fall under the auspices of the bokor or sorcerer, rather than the priest of the Loa. The practice of sticking pins in voodoo dolls has history in folk magic. “Voodoo dolls” are often associated with New Orleans Voodoo and Hoodoo as well the magical devices of the poppet and the nkisi or bocio of West and Central Africa.

The general fear of Vodou in the US can be traced back to the End of the Haitian Revolution (1791). There is a legend that Haitians were able to beat the French during the Haitian Revolution because their Vodou deities made them invincible. The US, seeing the tremendous potential Vodou had for rallying its followers and inciting them to action, feared the events at Bois-Caiman could spill over onto American soil. Fearing an uprising in opposition to the US occupation of Haiti, political and religious elites, along with Hollywood and the film industry, sought to trivialize the practice of Vodou. After the Haitian Revolution many Haitians fled as refugees to New Orleans. Free and enslaved Haitians who moved to New Orleans brought their religious beliefs with them and reinvigorated the Voodoo practices that were already present in the city. Eventually, Voodoo in New Orleans became hidden and the magical components were left present in the public sphere. This created what is called hoodoo in the southern part of the United States. Because hoodoo is folk magic, Voodoo and Afro-diasporic religions in the U.S. became synonymous with fraud. This is one origin of the stereotype that Haitian Vodou, New Orleans Voodoo, and hoodoo are all tricks used to make money off of the gullible. [47]

The elites preferred to view it as folklore in an attempt to render it relatively harmless as a curiosity that might continue to inspire music and dance.”[48]

Hollywood often depicts Vodou as evil and having ties to Satanic practices in movies such as The Skeleton Key, “The Devil’s Advocate”, The Blair Witch Project, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Child’s Play, Live and Let Die, and in children’s movies like The Princess and the Frog.

In 2010, following the 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti, negative attention to Vodou also followed. One of the more notable examples would be of televangelist Pat Robertson’s televised discourse on the subject. Robertson stated that the country had cursed itself after the events at Bois-Caiman because he claimed they had engaged in Satanic practices in the ceremony preceding the Haitian Revolution. “They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘Ok it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another”.

THIS IS POWERFUL. How do you hold a grudge for 200+ years about someone trying to free themselves from an oppressor and stay true to their roots? Mental.

Malcolm X: Our History Was Destroyed By Slavery

see how little we get taught about history - I never had any idea why Malcolm X used the ‘X’. 

How come I didn’t know this

Also that crusty old white man called the named ‘gifted’. Jesus.

Whenever people point to Mary Shelley and say “a woman invented sci-fi you know” I just think “well, I mean, technically a woman invented the whole concept of authoring books as far as we can tell but hey who’s keeping track”

Gandhi Spreads Racial Hatred of Africans

Gandhi was passionately prejudiced towards black Africans, as clearly displayed by his own writings over his 21-year stint in Gandhi’s writings during his 20 years in South Africa. He promoted racial hatred, in theory, and campaigned for racial segregation, in practice. In his newspaper, The Indian Opinion, he frequently wrote diatribes against the black community. Of particular concern to him was any contact between Indians and Africans. The following series of quotes, which is but a small selection of his extensive writings on the topic, documents Gandhi’s intense hatred for equal treatment of blacks and Indians, whether in culture or under the law. Indeed, his efforts to improve the status of the Indian community in South Africa were primarily focused on ensuring Africans were treated worse than Indians. His goal, thus was greater social inequality rather than universal equality.

All quotes taken from Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG).

Sept. 26, 1896: “Ours is one continual struggle against a degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the Europeans, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw Kaffir* whose occupation is hunting, and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and, then, pass his life in indolence and nakedness.” — Vol. 1, p. 410

Sept. 24, 1903: “We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do… We believe also that the white race of South Africa should be the predominating race.” — Vol. 3, p. 256

Feb. 15, 1904: “Under my suggestion, the Town Council must withdraw the Kaffirs from the Location. About this mixing of the Kaffirs with the Indians, I must confess I feel most strongly. I think it is very unfair to the Indian population.” — Vol. 3, p. 429

Sept. 5, 1905: “The decision to open the school for all Coloured children is unjust to the Indian community, and is a departure from the assurance given… that the school will be reserved for Indian children only.” — Vol. 4, p. 402

Sept. 2, 1907: “From these views expressed by a White we have a lesson to learn: We must encourage the Whites too. It is a short-sighted policy to employ, through sheer niggardliness, a Kaffir for washing work. If we keep in view the conditions in this country and patronize the Whites, whenever proper and necessary, then every such White will serve as an advertisement for the Indian trader.” — Vol. 6, p. 276

Feb. 29, 1908: “The British rulers take us to be so lowly and ignorant that they assume that, like the Kaffirs who can be pleased with toys and pins, we can also be fobbed off with trinkets.” — Vol. 8, p. 167

Mar. 7, 1908: “We were all prepared for hardships, but not quite for this experience. We could understand not being classed with the whites, but to be placed on the same level with the Natives seemed too much to put up with.” — Vol. 8, p. 198

Mar. 7, 1908: “Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised – the convicts even more so…. The reader can easily imagine the plight of the poor Indian thrown into such company!” — Vol. 8, p. 199

Jan. 16, 1909: “I have, though, resolved in my mind on an agitation to ensure that Indian prisoners are not lodged with Kaffirs…. I observed with regret that some Indians were happy to sleep in the same room as the Kaffirs…. This is a matter of shame to us. We may entertain no aversion to Kaffirs, but we cannot ignore the fact that there is no common ground between them and us in the daily affairs of life.” — Vol. 9, p. 257

Jan. 23, 1909: “I acquainted the Governor with what had happened and told him there was urgent need for separate lavatories for Indians. I also told him that Indian prisoners should never be lodged with Kaffirs. The Governor immediately issued an order for a lavatory for Indians to be sent on from the Central Gaol. Thus, from the next day the difficulty about lavatories disappeared.” — Vol. 9, p. 270

June 5, 1909: “I received from General Smuts two books on religion, and I inferred from this that it was not under his orders that I had been subjected to hardships, but that it was the result of his negligence and that of others, as also a consequence of the fact that we are equated with the Kaffirs.” — Vol. 9, p. 355

Dec. 2, 1910: “Some Indians do have contacts with Kaffir women. I think such contacts are fraught with grave danger. Indians would do well to avoid them altogether.” — Vol. 10, p. 414

The term “Kaffir” is a pejorative South African term for black people which is equivalent to the ‘n’ word. Use of this term has been a criminal offense in South Africa since 1975. Despite always using it to describe black Africans, Gandhi was fully aware of the offensive nature of the word. This is demonstrated by Gandhi’s comment during a religious conflict in India, when he said: “If ‘Kaffir’ is a term of opprobrium, how much more so is Chandal?” [CWMG, Vol. 28, p. 62] “Chandal” is a racist term for low-caste Hindus.

Up to a couple years ago all I heard was the “good” side of Gandhi.. Good to know though

One man’s saint is another man’s shit.

FRIENDLY FUCKIN’ REMINDER: WHAT WE CALL "THE TONY AWARDS" WAS ORIGINALLY "THE ANTOINETTE PERRY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN THEATRE", NAMED AFTER THE CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRWOMAN OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING.

THE AWARDS FOR ACTRESSES WERE ORIGINALLY SILVER COMPACTS, BUT SOMEONE DECIDED THIS WAS TOO EFFEMINATE AND SLAPPED THE COMPACT’S DESIGN IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR MODERN AWARD- THAT SPINNY SILVER MEDALLION WAS ORIGINALLY USED FOR CHECKING LIPSTICK.

ANOTHER REMINDER: I KNEW NONE OF THIS UNTIL TODAY. DON’T TOLERATE FEMALE ERASURE. REMEMBER HER NAME.

ANTOINETTE FUCKING PERRY.

KNOW YOUR HISTORY: Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated. Thanks to Abstrakt Goldsmith for this nugget of history that most of us never learned in school.

Via The Blue Street Journal

On the morning of September 4, 1957, fifteen-year-old Dorothy Counts set out on a harrowing path toward Harding High, where-as the first African American to attend the all-white school – she was greeted by a jeering swarm of boys who spat, threw trash, and yelled epithets at her as she entered the building.

Charlotte Observer photographer Don Sturkey captured the ugly incident on film, and in the days that followed, the searing image appeared not just in the local paper but in newspapers around the world.

People everywhere were transfixed by the girl in the photograph who stood tall, her five-foot-ten-inch frame towering nobly above the mob that trailed her. There, in black and white, was evidence of the brutality of racism, a sinister force that had led children to torment another child while adults stood by. While the images display a lot of evils: prejudice, ignorance, racism, sexism, inequality, it also captures true strength, determination, courage and inspiration.

Here she is, age 70, still absolutely elegant and poised.

she deserves to be re-blogged. 

she’s so goddamned inspirational

this makes me want to cry

#DecolonizeHistory is about interrupting space, addressing colonial roots and undoing processes of white supremacy.

Historical narratives are most often presented without the context of colonization, slavery and imperialism despite the huge role they play on all aspects of life. 

Hoping this project raises awareness about injustices towards Trayvon Martin, subject to a system of racism that never served to protect his life, Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen arrested and detained in Guantanamo Bay when he was only 15 years old, and Assata Shakur & Huey Newton, labelled “terrorists” for actively resisting systemic racism on stolen land. 

This is the beginning, there are so many more narratives to be shared and #DecolonizeHistory aims to illuminate the role that processes of colonialism continue to play out in society. 

more prints coming soon…

Lucy Hicks Anderson was a pioneer in the fight for marriage equality. She spent nearly sixty years living as a woman, doing domestic work, and working as a madam. During the last decade of her life, she made history by fighting for the legal right to be herself with the man she loved.

After marrying her second husband, soldier Reuben Anderson, in Oxnard, California, in 1944, local authorities discovered that she was assigned male at birth. The couple was charged with perjury for marrying despite their both being legally male, resulting in ten years of probation. Standing up to the charges against her, Anderson said, “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, acted just what I am, a woman.” Years later, Anderson and her husband were charged again, this time with fraud after she received federal money reserved for military spouses. Both went to prison and were banned from Oxnard upon their release.

Lucy Hicks Anderson spent the remainder of her life in Los Angeles until her death in 1954, at age 68, leaving behind a legacy of authenticity and determination in the face of unjust laws.

5 Black Trans Women who Paved the Way — Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition

A toast to these great astronomers!

Read about Annie Jump Cannon, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, and Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

Wine and honoring women in science. Cosmos doing science education right.

I keep meaning to add, because no one seems to mention it: both Annie Jump Cannon and Henrietta Swan Leavitt were both Deaf.

I feel like it’s important to acknowledge that part of their histories, because I don’t often see folks talking about disability history wrt science stuffs (without having to look for it), and it’s even more rare to see it wrt women in science.

What, are we taking everybody?

the reason that this line is significant is because jim morita was a japanese-american soldier. while it’s never explicitly stated, here’s what morita’s life would have been like before being captured by HYDRA:

People gotta signal boost the fuck out of this because you know it won’t get the attention it deserves till a white bitch copies it

Hiuaz Kairovna Dospanova (1922-2008), the only female pilot and navigator from Kazakhstan to serve during the Second World War,

From May 1942 she served as navigator, and later became the head of communication of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment—commonly referred to as the Night Witches, a nickname they were given by the Germans that they terrorized in their nightly raids.

Dospanova made more than 300 combat missions and was seriously injured in April 1943 while making a landing in blackout conditions; she survived the crash but fractured both legs. Three months later, she returned to the regiment to continue fighting, going all the way to Berlin for the victory.

For her courage and bravery, she was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals for the defense of the Caucasus, for the liberation of Warsaw, and for victory over Germany. Four years before her death, In December 2004, the President of Kazakhstan decreed that Dospanova was to be awarded the title of National Hero for her heroic actions.

I made these to put up around my school for my school’s GSA. They are quotes from some little known bisexuals about their bisexuality.

Lets stop bisexual erasure and remember, bisexuality is real!

Bisexual erasure is a huge thing, even in the LG community. Let’s raise the awareness!

kaileakes reblogged your photoset and added:

I thought the same thing!!!!! I have a masterpost of Women Warriors (some in military...