Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
elderly man in Milan by the Sartorilist
Eldership is a complex process of simplicity going through a series of deaths towards the ascension of souls. I stress the plurality of souls because an Elder will deepen his/her life force in such a way that it benefits others making their journeys from immaturity into the depths of Life’s mystery, and passages into the Unknown.
The divinity of a moment of intimacy can expand life or plunge it deeply into the mysteries of beginnings.” ~ Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
SACRED WHORE SERIES: an encounter
SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY
a story
L'il Chica came to my attention on the balcony of a resort in a wealthy part of the country. The hotel I was staying in was elegant. The staff, the food, the décor, everything was simple in its elegance, and the maid that was making the bed in my room as I stood on the balcony taking in the sky and the breezes was no less than a mystical creature. I didn't hear her knock so she had entered the room thinking the room was not occupied. Stillness was within my concentration, and when one of the soft sounds she made broke my reverie I startled her when I parted the white curtains dancing in the open patio door.
We exchanged startled looks. The deep set of her eyes ate my initial discomfort. There was moistness, a gentle dare in her eyes, or a mirror and I was looking at a growing attraction to something intangible within her I wish was a part of me. She broke the silence apologizing for intruding.
“I didn’t know. I am sorry sir.”
I didn’t care. I wasn’t upset. I assured her, and we began to talk while she made the bed, and finished her chores. She was wearing the cutest short maid skirt I’d ever seen. Long white leggings snaked up a bit past the mid part of her reddish brown thighs leaving a questioning space between the hem of her very short skirt. With a mere shove the piece of cloth between ample breasts and the skin of the upper part of her stomach was revealed. She saw my reaction, and how quickly my eyes averted to something not crawling on the floor.
A half of an hour into soft words she was very close to me her breath suggesting a wish.
a story
L'il Chica came to my attention on the balcony of a resort in a wealthy part of the country. The hotel I was staying in was elegant. The staff, the food, the décor, everything was simple in its elegance, and the maid that was making the bed in my room as I stood on the balcony taking in the sky and the breezes was no less than a mystical creature. I didn't hear her knock so she had entered the room thinking the room was not occupied. Stillness was within my concentration, and when one of the soft sounds she made broke my reverie I startled her when I parted the white curtains dancing in the open patio door.
We exchanged startled looks. The deep set of her eyes ate my initial discomfort. There was moistness, a gentle dare in her eyes, or a mirror and I was looking at a growing attraction to something intangible within her I wish was a part of me. She broke the silence apologizing for intruding.
“I didn’t know. I am sorry sir.”
I didn’t care. I wasn’t upset. I assured her, and we began to talk while she made the bed, and finished her chores. She was wearing the cutest short maid skirt I’d ever seen. Long white leggings snaked up a bit past the mid part of her reddish brown thighs leaving a questioning space between the hem of her very short skirt. With a mere shove the piece of cloth between ample breasts and the skin of the upper part of her stomach was revealed. She saw my reaction, and how quickly my eyes averted to something not crawling on the floor.
A half of an hour into soft words she was very close to me her breath suggesting a wish.
- Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Monday, June 27, 2011
sacred whore:questions
"Shyla Stylez's form of divinity challenges the sensibilities of a pious crowd. Is a woman who sells her physical beauty for fantasy different from one who sells herself for sex ranked on the same tier as a whore? Is she a part of sanctity, but not engaged in sacred actions or, worthy of adoration, respect, or at the least fondness? Many would say no, but are there more forms of divinity unexplored? Men have fixated us all with a definition of divinity as if it is a masculine paradigm. So is the sacred feminine a foreign concept, or is the sacred whore an abomination?" - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
Her Mama hips promised a future together, but how do you get out of the shit hole of life in the 'hood?
They talked about it 'til they went nuts, but this night they agreed they would take the money made from hustlin' and up and leave. A Greyhound bus would take them to major cities, but the bus passed small towns, and they had enough to wander for a time and see America.
"We have to just trust." Tony assured Tyra before she slipped off her dress and curled up next to him under the cool sheets. - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
Sunday, June 26, 2011
SACRED WHORE SERIES: Bondage
What is being said from deep in our psyche dreaming about, or worse, binding women with ropes, and chains? What are women saying aloud about themselves and the womb we are supposed to cherish when they submit themselves to sexual torture, and what are we saying to our children, as men, having and giving into hellish fantasy centered around slavery, sex, bondage, torture, and orgasms? What is not being said aloud? How deep is this hatred of self, the feminine and the trust we abandoned, in the sacredness of love and life? - Gregory E. Woods
Saturday, June 25, 2011
SACRED WHORE SERIES: culture & brutality
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Piqued Buffalo Wife, a Blackfoot story
ONCE a young man went out and came to a buffalo-cow fast in the mire. He
took advantage of her situation. After a time she gave birth to a boy. When
he could run about, this boy would go into the Indian camps and join in the
games of the children, but would always mysteriously disappear in the
evening. One day this boy told his mother that he intended to search among
the camps for his father. Not long after this he was playing with the
children in the camps as usual, and went into the lodge of a head man in
company with a boy of the family. He told this head man that his father
lived somewhere in the camp, and that he was anxious to find him. The head
man took pity on the boy, and sent out a messenger to call into his lodge
all the old men in the camp.
When these were all assembled and standing around the lodge, the head man
requested the boy to pick out his father. The boy looked them over, and then
told the head man that his father was not among them. Then the head man sent
out a messenger to call in all the men next in age; but, when these were
assembled, the boy said that his father was not among them. Again the head
man sent out the messenger to call in all the men of the next rank in age.
When they were assembled, the boy looked them over as before, and announced
that his father was not among them. So once again the head man sent out his
messenger to call in all the young unmarried men of the camp. As they were
coming into the head man's lodge, the boy ran to one of them, and, embracing
his, said, "Here is my father." After a time the boy told his father that he
wished to take him to see his mother. The boy said, "When we come near her,
she will run at you and hook four times, but you are to stand perfectly
still." The next day the boy and his father started out on their journey. As
they were going along they saw a buffalo-cow, which immediately ran at them
as the boy had predicted. The man stood perfectly still, and at the fourth
time, as the cow was running forward to hook at him, she became a woman.
Then she went home with her husband and child. One day shortly after their
return, she warned her husband that whatever he might do he must never
strike at her with fire. They lived together happily for many years. She was
a remarkably good woman. One evening when the husband had invited some
guests, and the woman expressed a dislike to prepare food for them, he
became very angry, and, catching up a stick from the fire, struck at her. As
he did so, the woman and her child vanished, and the people saw a buffalo
cow and calf running from the camp.
Now the husband was very sorry and mourned for his wife and child. After a
time he went out to search for them. In order that he might approach the
buffalo without being discovered, he rubbed himself with filth from a
buffalo-wallow. In the course of time he came to a place where some buffalo
were dancing. He could hear them from a distance. As he was approaching, he
met his son, who was now, as before, a buffalo-calf. The father explained to
the boy that he was mourning for him and his mother and that he had come to
take them home. The calf-boy explained that this would be very difficult,
for his father would be required to pass through an ordeal. The calf-boy
explained to him that, when he arrived among the buffalo and inquired for
his wife and son, the chief of the buffalo would order that he select his
child from among all the buffalo-calves in the herd. Now the calf-boy wished
to assist his father, and told him that he would know his child by a sign,
because, when the calves appeared before him, his own child would hold up
its tail. Then the man proceeded until he came to the place where the
buffalo were dancing. Immediately he was taken before the chief of the
buffalo-herd. The chief required that he first prove his relationship to the
child by picking him out from among all the other calves of the herd. The
man agreed to this and the calves were brought up. He readily picked out his
own child by the sign.
The chief of the buffalo, however, was not satisfied with this proof, and
said that the father could not have the child until he identified him four
times. While the preparations were being made for another test, the calf-boy
came to his father and explained that he would be known this time by closing
one eye. When the time arrived, the calves were brought as before, and the
chief of the buffalo directed the father to identify his child, which he did
by the sign. Before the next trial the calf-boy explained to his father that
the sign would be one ear hanging down. Accordingly, when the calves were
brought up for the father to choose, he again identified his child. Now,
before the last trial, the boy came again to his father and notified him
that the sign by which he was to be known was dancing and holding up one
leg. Now the calf-boy had a chum among the buffalo-calves, and when the
calves were called up before the chief so that the father might select his
child, the chum saw the calf-boy beginning to dance holding up one leg, and
he thought to himself, "He is doing some fancy dancing." So he, also, danced
in the same way. Now the father observed that there were two calves giving
the sign, and realized that he must make a guess. He did so, but the guess
was wrong. Immediately the herd rushed upon the man and trampled him into
the dust. Then they all ran away except the calf-boy, his mother, and an old
bull.
These three mourned together for the fate of the unfortunate man. After a
time the old bull requested that they examine the ground to see if they
could find a piece of bone. After long and careful search they succeeded in
finding one small piece that had not been trampled by the buffalo. The bull
took this piece, made a sweat-house, and finally restored the man to life.
When the man was restored, the bull explained to him that he and his family
would receive some power, some head-dresses, some songs, and some crooked
sticks, such as he had seen the buffalo carry in the dance at the time when
he attempted to pick out his son.
The calf-boy and his mother then became human beings, and returned with the
man. It was this man who started the Bull and the Horn Societies, and it was
his wife who started the Matoki.
(BLACKFOOT: Wissler and Duvall, Anthropological Papers of the American
Museum of Natural History, ii, 117, No. 28)
archives of BLUE PANTHER
took advantage of her situation. After a time she gave birth to a boy. When
he could run about, this boy would go into the Indian camps and join in the
games of the children, but would always mysteriously disappear in the
evening. One day this boy told his mother that he intended to search among
the camps for his father. Not long after this he was playing with the
children in the camps as usual, and went into the lodge of a head man in
company with a boy of the family. He told this head man that his father
lived somewhere in the camp, and that he was anxious to find him. The head
man took pity on the boy, and sent out a messenger to call into his lodge
all the old men in the camp.
When these were all assembled and standing around the lodge, the head man
requested the boy to pick out his father. The boy looked them over, and then
told the head man that his father was not among them. Then the head man sent
out a messenger to call in all the men next in age; but, when these were
assembled, the boy said that his father was not among them. Again the head
man sent out the messenger to call in all the men of the next rank in age.
When they were assembled, the boy looked them over as before, and announced
that his father was not among them. So once again the head man sent out his
messenger to call in all the young unmarried men of the camp. As they were
coming into the head man's lodge, the boy ran to one of them, and, embracing
his, said, "Here is my father." After a time the boy told his father that he
wished to take him to see his mother. The boy said, "When we come near her,
she will run at you and hook four times, but you are to stand perfectly
still." The next day the boy and his father started out on their journey. As
they were going along they saw a buffalo-cow, which immediately ran at them
as the boy had predicted. The man stood perfectly still, and at the fourth
time, as the cow was running forward to hook at him, she became a woman.
Then she went home with her husband and child. One day shortly after their
return, she warned her husband that whatever he might do he must never
strike at her with fire. They lived together happily for many years. She was
a remarkably good woman. One evening when the husband had invited some
guests, and the woman expressed a dislike to prepare food for them, he
became very angry, and, catching up a stick from the fire, struck at her. As
he did so, the woman and her child vanished, and the people saw a buffalo
cow and calf running from the camp.
Now the husband was very sorry and mourned for his wife and child. After a
time he went out to search for them. In order that he might approach the
buffalo without being discovered, he rubbed himself with filth from a
buffalo-wallow. In the course of time he came to a place where some buffalo
were dancing. He could hear them from a distance. As he was approaching, he
met his son, who was now, as before, a buffalo-calf. The father explained to
the boy that he was mourning for him and his mother and that he had come to
take them home. The calf-boy explained that this would be very difficult,
for his father would be required to pass through an ordeal. The calf-boy
explained to him that, when he arrived among the buffalo and inquired for
his wife and son, the chief of the buffalo would order that he select his
child from among all the buffalo-calves in the herd. Now the calf-boy wished
to assist his father, and told him that he would know his child by a sign,
because, when the calves appeared before him, his own child would hold up
its tail. Then the man proceeded until he came to the place where the
buffalo were dancing. Immediately he was taken before the chief of the
buffalo-herd. The chief required that he first prove his relationship to the
child by picking him out from among all the other calves of the herd. The
man agreed to this and the calves were brought up. He readily picked out his
own child by the sign.
The chief of the buffalo, however, was not satisfied with this proof, and
said that the father could not have the child until he identified him four
times. While the preparations were being made for another test, the calf-boy
came to his father and explained that he would be known this time by closing
one eye. When the time arrived, the calves were brought as before, and the
chief of the buffalo directed the father to identify his child, which he did
by the sign. Before the next trial the calf-boy explained to his father that
the sign would be one ear hanging down. Accordingly, when the calves were
brought up for the father to choose, he again identified his child. Now,
before the last trial, the boy came again to his father and notified him
that the sign by which he was to be known was dancing and holding up one
leg. Now the calf-boy had a chum among the buffalo-calves, and when the
calves were called up before the chief so that the father might select his
child, the chum saw the calf-boy beginning to dance holding up one leg, and
he thought to himself, "He is doing some fancy dancing." So he, also, danced
in the same way. Now the father observed that there were two calves giving
the sign, and realized that he must make a guess. He did so, but the guess
was wrong. Immediately the herd rushed upon the man and trampled him into
the dust. Then they all ran away except the calf-boy, his mother, and an old
bull.
These three mourned together for the fate of the unfortunate man. After a
time the old bull requested that they examine the ground to see if they
could find a piece of bone. After long and careful search they succeeded in
finding one small piece that had not been trampled by the buffalo. The bull
took this piece, made a sweat-house, and finally restored the man to life.
When the man was restored, the bull explained to him that he and his family
would receive some power, some head-dresses, some songs, and some crooked
sticks, such as he had seen the buffalo carry in the dance at the time when
he attempted to pick out his son.
The calf-boy and his mother then became human beings, and returned with the
man. It was this man who started the Bull and the Horn Societies, and it was
his wife who started the Matoki.
(BLACKFOOT: Wissler and Duvall, Anthropological Papers of the American
Museum of Natural History, ii, 117, No. 28)
archives of BLUE PANTHER
Friday, June 24, 2011
SACRED WHORE SERIES: pimp mentality poured on Layla
GHETTO GAGGING
This subject has been the most horrifying thing I have written about. It seeped into my dreams last night. The evil and terror of it pursued me down and around the corridors of my inner world wrestling rest from me, and terrorizing the inhabitants of my Dream World with wonders of degradation. No matter how I tried I could not change the foulness of the ghetto gagging culture swirling, and enlivened by girls and women itching to be part of something defined by their self-contempt.
Is it the women’s fault? Is it a natural path to follow if you are low in esteem, or suffer from the memories of whatever hell your life has handed you? What pulls a woman from a life of prostitution, or a porn star into the pit of ghetto gagging? Do white men reserve something else for white women, or is ghetto gagging racially specific? I don’t know the answers, or all the questions but I know the path towards healing begins from wherever the wounded stand.
- Gregory E. Woods
(Alowan Chanteh Inyan Wichasha)
Keeper of Stories
Thursday, June 23, 2011
SACRED WHORE SERIES: contempt, white men, & the black ghetto
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
sacred whore series: The contempt
photo: Cherokee
“…Then we bent her up in all types of positions, because us white boys we like those crazy positions: sex is never about the beyatch, it's about our crotch..” – a white man
BEAR WOMAN, a Blackfoot story
Once there was a young woman with many suitors; but she refused to marry.
She had seven brothers and one little sister. Their mother had been dead
many years and they had no relatives, but lived alone with their father.
Every day the six brothers went out hunting with their father. It seems that
the young woman had a bear for her lover and, as she did not want any one to
know this, she would meet him when she went out after wood. She always went
after wood as soon as her father and brothers went out to hunt, leaving her
little sister alone in the lodge. As soon as she was out of sight in the
brush, she would run to the place where the bear lived. As the little sister
grew older, she began to be curious as to why her older sister spent so much
time getting wood. So one day she followed her. She saw the young woman meet
the bear and saw that they were lovers. When she found this out, she ran
home as quickly as she could, and when her father returned she told him what
she had seen. When he heard the story he said, "So, my elder daughter has a
bear for a husband. Now I know why she does not want to marry." Then he went
about the camp, telling all his people that they had a bear for a
brother-in-law, and that he wished all the men to go out with him to kill
this bear. So they went, found the bear, and killed him.
When the young woman found out what had been done, and that her little
sister had told on her, she was very angry. She scolded her little sister
vigorously, then ordered her to go out to the dead bear, and bring some
flesh from his paws. The little sister began to cry, and said she was afraid
to go out of the lodge, because a dog with young pups had tried to bite her.
"Oh, do not be afraid!" said the young woman. "I will paint your face like
that of a bear, with black marks across the eyes and at the corners of the
mouth; then no one will touch you." So she went for the meat. Now the older
sister was a powerful medicine-woman. She could tan hides in a new way. She
could take up a hide, strike it four times with her skin-scraper and it
would be tanned.
The little sister had a younger brother that she carried on her back. As
their mother was dead, she took care of him. One day the little sister said
to the older sister, "Now you be a bear and we will go out into the brush to
play." The older sister agreed to this, but said, "Little sister, you must
not touch me over my kidneys." So the big sister acted as a bear, and they
played in the brush. While they were playing, the little sister forgot what
she had been told, and touched her older sister in the wrong place. At once
she turned into a real bear, ran into the camp, and killed many of the
people. After she had killed a large number, she turned back into her former
self. Now, when the little sister saw the older run away as a real bear, she
became frightened, took up her little brother, and ran into their lodge.
Here they waited, badly frightened, but were very glad to see their older
sister return after a time as her true self.
Now the older brothers were out hunting, as usual. As the little sister was
going down for water with her little brother on her back, she met her six
brothers returning. The brothers noted how quiet and deserted the camp
seemed to be. So they said to their little sister, "Where are all our
people?" Then the little sister explained how she and her sister were
playing, when the elder turned into a bear, ran through the camp, and killed
many people. She told her brothers that they were in great danger, as their
sister would surely kill them when they came home. So the six brothers
decided to go into the brush. One of them had killed a jackrabbit. He said
to the little sister, "You take this rabbit home with you. When it is dark,
we will scatter prickly-pears all around the lodge, except in one place.
When you come out, you must look for that place, and pass through."
When the little sister came back to the lodge, the elder sister said, "Where
have you been all this time?" "Oh, my little brother mussed himself and I
had to clean him," replied the little sister. "Where did you get that
rabbit?" she asked. "I killed it with a sharp stick," said the little
sister. "That is a lie. Let me see you do it," said the older sister. Then
the little sister took up a stick lying near her, threw it at the rabbit,
and it stuck in the wound in his body. "Well, all right," said the elder
sister. Then the little sister dressed the rabbit and cooked it. She offered
some of it to her older sister, but it was refused: so the little sister and
her brother ate all of it. When the elder sister saw that the rabbit had all
been eaten, she became very angry, and said, "Now I have a mind to kill
you." So the little sister arose quickly, took her little brother on her
back, and said, "I am going out to look for wood." As she went out, she
followed the narrow trail through the prickly pears and met her six brothers
in the brush. Then they decided to leave the country, and started off as
fast as they could go.
The older sister, being a powerful medicine-woman, knew at once what they
were doing. She became very angry and turned herself into a bear to pursue
them. Soon she was about to overtake them, when one of the boys tried his
power. He took a little water in the hollow of his hand and sprinkled it
around. At once it became a great lake between them and the bear. Then the
children hurried on while the bear went around.
She had seven brothers and one little sister. Their mother had been dead
many years and they had no relatives, but lived alone with their father.
Every day the six brothers went out hunting with their father. It seems that
the young woman had a bear for her lover and, as she did not want any one to
know this, she would meet him when she went out after wood. She always went
after wood as soon as her father and brothers went out to hunt, leaving her
little sister alone in the lodge. As soon as she was out of sight in the
brush, she would run to the place where the bear lived. As the little sister
grew older, she began to be curious as to why her older sister spent so much
time getting wood. So one day she followed her. She saw the young woman meet
the bear and saw that they were lovers. When she found this out, she ran
home as quickly as she could, and when her father returned she told him what
she had seen. When he heard the story he said, "So, my elder daughter has a
bear for a husband. Now I know why she does not want to marry." Then he went
about the camp, telling all his people that they had a bear for a
brother-in-law, and that he wished all the men to go out with him to kill
this bear. So they went, found the bear, and killed him.
When the young woman found out what had been done, and that her little
sister had told on her, she was very angry. She scolded her little sister
vigorously, then ordered her to go out to the dead bear, and bring some
flesh from his paws. The little sister began to cry, and said she was afraid
to go out of the lodge, because a dog with young pups had tried to bite her.
"Oh, do not be afraid!" said the young woman. "I will paint your face like
that of a bear, with black marks across the eyes and at the corners of the
mouth; then no one will touch you." So she went for the meat. Now the older
sister was a powerful medicine-woman. She could tan hides in a new way. She
could take up a hide, strike it four times with her skin-scraper and it
would be tanned.
The little sister had a younger brother that she carried on her back. As
their mother was dead, she took care of him. One day the little sister said
to the older sister, "Now you be a bear and we will go out into the brush to
play." The older sister agreed to this, but said, "Little sister, you must
not touch me over my kidneys." So the big sister acted as a bear, and they
played in the brush. While they were playing, the little sister forgot what
she had been told, and touched her older sister in the wrong place. At once
she turned into a real bear, ran into the camp, and killed many of the
people. After she had killed a large number, she turned back into her former
self. Now, when the little sister saw the older run away as a real bear, she
became frightened, took up her little brother, and ran into their lodge.
Here they waited, badly frightened, but were very glad to see their older
sister return after a time as her true self.
Now the older brothers were out hunting, as usual. As the little sister was
going down for water with her little brother on her back, she met her six
brothers returning. The brothers noted how quiet and deserted the camp
seemed to be. So they said to their little sister, "Where are all our
people?" Then the little sister explained how she and her sister were
playing, when the elder turned into a bear, ran through the camp, and killed
many people. She told her brothers that they were in great danger, as their
sister would surely kill them when they came home. So the six brothers
decided to go into the brush. One of them had killed a jackrabbit. He said
to the little sister, "You take this rabbit home with you. When it is dark,
we will scatter prickly-pears all around the lodge, except in one place.
When you come out, you must look for that place, and pass through."
When the little sister came back to the lodge, the elder sister said, "Where
have you been all this time?" "Oh, my little brother mussed himself and I
had to clean him," replied the little sister. "Where did you get that
rabbit?" she asked. "I killed it with a sharp stick," said the little
sister. "That is a lie. Let me see you do it," said the older sister. Then
the little sister took up a stick lying near her, threw it at the rabbit,
and it stuck in the wound in his body. "Well, all right," said the elder
sister. Then the little sister dressed the rabbit and cooked it. She offered
some of it to her older sister, but it was refused: so the little sister and
her brother ate all of it. When the elder sister saw that the rabbit had all
been eaten, she became very angry, and said, "Now I have a mind to kill
you." So the little sister arose quickly, took her little brother on her
back, and said, "I am going out to look for wood." As she went out, she
followed the narrow trail through the prickly pears and met her six brothers
in the brush. Then they decided to leave the country, and started off as
fast as they could go.
The older sister, being a powerful medicine-woman, knew at once what they
were doing. She became very angry and turned herself into a bear to pursue
them. Soon she was about to overtake them, when one of the boys tried his
power. He took a little water in the hollow of his hand and sprinkled it
around. At once it became a great lake between them and the bear. Then the
children hurried on while the bear went around.
After a while the bear caught up with them again, when another brother threw a porcupine-tail (a
hairbrush) on the ground. This became a great thicket; but the bear forced
its way through, and again overtook the children. This time they all climbed
a high tree. The bear came to the foot of the tree, and, looking up at them,
said, "Now I shall kill you all." So she took a stick from the ground threw
it into the tree and knocked down four of the brothers. While she was doing
this, a little bird flew around the tree, calling out to the children,
"Shoot her in the head! Shoot her in the head!" Then one of the boys shot an
arrow into the head of the bear, and at once she fell dead. Then they came
down from the tree.
Now the four brothers were dead. The little brother took an arrow, shot it
straight up into the air, and when it fell one of the dead brothers came to
life. This he repeated until all were alive again. Then they held a council,
and said to each other, "Where shall we go? Our people have all been killed,
and we are a long way from home. We have no relatives living in the world."
Finally they decided that they preferred to live in the sky. Then the little
brother said, "Shut your eyes." As they did so, they all went up.
hairbrush) on the ground. This became a great thicket; but the bear forced
its way through, and again overtook the children. This time they all climbed
a high tree. The bear came to the foot of the tree, and, looking up at them,
said, "Now I shall kill you all." So she took a stick from the ground threw
it into the tree and knocked down four of the brothers. While she was doing
this, a little bird flew around the tree, calling out to the children,
"Shoot her in the head! Shoot her in the head!" Then one of the boys shot an
arrow into the head of the bear, and at once she fell dead. Then they came
down from the tree.
Now the four brothers were dead. The little brother took an arrow, shot it
straight up into the air, and when it fell one of the dead brothers came to
life. This he repeated until all were alive again. Then they held a council,
and said to each other, "Where shall we go? Our people have all been killed,
and we are a long way from home. We have no relatives living in the world."
Finally they decided that they preferred to live in the sky. Then the little
brother said, "Shut your eyes." As they did so, they all went up.
Now you can see them every night. The little brother is the North Star. The six
brothers and the little sister are seen in the Great Dipper.
brothers and the little sister are seen in the Great Dipper.
The little sister and eldest brother are in a line with the North Star, the little
sister being nearest it because she used to carry her little brother on her
back.
sister being nearest it because she used to carry her little brother on her
back.
the eldest. This is how the seven stars [Ursa Major] came to be.
from archives of BLUE PANTHER
sacred whore series: WORDS
pregnant Asian woman covers her breasts & lower region
ELDERS SPEAK:“The scope of one's vision of themselves grows or diminishes by what we say to ourselves. It is most evident in our youth, our potential. In our later years we become what we speak... if there is depth to our hope it is in our children, and further our mothers carrying babies need to change the things they tell themselves, and hence their babies. Our elders need to teach parents that the scope of one's vision of themselves grows or diminishes by what we say to ourselves. It is most evident in our youth, our potential.
In our later years we become what we speak.
Elders need to remember and remind the children who are mothers about the power of speech. Talk to the womb is milk to the baby. That is an old art begging to return to the People…” – Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
sacred whore series: gender & birth
art by Vinnie Bagwell - baby in the hand
GODDESS, GOD & TRUTH
“I wonder if the intellectual conflict around gender is more directly related to the abuse of the female gender by the male, and I also wonder if the naming of genders to Creation is directly linked to how we see ourselves in the world!” – Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
an AMERICAN IDEAL: white women
1960's beauty of actress Yvette Mimieux
"The ‘high’ standards of beauty white America and Europe hold over the world have darkened, and crippled self-esteem in people of color the world over. Thinking of the legacy of their words and images in a parallel dialogue with the inconsistent admiration colored people hold for British royalty, and aristocracy is the story of dysfunction, and broken spirits in people of color the world over. In Asian countries, and African nations, the Caribbean, and throughout North America many people are distorting their appearance because their inner speak to become as white as possible is as strong as Death! To a people who have shunned, and distained people of color until recent times I wonder what white people feel in their souls with their dark legacy constantly in their face? It is a paradox. It is a challenge to high intelligence, and a puzzle for practical spirituality, and a taboo subject among the majority of Christian churches..." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Krista Allen in exotic bikini
Monday, June 20, 2011
a sacred story: LATINA
A Latina pregnant, wearing a summer dress, and looking at her belly speaks of promise and mystery. Women from Central America are flooding Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. They are creating a hustle and a magnetizing force of maternal energies that is tied to ancient rituals and joys modern American women have been learning to minimize, ignore or neglect. Many of these women are close to the indigenous roots of their lands. The men and the women, unlike Black and White Americans, will sit upon the Earth, our Mother to rest, and fellowship with their families. It is heart-warming feeling the connections not lost to a mass of people coming to this land in the way they used to for centuries before the Anglos arrived on these shores. The Anacostia nation was alive when the Europeans arrived, and the Piscataway nation had built relationship with the Iroquois far north in and near present day Canada. Those relationships echo into the present. If one’s perceptions are clear it is easy to see Indians are coming from Central American countries making it harder to place ownership on the name America.
I have been to ceremonies in this area attended by Indians from Central America, and Mexico. Indians visited one memorable Powwow I attended in this area from Mexico who had heard through the Red Vine about the gathering and made the journey to gift us with dances. The one I remember the most was an Eagle dance led by a woman whose beauty I cannot describe, forget, or measure against the mysterious air surrounding her, and the way she interpreted Eagle. She danced with such skill. She released Eagle out of her body into the people gathered, and transported us all into the dance, and Eagle soared within our spirits! These gatherings have occurred, as I said, for centuries. Today some things have been changed by the avarice laced relationship established with the white Euro-Americans who fostered ill will, and profit from it.
Sometime in the future Black Americans and Hispanic Americans are going to grow up and hear the wombs of the mothers. The growth of the Hispanic population can produce unity between people with the same blood ties. Together Blacks, and Browns might realize what 25% of the population means in the United States of America, and will galvanize their forces, and their families, their ideas, and talents and create profound changes in this country in ways simply, and vastly different from the old guard who is consciously defending their dark historical relationships with the people's of the world they've soiled.
We need a new definition of love, and community that is not connected to the acquisition of things, the taking of things, and the protection of things. It will produce a new United States. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
SACRED WHORE SERIES: reconcilation between Black & White women's histories
by Ngaronoa Mereana Taki
“There is a connection and a link between this history and so much of the angst in White and Black American women who are finding their voices. Politics, childcare, parenting, public education, and entertainment are connected to this story. I am not a historian. My baby brother is. I am a Keeper of Stories, and have the responsibility, among others, to connect the dots, the stories, hopefully to add to healing processes. There are many on both sides of this drama ignorant of the relationships between their stories. That is sad also. What else is sad is the sense among many men that they don’t belong in these healing circles.” – Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories
wine connoisseur !!!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
sacred whore series: BLACK MOTHERHOOD
Black women, mothering, and protest in 19th century American society
by Marci Bounds Littlefield
Part 1
Antebellum Society and the Construction of Black Motherhood
By definition, motherhood suggests a unique relationship between the mother and child, one which is seen as the basic requirement for child development. Mothers nurse their children, provide love, affection, and guidance, and shape primary development. In 19th century American society, motherhood was seen as a necessary act of procreation that ensured the lineage of a particular family. Motherhood for white women was viewed as the moral role for women. The era between 1820 and 1860, the "cult of true womanhood," was the era in which womanhood was represented as pious, pure, submissive, and domestic (Welter). Women were encouraged to embrace these traits and take their rightful place in the home.
This new way of thinking about women's roles represented a change in American society from a family-based social system to a market-based social system that ultimately undermined the rights and position of white women in society (Farrell). Before industrialization, women were a vital part of the family economy and their labor inside and outside of the home was respected. After industrialization, women's labor in the household was defined as inferior to wage labor and women's position in society was thus diminished (Farrel). The cult of domesticity represented societal attitudes concerning women's roles and their proper place in society. Motherhood and caring for the home was seen as the rightful place of a true woman. Motherhood for white women was viewed in this context, with black women giving birth to property and white women producing heirs and leaders.
The representation of true womanhood as defined by the cult of domesticity excluded black women and placed them in a peculiar position as slaves, not "true" women. In an antebellum novel, this position was thus described: "The idea of modesty and virtue in a Louisiana colored girl might well be ridiculed; as a general thing she has neither" (Carby 26). This idea that black women were not "true" women further established the societal inferiority of black women, placing them in a unique relationship with the slave economy. Womanhood and the experience of motherhood for black women were completely connected to the social system and could not be perceived in the same way as motherhood for white women. In fact, Hazel Carby argues that "two very different but interdependent codes of sexuality operated in the antebellum South, producing opposite definitions of motherhood and womanhood for white and black women which coalesce in the figures of the slave and the mistress" (20). Unlike white women, who could identify motherhood with privilege and social status, motherhood for slave women was connected and rooted in a social system of bondage.
The forced motherhood experienced by black women defined their existence and influenced their survival. One woman interviewed in the Federal Writer's Project comments on this phenomenon: "You know, there was an overseer who used to tie mother up in the barn with a rope around her arms up over her head, while she stood on a block. Soon as they got her tied, this block was moved and her feet dangled, you know, couldn't touch the floor. This old man, now, would start beating her naked until the blood ran down her back to her heels ... I asked mother what she done for them to beat and do her so. She said, 'Nothing other than refuse to be wife to this man'"(Hine and Thompson 79).
Slavery as a system of social stratification in American society defined the social relations of American society. The social hierarchy of American society created a system of apartheid that placed white men at the top and slaves and minorities at the bottom of the social system. In American society, African slaves were at the very bottom and were considered property without legal rights. This caste system of racial inequality, which relegated Africans to inferior positions, was implemented and reinforced by institutional discrimination and became a central way of life in the antebellum South. In order to really understand the context of motherhood for black women, it is important to understand the roles and expectations of slave women.
The roles of African men and women slaves centered on the slave economy and the labor of black women was not separated from black men. Another slave interviewed for the Federal Writer's Project elaborates: "Master had four overseers on the place, and they drove us from sun up 'till sunset. Some of the women plowed barefooted most of the time, and had to carry that row and keep up with men, and then do their cooking at night"(Hine and Thompson 78). One scholar notes: "It is estimated that in the Cotton Belt slave women spent approximately thirteen hours a day in the fieldwork, engaged in such diverse and traditionally masculine tasks as plowing fields, dropping seeds, hoeing, picking, ginning, sorting and molting cotton"(Hine and Thompson 283). The labor of black women was a crucial part of the slave economy and is critical in understanding the multiple roles of black women. One woman interviewed in the Federal Writer's Project said of her work: "These same old eyes seen powerful lots of tribulations in my time, and when I shut them now I can see lots of children, just like my grandchildren, toting hoes bigger than they is, and they poor little black hands and legs bleeding where they scratched by the brambly weeds, and where they got whippings 'cause they didn't get all the work the overseer set out for them. I was one of them slave girls my own self, and I never seen nothing but work and tribulation till I was a grown woman, just about.... It was the fourth day of June 1865 I begins to live"(Hine and Thompson 66). Again, the labor of black women encompassed multiple and complicated roles.
These multiple roles and expectations of black women--mothers, field hands, breeders, nannies, servants, wives and concubines--help us to understand the complexity of their lives. The nature of slavery demanded that women fully participate in work, including farming, cleaning, cooking, and all of the other domestic tasks, and reproduction was a necessary part of life for a slave woman. Motherhood was connected to the success of the institution of slavery, and this created a very unique and dynamic relationship between black women and their children. On one hand, black women nurtured their children and operated in the roles of wife and mother. At the same time, they were faced with the reality that their children could be sold or violated. Black women were not in a position to physically protect their children from slavery.
Black women were important not only for their labor, but for their reproductive ability, a vital part of the slave economy; they were solely responsible for supplying the slave work force and, in many ways, these women were the most vulnerable and valuable group. Black women were a commodity as breeders, laborers, and concubines, but their motherhood was not separated from their slave status. One narrative from the Federal Writers Project describes of how a North Carolina slave woman, the mother of fifteen children, used to carry her youngest with her to the field each day and "when it get hungry, she just slip it around in front and feed it and go right on picking or hoeing...,"symbolizing in one deft motion the equal significance of the productive and reproductive functions to her owner (Jones 198). Motherhood for black women was bittersweet; the joy of motherhood combined with the reality of breeding property for the slave society.
Motherhood for enslaved women thus translated into an all-inclusive role that incorporated the roles of black men and white women in antebellum society. "True" black women were nonexistent, as they were expected to complete the same tasks as men, operate in a continual state of reproduction, replenish the slave economy, and operate as wet nurses and domestic servants for white women. Motherhood for black women was truly extraordinary; it embodied an identity which suggested in many ways that black women "specialize in the wholly impossible" (Amott and Matthaei). Gender for black women was only important in the context of motherhood and this created a separate and unique identity for black women.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/?tag=mantle_skin;content
by Marci Bounds Littlefield
Part 1
Antebellum Society and the Construction of Black Motherhood
By definition, motherhood suggests a unique relationship between the mother and child, one which is seen as the basic requirement for child development. Mothers nurse their children, provide love, affection, and guidance, and shape primary development. In 19th century American society, motherhood was seen as a necessary act of procreation that ensured the lineage of a particular family. Motherhood for white women was viewed as the moral role for women. The era between 1820 and 1860, the "cult of true womanhood," was the era in which womanhood was represented as pious, pure, submissive, and domestic (Welter). Women were encouraged to embrace these traits and take their rightful place in the home.
This new way of thinking about women's roles represented a change in American society from a family-based social system to a market-based social system that ultimately undermined the rights and position of white women in society (Farrell). Before industrialization, women were a vital part of the family economy and their labor inside and outside of the home was respected. After industrialization, women's labor in the household was defined as inferior to wage labor and women's position in society was thus diminished (Farrel). The cult of domesticity represented societal attitudes concerning women's roles and their proper place in society. Motherhood and caring for the home was seen as the rightful place of a true woman. Motherhood for white women was viewed in this context, with black women giving birth to property and white women producing heirs and leaders.
The representation of true womanhood as defined by the cult of domesticity excluded black women and placed them in a peculiar position as slaves, not "true" women. In an antebellum novel, this position was thus described: "The idea of modesty and virtue in a Louisiana colored girl might well be ridiculed; as a general thing she has neither" (Carby 26). This idea that black women were not "true" women further established the societal inferiority of black women, placing them in a unique relationship with the slave economy. Womanhood and the experience of motherhood for black women were completely connected to the social system and could not be perceived in the same way as motherhood for white women. In fact, Hazel Carby argues that "two very different but interdependent codes of sexuality operated in the antebellum South, producing opposite definitions of motherhood and womanhood for white and black women which coalesce in the figures of the slave and the mistress" (20). Unlike white women, who could identify motherhood with privilege and social status, motherhood for slave women was connected and rooted in a social system of bondage.
The forced motherhood experienced by black women defined their existence and influenced their survival. One woman interviewed in the Federal Writer's Project comments on this phenomenon: "You know, there was an overseer who used to tie mother up in the barn with a rope around her arms up over her head, while she stood on a block. Soon as they got her tied, this block was moved and her feet dangled, you know, couldn't touch the floor. This old man, now, would start beating her naked until the blood ran down her back to her heels ... I asked mother what she done for them to beat and do her so. She said, 'Nothing other than refuse to be wife to this man'"(Hine and Thompson 79).
Slavery as a system of social stratification in American society defined the social relations of American society. The social hierarchy of American society created a system of apartheid that placed white men at the top and slaves and minorities at the bottom of the social system. In American society, African slaves were at the very bottom and were considered property without legal rights. This caste system of racial inequality, which relegated Africans to inferior positions, was implemented and reinforced by institutional discrimination and became a central way of life in the antebellum South. In order to really understand the context of motherhood for black women, it is important to understand the roles and expectations of slave women.
The roles of African men and women slaves centered on the slave economy and the labor of black women was not separated from black men. Another slave interviewed for the Federal Writer's Project elaborates: "Master had four overseers on the place, and they drove us from sun up 'till sunset. Some of the women plowed barefooted most of the time, and had to carry that row and keep up with men, and then do their cooking at night"(Hine and Thompson 78). One scholar notes: "It is estimated that in the Cotton Belt slave women spent approximately thirteen hours a day in the fieldwork, engaged in such diverse and traditionally masculine tasks as plowing fields, dropping seeds, hoeing, picking, ginning, sorting and molting cotton"(Hine and Thompson 283). The labor of black women was a crucial part of the slave economy and is critical in understanding the multiple roles of black women. One woman interviewed in the Federal Writer's Project said of her work: "These same old eyes seen powerful lots of tribulations in my time, and when I shut them now I can see lots of children, just like my grandchildren, toting hoes bigger than they is, and they poor little black hands and legs bleeding where they scratched by the brambly weeds, and where they got whippings 'cause they didn't get all the work the overseer set out for them. I was one of them slave girls my own self, and I never seen nothing but work and tribulation till I was a grown woman, just about.... It was the fourth day of June 1865 I begins to live"(Hine and Thompson 66). Again, the labor of black women encompassed multiple and complicated roles.
These multiple roles and expectations of black women--mothers, field hands, breeders, nannies, servants, wives and concubines--help us to understand the complexity of their lives. The nature of slavery demanded that women fully participate in work, including farming, cleaning, cooking, and all of the other domestic tasks, and reproduction was a necessary part of life for a slave woman. Motherhood was connected to the success of the institution of slavery, and this created a very unique and dynamic relationship between black women and their children. On one hand, black women nurtured their children and operated in the roles of wife and mother. At the same time, they were faced with the reality that their children could be sold or violated. Black women were not in a position to physically protect their children from slavery.
Black women were important not only for their labor, but for their reproductive ability, a vital part of the slave economy; they were solely responsible for supplying the slave work force and, in many ways, these women were the most vulnerable and valuable group. Black women were a commodity as breeders, laborers, and concubines, but their motherhood was not separated from their slave status. One narrative from the Federal Writers Project describes of how a North Carolina slave woman, the mother of fifteen children, used to carry her youngest with her to the field each day and "when it get hungry, she just slip it around in front and feed it and go right on picking or hoeing...,"symbolizing in one deft motion the equal significance of the productive and reproductive functions to her owner (Jones 198). Motherhood for black women was bittersweet; the joy of motherhood combined with the reality of breeding property for the slave society.
Motherhood for enslaved women thus translated into an all-inclusive role that incorporated the roles of black men and white women in antebellum society. "True" black women were nonexistent, as they were expected to complete the same tasks as men, operate in a continual state of reproduction, replenish the slave economy, and operate as wet nurses and domestic servants for white women. Motherhood for black women was truly extraordinary; it embodied an identity which suggested in many ways that black women "specialize in the wholly impossible" (Amott and Matthaei). Gender for black women was only important in the context of motherhood and this created a separate and unique identity for black women.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/?tag=mantle_skin;content
Saturday, June 18, 2011
sacred whore series: SURVIVAL
Black women, mothering, and protest in 19th century American society by Marci Bounds Littlefield, Ph.D
Part 2
Motherhood and Survival
Motherhood for black women was survival. Black women had children, set up households, nursed and cared for their children, and formed communities. As mothers, black women loved their children and cared for them in spite of the multiple tasks they performed. The bond between mother and child was strong, and slave women often took extreme measures to care for their children. A slave confirms this: "I remember well my mother often hid us all in the woods, to prevent master selling us. When we wanted water, she sought for it in any hole or puddle, formed by falling trees or otherwise.
After a time, the master would send word to her to come in, promising he would not sell us. But at length, persons came, who agreed to give the prices he set on us ... My mother, frantic with grief, resisted taking her child away; she was beaten and held down. She fainted, and when she came to herself, her boy was gone. She made much outcry, for which the master tied her up to a peach tree in the yard, and flogged her" (Finkelman 237). Slave women were very protective of their children despite the harsh reality of slavery.
Black women were often forced to become mothers and wives, and this represented a key aspect of their survival. Hilliard Yellerday, an ex-slave, commented on this point: "When a girl became a woman, she was required to go to a man and become a mother. There was generally a form of marriage. The master read a paper to them telling them they were man and wife ... Master would sometimes go and get a large, hale, hearty Negro man from some other plantation to go to his Negro woman. He would ask the master to let this man come over to his place to go to his slave girls. A slave girl was expected to have children as soon as she became a woman. Some of them had children at the age of twelve and thirteen-years-old. Negro men six feet tall went to some of these children" (Hine and Thompson 80).
Motherhood and Protest
Black women often responded to slavery by engaging in various forms of protest: participating in revolts, committing arson, running away, poisoning owners, and refusing to accept sexual exploitation, abortion and infanticide.(Hine and Thompson,1998). The following excerpts are from 19th century newspapers that described various methods of protest exercised by black women.
" $30 REWARD, Ran away from subscriber, on Difficult Run, near Geo W. Hunter's Mill, Fairfax County Va., on Sunday, a Negro woman, having with her a CHILD SIX MONTHS OF AGE, NEARLY WHITE (Provincial Freedom1856).
SUICIDE BY DROWNING AND SLAVE TRADING--A negro woman belonging to Dmpsey Weaver, Esq., jumped into the river, night before last, with a child in each arm, and all three were drowned. Owing to her misconduct, her master threatened to sell her, and she determined not to be sold. It is said that her husband had promised to end his existence in the same way at the same time, but he did not do so (Frederick Douglass' Paper 1853).
Horrible Poisoning Affair
Augusta, Sept. 19--On Sunday last, in Pike County, Alabama, thirty-seven were poisoned six of whom are dead by a negro cook, who mixed arsenic with the food of the family. She was instigated to do this horrid act by Comista, a Hungarian.... The negro woman was burnt; and Comista will meet the same fate on Monday next (The National Era 1857).
These newspaper excerpts provide a snapshot of the ways black women attempted to rebel again a system that intimidated them. Resistance took many forms, ranging from covert to overt acts, the latter of which included learning to read and teaching their offspring to have dignity and pride. Black women displayed an amazing amount of courage when they initiated resistance to slave society. Even infanticide, which represented one of the most extreme forms of resistance, is a prime example of black women's unwillingness to participate in increasing the slave work force. Abortion, a more widely documented tactic, was also employed by black women as a protest tactic. Herbert Gutman offers evidence suggesting that abortion was a practice used by black women: "He discusses a time in a planter and between four to six women 'of breeding age' for twenty-five years and only two children had been born on the place to full term. It was later discovered that the slaves had concocted a medicine with which they were able to terminate their unwanted pregnancies and the older female slaves had been instrumental in all the abortion on this place."
By all accounts, these acts of protest represent another aspect of motherhood that cannot be ignored: black women loved their children, which helps to explain why abortion or infanticide was even considered in the context of motherhood. The extreme system of exploitation shaped how black women experienced motherhood. While black women were courageous in resisting slavery, these acts could not supplant the impact of being born into bondage and forced to reproduce and supply the slave workforce. Nevertheless, black women also chose to resist oppression by teaching their children values and promoting education in the hope that one day, their children would live in a slave-free society.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/pg_2/?tag=mantle_skin;content
photo: black american woman Black Stallion
Part 2
Motherhood and Survival
Motherhood for black women was survival. Black women had children, set up households, nursed and cared for their children, and formed communities. As mothers, black women loved their children and cared for them in spite of the multiple tasks they performed. The bond between mother and child was strong, and slave women often took extreme measures to care for their children. A slave confirms this: "I remember well my mother often hid us all in the woods, to prevent master selling us. When we wanted water, she sought for it in any hole or puddle, formed by falling trees or otherwise.
After a time, the master would send word to her to come in, promising he would not sell us. But at length, persons came, who agreed to give the prices he set on us ... My mother, frantic with grief, resisted taking her child away; she was beaten and held down. She fainted, and when she came to herself, her boy was gone. She made much outcry, for which the master tied her up to a peach tree in the yard, and flogged her" (Finkelman 237). Slave women were very protective of their children despite the harsh reality of slavery.
Black women were often forced to become mothers and wives, and this represented a key aspect of their survival. Hilliard Yellerday, an ex-slave, commented on this point: "When a girl became a woman, she was required to go to a man and become a mother. There was generally a form of marriage. The master read a paper to them telling them they were man and wife ... Master would sometimes go and get a large, hale, hearty Negro man from some other plantation to go to his Negro woman. He would ask the master to let this man come over to his place to go to his slave girls. A slave girl was expected to have children as soon as she became a woman. Some of them had children at the age of twelve and thirteen-years-old. Negro men six feet tall went to some of these children" (Hine and Thompson 80).
Motherhood and Protest
Black women often responded to slavery by engaging in various forms of protest: participating in revolts, committing arson, running away, poisoning owners, and refusing to accept sexual exploitation, abortion and infanticide.(Hine and Thompson,1998). The following excerpts are from 19th century newspapers that described various methods of protest exercised by black women.
" $30 REWARD, Ran away from subscriber, on Difficult Run, near Geo W. Hunter's Mill, Fairfax County Va., on Sunday, a Negro woman, having with her a CHILD SIX MONTHS OF AGE, NEARLY WHITE (Provincial Freedom1856).
SUICIDE BY DROWNING AND SLAVE TRADING--A negro woman belonging to Dmpsey Weaver, Esq., jumped into the river, night before last, with a child in each arm, and all three were drowned. Owing to her misconduct, her master threatened to sell her, and she determined not to be sold. It is said that her husband had promised to end his existence in the same way at the same time, but he did not do so (Frederick Douglass' Paper 1853).
Horrible Poisoning Affair
Augusta, Sept. 19--On Sunday last, in Pike County, Alabama, thirty-seven were poisoned six of whom are dead by a negro cook, who mixed arsenic with the food of the family. She was instigated to do this horrid act by Comista, a Hungarian.... The negro woman was burnt; and Comista will meet the same fate on Monday next (The National Era 1857).
These newspaper excerpts provide a snapshot of the ways black women attempted to rebel again a system that intimidated them. Resistance took many forms, ranging from covert to overt acts, the latter of which included learning to read and teaching their offspring to have dignity and pride. Black women displayed an amazing amount of courage when they initiated resistance to slave society. Even infanticide, which represented one of the most extreme forms of resistance, is a prime example of black women's unwillingness to participate in increasing the slave work force. Abortion, a more widely documented tactic, was also employed by black women as a protest tactic. Herbert Gutman offers evidence suggesting that abortion was a practice used by black women: "He discusses a time in a planter and between four to six women 'of breeding age' for twenty-five years and only two children had been born on the place to full term. It was later discovered that the slaves had concocted a medicine with which they were able to terminate their unwanted pregnancies and the older female slaves had been instrumental in all the abortion on this place."
By all accounts, these acts of protest represent another aspect of motherhood that cannot be ignored: black women loved their children, which helps to explain why abortion or infanticide was even considered in the context of motherhood. The extreme system of exploitation shaped how black women experienced motherhood. While black women were courageous in resisting slavery, these acts could not supplant the impact of being born into bondage and forced to reproduce and supply the slave workforce. Nevertheless, black women also chose to resist oppression by teaching their children values and promoting education in the hope that one day, their children would live in a slave-free society.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/pg_2/?tag=mantle_skin;content
photo: black american woman Black Stallion
BLACK DOOR
Friday, June 17, 2011
sacred whore series: history upon Black women
Godeys Lady's Book Cover June 1867
Black women, mothering, and protest in 19th century American society by Marci Bounds Littlefield
Part 3
Motherhood and Black Family Life
The nature of motherhood for black women is pertinent to understanding black family life. There is a lot of debate concerning black family life during the era of slavery. Some assert that children largely grew up in mother-only households, while others suggest the importance of fathers in the lives of their children.
However, there is a sufficient amount of evidence to suggest that black men were more likely to be sold and the stability of black families was connected to the life cycles of their owners (Hine, King, and Reed). Motherhood was the most consistent part of the life of a slave child, though it may have been temporary, and the values, lessons, and tradition passed on by mothers shaped black family life. Since the condition of black people's lives in America did not allow them to be passive or submissive, black women "had to develop strength rather than glory and fragility, and had to be active and assertive rather than passive and submissive"(Landry 89).
Again, slaves often challenged the white notion of womanhood, which rested on purity and developed a "broader definition of womanhood which incorporated resourcefulness and independence"(Landry 58). While all black women did not run away, many initiated the precedence for the role of black women as active agents in their own emancipation in terms of both race and gender. The pre-Civil War role of black women as commodities within American society and as wives and mothers within families, which created plural and often contradictory roles, produced black women who were willing to challenge the dominant definition of black womanhood. This often covert yet culturally cohesive action helped to create a more meaningful reality for African Americans women's experiences, and a more expansive definition of what it meant to be a black woman, with the context of motherhood defining this reality.
Black women struggled for freedom in a society that viewed women as slaves. In surviving, many endured slavery, learned the cultural ethos, and recognized the value in changing their lives in preparation for better futures. This article considered black women's response to their multiple and often conflicting roles and suggested their response was to create a new meaning for black womanhood, one which made motherhood the center of black women's lives. Thus, black women negotiated motherhood in early 19th century society by surviving, by caring for their children, and by engaging in various forms of protest. Black women challenged common views as they transitioned through their life stages of 1) survival, 2) protest, 3) revolution, and 4) freedom, and created a new definition of black womanhood. This new definition allowed black women to reject the system of American domination, the idea of the inferiority of African Americans, and the traditional idea of womanhood; retain a sense of self-worth; and exercise self-efficacy.
This new notion of black womanhood led to oppositional consciousness formation and eventually fostered social change. The 19th century was a crucial time for African Americans because it marked a change in the social order, and black women played a critical role in bringing about this change.
Works Cited
Amott, Teresa & Julie Matthaei. Race Gender and Work, A Multicultural Economic History of Women in the United States. Boston, MA: South End Press,1996.
Carby, H.V. Reconstructing Womanhood: The Emergence of the Afro-American Woman Novelist. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Farrell, B.G. "Marriage." Family: the Makings of an Idea, an Institution, and a Controversy in American Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998.
Frazier, E. Franklin. "The Negro Slave Family." Articles on American Slavery, Women and the Family in a Slave Society. Ed. Paul Finkleman. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989.
Frederick Douglass' Paper. Rochester, NY. Item # 46039: Accessible Archives, Inc. 11 March 1853
Gutman, Herbert G. The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925. New York: Pantheon Books, 1976.
Hine, Darlene Clark. "We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible." A Reader in Black Women's History. Eds. Darlene Clark Hine, Wilma King, and Linda Reed. New York: Carlson,1994.
Hine, Darlene Clark, and Kathleen Thompson. A Shining Thread of Hope: A History of lack Women in America. New York: Broadway, 1998.
Jones, Jacqueline. "My Mother was Much of a Woman: Black Women Work and the Family under Slavery."Articles on American Slavery, Women and the Family in Slave Society. Ed. Paul Finkleman. New York: Garland, 1989.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7075/is_1_2/ai_n31352354/pg_3/
Black American youth in the late '60's or early '70's
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A TIME TO HEAL THE CONCEPT OF LOVE
Erica Payton smiling in a red dress
LEADING OUT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
http://rememberingtheancientdeer.blogspot.com/2010/12/leading-out-unconditional-love.html
“There are quite a few directions leading to the one hard to grasp truth of reconciliation. You have made it plain and simple, Maria Vamvalis . Putting it into action will be a challenge to many, but this 'blueprint' is stark in its clarity.” – Gregory E. Woods
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
sacred whore series: CULT of DOMESTICITY
Sarah Josepha Hale in Godey's Lady book by W.G. Armstrong
According to Barbara Welter, author of the influential essay on this topic, "The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820–1860" (American Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2, Part i (Summer 1966), pp. 151–174), True Women were to hold the four cardinal virtues:
Piety – believed to be more religious and spiritual than men
Purity – pure in heart, mind, and body
Submission – held in "perpetual childhood" where men dictated all actions and decisions
Domesticity – a division between work and home, encouraged by the Industrial Revolution; men went out in the world to earn a living, home became the woman's domain where a wife created a "haven in a heartless world" for her husband and children...
These ideals and virtues were elaborated on and stressed on by ministers in sermons, and physicians in popular health books. Godey's Lady's Book, which by 1860 had 150,000 subscribers for three dollars a year, was the most widely circulated women's magazine in the United States. It was edited by Sarah Josepha Hale, who strove to spread her concerns for feminine values. The magazine encouraged motherhood as a religious obligation; mothers played a crucial role in preserving the memory of the American Revolution and in securing its legacy by raising the next generation of citizens. The magazine's paintings and pictures illustrated the four virtues, often showing women with children or behind husbands. Fashion was also stressed because a woman had to stay up to date in order to please her husband. Instructions for seamstresses were often included. Most importantly, Godey's Lady's Book proclaimed that, "The perfection of womanhood...is the wife and mother, the center of the family, that magnet that draws man to the domestic altar, that makes him a civilized being, a social Christian," and that, "The wife is truly the light of the home."
After the rise of feminism and the fight for women's rights, the cult of domesticity arose again in the 1950s when television began to present shows that depicted fictional families where the mother would stay at home with the children while the man went to work.
After the Jacksonian Period, 1812 to 1850, had granted universal white male suffrage, extending the right to vote to virtually all white males in America, women believed it was their opportunity for civil liberty. However, even after the Declaration of Sentiments was written at the Seneca Falls convention of 1848, the right to vote was not extended to women until 1920. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_Domesticity
sacred whore series: ICorinthian 6: 19-20
Angela Bassett dancing in the dark !!!!
WHY ARE WE HERE & WHO ARE WE?
1Cor 6:19-20 tells us, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." But how much of this verse focuses believers on the outer man, the flesh upon bone? Don’t believe it? It is in the pudding, the proof.
Thinking of the thousands of sermons heard, books composed, and passed off as a reflection of the true God’s word, and the number of admonishments critical of people’s appearances, tattoos, clothes, color, hair, words, drug usage, etc. Based on harshness, and judgement ICorinthian 6: 19-20 has created an unhealthy myopic focus on the outer man, the flesh over bones. That being said how can a regular person not acquainted with impeccability, or the workings of a priest-craft adjust, and move themselves out of the paradigm of appearances into the spiritual work of unlearning? – Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
American contradiction
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
sacred whore series: ELEVATION OF THE SOUL
Audrey Hepburn in the kitchen !!!!
RETURN OF THE GODDESS: spiritual work
“It is time for women’s knowledge to be spoken, shown, and shared in a magical, mystial way. It is time for women to discover more about their own mysteries – their processes of menstruation and birth and the cycles of their emotions. It is time to share this with men. Many women say, ‘What can I share? I don’t understand it myself. ...Well, it is time for you to go within to say, ‘What are these feelings I have? If I had to explain to someone else what it is to be a woman, what would I explain? What can I do to become more of a goddess in a woman’s body – more of a magic maker?’ The Goddess within is the one who knows – who takes information from one system into another.” - from "Earth" by Barbara Marciniak
“That being said there is the work to be done. What are the rituals? Who are the right elders to learn from? How do I listen to my body if I don’t know how? How do I re-establish relationship with my blood? How does the process of moving from a mere believer to a place of knowing come about? Who are the pillars in this world, this state of being a woman? How does one make the stances, conduct the ceremonies, expand consciousness while living in a complex Western culture, or a poorer country left barren by Western powers? There are many questions to ask, answer, and apply.” ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Monday, June 13, 2011
sacred whore series: the DESTROYER
Ann Coulter by Gage Skidmore
the 28th verse of Genesis 1, “… and God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth…” interpreted by Ann Coulter into “God gave us the earth. We have dominion over the plants, the animals, the trees. God said, ‘Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It’s yours!” - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
Ann Coulter bound
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)