It has been a busy few weeks. Thank you to Dana and Steve and Jenn for their comments and encouragement to keep this more personal blog going. So, I guess I’m going to keep this blog (at least minimally). Besides, I have to have some way to catalogue my life. Hmm, so let me perhaps [...]
@neilhimself ‘s first ever commencement speech for graduating class of 2012 at th U. of the Arts in Philadelphia. Congrats Class of 2012 and congrats @neilhimself !
I gave my first ever commencement speech to the graduating class of 2012 at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
I think I told them everything important that I knew about going out into the world and being an artist, so I may never need to give another one.
#Victorian mourning customs #history #steampunk
Victorian mourning customs differed vastly depending on the gender of the mourner. A widow was required to wear entirely black clothing for at least 2 years after the death of her husband whereas a widower was expected to wear a black armband or hatband with his usual attire for only 3 months.
Runaway slave communities in the Americas. #history
Throughout the Americas resistance to slavery and the plantation system took the form of runaway slave communities called maroons, quilombos or mocambos.The most famous runaway slave community of the Americas was Quilombo dos Palmares, a series of Brazilian mocambos founded in the end of the 16th century which survived up until 1694 before being crushed by Portuguese, Indian and white forces. Palmares was formed when a small group of slaves escaped from their home plantation after a rebellion. They violently turned on their masters before taking to the forests with supplies and all of their worldly possessions. They ventured over the harsh terrain and settled in a valley that came to be the quilombo at Palmares. What began as a small fugitive camp quickly grew in size and complexity. Estimates place the population of Palmares in the 1690’s at around 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. The autonomous region successfully defended the territory while simultaneously performing raids on nearby plantations, freeing slaves, destroying crops and stealing supplies. When the territory was finally captured 200 Palmarista soldiers committed suicide rather than return to bondage. In an effort to demoralize and intimidate Africans, the Palmarista general Zambi was decapitated in a public execution and his head put on display. But instead, quilombos continued to exist in Brazil and lore of Zambi spread, as more fugitive slaves formed settlements in Brazil.