Update (aka I Got Nuthin’)
This was a weird week…with one particularly low day…and I just didn’t get anything prepared for Friday. So…my options were to either tell you guys I had nothing for today cuz the dog ate it…or just…chat. So. I’m here to chat. If you were looking for an in-depth discussion on pant lengths you’ll need to come back another time 🙂
So. Today is Juneteenth. Jun 19th. A date that commemorates the freeing of the last enslaved Black people back in 1865. And I’ve been thinking about that. Free at last. And I’m trying to imagine what that would really MEAN. Okay. One day I’m enslaved, I’m someone’s property. The next day I am a free person. My only home was at my slaveholder’s (I hope I’m using the correct terms here). I probably have had no education, I may not know how to read or write. I have no money. I have no skills beyond farming. I certainly have no references. So, “yay, no more slavery” really looks like a whole bunch of people just turned out in the world with nothing: no home, no way to support themselves and their family. How well can THAT possibly turn out?? And yes, emancipation is something to celebrate, to be sure, but…they still had a long, steep, hard road ahead of them. Anyway. I’ve just been thinking about that. How difficult their lives still were, even after probably the greatest day in Black history!
So TODAY, Juneteenth, is a day to acknowledge the culture and achievements of Black people. I’ve been seeing many ways to celebrate: family gatherings, parades, prayer services, educational events, etc. On social media I’ve seen suggestions of showing support by purchasing products from Black-owned businesses, to share Black artists, designers, authors, books, movies.
So, I’m doing two things today (and bear with me cuz, as usual, there’s some backstory):
- I found my scanner last week (yippee) and so have started again scanning the slides of my father’s that I’d scanned back in February. At that time I was using a phone app, which, under the circumstances, was a god-send because now at least I could see the pictures on my phone, and start to sort what was worth keeping/printing and what was not. BUT those were not great scans, they were just a step up from what I’d had before (which was nothing). But now that I have my scanner, and it works with the new computer (it was not compatible with the last computer so it’s been a long time since I’ve had scanning capabilities), it’s time to scan for real. So that’s what I’ve been doing as I have a little time here and there. This first batch had a lot of pictures of my mother.
And I just kept thinking I wish I could wear red lipstick like she did (I also desperately want sunglasses like the ones she’s wearing in the middle picture). And I figured I would start The Search for The Perfect Red Lipstick. Then today I see @WhatKateFinds raving about a new RED lipstick she’s just bought from Black-owned company Uoma, who is doing all kinds of wonderful things with an eye towards diversity and inclusivity. Seek and ye shall receive. So I am buying that lipstick (and yes, that was pretty long-winded way for me to say “I’m buying lipstick,” but I’m nothing if not long-winded). Oh, AND, their products are 30% off this weekend in honor of Freedom Day (aka Juneteenth) AND 20% of the proceeds will go to liberation-focused charities. So Many Wins!
2) Many social media users are buying two books by Black authors and posting them using the hashtags #blackoutbestsellerlist and #blackpublishingpower, from now until June 20. So, I already have The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, both of which have been on my “to read” list.
In other news…I’m back on the old keyboard. Yes, the keyboard that was so bad I HAD TO GET A NEW KEYBOARD. And now that one got so bad I couldn’t even use it, I mean, it just stopped working. I have a support ticket into Logitech for it so I’ll see what happens when I hear from them. But in the meantime, for the moment, the old keyboard is working fine. It is a little tiring on the forearms, as it’s like up a little higher than the other one? I know, First World Problems. Just wanted to update you on The Keyboard Saga, I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath.
OH, do you all see what I saw when I walked back into the apartment from the patio this afternoon (aside from my messy entry area)??
How nice would that white linen shirt look over a pair of wide-legged, cropped, mustard-colored, linen or tencel pants??
INSPIRATION IS EVERYWHERE
So, it looks like some programs will be reopening at work on July 1, which means…the work at home party is almost over, sigh. It’s been so…NICE…to not be around people all day, every day. That so drains me. But. It is what it is. It was nice while it lasted. Social distancing suits me.
One of my friends has been wondering what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. She’s really struggling to come up with anything she really feels excited about doing. So I started thinking…if money and time were no object, what would I like to spend the rest of my life doing? And I quickly had a pretty robust list jotted down in my cell phone notes:
I put art classes, but really, I just want to take classes. In anything. And everything. And that led me to this: 20 Amazing Free Classes You Can Take From Your Couch
And I guess I took a left somewhere cuz I ended up on one of those “what’s your word” pages…but this was What Are Your FIVE Words? Which is much more do-able than One Word. Who has One Word?? But this was…five words representing what you wish people would think about you…or know about you. So then I had this in my notes…
What would your five words be? And what would you do with the rest of your life if money and time were no object?
And on that note…I will say goodnight.
Goodnight.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you buy something as a result of clicking that link, at no extra cost to you. I appreciate you shopping through my links.
Pauline starsmore
How elegant your mother looked in the picture with the sunglasses she looks like the Queen.!
bettyewp
Aww, thanks, Pauline! Though she would have preferred being compared to Jackie Kennedy 🙂
jodie filogomo
I love looking through old photos like this. That’s why Ann and I started #FridayFlashback …maybe you should join in one friday??
OXOX
Jodie
bettyewp
Well, there’s a lot more where that came from, ha!
OHHH…I’d been seeing those IG posts but hadn’t had made the connection that those FLASHBACKS were happening every FRIDAY, ha ha. I see now it’s right in the hashtags but WHOOSH right over my head. Yeah, if I can remember, maybe I will!
Daenel T.
The pictures of your family are so fun to see. The historian me always thinks about what was going on politically and culturally, the librarian and me wonders about the story. Teaching history was always part lesson and part gossip for me.
I used to tell my students about the reunification process for families. When slavery ended, many Black folks searched for family who’d been sold away years before. There are articles in newspapers with descriptions for folks. But think about the near impossibility of that task. People change over the years. Names change. Memories falter. Feelings change. It was a heartbreaking process.
bettyewp
I wish I had been more interested in learning history earlier in life. I wish I’d been more interested in LEARNING. Jeez. The time I’ve wasted NOT KNOWING THINGS. I was gonna say “could fill a book,” but really, it already does. All those history books with only partially told stories…that I’m only now really understanding were only one part of what actually occurred in the past.
Educators should be more encouraging of asking WHY vs sitting quietly absorbing what was being taught. I can remember a handful of “smart kids” (not me!) who were always questioning, BUT WHY and HOW COME and WHY DIDN’T and being mostly shut down so the teacher could continue with the planned lesson. What a disservice. That was…50 years ago. Has it changed? I honestly don’t know. Even with a child who went through the system in the 1990s+ – it seemed like all they ever did was make posters (ha) and learn stupid (said the mathematics genius) ways to do math. Ha. I kept wondering when they were going to start learning REAL STUFF, but…I guess somewhere along the way she learned SOMETHING cuz she’s productive, kind adult now. I don’t actually know what her politics (term used loosely) are…knowing how strongly she tries to emulate her father (to make HIM proud) I have some concerns. I don’t actually think she’s too interested in the world that’s going on around her but I plan to plant a subtle seed here and there 🙂 Wow, did *I* get off topic!
Re: the unification process for Black families after slavery, I can’t even imagine (but am learning about it). I watched a YT yesterday of Melania Trump reading a children’s book about Juneteenth. I wasn’t aware she does this regularly (readings) and was like whaaaat is this? The book was called “All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom” by Angela Johnson. It was a children’s book, a lovely story of when the enslaved people in Texas were told of their freedom and how they rejoiced and took to the road and found their families and played music and had big celebratory meals and how everything would be all “all different now” and I thought…well, that sounds lovely, but…how did THAT happen?? I realize it was a children’s book but I thought…even today books are being written that still “whitewash” (no pun intended) history. Your word “heartbreaking” seems very apt.
xoxo