(via 'Kindred Spirits' Sculpture – Cork, Ireland - Atlas Obscura)
The Choctaw Native Americans raised $170 of their own money—equivalent to thousands of dollars today— in aid to supply food for the starving Irish. This exemplifies the incredible generosity of the Choctaw people, because just 16 years before, they were forced by U.S. President Andrew Jackson to leave their ancestral lands and march 500 miles on the “Trail of Tears,” in terrible winter conditions. Many did not survive.
Today, the Irish people are still grateful for the generosity of the Choctaw people. A monument stands in Midleton’s Bailick Park as a tribute to the tribe’s charity during the Great Famine. Named “Kindred Spirits,” the magnificent memorial features nine giant stainless steel feathers, shaped into an empty bowl.
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Tw: death of nex Benedict. This is my memorial post. I made a collage for nex.
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I made a collage for Nex. Though I didn't know them personally, their death hits especially hard as a non-binary person living in Oklahoma and a fellow choctaw. It especially hits close to home knowing that could be me and in a lot of ways I was nex. I was the young trans autistic person being bullied in my high-school years for existing as who I am. I was pushed to the point of thoughts of death multiple times due to how bad the bullying had gotten. Nobody deserves this. Nobody deserves to be bullied and hurt for existing as who they are. This hurts me . It hurts our community. This can not continue on. There have been too many young people who are bullied and hurt for being lgbtq and it is heartbreaking. My heart and condolences go out to the family and all who are struggling with grief from the loss of their wonderful soul. May all the family and loved ones and those who are hurt by their death be comforted and supported during this time by the community that stands together and fights together. I'm here, and I'm queer and I love you all. Please know you are never alone and there is always help and support if you just reach out and ask. it can be scary but may very well be the best thing you could do for yourself and you deserve the help and support if you need it. My inbox is open if anyone needs to talk.
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Hello, im new here!
I'm a artist that enioys making all sorts of character art. I'll be posting my art every once in a while.
This art piece was more of an artstyle practice. I choose to draw one of my ocs in their traditional clothing.
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Juneteenth is a Black American holiday.
We call Juneteenth many things: Black Independence Day, Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day. We celebrate and honor our ancestors.
December 31 is recognized as Watch Night or Freedom’s Eve in Black American churches because it marks the day our enslaved ancestors were awaiting news of their freedom going into 1863. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. But all of the ancestors wouldn’t be freed until June 19, 1865 for those in Galveston, Texas and even January 23, 1866 for those in New Jersey (the last slave state). (It’s also worth noting that our people under the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations wouldn’t be freed until April 28, 1866 and June 14, 1866 for those under the Cherokee Nation by way of the Treaties.)
Since 1866, Black Americans in Texas have been commemorating the emancipation of our people by way of reading the Emancipation Proclamation and coming together to have parades, free festivities, and later on pageants. Thereafter, it spread to select states as an annual day of commemoration of our people in our homeland.
Here’s a short silent video filmed during the 1925 Juneteenth celebration in Beaumont, Texas:
(It’s also worth noting that the Mascogos tribe in Coahuila, Mexico celebrate Juneteenth over there as well. Quick history lesson: A total of 305,326 Africans were shipped to the US to be enslaved alongside of American Indians who were already or would become enslaved as prisoners of war, as well as those who stayed behind refusing to leave and walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. In the United States, you were either enslaved under the English territories, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, or under the Nations of what would called the Five “Civilized” Native American Tribes: Cherokee, Creek (Muscogee), Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminoles. Mascogos descend from the Seminoles who escaped slavery during the Seminole Wars, or the Gullah Wars that lasted for more than 100 years if you will, and then settled at El Nacimiento in 1852.)
We largely wave our red, white and blue flags on Juneteenth. These are the only colors that represent Juneteenth. But sometimes you may see others wave our Black American Heritage flag (red, black, and gold).
Juneteenth is a day of respect. It has nothing to do with Africa, diversity, inclusion, immigration, your Pan-African flag, your cashapps, nor your commerce businesses. It is not a day of “what about” isms. It is not a day to tap into your inner colonizer and attempt to wipe out our existence. That is ethnocide and anti-Black American. If you can’t attend a Black American (centered) event that’s filled with education on the day, our music, our food and other centered activities because it’s not centered around yours…that is a you problem. Respect our day for what and whom it stands for in our homeland.
Juneteenth flag creator: “Boston Ben” Haith
It was created in 1997. The red, white and blue colors represent the American flag. The five-point star represents the Lone State (Texas). The white burst around the star represents a nova, the beginning of a new star. The new beginning for Black Americans.
Black American Heritage Flag creators: Melvin Charles & Gleason T. Jackson
It was created in 1967, our Civil Rights era. The color black represents the ethnic pride for who we are. Red represents the blood shed for freedom, equality, justice and human dignity. Gold fig wreath represents intellect, prosperity, and peace. The sword represents the strength and authority exhibited by a Black culture that made many contributions to the world in mathematics, art, medicine, and physical science, heralding the contributions that Black Americans would make in these and other fields.
SN: While we’re talking about flags, I should note that Grace Wisher, a 13-year-old free Black girl from Baltimore helped stitched the Star Spangled flag, which would inspire the national anthem during her six years of service to Mary Pickersgill. I ain’t even gon hold you. I never looked too far into it, but she prob sewed that whole American flag her damn self. They love lying about history here until you start unearthing them old documents.
In conclusion, Juneteenth is a Black American holiday. Respect us and our ancestors.
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Storme Webber, a Black Sugpiaq/Choctaw Two-Spirit Lesbian artist and poet, photographed by Diné artist Will Wilson for his ongoing Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange project. | 2018
Wilson employs a wet-plate collodion photographic technique, based on the nineteenth-century method that involves exposing and then developing a plate that has been coated in light-sensitive chemicals. He explores identity, the photographic medium as both art and science, and community. Wilson collaborates with his sitters, who determine their pose, clothing, props, and how they are presented. As a gesture of reciprocity, Wilson gives the sitters the original photograph, while retaining the right to print and use scans for artistic purposes. Originally, CIPX was Wilson’s way to work toward a re-imagined vision of Native people in response to historic photographers such as Edward Curtis and his The North American Indian (1907-1930).
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