Welcome to Black History Month

(Smithsonian Channel) The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X (full episode)

Release from slavery

Manumission, or enfranchisement (emancipation), is the act of freeing slaves by their owners.

Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most widely used term is gratuitous manumission, "the conferment of freedom on the enslaved by enslavers before the end of the slave system" [1].

Gregg Braden, what keeps us disempowered? - When was first legal interracial marriage in US?

The motivations for manumission were complex and varied. Firstly, it may present itself as a sentimental and benevolent gesture. One typical scenario was the freeing in the master's will of a devoted servant after long years of service.

A trusted bailiff might be manumitted as a gesture of gratitude. For those working as agricultural laborers or in workshops, there was little likelihood of being so noticed.

What about liberation from samsara, Graham Hancock?

In general, it was more common for older slaves to be given freedom. Legislation under the early Roman Empire put limits on the number of slaves that could be freed in wills (lex Fufia Caninia, 2 BC), which suggests that it had been widely used.

Freeing slaves could serve the pragmatic interests of the owner. The prospect of manumission worked as an incentive for slaves to be industrious and compliant.

Roman slaves were paid a wage (peculium), which they could save up to buy themselves freedom. Manumission contracts, found in some abundance at Delphi (ancient Greece), specify in detail the prerequisites for liberation. More

• Malcolm X (Smithsonian Channel, The Lost Tapes, Feb. 2018); Ashley Wells, Shauna Schwartz, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

What is Juneteenth? U.S. slavery (video)

KTLA 5, 6/19/22; TED-Ed, 2/23; ABC10, 6/20; Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Los Angeles reporter Laila Muhammad, KFI AM 640 (iheart.com)

What is Juneteenth?

(ABC10) The holiday commemorating the freedom of African Americans, Juneteenth (Emancipation Day Jan. 1, 1863, delayed to June 19th, 1865), was recognized only after the last slaves were told about the Emancipation Proclamation. It is our country's Second Independence Day, the other being July 4th.

What is Juneteenth, and why is it important?

(TED-Ed) Let's get to know the history of Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States [excluding wage slavery and mass incarceration and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome].

At the end of the Civil War, though slavery was technically illegal in all states, it still persisted in the last bastions of the Confederacy, [with the help of police, authorities, and the KKK].

This was the case when Union General Gordon Granger marched his troops into Galveston, Texas on June 19th and announced that all enslaved people there were officially free.

Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio dig into the history of Juneteenth. Lesson by Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio, directed by Rémi Cans, Atypicalist.

• VIDEO: Max Park solves Rubik's Cube in Long Beach in a world-record time of about 3 seconds
• Prison Policy Initiative
• Incarceration in the United States

Why Juneteenth is important (video)

Tony Bates; The Root; Blackish; Crystal Q., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

This is why Juneteenth is important for America

Juneteenth or "Freedom Day" (June 19th) celebrates the emancipation of Native American and black slaves. It is important to everyone in the USA and needs to become an official American celebration on the federal calendar. It is commemorated in at least 46 states. Visit theroot.com

Rising Up, June 19th, archive.KPFK.org

Juneteenth explained: The commemoration of the freeing of slaves held by whites in the USA on Rising Up with guest host Tony Bates (Questioning Everything) instead of Sonali. Pacifica Free Speech Radio (archive.KPFK.org), L.A., 4:00 PM, Wednesday, June 19, 2019.

• President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi dies during trial
• Outbreak of encephalitis in Bihar, India, 100+ kids dead
• Power outage in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay

Wage-slaves on Emancipation Day 2012

Maurice Jackson, WashingtonPost.com

Pres. Lincoln: Compassion or economic necessity for north that slaves be freed by south? Today's "wage-slaves" are worse off because owners do not have to feed, house, or care for workers (timeanddate.com).

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act, which freed the city’s 3,128 slaves. This came nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to slaves in only parts of the Confederacy still in rebellion.

Emancipation of the slaves proclaimed Sept. 22, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln. (Library of Congress ) “I trust I am not dreaming, but the events taking place seem like a dream,” the great orator Frederick Douglass wrote of the act. “Not only a staggering blow to slavery throughout the country, but a killing blow to the rebellion -- and the beginning of the end for both.”

• Am I a "wage slave"?

Perhaps this is why the marble federal city built with slave labor in the 1790s has often stood as the political “city on a hill” to the nation’s African Americans. Just as Puritan governor John Winthrop’s biblical image of Boston served as a symbol of “freedom” to many whites in the New World, Washington has served as a beacon to blacks seeking freedom from slavery, Jim Crow and racism.

Clearly, the original Puritan city on a hill proved easier to climb and conquer for white Americans of WASP and Irish-Catholic backgrounds. For generations of blacks born and raised here, and others who migrated, the hill has been steeper to climb and easier to fall off. More

Dalai Lama: Tibet, Iraqi, Afghan wars (video)

CLICK TO PLAY VIDEO

Amy Goodman Questions the Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has wrapped up a series public lectures in New York. For the past four days, thousands have gathered at Radio City Music Hall to hear him present Buddhist teachings. On Sunday, the 74-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine before a crowd of 2,000. Democracy Now's Amy Goodman asked the Dalai Lama about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the struggle for independence from China in Tibet. Source (Web exclusive)
Thursday, March 10 Headlines

• Wisconsin outrage: collective bargaining gone
• Turning point: protests will grow in Wisconsin
• Michael Moore: "This is a class war!" (calls for renewed pro-Democracy Movement as anti-union bills approved in Wisconsin and Michigan)
• As calls grow for no fly-zone in Libya, questions over legality and past precedents give pause [i.e., U.S. prefers Dictator we know to Dictator we don't]

China Applauds Itself On Tibet

"China Applauds Itself Ahead of New Tibetan Holiday"
Stephanie Ho (VOA News, 3/27/09)

Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, greets the audience at a ceremony marking "Serf Liberation Day" in Beijing, China, March 27, 2009.

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On the eve of a government-declared holiday to celebrate 50 years of Chinese Communist rule in Tibet, Chinese officials are emphasizing the material improvements made in the lives of ordinary Tibetans.

The Chinese government is applauding itself for overturning Tibet's feudal hierarchy 50 years ago.

In 1959, Tibet's top spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled his homeland and Beijing crushed a failed uprising against Chinese rule. China says this is when it brought democratic reform to Tibet, and it is celebrating the event Saturday with a new holiday called "Serf Emancipation Day." More>>