HEALTHY Recipes

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole Recipe

HEALTHY Recipes

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This recipe serves: 6

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup dry white wine

salt to taste

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 cups broccoli florets

2 tablespoons olive oil

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

1/4 cup freshly ground Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound yolk-free egg noodles

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the chicken broth, white wine and a generous pinch of salt over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and poach them over low heat for 10 minutes or until the chicken breasts are cooked through. Remove the chicken from the liquid and set aside. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, cut it into strips.

3. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil, add the broccoli florets and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the broccoli and set aside. Reserve the cooking liquid.

4. In a separate saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in the cooking liquid and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cheeses. Add the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

5. Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a large pot of salted water until they are al dente, drain and put them in a large casserole dish.

6. Add the chicken and broccoli to the casserole dish and pour in the sauce. Bake the casserole in the oven for 20 minutes. Let the casserole stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: about 2 cups

Calories 429

Total Fat 12 g

Saturated Fat 4 g

Protein 32 g

Total Carbohydrate 40 g

Dietary Fiber 4 g

Sodium 186 mg

Percent Calories from Fat 28%

Percent Calories from Protein 32%

Percent Calories from Carbohydrate 40%

Barbecued Raspberry-Hoisin Chicken

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PREP TIME 45 minutes

COOK TIME 2 3/4 hours

LEVEL Easy

SERVES 6

Hoisin sauce along with pureed tart raspberries makes a wonderful Chinese-inspired marinade and dipping sauce for grilled chicken. Plan ahead: The chicken thighs benefit from marinating for at least 2 hours before grilling.

Ingredients:

Barbecued Raspberry-Hoisin Chicken

• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 3/4 cup hoisin sauce (see Ingredient Note)
• 5 tablespoons rice vinegar , divided
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 strip (2-by-1/2-inch) orange zest
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs , trimmed, each cut into 3 crosswise strips
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup long- or medium-grain brown rice
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallion greens , divided

Preparation:

1. Combine raspberries, hoisin sauce, 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, garlic, orange zest, ginger, pepper and crushed red pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend or process until smooth, about 1 minute. Set aside 1/4 cup for a dipping sauce.
2. Transfer the remaining marinade to a medium bowl and add chicken; stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
3. Combine water and rice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, until ready to serve.
4. Preheat grill to medium-high or preheat the broiler to high.
5. Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the marinade, scrape off excess (discard marinade), and thread onto 4 skewers, distributing equally.
6. Grill the chicken until browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. If using the broiler, place the chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray and broil 4 inches from the heat source until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
7. Just before serving, sprinkle the rice with the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1/4 cup scallions; fluff with a fork. Sprinkle the chicken and rice with the remaining scallions. Serve with the reserved dipping sauce.

Tip:

Ingredient Note: Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark brown, spicy-sweet sauce made from soybeans and a complex mix of spices. Look for it in the Asian section of your supermarket.

Nutritional Information: Per serving
Calories	398 kcal
Calories From Protein	-
Calories From Carbs	-
Calories From Fat	-
Carbohydrates	44 g
Dietary Fiber	4 g
Fat	11 g
Saturated Fat	3 g
Monosaturated Fat	-
Polysaturated Fat	-
Protein	28 g
Potassium	376 g
Sodium	313 g
Iron	-
Cholesterol	86 g
Folic Acid	-
Nutritional Bonus: Per serving
Selenium (54% daily value), Zinc (20% dv), Fiber (16% dv).

ALL ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE Pagan origins, Christian adaptation, & secular status

ALL ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Pagan origins, Christian adaptation, & secular status

Quotation:

"Many Americans celebrate both Christmas and Xmas. Others celebrate one or the other. And some of us celebrate holidays that, although unconnected with the [winter] solstice, occur near it: Ramadan, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa." John Silber 1

Overview:

Some have traced the Christmas tree back at least as far as the Prophet Jeremiah who wrote the book Jeremiah in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Opposition to the Christmas tree was strong in past centuries. The early Christian Church in the third century strictly prohibited the decoration of their houses with evergreen boughs. The decorated Christmas tree only caught on in the mid-19th century. Modern-day opposition continues: some condemn the Christmas tree because they believe it to be a Christian symbol; others condemn it because they believe -- incorrectly -- that the custom of cutting down a tree, erecting it in the home and decorating it is a Pagan custom. ₁ For many people today, it is primarily as a secular symbol of hope for the New Year and the future return of warmth to the earth. Its future is assured in spite of opposition.

Objections to the Christmas Tree:

In the past, there have been many objections to Christmas trees:

The Prophet Jeremiah condemned as Pagan the ancient Middle Eastern practice of cutting down trees, bringing them into the home and decorating them. Of course, these were not really Christmas trees, because Jesus was not born until centuries later, and the use of Christmas trees was not introduced for many centuries after his birth. Apparently, in Jeremiah's time the "heathen" would cut down trees, carve or decorate them in the form of a god or goddess, and overlay it with precious metals. Some Christians feel that this Pagan practice was similar enough to our present use of Christmas trees that this passage from Jeremiah can be used to condemn both:

Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (KJV).

	In Europe, Pagans in the past did not cut down evergreen trees, bring them into their homes and decorate them. That would have been far too destructive of nature. But during the Roman celebration of the feast of Saturnalia, Pagans did decorate their houses with clippings of evergreen shrubs. They also decorated living trees with bits of metal and replicas of their God, Bacchus. Tertullian (circa 160 - 230), an early Christian leader and a prolific writer, complained that too many fellow-Christians had copied the Pagan practice of adorning their houses with lamps and with wreathes of laurel at Christmas time. 8,9,10,11
	The English Puritans condemned a number of customs associated with Christmas, such as the use of the Yule log, holly, mistletoe, etc. Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." 2,4
	In America, the Pilgrim's second governor, William Bradford, a Puritan, tried hard to stamp out all "pagan mockery" at Christmas time. 4 Christmas trees were not used by Puritans in colonial times. However, if they were, they would certainly have been forbidden.
	In 1851, Pastor Henry Schwan of Cleveland OH appears to have been the person responsible for decorating the first Christmas tree in an American church. His parishioners condemned the idea as a Pagan practice; some even threatened the pastor with harm. But objections soon dissipated. 2

Even today, the complaints continue:

	At Christmas 2000, the city manager of Eugene OR ordered that Christmas trees could not be erected on city properties because he considered them Christian religious symbols. He felt that their presence would violate the principle of church and state. 1 This is just one of countless conflicts that have surfaced at Christmas time over religious and quasi-religious observances.
	Some Fundamentalist Christian groups oppose Christmas trees and even the celebration of Christmas for their members. This includes the Jehovah's Witnesses and, until recently, the Worldwide Church of God. Part of the opposition is because the custom of decorated trees originated in Paganism. They also oppose trees because of a literal interpretation of the quotation from Jeremiah.

Origins of the Christmas Tree:

Pagan traditions: Many Pagan cultures used to cut boughs of evergreen trees in December, move them into the home or temple, and decorate them. 7 Modern-day Pagans still do. This was to recognize the winter solstice -- the time of the year that had the shortest daylight hours, and longest night of the year. This occurs annually sometime between DEC-20 to 23. They noticed that the days were gradually getting shorter; many feared that the sun would eventually disappear forever, and everyone would freeze. But, even though deciduous trees, bushes, and crops died or hibernated for the winter, the evergreen trees remained green. They seemed to have magical powers that enabled them to withstand the rigors of winter. Not having evergreen trees, the ancient Egyptians considered the palm tree to symbolize resurrection. They decorated their homes with its branches during the winter solstice. 3 "The first decorating of an evergreen tree began with the heathen Greeks and their worship of their god Adonia, who allegedly was brought back to life by the serpent Aessulapius after having been slain." 5 The ancient Pagan Romans decorated their "trees with bits of metal and replicas of their god, Bacchus [a fertility god]. They also placed 12 candles on the tree in honor of their sun god" 2 Their mid-winter festival of Saturnalia started on DEC-17 and often lasted until a few days after the Solstice. In Northern Europe, the ancient Germanic people tied fruit and attached candles to evergreen tree branches, in honor of their god Woden. Trees were viewed as symbolizing eternal life. This is the deity after which Wednesday was named. The trees joined holly, mistletoe, the wassail bowl and the Yule log as symbols of the season. All predated Christianity. 5

Christmas traditions: One Christmas tradition was that St. Boniface (675? - 755; a.k.a. Winfred) cut down a deciduous tree in the presence of some newly-baptized Christians. The tree was an oak -- once sacred to the former Pagans. It miraculously split into four pieces, revealing an evergreen tree growing from the center of the oak stump. This symbolized the death of Paganism and the establishment of Christianity. 3 Another is that Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) was so impressed by a forest scene that he allegedly cut down a small fir tree, took it home, and decorated it with lighted candles. This is probably a myth, because the earliest documented record of a Christmas tree in Germany is dated to almost 60 years after his death.

History of the Christmas Tree:

The Christmas tree tradition dates back to Western Germany in the 16th century. They were called "Paradeisbaum" (paradise trees) and were brought into homes to celebrate the annual Feast of Adam and Eve on DEC-24. ₄ They were first brought to America by German immigrants about 1700. Christmas trees became popular among the general population about 1850. ₂

President Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) arranged to have the first Christmas tree in the White House, during the mid-1850's. President Calvin Coolidge (1885-1933) started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn in 1923. ₄

Today, the Christmas Tree has become accepted by Christians, by people of other faiths, and for those who do not follow an organized religion. It has become a popular late-December tradition and part of our present-day culture. As Gail Quick, University of South Carolina - Beaufort's dean of university relations, commented on the occasion of a community tree-lighting ceremony.: "This Christmas event every year is the glue that holds this community together - this and the July 4th fireworks. This always makes me feel good. Some of us still believe in Santa Claus." ₆

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. John Silber, "Anti-Christmas stance isn't rooted in fact," Boston Herald, 2000-DEC-28. See: http://www.bostonherald.com/ Note: The Islamic holy month of Ramadan is based on a lunar calendar that moves each year relative to the Gregorian calendar. Thus it just happens to be celebrated near Christmas at this time.
2. Diane Relf, "Christmas Tree Traditions," Virginia Cooperative Extension, 1997-AOR, at: http://www.ext.vt.edu/
3. "Christmas tree: Pointing towards heaven," at: http://ww2.netnitco.net/
4. "What is a tree?," at: http://www.serve.com/
5. "Should Christians celebrate Christmas?," at: http://www.sovereigngrace.net/
6. William Dean, "Christmas tree lighting sparks holiday spirit," Carolina Morning News on the Web, at: http://www.lowcountrynow.com/
7. "The Christmas Tree as a Symbol of Pagan Baal Worship," The Ellen White Research Project, at: http://www.ellenwhite.org/
8. "Tertullian," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
9. David Beaulieu, "Christmas Tree Decorating: The History of the Christmas Tree," Landscaping, About.com, at: http://landscaping.about.com/
10. Turtulian, "On Idolatry," XV.

Copyright © 2000 to 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-DEC-29
Latest update: 2005-DEC-13
Author: B.A. Robinson

CHRISTMAS AND THE FORBIDDEN TREE

CHRISTMAS AND THE FORBIDDEN TREE

"Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. . . . They are altogether brutish and foolish." (Jeremiah 10:2-8 )

Why has man chosen Christmas to be an international "holy-feast" day in observance of Christ's birth? Jesus Christ has not commanded a FEAST day to be kept holy to remember HIS BIRTH. Also JESUS CHRIST IS--NOT--ONE--BIT--PLEASED when churches, peoples, and nations use His name to title their feast holiday as in Christmas, at the same day and time of the year that the idolaters of the past served and worshipped their idols, with all their abominations in a hedonistic type of worship. Why does man choose to remember and observe Christmas, a day and season not commanded by God, and reject all the special Holy Days and seasons God has commanded man to remember to keep, Lev. 23:1-44? God's wrath is growing stronger and His patience shorter day by day, because of man's sins, and his continual, rebellious heart. Why does man choose to remember to observe the first work day of the week, Sunday, to be his sabbath, not commanded by God, and reject the Sabbath day God has commanded for man to remember to keep Holy--the 7th day of the week, Saturday? It is all because of man in the beginning chose the forbidden tree, and continues to eat and live by the fruit of the forbidden tree of Gen. 3:3-6-man as god, deciding what is holy and unholy, and man creating his own holy days, sabbaths, saviors, and gods made in man's and Satan's own image, Deut. 5:8.Woe be unto them in Christ's soon coming, Day of Judgment.

Why does man in his "professed Christian world" take the pure, sinless, righteous, holy Name of Jesus Christ, drag, copy, paste, and place His name into their hedonistic, idolatrous, special holidays, such as Christmas? The reason is to try to make Christmas man's fruit of his chosen, forbidden, tree to appear as good, holy, and as fruit of the spirit of God's tree of life. This is man trying to Christianize his fruit of the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of "good and evil." Study Mat. 7:17-20. Taking Christ's Name and associating it with all the sins-fruit of the forbidden tree, is--not--one--bit--pleasing to God, and God will not hold him without guilt and shame for taking His Name in vain and for evil use, Deut. 5:11, and using His name in observing man's idolatrous Christmas.

Why does man argue that he doesn't worship at Christmas the idols of the past, for which Christmas was begun, but at the same time teach his children to look to the idol of Santa Claus? Why does man deceive himself that he is not an idolater of Christmas, and yet at the same time put up a Christmas tree with all its lights and trimming, to serve as the Santa Claus's idol alte,r that they lie and teach Santa will visit with gifts, and use this tradition to glorify this Christmas idol as a gift giving, god in their children's minds and hearts? God the Father and Jesus Christ, hate idolatry of any form, along with all the lying that goes along with it! The idolatry of Christmas is not the fruit from the tree of life, Rev. 22:14, but is the fruit of the forbidden tree-a way of man that seems good, but will end in death, Pro. 14:12. Christ warns all idolaters and he who loves and makes a lie that they will not have a right to the tree of life nor enter into His City, Rev. 22:14-15.

Why can't so-called believers in Chirst see through all the deception, falseness, idolatry, make believe, lies and sins of Christmas, and understand that this is man following a way that seems right, and that this mis-appropriating the name of Jesus Christ and His birth, will end in death? Men, through Satan and his professed "Christian ministry," have been and are liars and covering up the truth about Christmas, and all its abominations. God says, "HE HATES, DESPISES, MAN'S FEAST DAYS,"---Amos 5:20-24, because they are the fruit of the forbidden tree--the tree of death and corruption--God told man to not eat of its fruit. Satan and his ministers of light, will always make the fruit of the forbidden tree, pleasant to the senses, and sensual desires of man, such as in Christmas with all its decorations, lights and food, but it will always reap the unpeaceful fruits of unrighteousness and death. Romans 8:6 says, "For to be fleshly-minded (mindful of the things of the flesh) is death: but to be spiritually-minded (mindful of the spiritual things) is life and peace."

Why did Jesus Christ of the Bible say, "Don't think (celebrate at Christmas) that I came to send-bring peace to the earth, I came not to send peace but a sword," Mat. 10:34. Luke 12:51 says "I (Christ) came not to give PEACE BUT DIVISION. Division and a sword means a battle of the spirits--the dividing of the spirits--the spirit of the flesh that follows the forbidden tree, fighting against the spirit of the born-again Saint-following the tree of life. Gal. 5:16-17, "The flesh lusteth (desires things) against the spirit and the spirit (desires things) against the flesh." Jesus Christ said in Mat. 10:35, "He came to set a man at variance (divided apart) against his father and a daughter against her mother," verse 36, "and a man's foes shall be they of his own household." The Christian community, observing Christmas, does not believe or worship this Christ of the Bible, but the false christ of Christmas, that brings families together all bearing the same corrupt fruit of the forbidden tree, and trying to unite families in same Satanic spirit, not to divide apart. Why does Jesus Christ divide families-because of some continually desiring to follow the way of the forbidden tree of the flesh, and others desiring to follow the tree of life-of obeying Christ's 10 commandments-His tree of God's way of life. Christ desires to live in them by His spirit, verses 37-40, Mat. 12:33, and to totally reject the fleshly spirit of man and Satan, that rejects God and His law.

Why don't "Christians teach their children about the true Jesus Chirst of the Bible, and His true gospel message? The message is, that Christ came to the earth to give His Life and pour out His Blood because of men's sins of idolatry and lying, bearing a false witness about Christ, His Name and His Birth, and teach them that the christ of Christmas is not the Christ of the Bible: and to teach them that the Christ of the Bible is coming soon, to reveal Himself (WHAT A SHOCK THAT WILL BE) and to put down and destroy all the idol images of Him, and to judge all idolaters, and all who love to make a lie, and who are still living by the fruit of the forbidden tree, like that of Christmas. Woe be unto all that will not repent and continue to justify their way and fruit that they are reaping from the forbidden tree! John the Baptist said, "The axe is laid to the trees: therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit (people living of the forbidden tree) is cut down and cast into the fire," Mat. 3:10 If people who profess to be Christians, don't cut down this forbidden tree, then Christ will cut it down in His Judgment coming on all the earth.

Persons of Color You Need to Know

Person of Color Details: Harriot Jacobs

General Information:
Full Name: Harriot Jacobs
Biography: Writer. "Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl." Was born in North Carolina and escaped to New York City in 1842. She lived in various parts of NY including Monroe County. She was the first woman to author a slave narrative. She spent 18 months in Rochester. Worked in an anti-slavery reading room and bookstore above Frederick Douglass's newspaper "The North Star."
Life Events:
Year: 1813	Event: BIRTH	(Unknown) County
Year: 1842	Event: RESIDENCE	New York County
Year: 1861	Event: LITWORK	(Unknown) County "Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl."
Year: 1880	Event: DEATH	(Unknown) County
Year: ?	Event: OTHER	Monroe County Spent 18 months in Rochester, NY

Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813 - March 7, 1897) was an American abolitionist and writer. She is best-known as the writer of the 1861 book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, published under the pseudonym Linda Brent. She was one of many escaped slaves who wrote autobiographical narratives in an effort to shape opinion in the Northern United States on the "peculiar institution" of slavery.

Reward notice issued for the return of Harriet Jacobs

Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813 to Daniel Jacobs and Delilah. Her brother's name was John. Daniel Jacobs was a mulatto slave owned by Dr. Andrew Knox. Delilah (last name unknown) was a mulatto slave owned by John Horniblow, a tavern owner. Born to a slave, Harriet inherited the status of "slave" from her mother. Harriet lived with her mother until Delilah's death around 1819, when Harriet was a child of six. Then she lived with her mother's slave-owner and mistress, Margaret Horniblow. Margaret taught Harriet to read, write, and sew.

In 1825, Margaret Horniblow died and willed the twelve-year-old Harriet to Horniblow's five-year-old niece, whose father, Dr. James Norcom, thus became her de facto master. Norcom sexually harassed Harriet for nearly a decade. He refused to allow her to marry any other man, regardless of status. Harriet had a consensual lover, Samuel Sawyer, who was a free white man and a lawyer who eventually became a Senator. She and Sawyer were parents to two children, Joseph and Louisa, also owned by Norcom. Harriet reported that Norcom threatened to sell her children if she refused his sexual advances.

By 1835 her domestic situation had become unbearable, and Harriet managed to escape. She lived for seven years in a small crawlspace in her grandmother's attic before escaping by boat to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She started living as a free woman and later moved to New York City in 1842. Jacobs found employment as a nursemaid before and during the American Civil War. Her most notable employer was the writer and publisher Nathaniel Parker Willis.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Jacobs began composing Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl while living and working at Idlewild, Willis's home on the Hudson River.[2] Jacobs's autobiographical accounts started being published in serial form in the New York Tribune, owned and edited by Horace Greeley. Her reports of sexual abuse were considered too shocking to the average newspaper reader of the day, and publication ceased before the completion of the narrative.

Boston publishing house Phillips and Samson agreed to print the work in book-form — if Jacobs could convince Willis or Harriet Beecher Stowe to provide a preface. She refused to ask Willis for help and Stowe turned her down, though the Phillips and Samson company closed shop anyway.[3] She eventually managed to sign an agreement with the Thayer and Eldridge publishing house and they requested a preface by Lydia Maria Child.[3] Child also edited the book and the company introduced her to Jacobs. The two women would remain in contact for much of their remaining lives. Thayer and Eldridge, however, declared bankruptcy before the narrative could be published. The narrative in its final form was published by a Boston, Massachusetts publisher in 1861.

The narrative was designed to appeal to Middle class white Christian women in the North, focusing on the impact of slavery on women's chastity and sexual virtues. Under slavery, female slaves were virtually defenseless against harassment and rape -- a risk Christian women could perceive as a temptation to masculine lusts and vice as well as to womanly virtues.

She criticized the religion of the Southern United States as being un-Christian and as emphasizing the value of money ("If I am going to hell, bury my money with me", says a particularly brutal and uneducated slaveholder). She described another slaveholder in the sentence, "He boasted the name and standing of a Christian, though Satan never had a truer follower." Jacobs argued that these men were not exceptions to the general rule.

Much of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is devoted to the Jacobs' struggle to free her two children after she runs away herself. In one heart-rending scene, Harriet spends seven years hiding in a tiny space built into her grandmother's barn in order to occasionally see and hear the voices of her children. Jacobs changed the names of all characters in the novel, including her own, to conceal their true identities. Despite documents of authenticity, many have accused the narrative of being based on false accounts. The villainous slave owner "Dr. Flint" was clearly based on her former master, Dr. James Norcom.

Jacobs's correspondence with Child reveals her enthusiasm over the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862. She felt that her suffering people were finally free. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution of 1865 would indeed put an end to slavery.

Grave of Harriet Jacobs at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Jacobs lived the later years of her life in Washington, D.C.. She died March 7, 1897. Six days later, she was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts; her headstone reads: "Patient in tribulation, fervent in spirit serving the Lord".

References

• Shockley, Ann Allen. Afro-American Women Writers 1746-1933: An Anthology and Critical Guide, New Haven, Connecticut: Meridian Books, 1989. ISBN 0-452-00981-2
• Yellin, Jean Fagan. Harriet Jacobs: A Life. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Basic Civitas Books, 2004. ISBN 0465092888

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Harriet Jacobs

• Essays by Harriet Jacobs at Quotidiana.org

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Ann_Jacobs"

Categories: 1813 births | 1897 deaths | People from North Carolina | American slaves | African American writers | American abolitionists | American nurses | American Civil War nurses

Hidden categories: Articles to be expanded since April 2008 | All articles to be expanded

Person of Color:David Walker

African American abolitionist David Walker (1785-1830) wrote Walker's Appeal, urging slaves to resort to violence when necessary to win their freedom.

David Walker was born free, of a free mother and slave father, in Wilmington, N.C., on Sept. 28, 1785. He early learned to read and write, and he read extensively on the subjects of revolution and resistance to oppression. When he was about 30, he left the South, because "If I remain in this bloody land, I will not live long. As true as God reigns, I will be avenged for the sorrows which my people have suffered." In 1826 Walker settled in Boston, Mass., where he became the agent for Freedom's Journal, the black abolitionist newspaper, and a leader in the Colored Association. For a living he ran a secondhand clothing store.

Walker published an antislavery article in September 1828; with three others, it became the pamphlet Walker's Appeal (1829). The articles were articulate and militant in their bitter denunciation of slavery, those who profited by it, and those who willingly accepted it. Walker called for vengeance against white men, but he also expressed the hope that their cruel behavior toward blacks would change, making vengeance unnecessary. His message to the slaves was direct: if liberty is not given you, rise in bloody rebellion.

Southern slave masters hated Walker and put a price on his head. In 1829, 50 unsolicited copies of Walker's Appeal were delivered to a black minister in Savannah, Ga. The frightened minister, understandably concerned for his welfare, informed the police. The police, in turn, informed the governor of Georgia. As a result, the state legislature met in secret session and passed a bill making the circulation of materials that might incite slaves to riot a capital offense. The legislature also offered a reward for Walker's capture, $10,000 alive and $1,000 dead.

Other Southern states took similar measures. Louisiana enacted a bill ordering expulsion of all freed slaves who had settled in the state after 1825. The slaveholding South was frightened by men like Walker, and their harsh reactions to the threat they saw in Walker's Appeal seemed justified when black slave Nat Turner led his bloody rebellion in 1831.

Most abolitionists disagreed with Walker's advice to the slaves to resort to violence to obtain freedom. White abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who believed in immediate emancipation but thought it could be accomplished through persuasion and argument, did endorse the spirit of the Appeal, however, and ran large portions of it, together with a review, in his paper, the Liberator. On the other hand, Frederick Douglass accepted a more activist position, probably due to Walker's influence and that of Henry H. Garnet, who also called for massive slave rebellions.

Walker died in Boston on June 28, 1830, under mysterious circumstances. His challenge to the slaves to free themselves was an important contribution to the assault on human slavery.

Sources

Walker's Appeal is available in recent editions: Walker's Appeal, in Four Articles [by] David Walker; An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America [by] Henry Highland Garnet (1948; reprinted 1969 with an introduction by W. L. Katz and a brief sketch of Walker's life); David Walker's Appeal, edited by Charles M. Wiltse (1965); and One Continual Cry: David Walker's Appeal ... Its Setting and Its Meaning, edited by Herbert Aptheker (1965). A brief biography of Walker appears in Historical Negro Biographies, edited by Wilhelmena S. Robinson (1968). Lerone Bennett, Jr., Pioneers in Protest (1968), contains a chapter on Walker. Walker figures in the surveys by John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of American Negroes (1947; 3d rev. ed. 1968), and Lerone Bennett, Jr., Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America, 1619-1962 (1962; 4th ed. 1969).

Do You Know Who Denmark Vesey Was?

Denmark Vesey (originally Telemaque,1767? – July 2, 1822) was a West Indian slave brought to the United States. After purchasing his freedom, he planned what would have been one of the largest slave rebellions in the United States. Word of the plans was leaked, and Charleston, South Carolina authorities arrested the plot's leaders before the uprising could begin. Vesey and others were tried, convicted and executed.

Many antislavery activists came to regard Vesey as a hero. During the American Civil War, abolitionist Frederick Douglass used Vesey's name as a battle cry to rally African-American regiments, especially the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.

Early life

In 1781, Vesey was purchased by Captain Joseph Vesey from the then-Danish Caribbean island of St. Thomas. He labored briefly in French Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), and then was settled in Charleston, South Carolina as a youth, where Joseph Vesey kept him as a domestic slave. On November 9, 1799, Denmark Vesey won $1500 in a city lottery. He bought his own freedom and began working as a carpenter. Although briefly a Presbyterian, Vesey co-founded a branch of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816. The church was temporarily shut down by white authorities in 1818 and again in 1820.
The Vesey conspiracy

Inspired by the revolutionary spirit and actions of slaves during the 1791 Haitian Revolution, and furious at the closing of the African Church, Vesey began to plan a slave rebellion. His insurrection, which was to take place on Bastille Day, July 14, 1822, became known to thousands of blacks throughout Charleston and along the Carolina coast. The plot called for Vesey and his group of slaves and free blacks to slay their owners and temporarily seize the city of Charleston. Vesey and his followers planned to sail to Haiti to escape retaliation. Two slaves opposed to Vesey's scheme leaked the plot. Charleston authorities charged 131 men with conspiracy. In total, 67 men were convicted and 35 hanged, including Denmark Vesey.

Sandy Vesey, one of Denmark's sons, was transported, probably to Cuba. Vesey's last wife Susan later emigrated to Liberia. Another son, Robert Vesey, survived to rebuild Charleston's African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1865.

In response to white fears, a municipal guard of 150 men was established in Charleston in 1822. Half the men were stationed in an arsenal called the Citadel. In 1842, the South Carolina legislature replaced the expensive guardsmen with less expensive cadets. The arsenal was turned over to the newly established South Carolina Military Academy, which later became known as The Citadel.
White hysteria?

Recent scholarship in 2001 by the historian Michael Johnson gave a new twist to historian Richard Wade's 1964 theory that the Vesey Conspiracy was nothing more than "angry talk." According to Johnson, Mayor James Hamilton Jr. concocted a false conspiracy to use as a "political wedge issue" against Governor Thomas Bennett Jr., who owned four of the accused slaves. Somewhat in reaction to the Missouri Compromise, which restricted slavery in the western territories, Mayor Hamilton came to support a militant approach to protecting slavery. He called for draconian measures, while the governor clung to a paternalistic, almost benign view. In 1822, Carolinians were ready to believe the existence of a conspiracy.[3] Governor Bennett, while believing that the plot was not as widespread as Hamilton thought, nonetheless called Vesey's plan "a ferocious, diabolical design."

Johnson also asserted that aside from questionable court records, no other material evidence existed of Vesey's plans to lead the revolt. Most specialists, however, observe that a number of blacks familiar with Vesey or the Reverend Morris Brown, especially free black carpenter Thomas Brown, spoke about the plot in later years.

In 2004, historian Robert Tinkler, a biographer of Mayor Hamilton, reported that he uncovered no documentation to support any view besides the one that "James Hamilton believed there was indeed a Vesey plot."
In art

Martin Delany's 19th-century novel Blake referred to Vesey, as did Dorothy Heyward's drama Set My People Free. Vesey was the subject of a 1939 opera named after him by novelist and composer Paul Bowles.

Several PBS documentaries have included material on Denmark Vesey, particularly Africans in America and This Far By Faith.

Vesey was the subject of the 1980s made-for-television drama, Denmark Vesey's Revolt, in which his character was played by the Cameroon-born actor Yaphet Kotto. Vesey's character also appeared in the 1991 TV movie Brother Future, in which he was played by the then-too young Carl Lumbly, who was forty-years-old at the time.

Denmark Vesey is the name and basis for a character created by Orson Scott Card in The Tales of Alvin Maker, a series of books which detail an alternate history of America. The character Denmark emerges in Book Five, Heartfire, in which his slave rebellion comes under threat by mistakes made by Alvin’s brother, Calvin Miller/Maker. Vesey's conspiracy also formed the basis of John Oliver Killens' brief novella, Great Gittin' Up Morning. He appears briefly in John Jakes' Charleston, where he is mischaracterized as a mulatto.

After Denmark, a play by David Robson, is a contemporary take on the the historical Denmark Vesey. In it, a young editor--who may be related to Vesey--travels to the Deep South to confront questions of racism and identity. The play first appeared at the 2008 Great Plains Theatre Conference. A workshop production by Yellow Taxi Productions is planned for the fall of 2008.

Kanye West Blames Himself for Mother's Death

Posted Nov 12th 2008 4:30PM

In a recent interview with People magazine, Kanye West opens up about finding the right girl, feeling like an "alien," and life after the sudden death of his mother, Donda West. The rapper/producer has been relatively quiet since his mother passed away last year. "I didn't do any interviews after my mom passed, I wasn't ready to speak about [it]," West said. "Now I'd rather talk it through than commit suicide. I'm super devastated."

The rapper avoided the press while he worked through his painful loss, but became way more active on his blog. In September, dodging the paparazzi landed him in some trouble and he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on felony vandalism charges.

Sore Losers or What?

It is about time that we added some color to the White House.

Without reason nor necessity there some out there who do not want an African American/Black man to be president of these United States of America. These are the ones who when asked for a good reason why the don't think Obama should be president cannot give a real valid reason. I can no longer call these people ignorant because ignorant is only absence of facts, data, and knowledge concerning any given subject and/or subjects. Any one can simply learn to overcome that. These people refuse to learn any more than what their prejudice minds desire.

These fools should realize that most blacks are here in this country because of slavery. Meaning that we did not ask to come here. We the unwilling help build this nation for free. Upon being set free we continued to work hard for this nation. During times of war we have fought for this nation. While we have one this and more we have always been treated like trash when all we have wanted to do is be accepted and treated fairly. Instead we have been tortured, hung, set on fire, our women raped, and killed for no reasons. We have been labeled as not human, sub human, and even animal. Still we have worked hard and not really fought back in most cases. All in all we have just wanted to be left alone but, we have been messed with in every way possible. It is as if some one has wanted to hold us back and down so that we cannot succeed. This has made many blacks feel that something must be wrong with being black.

The only reason to hold a person down is to prevent them from getting up. You hold them down when you are afraid of what they will do when they get up.

Now ask yourself, " what is it that black people have done to warrant all of the ill treatment and hatred?". What has Obama done that makes him unworthy of being president of the U.S.A.? Nothing! Therefore you have no reason to behave in such a manner that represents so much hate towards blacks here and abroad. It is racist, plain and simple! To act without reason is to be less than an animal. As rational beings we should not conduct ourselves in a mindless manner which has no direction.

It would be one thing to be upset that your choice did not win the election. Yet this thing goes deeper than that for some folks out there. They did not care about the election much until they realized that a black man could actually win. These are the same people who held klan style rallies against Obama. These are the same people who in Virginia and abroad sent out messages (some on stationary with the state seal) telling democrates to go out to vote on Wednesday the 5th instead of Tuesday the 4th. In many areas these same types harassed Obama supporters and targeted blacks threatening them about going out to vote for Obama. What was it the made them feel they had to cheat? Why are they so strong in their hatred towards blacks? Do they feel that they better than blacks and that they should not be led by a black person? I could waste my time calling them al kinds of names describing their stupidity but, why try. I believe that their actions speak volumes of the low depths to which they dwell.

They should know a few things about themselves and their true place in history. I we all came from a single origin, one starting point then there is only one race and that is the HUMAN RACE!