The Philadelphia Bible Riots of 1844

My husband and I were engaged in a very interesting discussion about the history of immigration in America. As a recent immigrant from Scotland, this is a very hot and frequent topic around the house.

He could not believe that initial Irish immigrants were treated so poorly and that laws were even enacted to curtail the flood of European immigration at the turn of the last century. In my ego-driven nerd hysteria to not only prove my point but flood the discussion with reputable facts, I discovered an article on the Bible Riots of 1844.

I had surprised even myself. Having spent half of my impressionable childhood growing up in Philadelphia, were these violent and religiously fueled riots took place, I was amazed at my lack of knowledge. History was a gigantic part of public education in the city of brotherly love and my teachers NEVER told us about the Bible riots of 1844. These bloody riots burned down churches and all started over the argument of using the King James version of the bible in public school.

I knew that the history of America has always been a violent one but this really took the cake. Much of the discussion around immigration today still revolves around these same talking points and truthfully the same false idea. The idea that we can own land. Native American people would laugh at the whole thing and call it crazy. How could we, mere humans, say that we can own our mother? We are all guests and bad ones at that fighting over our seat at the table. When truthfully none of us fighting even deserves to sit down. Food for thought, but when it comes to fighting over immigration maybe none of us is right?

https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/nativist-riots-of-1844/

Saying Goodbye to Social Media

There comes a time in life when all things must change. This is the time in my life when I have decided to say goodbye to Facebook, Twitter, and I never even tried SnapChat but it sounded fun. Recent revelations from the news regarding Facebook's willing participation in the disruption of elections here in America is just unconscionable to me. I refuse to continue to willingly participate in the slow erosion of my own democracy. I also do not want to freely give away my rights to privacy and contribute to the growing power of these malicious monopolies.

If the founding father's thought monopolies were good then they would not have made them illegal. I have decided to take back control of my own voice by creating my blog right here on my own website. At least I can still control my own domain....well somewhat.....for now...hopefully.

It is hard for me to close that door, a tear falls and I can hear Boys To Men softly playing in my mental soundtrack. I will miss seeing my friend's amazing art, and watching kids in my circle growing up. But I will not miss the hate speech that I am helping to fund by participating in the site or the private information that I am giving freely to Google, Amazon and God knows who else. As facial recognition software is developed and I see a bad episode of the Twilight Zone unfolding before my very eyes I have to step off the crazy train. I cannot help but see into the future and where this is leading and it's not pretty.

I don't want to live in a world where we value people only for their accomplishments or how good they look. I don't want to hang out with people that I only communicate with in 180 characters or less. I am sure done with being a part of a commercial monster that eats people and spits out profit margins. I am done helping to do my small part in funding the 1%.

My goal is to use this little corner of the world wide web to share my wild thoughts and ideas in one strange place.  As an artist, people often try to pigeon hole me into just one box but my mind is so much more than just pretty colors and compositions. I have often held back my views and opinions for fear of retribution but I can no longer hold my tongue. I hope that you enjoy and even if you don't please share your opinions. The art of conversation should not be lost.

Celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month in October!

National Arts and Humanities Month (NAHM) is a coast-to-coast collective celebration of culture in America. Each year since 1993, NAHM has helped give millions of Americans the opportunity to explore new facets of the arts and humanities in their lives and has encouraged them to begin a lifelong habit of active participation. National Arts and Humanities Month's four primary goals are to: create a national, state and local focus on the arts and humanities through the media; encourage the active participation of individuals, as well as arts, humanities and other interested organizations nationwide; provide an opportunity for federal, state and local business, government and civic leaders to declare their support for the arts and humanities; and establish a highly visible vehicle for raising public awareness about the arts and humanities. What You Can Do In towns and communities across America, arts organizations are planning and developing events, celebrations and innovative programming to highlight National Arts and Humanities Month. Throughout the month of October, special events will capture the spirit that the arts and humanities bring to everyday life. In particular, cultural organizations are being asked to do the following: Participate in the month-long celebration with an already-scheduled activity or a new event, large or small, that will be free and open to the public. Events could include a free performance, lecture or reading; a behind-the-scenes tour, a workshop, a concert or a festival. An open house is a great way to invite the community to join with your organization in celebrating the month. Obtain a proclamation from your elected officials. Use the Atlanta Arts Accords as a template for getting your elected leaders to declare their support and appreciation for the arts and humanities. The Atlanta Arts Accords were signed by representatives of the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Congressional Arts Caucus. Invite representatives from each of these groups and other civic leaders to sign a similar set of accords or issue a proclamation. See a Sample Proclamation. The Pittsburgh Arts Accords, a similar document signed by business and foundation executives, can be used to encourage the support of your state's private sector representatives. Submit articles and opinion editorials to newspapers and magazines about the value of the arts and humanities. Five More Ways to Participate Launch a mentor program. Identify businesses to sponsor arts and cultural organizations for membership in local convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs). Create NAHM giveaways and information. Produce materials (cultural calendars, brochures, buttons, etc.) in partnership with businesses and place them in visitor centers, CVBs, hotels, airports, restaurants and convention centers during the month. Dedicate cultural events for NAHM. Identify or include already-scheduled events for October as part of your celebration of the month. Create an arts and humanities month banner for your website and ask others to include it on their sites. Reach out to the media. Conduct editorial board meetings, write op-eds, and involve media representatives in symposia or events during the month.

For more information go to: www.nasaa-arts.org

Jane

Friday, 23 September Site Visit to American Civil War Museum

This Friday, 23 September, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. we will visit the American Civil War Museum, which includes the White House of the Confederacy and the Tredegar Iron Works.  You can find a link to the museum's website and directions to where we will meet below.

Website       Directions

We're Famous: The Following Was Published in the 28 July Reynolds Wrap Up

REYNOLDS AWARDED $100,000 NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES GRANT

Jane Rosecrans Introduces NEH Grant

Reynolds Community College faculty, staff and guests gathered at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant kick-off event June 20th.  The event was held in celebration of Reynolds receiving the Transforming Community College Humanities Through Local Engagement grant.  Reynolds was chosen as one of 12 U.S. community colleges to be awarded the three year $100,000 grant from the NEH.

Dr. Jane Rosecrans, Professor of English, will serve as project director and Dr. Stephen Brandon, Professor of English, will serve as co-director.  According to Rosecrans, the grant will give Reynolds the ability to develop courses in the Humanities/Liberal Arts and help to provide support for humanities faculty.

“The humanities have been under attack in the United States recently as colleges and universities focus on STEM programs and business,” said Rosecrans. “The support this grant will provide our humanities courses is a huge boost. In addition, we are hoping that by developing our humanities courses by working with academic and independent scholars and local historical, cultural, arts, and religious institutions, we will also make these courses more engaging for students.”

In addition to Rosecrans and Brandon, ten faculty members will serve as NEH Faculty Fellows in history, literature, art, music, humanities, philosophy, and religion in support of strengthening those aspects of the college to better serve faculty, staff, students and the community.  Numerous seminars and symposiums have been scheduled in the coming months to give the community an opportunity to share in learning about history and the arts from world renowned experts.

For Rosecrans, the NEH grant kick-off served as a platform to show upcoming plans for the grant.  Attendees learned about the ways in which the project will move forward with plans for a website and future expansion.

“We plan to communicate with the college as we proceed over the next three years so that everyone at the college might share in our success,” Rosecrans added.  “We also hope that this project at Reynolds serves as a role model for other community colleges who may also take advantage of resources in their communities and we plan to share what we learn at New Horizons and other conferences as part of the community college humanities association.  Finally, we hope to create long-term relationships with academic scholars at four-year institutions and our other project partners.”