THE STORY OF HOTTENTOT VEN-ASS (VENUS)

I was appalled when I first heard of this woman, a black woman sold as a slave to the colonialists, transported to Europe so that she could feature in freak shows because of her big posterior. It was pretty sad. So I decided to read on it and maybe inform people on the story of an objectified African woman.

Saartije Baartman, born in the Eastern Cape of South Africa was sold at age 20 by a Scottish doctor to a British showman. She could not have known that she would never see her home again nor as she stood on the deck and saw her homeland disappear behind her could she have known that she would become the icon of racial inferiority and black female sexuality for the next 100 years. She was exhibited in circus shows all over Europe in her lifetime because of her body appearance. The Europeans would pay to view her body and an added payment would allow them to poke her behind with a stick. The image and idea of "The Hottentot Venus" swept through British popular culture. A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed.

In 1814 she was taken to France, and became the object of scientific and medical research that formed the bedrock of European ideas about black female sexuality. In Paris, Baartman's promoters didn't need to concern themselves with slavery charges. By the time she got to Paris, her existence was really quite miserable and extraordinarily poor. Sara was literally treated like an animal. There is some evidence to suggest that at one point a collar was placed around her neck. 


Upon death Baartman's body was sent to George Cuvier's laboratory at the Museum of Natural History for examination. Cuvier wanted to examine her remains to test his theory that the more "primitive" the mammal, the more pronounced would be the sexual organs and sexual drive. Baartman refused to be an experiment while she was alive. With permission from police, Cuvier conducted an autopsy on Baartman's dead body. First he made a cast of her body and later preserved her brain and genitals. Cuvier concluded that "the Hottentots" were closer to great apes than humans. The rest of Baartman's flesh was boiled down to bones for Cuvier's collection and displayed for years afterward. Her body did not receive a decent burial until much later when feminism and racial equality prevailed. In the name of Science, her sexual organs and brain were displayed in the Musee de l'Homme in Paris until as recently as 1985.

Freedom from the perspective of a slave

Living in the 21^st century has made many of us take freedom for granted. Being raised in a golden age of freedom makes us ignorant on what exactly freedom is. I came to realize this after reading books and watching movies based on the 19^th and 20^th century in the USA. I understood what it meant when they termed the USA as the land of the free. In these books and movies, the main theme was slavery, the black slaves and what they went through on their day to day activities. Let me first name these movies before I get into my discussion. They are: The help, The butler, 12 years a slave, The color purple and Django.

In the help we see that even in the 60s, the black people had not achieved their freedom yet. Most black women were house helps, who were not allowed to use their master’s washrooms, a need which should really not earn any discrimination.

In the movie the butler, the main character’s father was shot dead right in front of him just after his mother was raped by his master’s son, how cruel is that? On top of that, the white man who did all that was not liable to any criminal conviction.

In the movie, 12 years a slave, we see how the southerners would kidnap free black men from the north and sell them to the cotton farm owners as slaves. If a black man was literate, he would be liable to thorough punishment. Black women were easily traded as sex slaves. They were sexually abused by their masters and in case they got pregnant, the children were beaten out of them. This was to make sure that the Caucasian race remained ‘pure’. This is only a depiction of what happened to the slaves in America, not taking into account, Europe, Middle East and even Africa during the colonial era

The slaves were deprived of their social, physical and psychological freedom leaving them only with the ultimate freedom-spiritual freedom. This is knowing that you are not the body, knowing that you are not the mind, knowing that you are only pure consciousness. It separates you from the body, it separates you from the mind, and ultimately only you are there as pure consciousness, as pure awareness. That is spiritual freedom.

This freedom is what delivered the African American from slavery and the Africans from colonial times because it was really all they had. They knew that they were not just human beings but persons, spiritual beings who did not deserve to be defined by their physical nature but by their spiritual nature. They knew that race was just a collective and the collective has no soul, the collective has no mind. The collective has no body even; it is only a name. It is just a word.

From their spiritual freedom, they were able to gain their other freedoms, physical freedom-that your body is not enchained, that it is not categorized as lower than anybody else’s, that there is an equality as far as the body is concerned.

Their perception of freedom was totally different from that of the 21^st century and we ought to ape their attitude. Therefore as we approach the black history month in February 2014, we should get more informed on the struggles that the black people went through all over the world in order to gain independence and be termed as free people.

Freemason: The misunderstood fraternity or maybe not

I am sure this post will cause a lot of controversial statements, which is why i have decided to write it in first person. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is mine. For the 20 years I have been in this earth, I have been made to believe that the Freemasons are devil worshippers until i decided to look into it in basic research to find out who they really are? What is their objective? As you read this, you should appreciate that what i will say is just based on the information that has been put out to the public and it is my judgement of that information.

Who exactly are they? Well, they are a fraternity that was formed in the late 16th century and the early 17th century and they exist all over the world. The masons meet in buildings which they call 'lodges', which am sure we have all seen one before. Masons conduct their meetings using a ritualized format. There is no single Masonic ritual, and each jurisdiction is free to set (or not set) its own ritual. However, there are similarities that exist among jurisdictions. For example, all Masonic ritual makes use of the architectural symbolism of the tools of the medieval operative stonemason. Freemasons, as speculative masons (meaning philosophical building rather than actual building), use this symbolism to teach moral and ethical lessons of the principles of "Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth."

Two of the principal symbolic tools always found in a Lodge are the square and compasses. Some Lodges and rituals explain these tools as lessons in conduct: for example, that Masons should "square their actions by the square of virtue" and to learn to "circumscribe their desires and keep their passions within due bounds toward all mankind." 

The masons are known to be very secretive but there are some principles which they are free to share with the public. These are:

1. A member can only be a man.
2. They do not accept members who do not believe in a supreme being, therefore membership is made up of Muslims, christians, buddhists etc. and they do not have any objective of changing them....''There is no separate Masonic God..''
3. They are widely involved in charitable activities
4.  They are a brotherhood and can not testify against each other

I also came to find out that some members have been the most influential people in the world. This being:

• Johann Christian Bach- music composer
• Johannes Brahms- music composer
• Ringling brothers- circus brothers
• Winston Churchill- politician
• Henry Ford- founder of ford
• William McKinley-U.S president
• Prince Philip- Husband to Queen Elizabeth II
• Roosevelt- U.S president
• George Washington-U.S president

And this is just the few who were open about their membership. So after reading all this I still ask, are they really what people perceive them to be?

IRON LADY: The woman, brave enough to enter the man cave.

Defeat? I do not recognized that word

For a long time, the political world was considered a man’s world. The house of men where no women were allowed to take part in, not even vote in who they considered right to lead them. Slowly as time passed, women were allowed to vote for their leaders, but they were to hush when a group of men would begin discussing politics and would at times be sent to the kitchen to ‘’wash the tea cups’’, something which most women were comfortable doing. Always being the lesser sex. However, from a town grocery store, rose a renowned politician who changed the face of politics. Margaret Thatcher: The iron lady.

 

Born in 1925 and graduating from Oxford University 29 years later, Margaret Hilder Roberts had the dream of being a research chemist. She married her husband Denis Thatcher in 1951. On the other hand, she had political interest. Early in her university, Thatcher had begun taking part in political groups to the point of being the president of the Conservative party of her school.

 

If you want something said, ask a man.

If you want something done? Ask a woman.

She became a member of the Conservative party in 1959. When the party lost in the 1964 General elections, a new leader of the party, Edward Heath appointed her as the opposition spokesman for the party whereby she held various opposition posts. In 1970, the party won the General Elections and Thatcher became the Secretary State for Education and Science. However, she caused controversies when she put an end to free milk supply for children and increasing the prices of school meals. This may have been one of the causes of fights between trade unions and the party, leading to the party’s loss in the following 1974 General Elections to Labour party.

 

In 1975, Thatcher decided to challenge Heath’s leadership of the party and she won by 11 votes thus being the party leader. She emphasized on the country’s economy especially, Market economy. On the other hand the Labour party which was in power at the time was putting tight monetary policies on education and health hence being known as monetarism. In the 1979 General Elections, Labour party was easily defeated by the Conservative party. Margaret Thatcher became the Prime minister of Britain. The first woman prime minister.

 

As a prime minister, Thatcher developed a close relationship with President Ronald Reagan. They took a firm stance with the Soviet Union hence being known ‘the iron lady’. Her government reduced the power of trade unions and improved the economy although the unemployment levels increased. Her popularity as a prime minister was damaged when her government introduced community tax also known as poll tax which caused various controversies. Her leadership was challenged in the party causing her to resign as prime minister in 1990.

 

Thatcher, who had ruled for 11 years as a prime minister, left the House of Commons in 1992 and entered the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.

 

Margaret Thatcher was honest, blunt, radical and had strength of character. Though Thatcher’s government had setbacks, she still had the dream of making the citizens work for what they want by cutting back social welfare groups, trade unions and privatizing certain industries. She left the country being one of the financial capitals of the world, far from where it was before then. During her political career she kept the quote, ‘One of the things of being in politics is that men are not a reasoned or reasonable sex.’ She rose from the crowd paving way for many political women in the world.

''My policies are based not on some economics theory but on things I and a million like me were brought up with: An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay: live within your means.'' Margaret Thatcher

 

BLOODY MARY!!!!

The ghost of Queen Mary I of England stained in blood drinking a Bloody Mary

CLEOPATRA:It was not her beauty but her intelligence

For a long time, Cleopatra was depicted as a young beautiful and sexy woman because of her influence and her ability to seduce two great politicians( Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony) of the Roman empire so as to get what she wanted whenever she wanted. She is said to have changed the face of the world in her time through her beauty and charm. Her beauty was depicted in the 1963 film Cleopatra by Elizabeth Taylor. However, this may not have been the case from the evidence found in Egypt of the coins of her time. From the coins it was found that she had a shallow forehead, pointed chin, thin lips and a witch- like nose(i.e it was big). So how exactly was she able to seduce the two Roman politicians?

Cleopatra, also known as the last pharaoh of Egypt was born in a Ptolemaic family who were the aristocrats of Egypt at the time. Her father was a pharaoh and she had two sisters and two younger brothers;Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. When her father died, he left a will which stated that her and her brother would be co- rulers of Egypt and they had to get married. She got married to the younger brother according to the Egyptian law. However, she was strong willed and brilliant and dreamt of a greater world empire which made her exclude the younger brother and husband Ptolemy XIII from the Egyptian coins and the kingdom's activities as she wanted to be the sole ruler of Egypt. However, the brother managed to overthrow her and she was sent to exile.

Cleopatra formed an Arab army which camped outside Alexandria. It happened that Julius Caesar the Roman emperor at the time heard of the sibling rivalry. He decided to visit Alexandria to make peace between the two siblings.So he stayed at one of the royal palaces in order to assemble the siblings the next morning. On hearing this, Cleoptra who had been barred from the city by the brother  asked one of her servants to sneak her into the emperor's palace. From historical sources it is said that she sneaked into the palace by being rolled up in a carpet which her servant was carrying. This amazed Julius Caesar and she became his mistress. By the time Julius Caesar was meeting with the siblings the next morning, Cleoptra had already won his favour which made the brother furious and tried to fight against Julius Caesar's army but he was defeated and he drowned at River Nile while trying to escape.

Because of his death, Cleopatra was now the sole ruler of Egypt. Caesar had restored her position, but she now had to marry her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, who was eleven years old. This was to please the Alexandrians and the Egyptian priests. Surely Caesar went through all of this trouble for more than his infatuation with the queen of Egypt. She became the pharaoh and called herself the New Isis(Isis was the mother goddess of Egypt) after she gave birth to Caesar's son little Caeserion. Her relationship with Caesar continued and she went to reside at his palace even if Caesar already had a wife. He erected a statue of her represented as Isis in one of the temples in Rome. However, Caesar was assasinated and Cleopatra fled back to Alexandria since he had not written her and Caeserion in his will.

Cleopatra did what was necessary to try and save Alexandria from the Roman empire whatever the price. For this reason, she watched for the next rulers of Rome and decided that she would pursue Mark Anthony instead of Octavia as she had learnt his characater; she knew about his limited strategic and tactical abilities,blue-blooded, the drinking, his womanizing, his vulgarity and his ambition. So when Mark Anthony called on her to meet him, she made an impressive entry regardless of the Egyptian economic crisis.  She sailed with silver oars, purple sails with her Erotes fanning her and the Nereid handmaids steering and she was dressed as Aphrodite, the goddess of love. This was a very calculated entrance; considered vulgar by many. It was a vulgar display to attract the attention of a vulgar man. Mark Antony loved the idea of having a blue-blooded Ptolemy woman. Cleopatra had caught his attention.

 Cleopatra could get out of him what she wanted as he was infatuated by the queen. She managed to give all her children royal titles and she also was crowned Queen of kings by Mark Anthony. She was also able to order the execution of her own sister through Mark Anthony. She wanted to be the Empress of the world and her oath was,"As surely as I shall yet dispense justice on the Roman Capital". This made Octavia angry with Mark Anthony and they fought against each other in the battle of Actium where Mark Anthony was defeated and he committed suicide.

After Antony's death, Cleopatra was taken to Octavian where her role in Octavian's triumph was carefully explained to her. He had no interest in any relationship, negotiation or reconciliation with the Queen of Egypt. She would be displayed as a slave in the cities she had ruled over. She must have had memories of her sister, Arsinoe, being humiliated in this way. She would not live this way, so she had an asp, which was an Egyptian cobra, brought to her hidden in a basket of figs. She at the age of 39. The Egyptian religion declared that death by snakebite would secure immortality. With this, she achieved her dying wish, to not be forgotten. 

Cleopatra may have been beautiful, ugly, or somewhere in between. Certainly, she was intelligent, a good diplomat, and queen of an area important for Rome, so it is no wonder that leaders of Rome like Caesar and Mark Antony, would fall in love with Cleopatra, while another Roman leader, Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus), would fear and hate her.

Cleopatra is not know for her brilliance and her devotion to her country. She was a mathematician and a very good businesswoman. Her astronomer is known to have discovered the leap years and she introduced him to Caesar. She had a genuine respect for Caesar, whose intelligence matched her own. Antony on the other hand almost drove her insane with his lack of intelligence and his excesses.She used this fact to her advantage. She fought for her country. She had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch.

 "Cleopatra was a mistress of disguise she could reinvent herself to suit the occassion..."

Love made the world go round or was it lust?

Ever heard the theory that women rule the world? Do you believe it?Well, I would like you to ask yourself the same question right after you hear of one great historical icon known as Anne Boleyn who basically reformed England back in the 15th century because of her beauty and charm.


Okay so have you ever heard of King Henry VIII? The one who had six wives? Yeah that is who I am talking about. So Henry married Catherine of Aragon who was the widow of his elder brother Arthur when he became king. This was done because the marriage between Catherine and the brother was not consumated as he was sick and he passed later on. So this means that Catherine was much older than King Henry VIII. What man would be pleased by their wife being older than them? Therefore their marriage was based on tradition and not romance. They gave birth to a child know as Mary, Have you heard of Queen Mary I? Bloody Mary?( Anyway, that is besides the point).

So during this marriage there happened to be a lady who was one of court maids;brunette, dark-eyed and olive-skinned, Anne Boleyn. She caught the king's attention with her beauty, charm and how social she was. The king decided to pursue her as a mistress,however,she refused to be seduced by the king so that she could be his mistress. This made him fall in love with her or maybe it might have been infatuation. He decided that he would marry her and make her queen since Catherine had not given him a son and he also did not love her. These are the words he used to describe her(Anne) in his letter to her,"Wishing myself...in my sweetheart's arms, whose pretty dukkys [breasts] I trust shortly to kiss...". Well that is King Henry for you.

Since the English church was linked to Rome and they were all under the pope, King Henry VIII decided to seek the pope's permission to marry Anne Boleyn. The pope refused this since it went against the laws of the church. This made King Henry VIII furious and he decided to break the English church also known as the Anglican church away from the Roman Catholic church and made himself Supreme head of the church instead of the pope. Though the two churches had earlier conflict this was the first time they divided. This made the pope excommunicate Henry from the church hence made the two churches exist separately.

Well, after all that was done, the King married Anne Boleyn and made her Queen. Their love was consumated and they gave birth to a girl known as Elizabeth, I know your wondering if this is Queen Elizabeth I( The virgin Queen);Yes it is her. However, Anne did not please the King as much because she did not give birth to any son. This made him fall in love with one of Queen Anne's maids, Jane Seymour. Rumours spread of Queen Anne being adulterous and practising witchcraft . King Henry who had already fallen in love with Jane, was quick to execute Anne Boleyn for treason; so was it love or lust for Boleyn?

Despite the sad ending of Anne Boleyn, we see how much the lady had over King Henry VIII and how she controled his thoughts and feelings to lead to the reformation of the church so that she could be made Queen. So I ask you again, Who exactly rules the world?Women?Maybe if your not convinced you should stay tuned to this blog so that I tell you about another icon, Cleopatra....

Feel free to post ypur comments I would love to know your views