#nsla

#Repost @thedayafter2016 with @get_repost ・・・ The slave ship Zong departed the coast of Africa Sept. 6, 1781 with 470 slaves. Human chattel was a very valuable commodity and many captains took on more slaves than their ships could accommodate to maximize profits. The Zong’s captain overloaded his ship and many began to die from disease and malnutrition. The Zong then sailed to an area in the Atlantic known as “the Doldrums” because of periods of little or no wind. The ship sat stranded and 7 crew members and more slaves died. The captain decided to throw the “cargo” to save the ship and claim a loss on their insurance. Over the next week they threw 132 slaves who were sick overboard. Ten slaves threw themselves overboard in what was described as an “Act of Defiance.” When the ship arrived in Jamaica, the ship’s owner filed a claim for his loss, arguing that the Zong did not have enough water to sustain both crew and the “commodities”. The insurance underwriter disputed the claim citing that the Zong had 420 gallons of water when she was inventoried. The court found in favor of the owners. The case provoked a great deal of interest and the attention of Great Britain's abolitionists. Abolitionist Granville Sharp used the case to increase public awareness and further the anti-slavery cause. It was he who first used the word massacre. A second trial ruled in favor of the insurers. There was also an attempt to bring charges against the captain and his crew, but the Solicitor General refused stating “What is this claim that human people have been thrown overboard? This is a case of chattels or goods. Blacks are goods and property; it is madness to accuse these well-serving honorable men of murder. The case is the same as if wood had been thrown overboard.” The event inspired the actions of William Wilberforce who led the successful campaign to have Parliament abolish slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833. There is now an underwater memorial off the coast of Grenada in the West Indies to all the slaves drowned during the notorious Middle Passage. #zongmassacre #chattelslavery #middlepassage #Grenada #notsolongago #nsla

#Repost from @thedayafter2016 with @regram.app ... Not so long ago: Leo Moss, a Black doll maker and Macon, GA native made dolls in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Friends and family are reported to have been the subjects for his dolls, many of which bore sad faces with actual teardrops molded into their papier-mâché faces. Moss was a handyman by trade, and while most of his dolls were Black, a few white dolls were made on commission. Moss traded for chickens and vegetables to feed his family. The dolls were made from paper scraped from walls, boiled and made into a paste. Each head was molded individually and colored with a spray gun used for killing flies. Boot dye and stove blacking were used as the base color. The glass eyes were brown and inset into the heads, however a few had painted eyes. Their hair was molded, their nostrils were usually pierced, and their bodies were cloth with legs and arms mostly composition. The bodies were made by Lee Ann Moss, Leo's wife, and some were from broken dolls they had been given. Another source of doll parts was from a toy supplier, a white man from New York who sold defective parts to Moss. It is said that the salesman ran off with Lee Ann taking the youngest child, Mina, with them. The dolls had tears on their faces and most appeared very sad and dejected, reflecting the unhappiness he felt over this tragic event. Author and historian Debbie Behan Garrett noted in her 2008 book, Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, that if one of Moss’ young models was unhappy or crying while he was trying to capture their image on a doll, he added their tears. Moss’ dolls are extremely rare and perhaps only 100 of them still exist today. Highly sought after by collectors the dolls sell for thousands of dollars, with one selling in 2010 for $10,350. Moss dolls gained national exposure after one of his dolls was entered in the 1973 United Federation of Doll Clubs 24th Annual Exhibit at Louisville, Kentucky. #leomoss #dolls #blackdolls #blackdollmakers #dollmaker #dollcollector #Notsolongago #nsla

#Repost from @thedayafter2016 with @regram.app ... Not so long ago: On Oct. 15, 1969 Willie Black, a graduate student and head of Wyoming University’s Black Student Alliance,learned of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) ban on Black males holding priesthood in the church. He wrote a letter to the administration describing the race issues of the LDS and called for football players and students to protest. Two days before the game, 14 Black players aka the Black 14, decided to wear black armbands in the game. Head Coach Lloyd Eaton reprimanded them and released them from the team, revoking their athletic scholarships. The Board of Trustees supported his decision and said the players would not play in that game or any other that season. The now all-white team beat BYU and won 2 more games but lost the last 4. The 1970 team lost all of its home games and all but one game on the road. The week after the athletes’ dismissal, the NAACP filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction ordering the reinstatement of the players and asking for damages for violation of their civil rights. The injunction was denied and the case thrown out of court. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision, but it also fell short in court. The negative publicity affected Wyoming’s football program for years. Students at the campuses of almost every BYU opponent protested at the games and called on their institutions to ban contests with BYU. Stanford University announced that they would no longer participate in athletic contests against BYU and the University of Washington. The Faculty Senate voted to sever all ties with BYU athletics. On June 9, 1978, the First Presidency of the Mormon Church announced that a divine revelation had been received to open the Mormon priesthood to Blacks ending the ban. In 2002, a statue to the 14 was erected on the University of Wyoming campus and in 2009 the LDS Institute at the University of Wyoming made black arm bands in tribute to the events of 1969 and handing them to all in attendance. When asked in 1982 if he had any regrets, Eaton said “Hell No!”. #theblack14 #byu #wyoming #churchoflatterdaysaints #mormon #notsolongago #nsla