#Modern Slavery In British Film Industry | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

trecblog · 4 years

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Black People’s Contributions To The UK: A Very Small Sample

Women

Phillis Wheatley

From West Africa.Sold as a slave to a family called the Wheatleys. Named after the family to whom she was sold and the vessel that transported her to America–‘the Phillis’.Wrote her first poem at 14 years old.First volume of poetry published in 1773.Moved to England at 20. Contributed to the anti-slavery movement. Read: Poems by Phillis Wheatley

Mary Seacole

From Jamaica.Traveled to England in 1854 with the intention of an onward journey to Balaclava, Ukraineto assist the soldiers fighting in the Crimean War (1853-1856). War Office denied her request. Made her own way and established a boarding houseto successfullylook after the wounded British soldiers using traditional medicines.She then traveled relentlessly.Returned to England and is now buried at Saint Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, London.

Fanny Eaton

From Jamaica. A model for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and their circle between 1859–1867.Public debut was in Simeon Solomon's painting ‘The Mother of Moses’, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860.

The Mother of Moses - Simeon Solomon (1840-1905)

1860 Oil on canvas

Lilian Bader

From Liverpool.The first black woman to join the British Armed Forces where she was: Canteen Assistant, Instrument repairer, Leading aircraft woman, and a Corporal. On receiving her degree from the University of London, she became a teacher.

olive Morris

From Jamaica.A member of the Black Panther Movement.Campaigned for rights of black people in Manchester and South London.Whilst at university expanded her activism to an international stage, visiting China and publishing an article from that visit. Founding member of Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) and,the Brixton Black Women's Group.

Margaret Busby

From Ghana. Youngest and first black female book publisher.Founded the publishing company Allison& Busby in 1967, alongside Clive Allison.A campaigner for diversity in publishing –co-founded Greater Access to Publishing (GAP).

Malorie Blackman

From London of Barbadian parents.Qualified as a computer scientist. Writer of children and young adult novels.Author of the Noughts&Crosses series.Eight Children’s Laureate–first black person in that role.Awarded an OBE in 2008.

Dr. Shirley Thompson

From London of Jamaican parents.Professor of Music at the University of Westminster.Recently named "one of the most inspirational Black British women" by the newspaper Metro.The first woman in Europe to conduct and compose a symphony within the last 40 years,composed to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, -New Nation Rising.A 21st Century Symphony.Named on the Evening Standard's Power List of Britain's Top 100 Most Influential Black People in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

From Jamaica. Barbara Blake-Hannah was the first ever black person to appear in a news role on British television in 1968. She paved the way for Moira Stuart, Trevor McDonald, and others.She was an on-camera reporter and interviewer on Thames Television’s Today programme. Since returning to Jamaica she has had a career in film making and written five books, including one in 1982 about the Rastafarian religion, which is her faith.

Dr. Youmna Mouhammed

From Mayotte, a small island off the coast of Southeast Africa. Dr Mouhamad has a PhD in polymer physics and is currently a Technology Transfer Fellow at SPECIFIC in Swansea University and is working on industrial coatings.She is pushing to improve the representation of black women within STEM, the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.She is the leader of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students in Engineering Network, formed in 2019. This network aims to progress racial equality by raising awareness of the challenges that BAME students and staff experience, then suggest interventions or strategies that investigate how to overcome the challenges.

Men

Ignatius Sancho

Born on a slave ship. Ignatius Sancho was an influential figure in the arts and is the first known black British voter. He is known for his plays, poetry,and music, and had a shop in London, where other creative people like him would meet up. He spoke out against the slave trade. Read: Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho: An African

Oluada Equiano

From Southern Nigeria. He was a slave but managed to buy his freedom and moved to London.Became very involved in the abolition movement. His book about slavery is one of the earliest accounts about what it was like to be a slave and it is one of the best-selling books on the topic. His autobiography (1789) ‘The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African’ was a seminal piece to those working to abolish slavery and its sales made him a wealthy man.

George Bridgetower

From Biala Podlaska, Poland-Lived in England for much of his life. Virtuoso Violinist Year of birth vary between 1778, 1779 or 1780.The son of an African father and a Polish mother. Said to be the older of two brothers, with his younger brother being a cellist. George was a student of composer Joseph Haydn and (once) a friend of Beethoven. Whilst friends, Beethoven dedicated a violin sonata to him, which was so hard to play many gave up.

Ira Aldridge

From New York – moved to the UK. Believed he stood a better chance of accomplishing his ambitions to become a brilliant and recognised actor.He became an important actor in plays at the theatre and was one of the highest paid actors in the world.He also became well known across Europe as a brilliant Shakespearean actor. Aldridge first toured to continental Europe in 1852, with successes in Germany, where he was presented to the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and performed for Frederick William IV of Prussia; he also performed in Budapest. An 1858 tour took him to Serbia and to Imperial Russia, where he became acquainted with Count Fyodor Tolstoy, Mikhail Shchepkin and the Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, who did his portrait in pastel.

John Edmonstone

From British Guiana. He was born into slavery but gained his freedom. Becoming skilled in taxidermy John Edmonstone was a very important figure in the world of scientific research.He taught at Edinburgh University in the 19th century with Charles Darwin as one of his students. It is said that Darwin’s theories on how humans have developed throughout time resulted from the teaching of John Edmonstone.

Samuel Coleridge Taylor

From London. Studied at the Royal College of Music in London.He partnered with several talented musicians, worked across continents and wrote many beautiful pieces of music enjoyed all over the world and still being enjoyed today. He died at the age of 37 from pneumonia. Compositions included: The Song of Hiawatha, Hiawatha Overture, Violin Concerto in G Minor. Read:The complete poems of Samuel Coleridge Taylor

Sir Learie Constantine

From Trinidad.A member of West Indian Cricket team who settled in Lancashire. Became England’s first black peer due to his political work which included relentlessly fighting for racial equality. Described as a cricketer, statesman and advocate of racial equality. Read: Colour Bar (1954) and, Learie Constantine and Race Relations in Britain and the Empire By Jeffrey Hill (Author)

From Grenada.The second peer of African descent to sit in the House of Lords, He was the longest serving Black Parliamentarian. He was described as a revolutionary politician. He was a medical practitioner in Trinidad on completion of his studies (Edinburgh University). His involvement in politics was twinned with his medical practice. He was a funding member and leader of the West Indian National Party. He returned to the UK and lived in London. As a member of the House of Lords, he played a leading role in campaigning for the Race Relations Act 1976. He was outspoken on issues such as immigration policy, and in a debate on 24 June 1976 he noted, in part: "...it is a myth, that the fewer the numbers [of black immigrants] the better the quality of race relations. That is a myth, and it is a myth that has inspired the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, the Immigration White Paper of August 1965 and the Immigration Acts of 1968 and 1971. It is designed to placate the racialists, but it is a fallacy; for to the racialist or the anti-semite the only acceptable number is nought....(Immigration Policy debate, Hansard, vol. 372, 24 June 1976.)

Stuart Hall

From Jamaica. One of the Windrush generation and an Oxford graduate he was responsible for pioneering theories of multiculturalism and the first cultural studies course in Britain, which was offered by the University of Birmingham. The Observer referred to him as “one of the country's leading cultural theorists". His ideas and books, which included The Hard Road to Renewal: Thatcherism and the Crisis of the Left (1988), Formations of Modernity (1992), Questions of Cultural Identity (1996), and Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (1997), inspired a whole new generation of multicultural academics and advocates.

Paul Stephenson

From Essex. Paul was Bristol’s first black social worker. As an equal rights campaigner he worked for the Commission for Racial Equality and the Press Council to ensure minorities were both working in newspapers and being covered fairly by them.He spent his life leading campaigns to change the way black people were being treated and it is said that his work played a part in Britain’s first Race Relations Act in 1965.

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thegoodlordbird-se1eps5 · 4 years

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▷ The Good Lord Bird; Season 1 Episode 5 - (S1E5) - HD 720p

Watch Online The Good Lord Bird Season 1 Episode 5 in Showtime Full Episodes Eng Sub / Sub English TV Series 2020 Premiere HD! ❖ The Good Lord Bird Full Episodes (HD): Full ✓ Showtime TV Shows and Movies from Official Partners. ►► P.L.A.Y N.O.W

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Told from the point of view of Henry 'Onion' Shackleford, a fictional enslaved boy who becomes a member of John Brown's motley family of abolitionist soldiers battling slavery in Kansas, and eventually finding himself in the famous 1859 Army depot raid at Harpers Ferry, an inciting incident of the Civil War. It's a humorous and dramatic tale of Antebellum America and the ever-changing roles of race, religion and gender in American society.

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Onion and new recruit John Cook head to Harper’s Ferry to prepare for the arrival of John Brown and his army. However, Onion quickly struggles to perform his mission of recruiting more African-American soldiers from the area when Cook’s reckless behavior threatens their exposure to suspicious neighbors. After several weeks of waiting, Brown, his army and his daughter Annie finally arrive—creating a new distraction for Onion: true love.

Genre : Drama Air Date : 2020-11-01 Network : Showtime Casts : Adam Shapiro, Orlando Jones, Ethan Hawke, Wyatt Russell, Hubert Point-Du Jour, David Morse, Steve Zahn, Joshua Caleb Johnson, Jack Alcott, Ellar Coltrane, Daveed Diggs

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Television Show

A television show might also be called a television program (British English: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A television series is usually released in episodes that follow a narrative, and are usually divided into seasons (US and Canada) or series (UK) — yearly or semiannual sets of new episodes. A show with a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries, serial, or limited series. A one-time show may be called a “special”. A television film (“made-for-TV movie” or “television movie”) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video.

History

The first television shows were experimental, sporadic broadcasts viewable only within a very short range from the broadcast tower starting in the 1910s. Televised events such as the 1911 Summer Olympics in Germany, the 1917 coronation of King George VI in the UK, and David Sarnoff’s famous introduction at the 1919 New York World’s Fair in the US spurred a growth in the medium, but World War II put a halt to development until after the war. The 1917 World Series inspired many Americans to buy their first television set and then in 1918, the popular radio show Texaco Star Theater made the move and became the first weekly televised variety show, earning host Milton Berle the name “Mr Television” and demonstrating that the medium was a stable, modern form of entertainment which could attract advertisers. The first national live television broadcast in the US took place on September 1, 19171 when President Harry Truman’s speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco was transmitted over AT&T’s transcontinental cable and microwave radio relay system to broadcast stations in local markets.[1][1][1] The first national color broadcast (the 19171 Tournament of Roses Parade) in the US occurred on January 1, 19171. During the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. A color transition was announced for the fall of 19117, during which over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. In 1971, the last holdout among daytime network shows converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season.

Development

When a person or company decides to create a new series, they develop the show’s elements, consisting of the concept, the characters, the crew, and cast. Then they often “pitch” it to the various networks in an attempt to find one interested enough to order a prototype first episode of the series, known as a pilot.[citation needed] Eric Coleman, an animation executive at Disney, told an interviewer, “One misconception is that it’s very difficult to get in and pitch your show, when the truth is that development executives at networks want very much to hear ideas. They want very much to get the word out on what types of shows they’re looking for.

To create the pilot, the structure and team of the whole series must be put together. If audiences respond well to the pilot, the network will pick up the show to air it the next season (usually Fall).[citation needed] Sometimes they save it for mid-season, or request rewrites and additional review (known in the industry as development hell).[citation needed] Other times, they pass entirely, forcing the show’s creator to “shop it around” to other networks. Many shows never make it past the pilot stage.[citation needed]

The show hires a stable of writers, who usually work in parallel: the first writer works on the first episode, the second on the second episode, etc.[citation needed] When all the writers have been used, episode assignment starts again with the first writer.[citation needed] On other shows, however, the writers work as a team. Sometimes they develop story ideas individually, and pitch them to the show’s creator, who folds them together into a script and rewrites them.[citation needed]

If the show is picked up, the network orders a “run” of episodes — usually only six or 11 episodes at first, though a season typically consists of at least 11 episodes.[citation needed] The midseason seven and last nine episodes are sometimes called the “mid-seven” and “back nine” — borrowing the colloquial terms from bowling and golf.

#The Good Lord Bird #The Good Lord Bird Season 1 #The Good Lord Bird Season 1 Episode 5

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janeaustentextposts · 5 years

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I love Patricia Rozema's "Mansfield Park", but how the film depicts slavery rubs me the wrong way. Do you think it's realistic for the time period (the lack of any actual black or brown people, the family leaving the slave trade only to invest in the slave-dependent tobacco industry, the audience being asked to root for a slave master and sexual assaulter to become a better father), or is it fair to criticize? Can you still enjoy the movie with these problematic elements? Thank you!

I think as with any media there’s certainly room for awareness and discussion of the problematic elements it contains and deciding for oneself if they negate whatever positive aspects there are, and the film’s use of the slave-trade is certainly a contentious aspect of it. (I say use because it doesn’t ever really strike me as a full depiction, with the passing references and that one scene with the sketchbook being about all we’re given for on-screen visuals and they’re HORRIFIC.) For the focus on Mansfield Park and the family within it, the depiction of total whiteness seems accurate for that isolated household; Portsmouth should definitely include more POC even as background actors, but as far as I can recall there aren’t really any ‘crowd’ scenes in the Portsmouth section of the film. This was the 90s and even today getting realistic representation of a range of thriving POC individuals in historical films is like pulling teeth so I’m not retroactively expecting any miracles from the 1999 Mansfield Park.

The progression of abolitionist sentiment among white and monied genteel/aristocratic families in Britain at the time was never linear. Fanny and to some extent Edmund (and that one cynical outburst from drunk Tom,) go partway in actually addressing their discomfort with the realities of plantation slavery in British holdings, but Edmund early on makes the inescapable point that this is what funds their existence. Theoretically, people committed to justice COULD break free and run away from the tainted income, but Fanny and Edmund aren’t. And Tom is the heir to it. This is not to say that they’re not culpable because they’re unwilling to fling themselves into rootless poverty by disavowing all benefits they receive from Sir Thomas’ plantations, but there’s only so far Rozema can go off-script from the novel. The white guilt is acknowledged, but they were never going to really solve the root problems, nor make the story about the much greater pain and suffering on the plantations, as that’s an entirely different film, and frankly not one that a white screenwriter or director should probably be making.

The ending is a mixed bag. Sir Thomas is horrific, and again, the story doesn’t divert enough to give us a scene of him having to truly confront his own evil beyond a wordless expression of Fanny’s shock and disgust and his own shame (or at least, he doesn’t seem to be proud of what he’s done,) so is he going to change in view of realizing that Fanny who has proven her Good Moral Judgement and his own sons view his deeds as repugnant? Hard to know, but I wouldn’t say Rozema closes the door on the possibility. The shift from sugar plantations to tobacco plantations, I feel, is played extremely tongue-in-cheek as it shows how cyclical these things can be, and that it’s still going to be a long time before the Bertrams are free of their blood-money and privilege. (Their descendants to the modern day would probably benefit from their prestige and money back in the 1800s, even if the slave labour disappeared the next day, so the origins of their wealth and power would always follow them, morally.)

But with the focus remaining on the Mansfield Park people and never broadening its scope beyond What These White Folks Are Feeling in terms of addressing these issues, it is what it is. For its time, I think Rozema did some really interesting and nuanced things, and as adaptations go it remains by far the most thoughtful and complex of Austen adaptations I have seen; but there are absolutely things about it (and in particular the storyline/treatment of the Antiguan plantation slaves off-screen,) which are uncomfortable to watch--and I think we SHOULD be uncomfortable, watching it, and not because nowadays we can say “slavery was bad” and pat ourselves on the shoulder for fixing institutionalized racism, but because this adaptation kind of opens the floor for discussions of who benefited and still benefits from that pain, even from a distance across oceans or centuries.

#Ask Me Anything Austen-Adjacent #AMAAA #Jane Austen #Mansfield Park #Anonymous

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blackkudos · 6 years

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Ira Aldridge

Ira Frederick Aldridge (July 24, 1807 – August 7, 1867) was an American and later British stage actor and playwright who made his career after 1824 largely on the London stage and in Europe, especially in Shakespearean roles. Born in New York City, Aldridge is the only actor of African-American descent among the 33 actors of the English stage honored with bronze plaques at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. He was especially popular in Prussia and Russia, where he received top honors from heads of state.

He was married twice, once to an Englishwoman, once to a Swedish woman, and had a family in England. Two of his daughters became professional opera singers.

Early life and career

Aldridge was born in New York City to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge on July 24, 1807. At age 13, Aldridge went to the African Free School in New York City, established by the New York Manumission Society for the children of free black people and slaves. They were given a classical education, with the study of English grammar, writing, mathematics, geography, and astronomy. His classmates at the African free school included Charles L. Reason, George T. Downing, and Henry Highland Garnet. His early exposure to theater included viewing plays from the high balcony of the Park Theatre, New York's leading theater of the time, and seeing productions of Shakespeare's plays at the African Grove Theatre.

Aldridge's first professional acting experience was in the early 1820s with the African Company, a group founded and managed by William Henry Brown and James Hewlett. In 1821, the group built the African Grove Theatre, the first resident African-American theatre in the United States.

Aldridge made his acting debut as Rolla, a Peruvian character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's Pizarro. He may have also played the male lead in Romeo and Juliet, as reported later in an 1860 memoir by his schoolfellow, Dr. James McCune Smith.

Confronted with the persistent discrimination which black actors had to endure in the United States, Aldridge emigrated to Liverpool, England, in 1824 with actor James Wallack. During this time the Industrial Revolution had begun, bringing about radical economic change that helped expand the development of theatres. The British Parliament had already outlawed the slave trade and was moving toward abolishing slavery in the British colonies, which increased the prospect of black actors being able to perform.

Having limited onstage experience and lacking name recognition, Aldridge concocted a story of his African lineage, claiming to have descended from the Fulani princely line. By 1831 he had taken the name of Keene, a homonym for the then popular British actor, Edmund Kean. Aldridge observed a common theatrical practice of assuming an identical or similar nomenclature to that of a celebrity in order to garner attention. In addition to being called F.W. Keene Aldridge, he would later be called African Roscius, after the famous Roman actor of the first century BCE.

On October 10, 1825, Aldridge made his European debut at London's Royal Coburg Theatre, the first African-American actor to establish himself professionally in a foreign country. He played the lead role of Oroonoko in The Revolt of Surinam, or A Slave's Revenge; this play was an adaptation of Thomas Southerne's Oroonoko (itself adapted from Aphra Behn's original work).

According to the scholar Shane White, English people had heard of the African Theatre because of British actor and comedian Charles Mathews, so Aldridge associated himself with that. Bernth Lindfors says:

[W]hen Aldridge starts appearing on the stage at the Royalty Theatre, he's just called a gentleman of color. But when he moves over to the Royal Coburg, he's advertised in the first playbill as the American Tragedian from the African Theater New York City. The second playbill refers to him as 'The African Tragedian'. So everybody goes to the theater expecting to laugh because this is the man they think Mathews saw in New York City.

An innovation Aldridge introduced early in his career was a direct address to the audience on the closing night of his engagement at a given theatre. Especially in the years leading up to the emancipation of all slaves in the British colonies in 1832, he would speak of the injustice of slavery and the passionate desire for freedom of those held in bondage.

Critique

During Aldridge's seven-week engagement at the Royal Coburg, the young actor starred in five plays. He earned admiration from his audiences while most critics emphasized Aldridge's lack of stage training and experience. According to modern critics Errol Hill and James Vernon Hatch, early reviews were mixed. For The Times he was "baker-kneed and narrow-chested with lips so shaped that it is utterly impossible for him to pronounce English"; the Globe found his conception of Oroonoko to be very judicious and his enunciation distinct and sonorous; and The Drama described him as "tall and tolerably well proportioned with a weak voice that gabbles apace."

Aldridge performed scenes from Othello that impressed reviewers. One critic wrote, "In Othello (Aldridge) delivers the most difficult passages with a degree of correctness that surprises the beholder." He gradually progressed to larger roles; by 1825, he had top billing at London's Coburg Theatre as Oronoko in A Slave's Revenge, soon to be followed by the role of Gambia in The Slave, and the title role of Shakespeare's Othello. He also played major roles in plays such as The Castle Spectre and The Padlock. In search of new and suitable material, Aldridge also appeared occasionally as white European characters, for which he would be appropriately made up with greasepaint and wig. Examples of these are Captain Dirk Hatteraick and Bertram in Rev. R. C. Maturin's Bertram, the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III, and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

Touring and later years

In 1831 Aldridge successfully played in Dublin; at several locations in southern Ireland, where he created a sensation in the small towns; as well as in Bath and Edinburgh, Scotland. The actor Edmund Kean praised his Othello; some took him to task for taking liberties with the text, while others attacked his race. Since he was an American black actor from the African Theatre, The Times called him the "African Roscius", after the famed actor of ancient Rome. Aldridge used this to his benefit and expanded African references in his biography that appeared in playbills. In June 1844 he made appearances on stage in Exmouth (Devon, England).

Aldridge first toured to continental Europe in 1852, with successes in Germany, where he was presented to the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and performed for Frederick William IV of Prussia; he also performed in Budapest. An 1858 tour took him to Serbia and to Imperial Russia, where he became acquainted with Count Fyodor Tolstoy, Mikhail Shchepkin and the Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko, who did his portrait in pastel.

Now of an appropriate age, about this time, he played the title role of King Lear (in England) for the first time. He purchased some property in England, toured Russia again (1862), and applied for British citizenship (1863).

Marriage and family

Soon after going to England, in 1824 Aldridge married Margaret Gill, an English woman. They were married for 40 years until her death in 1864.

Aldridge's first son, Ira Daniel, was born in May 1847. The identity of his mother is unknown, but it could not have been Margaret Aldridge, who was 49 years old and had been in ill health for years. She raised Ira Daniel as her own; they shared a loving relationship until her death. He emigrated to Australia in February 1867.

A year after Margaret's death, on April 20, 1865, Aldridge married his mistress, the self-styled Swedish countess Amanda von Brandt (1834-1915). They had four children: Irene Luranah, Ira Frederick and Amanda Aldridge, who all went on to musical careers, the two girls as opera singers. Their daughter Rachael Frederica was born shortly after Aldridge's death and died in infancy. Brandt died in 1915 and is buried at Highgate Woods, London.

Aldridge spent most of his final years with his family in Russia and continental Europe, interspersed with occasional visits to England. He planned to return to the post-Civil-War United States, but he died in August 1867 while visiting Łódź, Poland.

His remains were buried in the city's Evangelical Cemetery; 23 years passed before a proper tombstone was erected. His grave is tended by the Society of Polish Artists of Film and Theatre.

A half-length portrait of 1826 by James Northcote shows Aldridge dressed for the role of Othello, but in a relatively undramatic portrait pose, is on display at the Manchester Art Gallery (in the Manchester section). Aldridge performed in the city many times. A blue plaque unveiled in 2007 commemorates Aldridge at 5 Hamlet Road in Upper Norwood, London. The plaque describes him as the 'African Roscius'.

Ira Aldridge Troupe

Aldridge enjoyed enormous fame as a tragic actor during his lifetime, but after his death, he was soon forgotten [in Europe]. The news of Ira Aldridge's death in Poland and the record of his achievement as an actor reached the American black community slowly. In African-American circles, Aldridge was a legendary figure. Many black actors viewed him as an inspirational model, so when his death was revealed, several amateur groups sought to honor his memory by adopting his name for their companies.

Many troupes were being founded in various places around America. In the late nineteenth century Aldridge-titled troupes were established in Washington, DC, in Philadelphia, and in New Haven, their respective productions at the time being an adaptation of Kotzebue's Die Spanier in Peru by Sheridan as Pizarro in 1883, School by Thomas William Robertson in 1885, and George Melville Baker's Comrades in 1889.

The most prominent troupe named for him was the Ira Aldridge Troupe in Philadelphia, founded in 1863, some 35 years after Aldridge left the US for good. The Ira Aldridge Troupe was a minstrelsy group that caricatured Irish white men. The Ira Aldridge Troupe is unique in annals of minstrelsy; it was named for a Black actor who had left his homeland some 35 years before and achieved fame in Europe. Unlike most, later, Black minstrel companies, the Aldridge Troupe apparently did not do plantation material, although they were billed as a 'contraband troupe'—that is, fugitive slaves. Perhaps because of their substantially Black audience, the troupe felt no need to "put on the mask." Although much of the material the group performed was standard fare, several of the company's acts were downright subversive.

The Ira Aldridge Troupe appearing during the American Civil War made it "unique in the annals of minstrelsy." The Clipper (New York City) thought it was important enough to review; and it performed before a mixed audience, at a time when often white and black audiences were separated. Third, it was a black troupe presenting a program designed to appeal to their black audience. The Ira Aldridge Troupe performances eschewed the southern genre of old "darkies" longing for the plantation. The exclusion of southern nostalgia may have been in deference to a majority-black audience. The New York Clipper reported them as "A more incorrigible set of cusses we never saw; they beat our Bowery gods all to pieces."

The troupe also created performances and songs that referred to the continuing Civil War. A ballad, "When the Cruel War is Over", became well known; it was performed by three members of the troupe—Miss S. Burton, Miss R. Clark, and Mr. C. Nixon. The song sold over a million copies of sheet music and was one of the most popular sentimental songs of the Civil War. The song describes a soldier's farewell to his lady, the wounds he receives in battle, and his dying request for a last caress. The song, highly popular with white minstrel groups, was an example of the change in white minstrelsy that had been occurring at this time.)

Another popular production was a farce called The Irishman and the Stranger, with a Mr. Brown playing a character called Pat O'Callahan and a Mr. Jones playing the Stranger. This farce displayed black actors in white face speaking in a "nigger accent". The Clipper reporter referred to the performance as a "truly laughable affair, the 'Irish nagur' mixing up a rich Irish brogue promiscuously with the sweet nigger accent". Perhaps the Aldridge Troupe's audience got its biggest satisfaction, however, from the role reversal inherent in the piece: since the beginning of minstrelsy, minstrels of Irish heritage, such as Dan Bryant and Richard Hooley, had been caricaturing Black men—now it was the turn of Black men to caricature the Irish.

The history of minstrelsy also shows the cross-cultural influences, with Whites adopting elements of Black culture. The Ira Aldridge Troupe tried to pirate that piracy, and, in collaboration with its audience, turn minstrelsy to its own ends.

Aldridge family

Ira Daniel Aldridge, 1847–?. Teacher. Migrated to Australia in 1867.

Irene Luranah Pauline Aldridge, 1860–1932. Opera singer.

Ira Frederick Olaff Aldridge, 1862–?. Musician and composer.

Amanda Christina Elizabeth Aldridge (Amanda Ira Aldridge), 1866–1956. Opera singer, teacher and composer under name of Montague Ring.

Rachael Margaret Frederika Aldridge, 1867, died in infancy.

Legacy and honors

Aldridge received awards for his art from European heads of state and governments: the Prussian Gold Medal for Arts and Sciences from King Frederick William III, the Golden Cross of Leopold from the Czar of Russia, and the Maltese Cross from Bern, Switzerland.

Aldridge is the only African American to have a bronze plaque among the 33 actors honored at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Aldridge's legacy inspired the dramatic writing of African-American playwright Henry Francis Downing, who in the early 20th century became "probably the first person of African descent to have a play of his or her own written and published in Britain."

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Ira Aldridge in his 100 Greatest African Americans.

His life was the subject of a play, Red Velvet, by Lolita Chakrabarti and starring Adrian Lester, produced at the Tricycle Theatre in London in 2012.

Howard University Department of Theatre Arts, a historically black university in Washington, DC, has a theatre named after Ira Aldridge.

Aldridge's Othello has been highly influential in starting a series of respected performances by African Americans in Othello in the 1800s and early 1900s which includes: John A. Arneaux, John Hewlett, and Paul Robeson.

The Black Doctor (1847)

The Black Doctor, originally written in French by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois, was adapted by Aldridge for the English stage. The Black Doctor is a romantic play about Fabian, a bi-racial physician, and his patient Pauline, the daughter of a French aristocrat. The couple falls in love and marries in secret. Although the play depicts racial and family conflict, and ends with Fabian's death, Aldridge portrays his title character with dignity. Some plot points mirror Aldridge's own life, as he married a white Englishwoman.

Wikipedia

#Ira Aldridge #07-24 #08-07

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paulrennie · 6 years

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MCF Poster • 1962

Here is a poster for the Movement for Colonial Freedom from 1962. The Movement was established in the 1950s to campaign for an end to colonial oppression, over-and-above the self-evidently and politically correct end of racism. The archives of the MCF are held at SOAS, University of London...

The Movement for Colonial Freedom (MCF) was a leading anti-colonialist campaign group and civil rights advocacy organisation. Founded in 1954, as an amalgamation of a number of smaller campaign and lobby groups, including the British branch of the Congress of Peoples’ against Imperialism, the MCF had a strong association with the British labour movement. Organisations affiliated to the group at its foundation included a number of national trade unions, trade councils, constituency Labour parties, local co-operative societies, trade union branches, as well as student groups and British-based organisations representing various colonial diasporas.The prominent Labour Party members of parliament Fenner Brockway and Tony Benn were founder members, and the early Chair and Treasurer of the group respectively; while individual Labour, socialist and Communist activists served on its national bodies and area councils across the country.

The historian Stephen Howe describes the MCF...

as the culmination of active opposition to colonialism in Britain – the point at which anti-colonial feeling on the British Left found its most unified, coherent and forceful organisational expression and widest base of support. During the first ten years of its existence the MCF was, in terms of range of supporters and contacts and scope of activities, among the most important post-war British political pressure groups” (Howe, 1993: 231)

Anyone who doubts the terrible costs that attached to colonialism should watch Dan Snow’s film about the problems of modern Congo. This was shown on BBC4TV yesterday evening.

You can watch it on the BBCiplayer, here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/54zHlR30PT3XFs0DZxwgqCT/dan-snows-history-of-congo

Snow describes the terrible curse of the Congo’s natural resources... people. rubber, copper, uranium and, more recently, the stuff for computers and smart phones have all be available in abundance within the enormous geographical scope of its territories. This has made the territory fatally attractive to western value-extractors; whether imperial or corporate, and across several hundred years.

As an aside, it’s worth mentioning that western people routinely underestimate the size of the African continent...this is a pretty convincing expression of unconscious bias. The handy graphic, below, gives visual expression to this problem

Basically, the Congo is the same size as western Europe...

Snow’s film outlined the colonial exploitation of the Congo by the Portuguese slave traders, their British successors, and the Belgians. The Congo fell, almost by accident into King Leopold’s hands subsequent to HM Stanley’s opening of the interior during the 19C. For various reasons, the British declined the opportunity and allowed King Leopold to claim Congo as the first part of imperial Belgium...

After a period of heavy investment in the colony, Leopold began the value extraction of natural resources deriving from the usual process of appropriation, enclosure and exploitation, by co-opting local labour and developing a brutal slave economy...the widespread use of Congolese commodities made all of the industrial world complicit in the associated genocide.

The scale of brutality was eventually revealed by the human-rights campaign led by Edmund Dene Morel and in the novel, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. Heart of Darkness was famously re-cast, by Francis Ford Copolla in in relation to the US disaster in SE Asia, as Apocalypse Now (1979).

Here’s a note about Morel

As a young official at the shipping company Elder Dempster, Morel observed a fortune in rubber returning from the Congo while only guns and manacles were being sent in return. He correctly deduced that these resources were being extracted from the population by force and began to campaign to expose the abuses.

In collaboration with Roger Casement, Morel led a campaign against slavery in the Congo Free State, founding the Congo Reform Association and running the West African Mail. With the help of celebrities such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Mark Twain, the movement successfully pressured the Belgian King Leopold II to turn over the Congo to the Belgian government, ending some of the human rights abuses perpetrated under his rule...

The colonial legacy later bequeathed by Belgium was totally inadequate to support Congolese independence. The charismatic first leader of the Congo, Patrice Lamumba, was overthrown as a consequence of the Congo crisis in 1960-1965. His replacement, the Dictator Mobutu and supported by the US, installed a regime that normalised widespread corruption at every level and across all the main institutions of the fledgling state. The result has been a debilitating legacy of conflict, genocide, corruption and further exploitation.

What Snow found in present-day Congo was a 21C form of warlordism. That’s about the same as the 15C, in relation to British history.

It’s all very sad, and should remind us that whatever the apparent stability afforded by strong leadership, the lasting legacies of the juntas and the dictators are to impoverish their people for generations...

Edmund Dene Morel is someone well worth knowing about...

See his wiki page, here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._D._Morel

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msclaritea · 10 months

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Britain Lavender Mafia

In the British Lavender Mafia, those in a higher tier of society will usually strong-arm, trick or coerce new and younger artists in the industry, to take over their career, bleed them dry, pimp them out, and not just for sex. Sometimes, it may be for torture. They'll use the artists for everything, from getting attention for a project, asset collecting, and often, SPYING. Sometimes, the artist is SOLD as a child, to a wealthier family, according to Freemason laws. Yes. Freemasons buy and sell their children to each other. This is usually tied to Occult activity.

Special mention goes to Dakota Johnson for agreeing to spy on an old friend for Dorman in exchange for a part in a Kenneth Branagh film.

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mfmagazine · 6 years

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Nazanin Boniadi

Article by Star Noor

Photo by Sean Costello

Charismatic and beautiful Nazanin Boniadi is the epitome of a collective awareness, the poster child of what today' artist should be, and a damned good actor to boot. More than just a captivating beauty with attention grabbing tricks up her sleeve, Nazanin is an award winning performer and honor role brainiac. The epitomy of a modern woman with a broad spectrum of artistic talents she is both a reliable and relatable voice we all need in those who drive our popular culture. With roles in blockbuster films like Charlie Wilson's War and Iron Man, and in TV shows such as 24 Season 8, The Deep End, and Hawthorne- Nazanin is rapidly becoming a shining star in Hollywood Land. She was born in Tehran, Iran at the climax of the Iranian Revolution causing her family to relocate to London where she grew up. From an early age her passion for the arts was apparent receiving a merit from the Royal College of Music for playing the violin, a certificate in ballet from the Vaccani School of Dance, and winning the British "Yamaha Electone Festival" for her proficiency on the electric organ. But, in her college years Nazanin decided to forgo the arts for the more "stable and secure" lifestyle of a physician and so she relocated to the U.S. to attend the University of California, Irvine. During her years at the university Nazanin not only graduated with Honors but also won the competitive "Chang Pin Chun" Undergraduate Research Award for her work in heart-transplant rejection and cancer research. Suffice it to say, being satisfied in her abilities, Nazanin felt free to put down the microscope and pursue her first and truest calling- the performing arts. Since then she has become the first actor in a contract role to portray a Middle Eastern character in U.S. daytime history, a role that won her the 2008 NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series. But, perhaps more impressive than her collegial and performing resumes are her global humanitarian efforts. Lending her voice as an Official Spokesperson for Amnesty International Nazanin has been working both at the grassroots level and appearing on numerous international TV and radio programs to campaign for human rights. Her most current and perhaps effective efforts have been to bring attention to the unjust conviction and treatment of Iranian youth, women, and prisoners who have been targeted maliciously in the past decades. In her outreach she has worked to create and support acts which will help ensure the end to the injustices of this world meeting globally with political leaders, prominent human rights attorneys, and addressing the United Nations while continuing to create an impressive body of work as a groundbreaking artist. With Amnesty International turning 50 next year, a mega mix of sadness for the continuance of tragic human rights violations and a celebratory year for the many good works the organization has been able to accomplish, the time has come to get to know what being a tireless activist with a face of celebrity is all about and for that we turned to one of the most determined and talented artists striving for those freedoms we all should possess. You are an Amnesty International Spokesperson, why did you choose this organization to work with as opposed to others? Growing up in London, I remember watching entertainers I admired like John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson and the guys of Monty Python, Bob Geldof and Sting perform in the Secret Policeman’s Ball, an annual televised benefit concert that raised money for Amnesty International so I was very aware of this great organization. When personally considering a philanthropic partner who could use my voice most effectively, I was inspired by the way they educate and engage millions of individuals to advocate those in need, and because of their strong history of support from musicians such as Sting, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Nicolas Cage, and Jennifer Hudson I knew they are able to work within the entertainment industry to appropriately utilize artists to rally the widest group of people possible to affect positive change, that is really what being a spokesperson is all about. Artists and entertainers were the first group of people to make me aware of what human rights are. Now, if I can have just a fraction of the impact on future generations through my human rights advocacy that the artists I grew up watching and admiring had on me, I would be thrilled. In the broad spectrum of Amnesty's reach which issues have you tried to advocate personally and why? Over the past two years I have focused my attention on 3 main areas. The first has been general human rights advocacy, using my platform to help educate new generations on the 30 articles of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and how we are all compromised when human rights are violated. It is my dream to have human rights education be part of every high school curriculum across the world, because knowledge is power and you cannot defend what you do not know. The Second has been lending my support to the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), the only piece of legislation I have read that provides an effective solution to the global epidemic of violence toward women and girls. I believe it is a vital step toward world peace. I am pleased to say that this important bill was re-introduced in the 111th Congress by bipartisan teams in the House and the Senate on February 4th, 2010. The third and most intense area of focus has been campaigning for human rights in my homeland of Iran. Most recently, I had the pleasure of partnering with the wonderful rock band The Airborne Toxic Event on ‘The Neda Project’ respectfully named after a young Iranian woman Neda Agha-Soltan who was brutally shot while peacefully protesting the election results in the streets of Tehran. This was a series of events held in conjunction with the one year anniversary of the disputed presidential election, and in support of the human rights movement in Iran. Neda has become the face of the resistance and symbolizes the struggle for freedom in that country. The Neda Project culminated on June 20th, 2010, the anniversary of Neda’s death, in one massive online demonstration at nedaspeaks.org, in solidarity with the people of Iran. Numerous celebrities from Academy Award winning writer/director Paul Haggis, to recording artists such as Sting, Ne-Yo, Jay Z, and the Dixie Chicks, and actors such as Alyssa Milano and Cary Elwes supported the campaign. Tell me about any one issue you wish the world knew more about and focused more on. There is a growing child prostitution and sex slavery crisis in Iran that has been exasperated by its discriminatory treatment of women. Since sex is such a taboo subject in much of the Middle East, there is no room for public discourse on how women and girls can protect themselves against sexual predators, unwanted pregnancies, and infectious disease. Unfortunately, one of the tragic consequences has been a spike in HIV/AIDS infection in recent years. Education and awareness would go a long way in helping solve this devastating problem worldwide. As a woman what would you say to the Iranian women fighting for their rights in the country today? Women in Iran have proven their tenacity and steadfast devotion to human rights. Not only have they been at the forefront of the protests against the disputed presidential election of 2009, but for years they have been the driving force in campaigns for democracy, equality, and freedom. That’s why they have been dubbed “Shir-Zan” or “lioness”, because of their incredible fearlessness in the face of tyranny. I am in awe of these women. They are true heroines, each and every one. And when the women of a country are this brave, they set an incredible example for their children to follow, and there can only be optimism for the future of that society. The majority of rapes in Iran go unreported to the authorities because of the lack of public knowledge in victim advocacy and the government's inability to adopt laws which protect women instead of wrongfully persecuting them for allowing themselves to get caught in a situation where they might lose their chastity. As an ambassador for human rights, would you agree with this statement and what are your thoughts on the matter? The accusation of rape is a very sensitive subject for public discussion in Iran for several reasons: Firstly, the Islamic Republic’s penal system views the testimony of women as having half the value of a man’s. Such discrimination has had terrible repercussions on how women are perceived and treated by society. Secondly, rape does not constitute a separate criminal offense in the Iranian Penal Code and the rape of women is dealt with by the Judiciary under the zena provisions of the Code, or “penetrative sexual relations outside marriage”. Under Islamic law, such offenses are considered crimes against God, rather than crimes against a person, and are thus punishable by the death penalty. So, even if a woman can prove that penetration did in fact occur, she would be in danger of being executed due to the loss of chastity and a “crime against God”. The cumulative effect of these oppressive laws, make it almost impossible for women to speak out and seek justice when raped. Any kind of meaningful victim advocacy can only exist once these unjust laws have been rewritten to protect rape victims, rather than to punish them. What do you think about Hollywood as a place for Iranian performers? When I first started auditioning in 2006, Hollywood had a post-9/11 mentality toward Middle Eastern actors. There was an abundance of casting calls for terrorists, battered wives and store clerks. However, with the unfortunate political climate also came an ever increasing demand for Iranian actors, which seems to have encouraged more of our youth to study the performing arts and join the auditioning pool. So, over time the number of Iranian actors working in Hollywood has increased, which I count as a blessing. Fortunately, the roles are becoming far more mainstream, and less stereotypical. For example, ABC recently shot a pilot episode for Funny in Farsi, based on the book by Firoozeh Dumas, so it seems we are being more accepted in the social consciousness of the industry. I look forward to the day when an Iranian actor can open a movie in the U.S. and across the world. I don’t think we are too far away from that day. What can you tell us about your latest film? I had the good fortune of working on a wonderfully smart and witty short film last year, called Diplomacy, which is currently playing in the international film festival circuit. Diplomacy was written and directed by Jon Goldman, who last directed Grey’s Anatomy’s Sandra Oh, in the 2005 short film Kind of a Blur. It is a political comedy that examines the possibility of diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran, and how subtle changes in rhetoric can potentially change the course of history, for better or worse. It was a blessing to work with my co-stars: Michelle Forbes, Omid Abtahi and Navid Negahban, all extremely talented actors. The film won The Audience Award at The Paris International Film Festival in 2009, and received Special Jury Awards at Aspen Shorts Fest, and the USA Film Festival in Dallas in 2010. I also feel humbled to have received a Best Actress Nomination for my portrayal of Azar, the Persian Interpreter in this film, from the 2010 Short Shorts Film Festival in Tokyo, Japan. It’s been a fun ride! If you could play the lead in any film based on any Persian fable which story would it be and why this one? I would love to play the role of Manijeh in the love story Bijan and Manijeh, from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. It is an Iranian Romeo and Juliet story, except for there is a happy ending: Bijan falls in love with Manijeh, daughter of the king of Turan and enemy of Iran, Afrasiyab. After Afrasiyab punishes Bijan by ordering him to be imprisoned in a deep well in the desert, and banishes Manijeh to that same dessert, Manijeh digs a tunnel to Bijan’s prison, begs for food every day and takes it to him to keep him alive. She later helps the great Iranian hero, Rostam rescue Bijan from the pit. Her strength, determination, loyalty and love for Bijan are unwavering throughout. It would make a beautiful epic feature film. What do you think about the state of Iranian cinema today? The excellent caliber of Iranian filmmaking over the last few decades at the hands of such incredible directors as Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, and Bahman Ghobadi, has secured Iranian cinema as one of the most respected and critically acclaimed artistic cinemas. It is amazing that such artistic excellence can exist under Iran’s severe censorship rules. Imagine how much more they could flourish if they were afforded the same artistic freedom of self-expression that we enjoy, and often take for granted. It would be a dream and an honor to work with these esteemed Iranian directors, in an environment where they face no governmental interference or restrictions on the stories they wish to tell. Which performers do you admire the most who have influenced you as an actor? I fell in love with the idea of acting when I first watched Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Her on-screen charm is simply unparalleled. What is your dream role? I love playing powerful women with an underlying frailty and a complex inner conflict to resolve. I’m particularly drawn to period pieces. There’s something very magical about being able to transport an audience to another era, whether it is Biblical, set during the Persian or Roman Empires, or the Renaissance. I am also passionate about taking on a role in a film with a strong human rights theme, such as Rachel Weisz’s character in The Constant Gardner. It would be an exceptionally fulfilling way to fuse my work as an activist with my craft as a performer. If Azar Nafisi’s memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran, should ever be turned into a feature film, it would be a dream to play any one of Ms. Nafisi’s students, each of whom possesses the type of free-thinking bravado and inner conviction needed to challenge an oppressive society and eventually break the chains of tyranny. Any upcoming projects we should be looking out for? I will be appearing in Paul Haggis’s upcoming movie, The Next Three Days, which is scheduled to hit theaters in November 2010. It is a remake of the 2008 French film, Pour Elle. It was such an honor working with Paul. He is incredibly nurturing and supportive of his actors. He is also a devoted human rights activist whom I have a ton of respect for. And the experience of acting opposite Russell Crowe was incredibly powerful.

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kristablogs · 4 years

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Black birders have never been safe or celebrated

Most birding institutions and clubs discount Black participants, either through their whiteness or inaccessibility. (National Park Service /)

Jacqueline L. Scott is a PhD student in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. This story originally featured on The Conversation.

Birdwatching is open to all. Unless you are Black.

This is the message Christian Cooper received as he was birding in New York City’s Central Park last week. When Cooper asked a white woman to obey the posted signs regarding off-leash dogs, she called the police, claiming that her life was being threatened by an African American man. Christian Cooper filmed the encounter, which his sister posted online. It went viral, resulting in the woman being fired from her job.

There are different ways of looking at the encounter in the park.

Birding is one of the most popular nature-based activities in Canada. About a quarter of adults spend time watching, feeding or photographing birds. Birding is widespread as it is cheap and can be done close to home. It appeals to both women and men. It’s a charming way to teach children about nature.

Birdwatching is also a racialized hobby, where whiteness and white privilege work together to keep it non-Black. What this means is that the birders are white, may belong to white birding clubs and go on birding walks in woodsy areas which are seen as white spaces. If they are lucky, they may encounter a Black birder once every decade.

As I was #birding I thought about #ChristianCooper. It's hard to be #BlackOutdoors when white people challenge our right to be in the space. Racism is in #conservation and #EnvironmentalEd fields. #birdwatching #UrbanWildlife pic.twitter.com/aBn1LZh7gq

— Jacqueline L. Scott, Black Outdoors (@BlackOutdoors1) May 27, 2020

I am a Black birdwatcher, and I am also a researcher whose work focuses on how race shapes conservation, environmentalism and outdoor recreation. These fields are overwhelmingly white and noted for their lack of diversity.

Rules for Black birders

Ornithologist Drew Lanham has written nine rules for Black birders, including: “Don’t bird in a hoodie. Ever.” In a recent update, he added: “Roadrunners don’t get gunned down for jogging through neighborhoods, do they?” These pieces of advice refer to Trayvon Martin, a Black Florida teen killed while wearing a hoodie, and Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man from Georgia slain while running.

Racism in birdwatching is not a new phenomenon. The founder of modern bird conservation, John James Audubon, is rightly praised for his splendid books Birds of America. However, slavery paid for his birding activities: Audubon was born in Haiti and was the heir to a sugar plantation.

On his arrival to the US in 1803, he remained connected to slavery by buying and selling enslaved people. In fact, Audubon painted birds on a visit to Canada in 1833, the same year that slavery was abolished in Canada and the rest of the British Empire.

Audubon’s <i>Birds of America</i> is a celebrated series of books cataloging the continent’s birds. But its author, John James Audubon, was a direct beneficiary and participant in the slave trade. (John James Audubon/)

Ornithology, or the study of birds, was also hatched as colonial discipline. The quest to find and classify the birds of the world flew wing by wing with the spread of European empires and colonialism. White birders are credited with discoveries, while the local people who taught them, guided them and prepared their scientific specimens are erased from the studies.

In the past, birds were hunted for food and for their feathers. Watching birds for pleasure took off in the early 1800s, as a counter to industrialization and brutish life in the cities. Early birding clubs were formed by and for white people. Modern birding and bird eco-tourism are still dominated by this demographic.

Black faces in the white outdoors

I spend a lots of time in parks and conservation areas (which are, in turn, on Indigenous land), either hiking, cycling or looking for birds to add my life list.

In Black Faces, White Spaces, geographer Carolyn Finney traces how the legacies of slavery warp African American experiences in outdoors recreation. Their visits to national parks are tainted by everyday racism and fears of racial violence; Black people are made to feel unwelcome, and treated as if they are intruders on what is supposedly public space.

In geography, the racialization of space and the spatialization of race describes how Black people are expected to be penned in urban areas paved with concrete, and not in parks and free to enjoy nature. Nature is thus coded as a white space and Black people who venture there are seen as out of place. The same phenomenon occurs in Canada where wilderness and whiteness go together in our land of the Great White North.

The lack of role models is another obstacle to Black people’s participation in birdwatching. In one study, two-thirds of African Americans had never met a birdwatcher. People are less likely to try a new hobby if they don’t see someone like themselves doing so.

It's #BlackBirdersWeek! Day 2 is #PostABird! Mine is very much Southern Ocean inspired. Everyone on here knows I adore King Penguins 🐧. It was love at first sight! .@BlackAFinSTEM #BlackInNature 📷 Taken close to the Marion Island Sub-Antarctic 🇿🇦 base. pic.twitter.com/ktRtAIcL2U

— Sandra Boitumelo Phoma (@Sandra_Phoma) June 1, 2020

In response, Black outdoor activists and enthusiasts have established #BlackBirdersWeek as a social media celebration. According to a statement from former US president Barack Obama, it should not be the new normal, where Black people are harassed in public spaces by white people or the police, including birdwatching in a park.

I got into birding by looking out the window. I saw a flash of crimson and dashed out to check it. I thought the poor bird was spray-painted bright red, as a prank by graffiti artists working on a nearby mural. Then, I spotted another pair of crimson wings. The cardinals sparked my love of birding. I hold on to this moment, this memory of joy, when I think of other Black people’s brush with color and birdwatching.

0 notes

scootoaster · 4 years

Text

Black birders have never been safe or celebrated

Most birding institutions and clubs discount Black participants, either through their whiteness or inaccessibility. (National Park Service /)

Jacqueline L. Scott is a PhD student in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. This story originally featured on The Conversation.

Birdwatching is open to all. Unless you are Black.

There are different ways of looking at the encounter in the park.

— Jacqueline L. Scott, Black Outdoors (@BlackOutdoors1) May 27, 2020

Rules for Black birders

Black faces in the white outdoors

I spend a lots of time in parks and conservation areas (which are, in turn, on Indigenous land), either hiking, cycling or looking for birds to add my life list.

— Sandra Boitumelo Phoma (@Sandra_Phoma) June 1, 2020

0 notes

easytravelpw-blog · 6 years

Photo

Full text write on https://easy-travel.pw/top-20-most-popular-uk-cities-for-international-visitors/england/

Top 20 Most Popular UK Cities for International Visitors

01 of 20

London and Edinburgh Lead the Top 20

Giuseppe Torre/Getty Images

The Office of National Statistics, which keeps track of such things, has named the UK cities most visited by international visitors. You'd expect London to be number one and Edinburgh, coming in at number two isn't much of a shock either. But some of the other destinations in the UK Top 20 list, may surprise you. Check out their profiles to find out what makes each of them so popular.

London

Home of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, The British Museum and more British Icons, London is a world center of theatre, art, music, literature and culture. It's also a city of colorful markets, great shopping, green open spaces and a cosmopolitan culture.

London is home to 7.5 million people, or 12.5 per cent of the UK's population. Not counting visitors, more than 1.5 million Londoners come from abroad. They speak 300 different languages. On top of its cosmopolitan locals, London welcomes more than 25 million visitors a year through its five airports, national rail stations and Eurostar terminal, the gateway to the continent.

Continue to 2 of 20 below.

02 of 20

Edinburgh

John Lawson/Getty Images

Scotland's capital and the seat of its Parliament, Edinburgh combines the young and modern sensibilities of a great university city and national capital with a historic and dramatic setting. Here you'll find the world's biggest performing arts festival, a 1,000 year old castle and a mountain – Arthur's Seat – right in the middle of town. And, Edinburgh's annual New Year's celebration – Hogmanay – is four-day street party to end all street parties.

Edinburgh has about half a million people people, including more than 62,000 university students. At least 13 million people visit every year. During the main festival month of August, the population of Edinburgh swells by more than one million, making it, temporarily, the UK's second largest city.

Festival Edinburgh – From the end of June through to early September, Edinburgh reels through one festival after another. Film, books, art, music, television and jazz, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the Edinburgh International Festival are just some of the summer festivals. But the big event is the world famous Edinburgh Fringe, a free-for-all of drama, music, comedy and street theater that veers wildly from brilliant to dire and that takes over the whole city for most of August.

Come winter and Edinburgh folks are ready to party again, staging the world's biggest New Year's celebration, Hogmanay. The torchlight parades, fire festival events, concerts, fun fairs and winter swims go on for four days. What a hangover.

Edinburgh Travel Guide

How to Survive the Edinburgh Fringe

Edinburgh Hogmanay

Ten Cheap Hotels in Edinburgh

Top TripAdvisor Edinburgh Hotel Deals

Continue to 3 of 20 below.

03 of 20

Manchester

Getty Images

Manchester is often called the first modern city. In the 18th century this Northwestern city, 30 miles from Liverpool, was the cotton making capital of the world and one of the breeding grounds of the industrial revolution. Its entrepreneurs and industrial tycoons endowed it with museums, galleries, theatres and libraries as well as outstanding civic architecture. A devastating IRA bomb in 1996 created the need for city center regeneration resulting in a new, dramatic 21st century cityscape.

Today, some of the most exciting architecture in Britain can be found in Manchester and the nearby Salford Quays area. Among the highlights are Bridgewater Hall, home of Manchester's Hallé Orchestra; Urbis, a glass curtain-walled exhibition center, and the Imperial War Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind.

Music City

Manchester has long been a hot bed of the indie and pop music scenes. Among the bands and artists who got their start, Manchester can claim Elkie Brooks, Take That, Freddie and the Dreamers, Hermans Hermits, The Hollies, Oasis, Simply Red, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Morrissey and dozens more.

Today a large student population keeps Manchester's club scene as lively as ever. And, as one of the gateways to England's Lake District, Manchester makes a good anchor for a two base vacation, combining outdoor activities with urban nightlife.

Manchester Travel Guide

Christmas Markets in Manchester

Check guest reviews and prices for Manchester Hotels on TripAdvisor

Continue to 4 of 20 below.

04 of 20

Birmingham

Charles Bowman/Getty Images

A combination of entrepreneurial daring and engineering know-how made Birmingham the manufacturing engine of Britain through the 19th century and most of the 20th. James Watt first commercially manufactured his steam engine here; the transatlantic cable and the Orient Express were Birmingham built, and this was the heartland of the British motor industry.

Birmingham also has several tasty claims to fame. George Cadbury made his choccies here and his his Bourneville Estate was an early planned community. In more recent times, Birmingham has become the heartland of that Anglo-Punjabi speciality, Balti cuisine.

With a population of more than a million, Birmingham is the UK's second largest city.It's a vibrant, multi-ethnic destination with a lively arts and music scene and some of England's best shopping. Its Selfridges – the company's first store outside of London, is an ultra-modern building that looks like it just landed from outer space.

Music With a Brummie Accent

Heavy Metal is a Birmingham sound. Both Judas Priest and Black Sabbath were local bands. And Ozzie Osborne is a native son. Other styles of music thrive in Birmingham too. The city kick started the careers of Duran Duran, ELO and UB40.

How Not To Get Lost in the Balti Triangle

Born Again Shopping in the UK's Second City

With it's great shopping and the huge NEC conference center as draws, Birmingham has loads of visitors. Sadly it doesn't have nearly enough hotels to meet the demand. So if you are planning on heading there for a special event, plan on booking early.

TripAdvisor's Best Deals in Birmingham

Continue to 5 of 20 below.

05 of 20

Glasgow

Stephen Dorey/Getty Images

Scotland's largest city and the third largest city in the UK, Glasgow's had long taken a back seat to Edinburgh with tourists and visitors. Its reputation as a rough, crime-ridden, dirty and hard drinking city put people off. But, since the mid 1980s, Glaswegians have worked hard to turn that image around.

And they've succeeded.

In 1995, Glasgow was European Capital of Culture. The award wasn't for the heritage culture that enlivens Edinburgh but for an entirely more contemporary vibe. And it keeps getting better. In 2008, Lonely Planet named Glasgow one of the top 10 cities for tourists. In the same year, the Mercer report, a quality of life survey, put Glasgow among the top 50 safest cities of the world. Nervous tourists note: that was more than 30 places higher than London.

Today, Billy Connolly's home town is a hip destination for contemporary art, jazz, clubs, comedy, design and fashion (of both the chic and the gutsy street kind). It's also the gateway to the Western Highlands. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park is about half an hour away.

Check out Glasgow's sensational Riverside Museum

citizenM, a hip Glasgow hotel for travelers of the mobile generation

TripAdvisor's Best Value Hotels in Glasgow

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06 of 20

Liverpool

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When visitors think of Liverpool, the Beatles come immediately to mind. And, of course, there's plenty to do that's Beatles related – not least of which is is visit to the famous Cavern Club.

In 2008, the mantle of European Capital of Culture landed on Liverpool, revitalizing this city in England's northwest, as the award often does. Liverpool's Albert Docks area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its role in the maritime history of Britain's. Visitors to the area can explore Liverpool's part in the history of the slave trade, commemorated in the world's only International Slavery Museum, in emigration to the New World and in the spread of trade and culture across the British Empire. The spotlight on the dock's history has also brought trendy clubs, hotels, shopping, dining and a Liverpool branch of the famous Tate Gallery to the immediate surrounding area.

Liverpool Travel Guide

How to Get to Liverpool

Over the years, Liverpool has had its ups and downs, so there are good bits and not so good bits. But the recent revival of interest in this historic city means there are quite a few new and trendy hotels.

Check guest reviews and prices for Hotels Near the Beatles Story on TripAdvisor

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07 of 20

Bristol

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Bristol, on the borders of Somerset and Gloucestershire, is a small, attractive city with a history of creativity and innovation. It makes a great base for touring with Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, Bath, Stonehenge, Cheddar Gorge and Longleat all within easy reach.

Once one of England's most important ports, like Liverpool, it was a center for the triangular trade in the 17th and 18th centuries, shipping manufactured goods to Africa in exchange for slaves who were then transported to the Americas. Abolitionist Thomas Clarkson lived undercover at The Seven Stars Pub on Thomas Lane in the 18th century. He gathered the information about the slave trade that his friend William Wilberforce used to support the Act for the Abolition of Slavery. You can still raise a pint of real ale in the pub, open every day since 1760 and with a history that goes back to the 1600s.

Born in Bristol

From the pioneering Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to the leaders of today's cutting edge animations, Bristol has been a hot bed of talented innovators. Brunel, who designed Britain's first long distance railway, the Great Western between London and Bristol, also designed the first ocean-going, propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, the SS Great Britain and the Clifton Suspension Bridge (completed after Brunel's death). The bridge, over the Avon Gorge, is the symbol of Bristol.

The Bristol Old Vic, an offshoot of London's Old Vic Theatre, and its associated drama school, has populated international stages and screens with graduates. Cary Grant was born in Bristol; Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons, Greta Scacchi, Miranda Richardson, Helen Baxendale, Daniel Day-Lewis and Gene Wilder all learned their craft there.

Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep are also Bristol natives, having been created at the city's Aardman Animation. And the mysterious graffitti artist, Banksy, another Bristol native, has left his mark there.

Find out more about Bristol

Discover Clifton Village, Bristol's Best Kept Secret

Read a review of Bristol restaurant, The Glassboat

How to get from London to Bristol

Find Bristol Hotels near the landmark Clifton Suspension Bridge on TripAdvisor

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08 of 20

Oxford

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Oxford University is England's oldest university, dating back to the 11th century. It's the reason that many people make their way to this small city, 60 miles northwest of London, on the edge of the Cotswolds.

The city has England's oldest public museum, The Ashmolean, recently refurbished with its exhibition space doubled. Visitors can also enjoy shopping in a lively covered market, find an almost hidden pub that was popular when Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were still hiding their affair from their respective spouses, explore a haunted castle and stay in a unique hotel that was once a jail.

And then, of course, there are the colleges. Visitors are welcome to stroll the fascinating, historic grounds and chapels of most – but not all – of the colleges. Others are only open during fixed times of day or as part of official guided tours. Official Guided Walking Tours, run by the Oxford Tourist Information Centre, take in the colleges, other Oxford landmarks and Oxford movie locations – including some used in the Harry Potter films.

Oxford makes a great London Day Trip, with or without a car. It's also a useful base for exploring the Cotswolds; visiting Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, a ten minute bus trip away, or shopping till you drop at Bicester Village, one of the UK's best designer discount centers.

A Guide to an Oxford Walk

An Afternoon in Oxford

Malmaison Oxford Castle- Going to jail has never been so good. And don't just take my word for it.

The Turf Tavern, Oxford's secret pub

Brown's Cafe – Cheap Eats in Oxford

Check guest reviews and prices for Oxford Hotels on TripAdvisor

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09 of 20

Cambridge

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Cambridge, like Oxford its traditional rival, grew out of an association of scholars who settled in one place and founded the colleges. According to tradition, Cambridge – Britain's second oldest University – was founded in 1209 when a group of scholars fled Oxford after a disagreement with local townspeople.

Smaller and less urban than Oxford, Cambridge is, nevertheless, a lively place full of fascinating museums and galleries, theatres, an improving restaurant scene and pubs.

The colleges themselves, which together have produced more Nobel Prize winners than any university in the world, are masterpieces of Medieval, Tudor and Jacobean architecture. Among the standouts open to visitors, Kings College Chapel, with its soaring thistle vaulted ceiling, is a must.

From April to September, Cambridge can be packed with tourists who arrive on buses, stay a few hours and skedaddle. But train services from London are frequent and journey times relatively short so it's a shame not to linger a bit longer to explore some of the lovely gardens along the Backs (where Cambridge colleges back up onto the River Cam). Because of the crowds, many of the colleges now charge an entry fee to visit their grounds and limit opening hours.

Taking a Punt at a Punt

Punts are the traditional, flat boats propelled along the Cam and Granchester rivers with poles. The punter stands and pushes the pole into the mud. It's not as easy as it looks and more than one beginner has either lost a pole or been left clinging to one as the punt floats on. Nowadays, visitors can hire a chauffeured punt (the chauffeur will probably be a student) for a guided cruise along the Backs. It's lazy but can be fun.

Find out more about visiting Cambridge

Christmas Eve at Kings

One of Cambridge's shortcomings is a dearth of really nice hotels near the center. One of the most interesting, however, is The Moller Centre, part of Churchill College. It's a conference center at heart but anyone can stay in business class luxury at budget prices in this architecturally unusual place.

Check guest reviews and prices for Cambridge Hotels on TripAdvisor

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10 of 20

Cardiff

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Cardiff, the capital of Wales and its largest city, has experienced a virtual renaissance. In a little over a decade its visitor numbers have increased by more than 50 percent. When the Millenniium Stadium, home of the Welsh national rugby union team and the Welsh national football team, opened in 1999, the city welcomed about 9 million foreign visitors. In 2009, that figure had risen to more than 14.6 million foreign visitors, with French and Irish rugby fans leading the way.

The rebirth of Cardiff includes redevelopment of the waterfront along Cardiff Bay. The Senedd, home of the Welsh National Assembly and designed by British architect Richard Rogers, opened there in 2006.

Nearby, the Wales Millennium Centre, opened in 2004, is a performance venue for theatre, musicals, opera, ballet, contemporary dance, hip hop, comedy, art and art workshops. It has two theaters and seven resident companies including the Welsh National Opera. Free performances take place in the center's foyer every day and visitors to the bars and restaurants can enjoy views of Cardiff Bay. The building is a striking landmark on its own, clad in Welsh slate, bronze colored steel, wood and glass, it is a reflection of the Welsh landscape.

The most famous features of the building, designed by Jonathan Adam, are the lines of poetry, made up of windows, that cross its facade. Written for the center by Welsh writer Gwyneth Lewis, the Welsh and English words are not translations of each other but are, in fact, two different short poems that complement each other. The words of the Welsh poem, “Creu Gwir Fel Gwydr O Ffwrnais Awen” (Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration), are arranged beside the words of the English poem, “In these stones, horizons sing.” At night, light from inside the center shines through the windows.

Not everything about Cardiff is brand new. Cardiff Castle began its life as a Roman garrison, about 2000 years ago. It has been a Norman castle keep and home to a variety of noble families. In the 19th centuries, the Marquess of Bute had the living quarters transformed into a Victorian fantasy castle with fabulous and opulent interiors. Today it belongs to the city of Cardiff and the castle, along with its surrounding parkland, is the scene of festivals and events throughout the year.

Cardiff's post millennial revival and its position as the seat of the newly devolved Welsh government means the hotel and accommodation selection is very good.

Find out more about Cardiff

RHS Cardiff Flower Show in Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Singer of the World Competition

Check guest reviews and prices for Cardiff Hotels on TripAdvisor

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11 of 20

Brighton

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Brighton is hip, colorful and – unusually for a seaside resort – urban. “London's beach”, 60 miles from the capital, is a year-round day trip or short break destination with lots more to offer than its seafront.

Shopping, dining, a hoot of a fantasy palace, a brilliant aquarium, great nightlife and theater, block after block of Regency houses – not to mention the most scenic pier in Britain – combine with a tolerant and breezy ambience to make Brighton a very cool place to visit and an even cooler place to stay awhile.

If you like cities (warts and all) and you share Brighton's tolerant, open attitude, you will love it. Millions of people do. At least 8 million people visit Brighton annually – about 6.5 million for day trips. Brighton Pier alone gets 4.5 million visitors a year. The city regularly ranks among the top 20 for overseas visitors and is among Britain's top 10 visitor destinations overall. It is also one of Britain's most popular gay destinations with a large resident gay population.

It may be London's beach, but don't expect to pop into the sea. The water is usually pretty cold and the shingle beach is not to everyone's taste. But all kinds of watersports fans, surfers, paddle and wind surfers do love it. And strolling along the seaside or lazing on the beach is just part of Brighton's appeal.

Come for amazing shopping in the Lanes and the North Laine, goggle at the Royal Pavilion, eat lots of great fish and chips and enjoy the festival and club scene. It's a quick day trip by train from London and one you don't want to miss.

Plan a Brighton Getaway

Brighton Seafront and Brighton's Piers

Shopping in Brighton – The Lanes and the North Laine

Find Best Value Brighton Beach Hotels on TripAdvisor

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12 of 20

Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead

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Newcastle-upon-Tyne began its history as a major Roman fort defending the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. The evidence is still there at the Arbeia Roman Fort & Museum a reconstruction of the fort that guarded the mouth of the Tyne, with a museum full of archeological finds from the site.

In the early Middle Ages, after the departure of the Romans, the Venerable Bede, an Anglo Saxon monk, lived and wrote his histories of early Britain at Jarrow, just down river from Newcastle on the south bank of the Tyne. Bedes World, in Jarrow is a new museum and World Heritage Site candidate near the ruins of Bede's Anglo Saxon monastery.

Fast Forward

Newcastle is a good base for exploring of the northeast of England, but don't be surprised if the locals could care less about all that impressive history. They have their eyes firmly fixed on today and tomorrow.

Newcastle nightlife is legendary, spawning bands, performance artists and good times in quantity. Back in the 1960s, Jimi Hendrix lived and busked in Newcastle. He was discovered and managed by Chas Chandler, a musician with Newcastle band, The Animals. Dire Straits was a Newcastle band and Sting is a Geordie boy. (“Geordies” are natives of Newcastle). One of England's big university cities, students keep the Newcastle music scene alive and kicking.

Since the Millennium, the Newcastle/Gateshead Quays have been transformed into a futuristic and arty landscape. The Newcastle/Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a unique pedestrian “drawbridge”. Instead of splitting and opening to allow tall boat traffic through, the bottom, pedestrian deck of the bridge tips up to meet the support arch, like an eyelid, opening and closing.

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on the quayside, is a huge contemporary art space – the biggest exhibition space of its kind in the world. Before its transformation into a cutting edge visual arts exhibition center, it was an enormous and abandoned flour and animal feed mill. Not far away, The Sage Gateshead, is an ultra modern music performance and learning center. Rock, pop, classical, acoustic, indie, couontry, folk, electronic, dance and world music are all welcome in Sage's gleaming bubbles of stainless steel and glass. The Northern Sinfonia has its home at the Sage.

Geordies The native dialect of Newcastle, Geordie, is distinctive and one of the oldest in England. If you've ever seen actor Jimmy Nail or Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, you've heard this inimitable accent.

Read more about Newcastle/Gateshead

How to get to Newscastle from London

TripAdvisor Deals in Newcastle-upon-Tyne

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13 of 20

Leeds

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People sometimes dub Leeds The Knightsbridge of the North because this city, built on a tradition of wool, textile and clothing manufacture, is one of the UK's major retail and fashion hubs. Glamorous shops are housed in some of the most splendid Victorian arcades in Europe. Famous Harvey Nichols established its first store outside of London here. And one of Britain's most famous businesses, Marks & Spencer, began its life as a humble market stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market.

21st Century Leeds

Leeds is a thoroughly wired up place. Leeds IT companies host more than a third of all UK Internet traffic and there are more ISDN lines per head of population than any other major city in the world. A new Internet Quarter, full of call centers and server farms, is in the works.

Currently the UK's third largest city, Leeds is also the fastest growing city in Britain. Its population of three quarters of a million includes more than 100,000 university and college students who support a lively music scene. There are about 1,500 bands currently active in Leeds. Among the city's recent success stories, the Kaiser Chiefs and Corinne Bailey Rae hail from this Yorkshire city.

And speaking of Yorkshire

Leeds is well placed for some nightlife and retail therapy as part of a tour of the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. It's also less than half an hour, by train or car, from the Medieval, walled city of York.

Leeds Victorian and Edwardian Shopping Arcades

UK Music Festivals – The Leeds & Reading Festivals

42 The Calls is one of Leeds most interesting little hotels – with a great breakfast.

Best Value TripAdvisor Hotels in Leeds

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14 of 20

York

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The small northern English city of York has been an important population center for at least 2,000 years. As a Roman, Viking and Medieval Anglo Saxon city, its relics, monuments and architectural treasures are woven into the fabric of everyday modern life.

It's a lovely city for walking, with something interesting – and hundreds of half-timbered buildings – to look at and explore at every turn. Markets – in the same squares and stalls they have occupied for hundreds of years – sell everything from fruit and vegetables to snazzy hats, designer kitchen utensils and music DVDs. Boutique shops that line York's winding lanes provide plenty of prey for the avid fashion hunter. Some of the best shopping streets are mentioned in the Domesday Book and have been commercial centers for more than 900 years.

York Minster, one of Europe's greatest gothic cathedrals, dominates the city, visible from any vantage point within the walls. It has a stained glass window bigger than a tennis court and a crypt where you can explore the Minster's Roman foundations.

Pictures of Medieval York

Fantastic Facts About York Minster

Walking the Snickelways of Medieval York

Ten Cheap Hotels in York

Check guest reviews and prices for hotels near York Minster on TripAdvisor

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15 of 20

Inverness

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On it's own, it might be hard to understand why Inverness, on the River Ness near the head of the Moray Firth, is among Britain's top 20 cities for visitors. But Inverness is more than a quiet provincial city. It is the unofficial capital of the Highlands and the gateway to all that – for visitors at any rate – is Scottish about Scotland.

Culloden

Just outside of Inverness, the Culloden battlefield bears witness to one of the great lost causes in Scottish history. In 1746, the clans who supported a restoration of the Stuarts to the throne rallied behind Prince Charles Edward Stuart – known as Bonnie Prince Charlie – in what was known as the Jacobite cause. The climax, at Culloden was an hour-long battle in which at least 1,000 died. It led to the brutal “pacification” of the Highlands, the banning of clan chiefs and tartans and the attempted destruction of Highland culture. The story is explained at an outstanding visitors center, run by the National Trust of Scotland, on the iconic Culloden Battlefield site. Read a description of eve of battle and the battle itself, in Sir Walter Scott's novel, “Waverley”.

Loch Ness

A few miles southwest of Inverness, Loch Ness marks the last great body of water at northern end of the Great Glen, the deep channel of interconnected lochs and waterways that cuts across southwest to northeast across Scotland, from the North Atlantic to the North Sea. Coach and Caledonian Canal tours can be arranged to visit the loch to have a look out the legendary Loch Ness monster. Even if you don't spot Nessie, Loch Ness is a beautiful place to visit and home to Rock Ness – a rock festival with its own sea monster. Urquhart Castle is known to be a particularly good place for Nessie watching.

The Whiskey Trail and Beyond

East of Inverness, the area surrounding the River Spey, is prime territory for Scotch whisky tourism. Speyside distilleries make some of the most famous and most treasured whiskies in the world. Many are open to the public. The area is also popular for salmon fishing and shooting holidays.

Inverness also within easy striking distance of the Cairngorms and Cairngorm National Park – a popular skiing destination and home to Balmoral, the Queen's Scottish vacation home. And, if you are heading for Orkney, flying from Inverness is the fastest way to get there.

But one word of advice. Inverness on weekend nights can be an incredibly noisy place. If you are planning an early start for a cruise or a tour, find yourself a quiet hotel, away from the center.

Find out more about Loch Ness and Inverness

Book a three-day London to Loch Ness tour

Tour Glencoe, Loch Ness and the the Highlands from Edinburgh

Find a quiet hotel in Inverness on TripAdvisor

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16 of 20

Bath

From its 2,000 year old Roman Baths to its Georgian terraces and Pump Room, the entire city of Bath is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jane Austen enjoyed the health giving waters of Bath and its accompanying social scene, as did many of her characters. Besides offering visitors a feast of historic architecture, this small pleasant city has more than enough diversions for demanding modern weekenders – including great restaurants, top shopping, quirky museums, a lively cultural scene and, of course, a post millennial, multi-million pound, thermal spa.

Bath is a bit too far from London for a day trip that does justice to its many pleasures, but it makes a fine overnight getaway with lots of charming places to stay and dine. Among the sights, Bath Abbey, occupying a site that has been a place of Christian worship for 1,200 years; The Jane Austen Center; The Roman Baths and Pump Room, where 18th and 19th century high society socialized and where you can still taste the waters of the ancient spring – or stop for tea.

Bath is also a showcase of England's finest 18th century architecture, with stunning terraces of pristine, white houses that have formed the backdrops of countless films. No. 1 Royal Crescent. the first house built on Bath's iconic, 18th century Royal Crescent is now open as a museum. Restored and authentically furnished, it offers a glimpse into fashionable 18th century life.

And shop hounds will also enjoy Bath. It's shopping areas are crammed with independent boutiques – fashion, antiques, jewelry and more.

Watch a video of the Royal Crescent and the Circus in Bath

Thermae Bath Spa – Bath's Ultramodern Thermal Spa

Bath Christmas Market

Best Value TripAdvisor Hotels in Bath

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17 of 20

Nottingham

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Visitors to Nottingham will search in vain for the origins of the Robin Hood stories in Nottingham Castle, once base for wicked usurper King John and his henchman, the Sheriff of legend. It's now a 17th century ducal mansion. But Castle Rock and the cave system beneath it – a scheduled ancient monument, hint at a medieval (and earlier past).

North of the city, the remains of Sherwood Forest, 450 acres of Britain's most ancient oak trees, can still be visited.

Perhaps it was stories of the legendary Robin of Sherwood that turned Nottingham into the nursery for so many literary lights. Lord Byron's title came from the Nottinghamshire estate he inherited when he was ten years old and he is buried in a Nottinghamshire churchyard. D.H. Lawrence, son of a Nottinghamshire miner, grew up in ther area. And both J.M. Barrie, creator of “Peter Pan” and novelist Graham Greene cut their creative teeth on the Nottingham Daily Journal.

The Mayflower Trail

Visitors looking for the history of the Pilgrim Fathers, will find much of interest in the Nottingham area, the heart of Pilgrim Country. William Brewster, postmaster of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, was instrumental in leading a group of Separatists to Holland in 1607. The group eventually fetched up on the shores of Massachusetts, founding the Plymouth Colony in 1620. The Mayflower Trail is a circular tour through the quiet villages of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire that gave rise to the Separatist movement.

Student Travelers

It's not all about history and literature though. With two universities and 370 schools, Nottingham has the third largest student population in the UK and has the lively nightlight that goes with it. There are at least 300 bars, clubs and restaurants in Nottingham and several large music and dance venues to keep nightowls entertained.

Find out more about Nottingham

Read a review of Nottingham's Lace Market Hotel

Check guest reviews and prices for Nottingham Hotels on TripAdvisor

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18 of 20

Reading

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I have to confess I found it hard, at first, to understand why Reading made it to the top 20 list of popular UK cities. Though an important town in the Middle Ages, today Reading is largely a commercial center, important in the IT and insurance industries.

True, it is within a very short distance of some of England's iconic sites – Windsor Castle, Eton, as well as a raft of stately homes, scattered across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire worth visiting. It's not far from the scene of the Henley Regatta and it does have a large university population.

But, what probably drives Reading into a top UK destination are two hugely popular festivals.

The Reading Comedy Festival, in the autumn, is three-weeks of stand-up attracting British and Irish comedians and their fans along with dozens of brave hopefuls to open mic events.

The Reading Festival, is one of the UK's biggest music festivals. It takes place on the August Bank Holiday weekend and has an unusual twist. The festival is paired with the Leeds Festival, that takes place on the same weekend with the same lineup. Artists appear at one of the festivals then rush across the country to the other to appear again.

When it comes to staying in Reading, I have to say that vacation hotels there are a non-starter for me. If you are going to one of the many festivals, you are more likely to camp, and if you are looking for real charm, the countryside all around has bags more. But Reading is also an important business center and the business traveler is well served.

Check reviews and prices for Reading Hotels on TripAdvisor

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19 of 20

Aberdeen

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Aberdeen, 130 miles northeast of Edinburgh on the North Sea coast, is something of a boom town. Before the discovery North Sea oil in the 1970s, Scotland's third largest city was a fishing port – it's still one of Britain's largest fishing harbors with a huge annual haul from its North Sea trawlers – and a university town. Aberdeen University's charter dates from the late 15th century.

The oil industry has brought oil tycoon prices. Shops, hotels and restaurants in Aberdeen have prices comparable to London. And for a city of less than 300,000, Aberdeen has remarkably good designer and boutique shopping.

The city is almost entirely built of local granite. In good weather, mica in the stone sparkles in the sun. But, to be honest, blue skies in this part of Scotland are pretty rare and in overcast weather, the characteristic greyness can be pretty grim.

Still, if industrial powerhouses are what you are after, Aberdeen may be a good stopover on your way to salmon fishing on the Dee. Aberdeen, which has Europe's biggest and busiest heliport, is sometimes known as the energy capital of Europe.

Find out more about Aberdeen

TripAdvisor Best Value Hotels in Aberdeen

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20 of 20

Chester

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The first time I saw Chester, I thought its street after street of beautifully kept half-timbered buildings could not be real. Surely I had stepped into a modern theme park.

As it happens, I was partly right. Chester's famous “Rows” are partly Victorian reproductions of earlier buildings. But some of the best are really Medieval. The rows are continuous rows of galleries, reached by steps from street level and forming a second level of shops. No one is quite sure why they were built in this way but some of them, including the Three Arches on Bridge Street, have been galleried shops since the 1200s, having survived the Black Death of the 13th century and the English Civil War of the 17th.

Roman Chester

Chester, and the four ancient street that make up it's High Cross district – Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridge – are more than a thousand year's older that its Medieval Rows. The walled city was actually founded as a Roman fort in 79 A.D., during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. It's one of the best preserved walled cities in England with some sections of the ramparts dating back 2000 years to the Roman originals. The city was a major center in the Roman province of Britannia. Recent excavations, the biggest archaeological dig in Britain, have uncovered a Roman amphitheater where fighting techniques were demonstrated.

Even if you're not a keen fan of history, Chester, in the heart of affluent Cheshire, is fun to visit. It's full of independent boutiques, has several good museums and art galleries, and is known for top restaurants, luxury hotels and spas.

Find out more about Chester

Check out hotels near Chester's historic Rows on TripAdvisor

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silverleafnightshade-blog · 6 years

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Don’t Look Now

Happy Halloween! 45 years ago this month, Nicholas Roeg released his gothic horror about life’s big questions: does the spirit exist after death, or are we just reduced to dust and bone? And speaking of bone, did Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie actually get down and dirty on screen?

But we’ll get to that soon. The film’s locations were set primarily Venice, Italy but there’s a good bit shot in Hertfordshire, England, two spots a world apart in everything except beauty. The film opens in the English countryside, where John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Laura (Julie Christie) live with their daughter Christine (Sharon Williams) and son Johnny (Nicholas Salter). Their house vibes on a particular ‘70s English manor artsy-hippie style, all leaded glass and stone fireplace, but modern furniture pieces mixed into a creative arrangement.

It’s a rather unusual looking house from the outside, I think, with the dual sidings of wood and brick. The location, Baas Hill, was the home of actor David Tree, who played a small role in the film. From what I’ve read, the building was added onto over the centuries and thus is an amalgamation of architectural periods ranging from 15th century to 18th century. But alas, daughter Christine drowns in the (incredibly scenic) pond, in a nightmarish scene that shows off Sutherland’s acting chops. The Baxters pack wee Johnny off to boarding school and head to Venice to... drown their sorrows? No, John is overseeing the restoration of a cathedral (San Nicolo dei Mendicoli, which was actually being restored at the time of the filming, and thus Roeg scored some free scaffolding props).

Laura is along for the ride, but doing the British stiff upper lip thing and barely holding it together, at least until she meets a strange pair of sisters. Wendy (Clelia Matania) is touristing through Venice with her blind sister Heather (Hilary Mason).

The sisters encounter Laura in a restaurant bathroom, where Heather tells the grieving mom that she can see the spirit of dead Christine between the Baxters. Laura politely processes the information, returns to her table, and passes out. Naturally, John refuses to believe this “mumbo-jumbo.” However, he is experiencing flashes of deja vu, and dealing with some very anti-OSHA work practices at the church restoration.

Yeee-ikes. Meanwhile, a serial killer is terrorizing Venice. Laura, though, is a new woman. She is cheerful, happy, and more than a bit randy, thus initiating the infamous love scene. I have to admit, I really don’t care if Christie and Sutherland had actual sex during the filming, just like I really don’t care that Ray Davies has denied that “Waterloo Sunset” was inspired by the romance between Julie Christie and Terence Stamp. Davies has now put out several conflicting stories about the subjects of his best song (arguably, one of rock’s best songs), and listen up, Ray, you crotchety man, me think you doth protest too much. I mean, look at these two :

Mr. Davies, it’s okay if you were besotted and wrote a great song about these gorgeous kids, who could blame you? And who could blame D-Suth if he was equally seduced? I mean, look at her, dressing for a post-coital dinner. She is amazing.

Anyway, the hotel where this sexy scene takes place was called Hotel Europa in the film but is actually a combination of two locations. The lobby was shot at the Hotel Gabrielli and the Baxter’s room was set in the Bauers Venezia. The lobby’s shrouded furniture (in anticipation of the hotel’s closure for the season) at once reflects and forebodes the death shroud of the serial killer’s victims.

There’s other recurring motifs, like glass breaking, the color red, and people falling, and they’re all woven together beautifully. Anyhoo, Laura has a seance with the sisters and believes that Christine has contacted her to warn that John is in danger. She is in the midst of trying to convince John to leave Venice when they get a troubling call. Laura has to rush back to England to see about their son Johnny, who has been injured in a fall. John puts her on the vaporetto to the airport, but later believes he sees Laura and the two sisters pass by on another water taxi. John sets off on a chase across beautiful crumbling Venice, searching for his wife. He goes to enlist the assistance of Bishop Barbarrigo (Massimo Serato) and visits the, um, church headquarters with a giant statue of the pope (?) and a nun receptionist in the lobby.

John also visits the Polizia to report Laura’s disappearance. Well, really, he’s reporting her reappearance, I guess, but check out this delirious hallway of offices!

John even gets blind sister Heather detained by the police, only to have Laura call him from England to report J2 is doing fine and she’s heading back to Italy. Boy, is his face is as red as the little figure he keeps spying from the corner of his eye, the one that reminds him of dear Christine. John can’t leave well enough alone, and he soon learns that these hallucinations he’s been having were in fact a psychic vision of his own death.

It might be worth it to die in Venice, though, judging from these hearse boats. This the height of the Roman Catholic funeral! It’s like an urn with an outboard motor.

But don’t look now, Venice might not be around by the time you die, at least not as we know it. When Roeg et crew were filming in the 1970s, the city had already sunk two inches from just the previous 15 years. The city continues to sink at a rate of two to three millimeters per year. On Monday, Venice got hammered again. The high tide was more than 61 inches above average sea levels in the lagoon. This is just another detail in the larger tale that is climate change, which really, is the greatest horror story of them all. There’s one important and easy thing you can do right now to counter this nightmare, and it is to vote. Vote for politicians who will address climate change (as well as the numerous other issues of racism, anti-Semitism, gender inequality, transphobia, and wage slavery). At the very least, vote against those who are gleefully destroying our planet for profit, and raise up candidates who care about something other than their personal stock portfolios. Everyone driving a Prius and composting will not offset the damages of unregulated industry.

Okay, my little rant here is done. Next month, we’ll be visiting another coastal setting, more “misty” than musty, though!

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girlsinislamabadd-blog · 6 years

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The Prostitution Racket

Although the middle-class has grown in Pakistan, nearly one-quarter of the population is classified poor as of October 2006. The girl child faces greater risks to survival, is more subject to violence and abuse, and has less access to education, proper nutrition and health services. The low status of children and women is a manifestation of low literacy levels, wide gaps between legislation and enforcement, and limited participation in civil society.

This brings us to the taboo topic of prostitution. We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is prostitution (Victor Hugo). Who is a prostitute? According to the dictionary meaning, one who solicits and accepts payment for sex acts. A prostitute (tawaif, also called hooker, whore, hoe, street walker, sex worker or escort) is a person, most of the time a woman, who has sex with people for money.

Some countries have made prostitution illegal. Even still, some countries like Netherlands have made the same act legal and give licenses to people working under this profession.

Prostitution is sometimes called the "world's oldest profession". There have been stories of it in almost every culture and society. In the times of the British Raj, this act was considered respectable. The 'tawaif' of then was rich in etiquettes and principles. The focus was greatly on the singing and dancing. It was pure innocent entertainment. Rich nobles' from all over the land would send their sons to these tawaifs, so they could learn manners and poise. Over the years, the innocent entertainment got side-tracked and a new generation of prostitutes emerged, who lacked the abilities to sing and dance and were only interested in making money for livelihood by selling their bodies.

After the partition in 1947, Pakistan inherited the historical red-light districts in Lahore and Multan including the infamous Hira Mandi and Shahi Mohalla area. These were well-developed areas and attracted both wealthy clients and those looking for singers and actresses. These set of people are very particular about their caste system. Those having knowledge and skills about the music and dance are called 'mirasi' and those who indulge in sexual activities are called 'kanjars'. It is a great honor for a mirasi to marry in a pure mirasi family and a kanjar to marry in a pure blood of kanjars.

Pakistan is an Islamic country. Islam strictly prohibits the sex-trade due to the declaration of extramarital sex as an illegal activity. Prostitutes in the country, thus, operate underground and in spite of the legal difficulties, and contrary to popular belief, prostitution is thriving in the country. In Pakistan, prostitution was once associated with dark alleys and small red-light districts. Now, it is fast seeping into many neighbourhoods of the Muslim state's urban centers'. It is time for all of us to admit that prostitution is doing a roaring trade within our own borders.

It is so common that girls are now auctioned. Some powerful men either arrange to marry the girl or just kidnap her and then sale her! Auctions of girls are arranged for three kinds of buyers: rich visiting Arabs (sheiks, businessmen, visitors, state-financed medical and university students), the rich local gentry, and rural farmers; all of whom get tired of their property soon and look for a new attraction.

The red light areas in big cities, specially Lahore became restricted, barren and were under continuous raids in the times of President Ayub Khan and then in the reign of President Zia-ul-Haq. In the beginning, this came as a ray of hope to eliminate prostitution from a pure land like Pakistan. But alas, the evil spread like fire from then onwards. The result was that these women just spread out in different parts of the city, making it harder to track them down. What did we achieve? A prostitute is no longer the one who lives in the slums such as the Shahi Mohalla. A girl who lives two streets from our house in DHA, Islamabad, is a prostitute. There is no criminal evidence against her, so you might as well mind your own business. There is no stopping to this business!

People consider it a disgrace to be associated to women like that and even then, we regularly find stories on how the most powerful people of our country travel all the way to such places to find the pleasure, they other wise would not be entitled to.

We have to understand that it's not totally the prostitutes who are wrong. We are equally responsible for their 'careers' and conditions. They are not given any option, any chance to become one of us. They are not provided with equal opportunities. It's not the liability of a child who is born in the house of a prostitute. Whether they like it or not, they have to do the same business. Why, because it's 'their' societal pressure, it's the only way they can earn a living, because it's the wish of their mother and father (if they know him). They have to obey their folks and not complying with the wishes of your parents is considered as disregard. Those coming in our society will not be accepted and instead they will have to fall back on drying their stomachs till death.

The more talented tawaifs have their aim to enter into the film industry. Once they do get a break, they deny any relation to their original place of birth in the fear of not being accepted, regardless of their pious character. Officially it is illegal, but unofficially it is tolerated. Many times, when a righteous SSP is appointed, a customary raid is carried out to round up a few pimps and a few women, but they are released after a night or two and everything goes back to normal.

In a survey, I found out that ninety-five per cent of the teenage prostitutes in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore were sexually abused by their close relatives, friends and teachers before they adopted the profession of granting sexual favors for payment. In sharp contrast to the common assumption that prostitutes normally belong to the uneducated segment of society, the survey has also found that 74 per cent of them were undergraduates.

The prostitutes presented in the Bollywood and Lollywood films are actually quite opposite from the reality. There are some prostitutes who charge high and like to be referred as 'call-girls', the more modern term. But in the same society, there are prostitutes who work for Rs. 10-20. This is the level of illiteracy and poverty. The level of abortions for these women touches the sky as well. They do not indulge in any wooing activities and 'get to the business' immediately. This also increases the level of diseases. HIV aids and Syphilis are the most common diseases transmitted through sex. And there is no cure to it unless counselling and awareness is available.

For More Information:-escorts in islamabad

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unfairweb · 8 years

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Hershey, Nestle and Mars have been using child slaves to make your chocolate

ABBY HAGLAGE | 09.30.15 10:45 AM ET

WATCH FILM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-mgXSojRuo&feature=youtu.be

The Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania is one of the wealthiest education centers in the world. Founded in 1909 as an orphanage for “male Caucasian” boys, it was awarded 30 percent of the company’s future earnings by Milton S. Hershey upon his death. Thanks to the success of Kit-Kats, Reese’s, and Whoppers, the school is worth a staggering $7.8 billion.

Now home to more than 2,000 students, it owns a controlling interest in the $22.3 billion Hershey company—a chocolate maker with roots in child protection and education that, in the worst form of irony, allegedly relies on cocoa harvested by child laborers in West Africa.

It is this irony that serves as the motivation behind a class action lawsuit filed Monday against Hershey and two of its competitors, Mars and Nestle. The complaints, filed by three California residents, allege that the companies are guilty of false advertising for failing to disclose the use of child slavery on their packaging. Without it, the plaintiffs claim, the companies are deceiving consumers into “unwittingly” supporting the child slave labor trade.

“America’s largest and most profitable food conglomerates should not tolerate child labor, much less child slave labor, anywhere in their supply chains,” the complaint reads. “These companies should not turn a blind eye to known human rights abuses… especially when the companies consistently and affirmatively represent that they act in a socially and ethically responsible manner.”

The class action suits seek both monetary damages for California residents who have purchased the chocolate and revised packaging that denotes child slaves were used. It’s a new approach to an old problem: the chocolate industry’s deep, dark, not-so-secret scandal. It’s been 15 years since the first allegations of child slavery in the chocolate industry caused national outrage. Will this be the final straw?

***

West Africa is home to two-thirds of the world’s cacao beans (cocoa), the main ingredient in chocolate—a product that’s fueled a $90 billion industry.

The first group to question the financial strategies behind the industry’s wealth was a British organization called True Vision Entertainment. In a shocking 2000 documentary titled Slavery: A Global Investigation, the group reported on the chocolate industry’s alleged connection to cocoa harvested by child slaves. The award-winning film opens on stick-thin adolescent boys in the Ivory Coast slinging hundred-pound bags of cocoa pods on their backs, followed by an interview in which the boys express their confusion over not being paid.

Later the filmmakers meet with 19 children who were said to have just been freed from slavery by the Ivorian authorities. Their guardian describes how they worked from dawn until dusk each day, only to be locked in a shed at night where they were given a tin cup in which to urinate. During the first six months (the “breaking-in period”), they say, they were routinely beaten. “The beatings were a part of my life,” says Aly Diabata, one of the former child laborers. “I had seen others who tried to escape. When they tried, they were severely beaten.”

The boys’ stories are sickeningly graphic. Before beatings, the boys say they were stripped naked and tied up. They were then pummeled with a variety of weapons, from fists and feet to belts and whips. In the film, some of the boys get up and imitate the beatings. Others stand to reveal hundreds of scars lining their backs and torsos—some still bloody and scabbed. They get quiet when the filmmakers ask whether any are beaten today and say some are simply “taken away.”

Asked what he’d say to the billions who eat chocolate worldwide (most of the boys have never tried it), one boy replies: “They enjoy something I suffered to make; I worked hard for them but saw no benefit. They are eating my flesh.” Toward the end of the segment, the filmmakers meet with one of the “slave masters,” who admits he purchased the young boys and that some of his men routinely beat them. His reasoning: He is paid a low price for the cocoa and thus needs to harvest as much of it as he possibly can.

The release of the film in late 2000 sparked national outrage. No one seemed more shocked than the chocolate companies themselves. In June 2001, Hershey senior vice president Robert M. Reese toldPhiladelphia Inquirer reporter Bob Fernandez that “no one, repeat, no one, had ever heard of this.” After internal investigations, several companies, including Hershey, expressed concern over the conditions of laborers in West Africa.

The news made its way to Congress, where U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel quickly drafted legislation asking the Federal Drug Administration to introduce “slave free” labeling. After gaining approval in the House of Representatives, the bill moved to a vote in the Senate, where it had the support needed to win passage. But just before the legislation made it to a vote, the chocolate industry stepped in with a promise it has yet to keep: to self-regulate and eradicate the practice by 2005.

The Engel-Harkin Protocol (or Cocoa Protocol), as the agreement was called, was signed in September 2001.

Eight companies—including Nestle, Mars, and Hershey—were signatories of the massive accord, pledging $2 million to investigate the labor practices and eliminate the “Worst Forms of Child Labor,” the official term from the International Labor Organization, by 2005. When the July 2005 deadline arrived with the industries yet to make major changes, an extension was granted until 2008.

When the next deadline came and went, a new proposal arose. By 2010, the companies basically started anew with a treaty called TheDeclaration of Joint Actionto Support Implementation of the Harkin-Engel Protocol. This document pledges to reduce the worst forms of child labor by 70 percent across the cocoa sectors of Ghana and Ivory Coast by 2020.

In the 15 years since the documentary sparked outrage, there are more child laborers in the cocoa industry than ever before. The companies have not only failed to stop the “worst forms of child labor”; they’ve seemingly made it worse. A report released on July 30, 2015, from the Payson Center for International Development of Tulane University and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor found a 51 percent increase in the number of children working in the cocoa industry in 2013-14, compared to the last report in 2008-09. The number, they found, now totals 1.4 million. Those living in slave-like conditions increased 10 percent from the 2008-09 results, now totaling 1.1 million. The study concludes that while “some progress has been made,” the goal of reducing the number of children in the industry had “not come within reach.”

The California plaintiffs’ false-advertising claims against Nestle, Hershey, and Mars are the latest effort to pressure the chocolate industry to fix a problem it has known about for more than a decade. “Children that are sometimes not even 10 years old carry huge sacks that are so big that they cause them serious physical harm,” the complaint alleges. “Much of the world’s chocolate is quite literally brought to us by the back-breaking labor of child slaves.”

The complaint goes into detail about the lives of the estimated 4,000 children allegedly working in forced labor conditions harvesting cocoa in the Ivory Coast. Many of the children are sold into slavery, some for less than $30; others are kidnapped or tricked into thinking it’s a real job, the complaint alleges. Once there, the children are allegedly trapped on isolated farms, threatened with physical abuse, required to work when they are sick, and denied sufficient food.

While the plaintiffs mention each company’s individual pledges to tackle the problem of child labor, they consider these promises to be “false assurances” that have done little to solve the problem. As long as the companies allegedly continue to use child slaves, the plaintiffs say they believe consumers have the right to know.

In the eyes of Miki Mistrati, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who released a movie on the subject in 2014, Shady Chocolate, the lawsuit may help, but it won’t be the answer. “There is no doubt that a campaign about the reality in chocolate production will harm the chocolate companies,” Mistrati said. “Modern slavery with children is a part of the chocolate industry today. But I do not think that it can be the real game changer.”

Mistrati, who consulted with UNICEF and the U.S. Department of Labor, among others, for his movie, said he witnessed child slave labor firsthand—and believes it can be stopped quickly. “Mars, Hershey, and Nestle have had every opportunity to stop the trafficking of children and illegal child slaves,” he said. “I have seen small children, 6 years old, being trafficked from Mali to Ivory Coast. It was so heartbreaking to watch. But the companies have not had the will to end it for many years. Only empty words and expensive advertising instead of using money to pay back to the children on the ground in West Africa.”

Mistrati stressed the importance of Americans taking at least part of the blame. “Consumers have not been critical enough,” he said. “They have not asked why a chocolate bar only costs $1 when the cocoa comes from Africa. Customers have been too easy to trick with smart ads. It is over now. This trial is a unique opportunity for the world to see how their chocolate is produced and why it is so cheap.”

***

Nestle responded quickly to a request for comment on the allegations, calling the lawsuit “without merit” and claiming that “proactive and multi-stakeholder efforts” are necessary to eradicate child labor, not lawsuits. Of the three chocolate makers, Nestle appears to be taking the lead in fighting child labor. The company is the first cocoa purchaser to set up a system for tackling the problem, with concrete measures in place.

The company’s more than $100 million action plan involves building a child labor monitoring and remediation system to identify children at risk, enable farmers to run profitable farms, and improve the lives of cocoa farming communities. “Child labor has no place in our cocoa supply chain,” a spokesperson from Nestle told The Daily Beast. “We are taking action to progressively eliminate it by assessing individual cases and tackling the root causes.”

Mars representatives echoed Nestle’s sentiments on child slave labor, saying the company “shares the widely held view that child labor and trafficking is abhorrent and rooted in complex economic, political, and social issues.” In an official statement to The Daily Beast, the company said it was “committed to being part of the solution.”

At the moment, that solution seems vague. The company points to “Vision for Change,” an initiative it launched in 2012 that, according to its website, is meant to “achieve sustainable cocoa production” and “address farmer productivity and community issues.” Mars mentions that it has built 16 Cocoa Development Centers and 52 Cocoa Village Centers in the Ivory Coast, where farmers are taught how to manage their land and crops efficiently. How it specifically targets child labor is unclear.

Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, confirmed that Nestle seems to have launched the most tangible program but said it has yet to yield results. “They claim they’ve been taking steps. They partner with the Fair Labor Association to investigate, and they claim they’re committed to eradicating it, but the fact is the recent reports show the number of children in the cocoa industry has increased,” Berman told The Daily Beast. “We doubt that Nestle is taking this very seriously.”

“The consumers reaching out to our firm have been outraged to learn that the candy they enjoy has a dark, bitter production cost—that child and slave labor have been a part of Nestle, Mars, and Hershey’s chocolate processing,” saidBerman. “These companies fail to disclose their use of child and forced labor, tricking consumers into indirectly supporting the use of such labor.”

Berman added that he believes Mars, Nestle, and Hershey’s failure to eradicate child labor in the cocoa trade boils down to one thing: “cheap labor; dirt cheap.”

After interviewing Hershey about the 2000 documentary for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fernandez decided to pursue a book on the company’s trust. That book, The Chocolate Trust, was released in June. In the final chapter, he remarks on the oddity of a company with roots in child welfare making its billions on the backs of child laborers.

But it’s the 15-year gap that most baffles Fernandez, who remembers being shocked by the initial revelations. The fact that alleged child slavery persists to this day seems almost too difficult to believe. “The thing is the industry said it would solve it in 2001; then they said they’d do it by 2005,” he told The Daily Beast, before asking the pivotal question: “What happened?”

Update: Hershey sent The Daily Beast the following comment:

At Hershey, we are committed to the ethical and responsible sourcing of all of our product ingredients and have no tolerance for illegal practices, including children used as forced labor in cocoa farming.The allegations in the lawsuit are not new and reflect long-term challenges in cocoa-growing countries that many stakeholders, including NGOs, companies in the cocoa supply chain and the U.S Government have been working diligently together to address for a number of years. Poverty is a fundamental issue in the cocoa-growing region of West Africa, and companies across the entire cocoa supply chain have been actively involved in substantial initiatives to improve the economic, social and labor conditions in these cocoa-growing communities.

Hershey is proud of the cocoa sustainability and farmer training programs we have established through NGOs and other partners in West Africa during the past few years. We have begun to see success from these programs. This includes programs in Cote d’Ivoire that are now beginning to take hold after years of political unrest that had hampered progress there until recently. From the work the industry has undertaken in recent years, it is clear that addressing the challenges will require an aligned and sustained focus from all stakeholders, including the cocoa industry, local governments, and NGOs and non-profit groups. That’s why CocoaAction, the industry response being led through the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), is so important. These aligned efforts are aimed at accelerating sustainability and improving the livelihoods and social conditions of cocoa communities in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

The cocoa industry, including Hershey, will invest more than $400 million in West Africa by 2020 to accelerate both the supply of certified cocoa and reduce instances of inappropriate labor by investing in better cocoa communities. These industry-wide efforts seek to reduce the occurrence of inappropriate farming practices that involve the use of children by reaching tens of thousands of farmers and their families in cocoa-growing areas, educating farmers about the risks and dangers of child labor, and training farmers and professionals to safely manage riskier tasks in which children have previously been involved. The combined and focused effort of the entire industry and other stakeholders is a very encouraging and positive development.

Hershey, Nestle and Mars have been using child slaves to make your chocolate Hershey, Nestle and Mars have been using child slaves to make your chocolate ABBY HAGLAGE | 09.30.15 10:45 AM ET …

#Africa #Agriculture #Coco #Labour #Land #Slave #Water

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