#delia peabody

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[lieutenantdarling]

"Are you and Roarke going to the ball drop?" "Oh, absolutely. If we both suffer extensive brain damage in the next twenty-four hours."

J.D. Robb, Obsession in Death

[hoidn]

eve: did you get the fangirl out of your system?

peabody: born a fangirl, die a fangirl

[lizzybgood]

Shout out to Delia Peabody. For her continuing mental torture of bombarding Eve Dallas with descriptions of Hot Monkey Sex she has with McNab.

[dallas-and-co]

In the beat of horrified silence, Eve studied K.T. down the length of the table. “Peabody?” “Yes, sir,” Peabody said, shoulders hunched. “You know how I occasionally mention the possibility of kicking your ass?” “I'd term that as regularly, but yes, sir, I do.” “You may get the chance to watch me kick your fake ass while you sit comfortably on your own. That's an opportunity that doesn't come around every day.” “You don't worry me.” K.T. sneered at her. “I ought to. Anybody who shows their ass that big in public's just asking to have it kicked. But maybe it's better to just leave it hanging out there, all pink and shiny while the grown-ups talk.” “Well done,” Roarke said when Eve shifted back again, picked up her fork.

J.D. Robb, Celebrity in Death

[alittlegothinsideme]

And because I'm not always a dystopian fantasy/ New adult reader, and this blog was never meant to be the Maas-topia it often becomes, I'll share my other love with you... This series started a million years ago with Naked in Death and this week Echoes in death, which is number forty-something came out...

If you have never read any of these, you’re missing out...crime, a badass messed up cop. a gorgeous Irish bloke and some epic writing, these books are my absolute go-to re-read!!! GET INVOLVED YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY!!!

[96thdayofrage]

THE DARK UNDERSIDE OF REPRESENTATIONS OF SLAVERY

Will the Black body ever have the opportunity to rest in peace?

The photographs are about the size of a small hand. They’re wrapped in a leatherette case and framed in gold. From the background of one, the image of a Black woman’s body emerges. Her hair is plaited close to her head, and she is naked from the waist up. Her stare seems to penetrate the glass of the frame, peering into the eyes of the viewer. The paper label that accompanies her likeness reads: delia, country born of african parents, daughter of renty, congo. In another frame, her father stands before the camera, his collarbone prominent, and his temples peppered with gray and white hair. The label on his photo says: renty, congo, on plantation of b.f. taylor, columbia, s.c.

In 1850, when these images were captured, the subjects in the daguerreotypes were considered property. The bodies in the photographs had been shaped by hard labor on the grub plantation, where they’d spent their lives stooped over sandy soil, working approximately 1,200 acres of cotton and 200 of corn. Brought from the fields to a photography studio in Columbia, South Carolina, each person was photographed from different angles, in the hopes of finding photographic evidence of physical differences between the Black enslaved and the white masters who owned them. A daguerreotype took somewhere between three and 15 minutes of exposure time, and the end result was a detailed image imprinted on a small copper-plated sheet, covered with a thin coat of silver.

Louis Agassiz, a professor at Harvard, commissioned the portraits of Delia and Renty, along with those of other enslaved people, from the photographer Joseph T. Zealy. The daguerreotypes remained, all but forgotten, in the school’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology attic until an archivist found them in a storage drawer in 1976. Since then, these photos of Renty and his daughter Delia have been featured on conference programs, in presentations, and reproduced in books.

As photography has moved from the scientific novelty of Agassiz’s time to ubiquitous contemporary entertainment over the years, the art form has reflected society’s inequity. The rediscovery of the daguerreotypes and their use in revenue-generating materials in the present day have helped surface an ethical issue that has long accompanied images of Black people’s bodies: Their presentation and exploitation still, in many cases, outweigh individual ownership and autonomy.

While the provenance of the photos traces a line from a drawer at Harvard to a photographer in South Carolina, their story today also has roots in Norwich, Connecticut, home to Tamara Lanier, who claims to be the great-great-great-granddaughter of Renty. As a girl, Lanier’s mother told her about an ancestor named “Papa Renty.” She learned that he was a master of the Bible and that, as an act of defiance, he taught other enslaved people to read. According to the history passed down through her family, Renty got his hands on Noah Webster’s The Original Blue Back Speller, and after tending to crops in the fields, he would study the book at night.

Gillian B. White: Introducing the third chapter of “Inheritance”

Lanier would not start searching for the truth behind those stories until 2010, the year her mother died. She began a genealogical search for her ancestors. She also told an acquaintance, Richard Morrison, of her mother’s death and her own attempt at tracing her bloodline. Morrison, an amateur genealogist, took what Lanier told him and did some digging. He came up with a name: Renty Taylor. Morrison’s Ancestry.com search pulled up a photograph of Renty from 1850—one of Agassiz’s daguerreotypes. Further searches provided Lanier with information about Agassiz and Zealy and mentioned where she could find the original pictures: Harvard University. When she traveled to the school and viewed the images, Lanier was disappointed by their size, which resembled a deck of cards. There he was, the man who seemed larger than life in many of her mother’s stories, looking small and sad.

Seeing her ancestors in the archives at the university, Lanier felt the portraits were out of place. She believed that the images of Renty and Delia belonged to her. So on March 20, 2019, she filed a lawsuit against Harvard. In her lawsuit she alleges that the images of Renty and Delia are still working for the university, based on the licensing fees their images command. (In 2019, Harvard acknowledged that the images are not protected by copyright and that it charges only a $15 fee for a high-resolution scan.) Lanier requested that the university grant ownership of the daguerreotypes to her, pay her punitive damages, and turn over any profits associated with the portraits. “From slavery to where we are today, Black people’s property has been taken from them,” Lanier told me. “We are a disinherited people.”

Earlier this year, a court dismissed Lanier’s lawsuit, saying that “the law … does not confer a property interest to the subject of a photograph,” no matter the circumstances of its composition. Neither Harvard nor the judge presiding over the case disputed Lanier’s evidence that she was a direct descendant of Renty. Still, the court declared that Havard had the right to keep ownership of the photographs. Lanier has appealed the decision, and now the Massachusetts Supreme Court will weigh in. Oral arguments are scheduled for November 1.

Lanier’s case is about more than her personal interest in the photographs; rather, it has greater implications in a long-running reckoning. Agassiz used these photos of enslaved Africans, along with measurements of their cranium, as evidence of a theory known as polygenism, which was used by American proponents to justify slavery. He and other scientists believed Black people were created separately from white people, and their pseudoscientific inquiry was embedded into racist stereotypes in the bedrock of this country. To some historians, in keeping and curating images like these, Harvard is still celebrating the work of these practitioners and their discredited racial theories. (Harvard did not respond to requests for comment. In a previous statement, the university claimed the daguerreotypes were “powerful visual indictments of the horrific institution of slavery” and hoped the court ruling would make them “more accessible to a broader segment of the public.”)

The outcome of Lanier’s court case against Harvard will be legal commentary on whether the Black body ever has the opportunity to rest in peace, or whether present-day academic and entertainment priorities outweigh the rights of the Black deceased.

Whether she gets there or not depends on her long shot of an appeal. But her fight is an important front in a war over the ownership of images of Black bodies, one that is being waged on TikTok as well as in dusty archival drawers.

This technology spawns a series of questions: At a time when Black bodies are treated as teaching moments for the larger culture, are those whose bodies were broken—by the whip of an overseer or the bullet of a police officer—ever afforded the opportunity to rest in peace? This inquiry is the latest curious development in the ethically fraught conversation about Black bodies, ancestry, and ownership. There is a direct line between historical exploitation and the ongoing commercialization of and profiting from images of dead Black people, over which their descendants often have little control, few claims, and few rights.

America is still grappling with the limitations of freedom, and whether Renty and Delia will be released from the grips of the archives remains to be seen.

[lizabethstucker]

Golden in Death by J. D. Robb

In Death 50

Lieutenant Eve Dallas must discover why a much loved pediatrician was horribly killed by a toxic gas.  As Eve and her partner, Detective Delia Peabody, search for a motive and the killer, there's another victim.  The race is on as Eve is certain that this won't be the end.

Bullies, high school drama, greed for both money and power, a disgusting sense of entitlement, and a twisted form of revenge tears through this surprisingly quick read.  One of the things that fascinates me about Robb is how well her characters are drawn, both the good and the bad.  People are not just one-dimensional, in a bubble of goodness or evil.  Even if the villain is as cold and evil as can be, there are people who love them, who try and ignore the issues.  A great way to pass the time while under the Stay-at-Home orders.  4.5 out of 5.  

FANDOM ADDITION:  This isn’t posted on my Goodreads review, but as I read more about the school and the people who went there, I found myself flashing to Spider-Man.  An expensive school like Midtown.  Some scholarship students like Peter Parker.  A few students from wealthy families who think they are entitled and who bully others, particularly those who are on scholarship, aka Flash and Brad.  And a principal and some teachers who are more interested in the donations than the safety of their students.

[etraytin]

Ten Characters Meme

rules: list 10 of your favorite fictional characters from 10 different pieces of media (books, movies, tv shows, etc.) and then tag 10 people.

tagged by @smallblueandloud

I can’t chose just ten! But I can choose my top threes in several categories:

She Saved the World, a Lot 1. CJ Cregg (The West Wing)  2. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 3. Eleanor Shellstrop (The Good Place) 

Powers Behind the Throne  1. Donna Moss (The West Wing) 2. Pepper Potts (Marvel Cinematic Universe)  3. Leo McGarry (The West Wing)

Like Good Advice That You Just Didn’t Take 1. Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place)  2. Dana Scully (The X-Files) 3. Beverly Crusher (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

One Name Heel-Face Turn  1. Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 2. Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender)  3. Roarke (In Death mysteries) 

Can and Will Kick Your Ass 1. Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) 2. Eve Dallas (In Death Mysteries)  3. Josh Lyman (The West Wing) Can Kick Your Ass, But Probably Won’t  1. Janet (The Good Place) 2. Steve Rogers (Marvel Cinematic Universe)  3. Nancy Drew (the Nancy Drew mysteries) 

Will Sidekick Your Ass 1. Delia Peabody (In Death mysteries) 2. Margaret Hooper (The West Wing) 3. Darcy Lewis (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

I Shouldn’t Even Be Here Today  1. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) 2. Jason Mendoza (The Good Place) 3. Nick Andros (The Stand) 

That is probably enough for now. There’s just so many characters, and I’m sleepy enough to be forgetting lots of them! I’ll tag @tanoraqui. @beturass, @not-all-the-prayers, @comepraisetheinfanta, and anybody else who would like to think about their favorite characters today. And if you don’t, no pressure! 

[miscellaneous-nonsense-llc]

I guess you don't think of how many people you brush up against, or how they might remember you...it matters. It all matters, what we leave behind with the people we brush up against.

J.D. Robb, Promises in Death

[ownerzero]

The Continuing Fight to #FreeRenty

Over the last few years, Hyperallergic has reported on the continuing quest of Tamara Lanier to retrieve daguerreotypes of her ancestors Renty and Delia Taylor. In March 2019, Lanier filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts to obtain rights to photographs in the collection of Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, which were commissioned by […]

The post The Continuing Fight to #FreeRenty appeared first on AWorkstation.com.

source https://aworkstation.com/the-continuing-fight-to-freerenty/

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[lieutenantdarling]

"Who'd kill for you?" Peabody waited until Eve lowered her hands. "I mean who'd kill because somebody was rude to you, or, well, snotty?" "Nobody leaps to mind. I tend to avoid relationships with the homicidal."

J.D. Robb, Obsession in Death

[mrars]

Human Evolution | Delia, Drana, and the Zealy Daguerreotypes

Image: “Jack (driver), Guinea. Plantation of B. F. Taylor, Esq., Columbia, S.C.” Daguerreotype taken by J. T. Zealy, Columbia, S.C., March 1850. Peabody Museum, Harvard University.

During the 1850s, the study of humans and where different races came from was popular. This field of study produced two different theories, monogenism and polygenism (Wallis 102). Monogenism is the belief that all humans came from one pair of ancestors, whereas polygenism is the belief that all humans came from several different pairs of ancestors. Someone who studied these theories and firmly believed in polygenism was Louis Agassiz. In the later years of his life, he have many lectures on the subject and was held in conversation by others quite frequently. In fact, in Frederick Douglass’ Paper, it states that “Professor Agassiz has undertaken to prove that the negro does not belong to the human family. Where does he belong?” (“Cleaning” 3). 

For his studies, Louis Agassiz had daguerreotypes -- photographs -- taken for him in 1850. These photos had “two purposes, one nominally scientific, the other frankly political” (Wallis 102). While he used the photos to study the differences “between European whites and African blacks, at the same time they were meant to prove the superiority of the white race” (102). 

The enslaved men and women in these daguerreotypes were from Columbia, South Carolina. They “were brought to the portrait studio of daguerreotypist Joseph T. Zealy” (Young 30). Their names were Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty. Each person was told to take their clothes off in order to make sure that Agassiz was able to study them properly. There is little known about them except for what they looked like. It is known that Delia and Drana “were the daughters of Jack and Renty, respectively” (30). It is also highly theorized, and plausible, that each person pursued an act of defiance, especially through the looks they gave the camera. Harvey Young, author of the book Embodying Black Experience: Stillness, Critical Memory, and the Black Body, mentions a scholar named Alan Trachtenberg, who “contends that their gaze challenges efforts to objectify them:” 

“The absoluteness of their confinement to [the role of specimen] has the unintended effect of freeing their eyes from another necessity but to look back at the glass eye staring at them. Their gaze defies the scrutinizing gaze aimed at their nakedness, and challenges the viewer of these daguerreotypes to reckon with his or her own response to such images.” (47)

Works Cited:

“Cleaning of News.” Frederick Douglass’ Paper. (Rochester, New York) VII, no. 19, April 28, 1854: [3]. Readex: African American Newspapers. 

Wallis, Brian. “Black Bodies, White Science: The Slave Daguerreotypes of Louis Agassiz.” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, no. 12 (Summer 1996): 102-106.

Young, Harvey. “Still Standing: Daguerreotypes, Photography, and the Black Body.” Embodying Black Experience: Stillness, Critical Memory, and the Black Body, 26-75. MI: University of Michigan Press, 2010. 

[dallas-and-co]

“I can't believe I was juiced when they cast her to play me. Pleasebody,” Peabody muttered. “She didn't have any respect for me at all. I wish I'd known what a crappy human being she was before she got dead. I'd have shown her a Pleasebody.” “How long do you figure you're going to stew over this?” “Awhile. I've never worked on a vic I wished I'd punched in the face before somebody killed her. I've been working on my hand-to-hand.” “Is that so?” “That is very so. I think I'm improving. Plus I lost two pounds. Well, one-point-seven pounds.” “One-point-seven.” Eve slanted a look over. “Seriously? You weigh in decimals?” “Easy for you, Skinny Bitch.” “Hey, that's Lieutenant Skinny Bitch to you, Detective Pleasebody.” That got a lip twitch that spread to a reluctant smile.

J.D. Robb, Celebrity in Death

[shaebay]

I meant to post these a couple days ago, but here's some more foster kitten action. Their names are: Lieutenant Eve Dallas (momma), Captain Ryan Feeney (white), Mavis Freestone (the one curled in on the first pic), and Detective Delia Peabody. Mavis started off the most timid, but she's living up to her name and actually seems to be the most bold.