#former head of the NY institute

[margareturtle]

One of the funniest plotholes in TSC is how Robert and Maryse leave the circle and become Heads of the NY Institute

Like ngl the Shadowhunters prob would’ve kept Idris in 2012

If instead of being like “Due to your crimes against Shadowhunters” *the cohort takes out their knives* “Zara & Manuel & Co will be sentenced to banishment from Idris for 20 yrs and to be dispersed across institutes so they cannot plan another coup”

They were like “Due to your crimes against Shadowhunters” *takes out knives* “Zara & Manuel are sentenced to becoming the Heads of the Los Angeles Institute and only allowed back in Idris when the Council holds important votes!” *Zara & Manuel drop knives*

Zara: Wait what? (what zara was dreaming of) Nevermind everyone drop your knives!! sign me up 🙌

The Blackthorns: EXCUSE ME

Like I just can’t imagine how INQUISITOR Imogen “my grandson should be put to death” WHITELAW Herondale was totally chill with the LIGHTWOODS who were part of the CIRCLE taking control of the one of the BIGGEST Institutes in AMERICA not to mention the former residents of said Institute were WHITELAWS and Imogen’s family!! So even if she didn’t grow up in NYC she def visited her FAMILY there!! And said FAMILY was MURDERED by the LIGHTWOODS & CIRCLE CO!! Then to TOP IT ALL OFF Robert & Maryse supported the MAN WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HER SON’S DEATH till the very end when they sold out their friends for LENIENCY

And I’m supposed to believe that they had strong enough connections and the Clave just loves Lightwood’s so much that Imogen & co had to be okay with these two college age former circle members with their one year old son just heading on over to lead one of the biggest institutes in the USA.

Mmm k ok sureee

[contemplatingoutlander]

It appears that Mexico is now the 60th UN member nation who has had a woman as head of state.

It just goes to show how the U.S. is still a very sexist culture. I've always believed that a major reason that Hillary didn't win the electoral vote in 2016 was that too many Americans felt uncomfortable having a highly qualified woman in the Oval Office.

Anyway. Congratulations to Mexico! Below are some excerpts from the NY Times article:

Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won her nation’s elections on Sunday in a landslide victory that brought a double milestone: She became the first woman, and the first Jewish person, to be elected president of Mexico. Early results indicated that Ms. Sheinbaum, 61, prevailed in what the authorities called the largest election in Mexico’s history, with the highest number of voters taking part and the most seats up for grabs. It was a landmark vote that saw not one, but two, women vying to lead one of the hemisphere’s biggest nations. And it will put a Jewish leader at the helm of one of the world’s largest predominantly Catholic countries. Ms. Sheinbaum, a leftist, campaigned on a vow to continue the legacy of Mexico’s current president and her mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which delighted their party’s base — and raised alarm among detractors. The election was seen by many as a referendum on his leadership, and her victory was a clear vote of confidence in Mr. López Obrador and the party he started. Mr. López Obrador has completely reshaped Mexican politics. During his tenure, millions of Mexicans were lifted out of poverty and the minimum wage doubled. But he has also been a deeply polarizing president, criticized for failing to control rampant cartel violence, for hobbling the nation’s health system and for persistently undercutting democratic institutions. Still, Mr. López Obrador remains widely popular and his enduring appeal propelled his chosen successor. And for all the challenges facing the country, the opposition was unable to persuade Mexicans that their candidate was a better option.

[edited]

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 15, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

The Justice Department today announced the arrest of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo, charged with defrauding followers of more than $1 billion. The 12-count indictment for wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering says Guo and a co-conspirator, Kin Ming Je, raised money by promising stock in Guo’s GTV Media Group, a high-end club, or cryptocurrency but then used the money themselves for items that included a $53,000 fireplace log holder, a watch storage box that cost almost $60,000, and two $36,000 mattresses, as well as more typical luxury items: a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a Lamborghini, and designer furniture.

The U.S. government seized more than $630 million from multiple bank accounts as well as other assets purchased with illicit money. If convicted, Guo faces up to 20 years in prison. Guo has attracted donors by developing the idea that he is a principled opponent of the Chinese Communist Party, but Dan Friedman, who writes on lobbying and corruption for Mother Jones, points out that this persona appears to be a grift. Guo is close to sometime Trump ally Steve Bannon, who was reading a book on Guo’s yacht, Lady May, when federal officers arrested him in 2020 for defrauding donors of $25 million in his “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign. Rather than constructing a wall, Bannon and three associates funneled that money to themselves. Trump pardoned Bannon for that scheme hours before he left office. Friedman points out that prosecutors say Guo’s criminal conspiracy began in 2018, which is the year that Guo and Bannon launched The Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society. They claimed the organizations would defend human rights in China and then, according to prosecutors, lured donors to other products. In April 2020, Guo and Bannon formed the GTV Media Group, which flooded the news with disinformation before the 2020 election, especially related to Hunter Biden and the novel coronavirus. Sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2021 for the illegal sale of cryptocurrency, GTV paid more than $539 million to settle the case. Bannon’s War Room webcast features Guo performing its theme song. One of the entities Guo and Bannon created together is the “New Federal State of China,” which sponsored the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. In other money news, Hugo Lowell of The Guardian reported today that $8 million of the loans that bankrolled Trump’s social media platform Truth Social came from two entities that are associated with Anton Postolnikov, a relation of an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin named Aleksandr Smirnov. Banks continue to writhe, in Europe this time, as Credit Suisse disclosed problems in its reporting and its largest investor, Saudi National Bank, said it would not inject more cash into the institution. The government of Switzerland says it will backstop the bank. In the U.S., Michael Brown, a venture partner at Shield Capital and former head of the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit, told Marcus Weisgerber and Patrick Tucker of Defense One that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank had the potential to be a big problem for national security, since a number of the affected start-ups were working on projects for the defense sector. “If you want to kind of knock out the seed corn for the next decade or two of innovative tech, much of which we need for the competition with China, [collapsing SVB] would have been a very effective blow. [Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin] would have been cheering to see so many companies fail.” Federal and state investigators are looking into the role of Representative George Santos (R-NY) in the sale of a $19 million yacht from one of his wealthy donors to another, for which he collected a broker’s fee. In an interview with Semafor last December, Santos explained that his income had jumped from $55,000 in 2020 to enough money to loan his 2022 campaign $705,000 because he had begun to act as a broker for boat or plane sales. He told Semafor: “If you’re looking at a $20 million yacht, my referral fee there can be anywhere between $200,000 and $400,000.” Today’s emphasis on money and politics brings to mind the speech then–FBI director Robert Mueller gave in New York in 2011, warning about a new kind of national security threat: “so-called ‘iron triangles’ of organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders” allied not by religion or political inclinations, but by greed. It also brings to mind the adamant opposition of then–National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to campaign finance reform in 1997 after he raised a record-breaking amount of money for Republican candidates, saying that political donations are simply a form of free speech. The Supreme Court read that interpretation into law in the 2010 Citizens United decision, but the increasingly obvious links between money, politics, and national security suggest it might be worth revisiting. Money and politics are in the news in another way today, too, as part of the ongoing budget debates. A letter yesterday from the Congressional Budget Office to Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), answering their questions about how to eliminate the deficit by 2033, says that it is impossible to balance the budget by that year without either raising revenue or cutting either Social Security, Medicare, or defense spending. Even zeroing out all discretionary spending is not sufficient. Led by House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Republicans have promised they can do so, but they have not yet produced a budget. This CBO information makes their job harder. And finally, today, in Amarillo, Texas, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk held a hearing on the drug mifepristone, used in about half of medically induced abortions. The right-wing “Alliance Defending Freedom,” acting on behalf of antiabortion medical organizations and four doctors, is challenging the approval process the Food and Drug Administration used 22 years ago to argue that the drug should be prohibited. While the approval process took more than four years, it was conducted under an expedited process that speeds consideration of drugs that address life-threatening illnesses. “Pregnancy is not an illness,” senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom Julie Marie Blake said. And yet mifepristone is commonly used in case of miscarriage and for a number of other medical conditions. And Texas’s Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review, released in December 2022, concluded that from March 2021 to December 2022, at least 118 deaths in Texas were related to pregnancy. In 2020, 861 deaths in the U.S. were related to pregnancy, up from 754 in 2019. Public health officials note that extensive research both in the U.S. and in Europe has proven the medication is safe and effective. They warn that a judge’s overturning a drug’s FDA approval 20 years after the fact could upend the country’s entire drug-approval system, as approvals for coronavirus treatments, for example, become plagued by political challenges. Kacsmaryk was appointed by Trump and is well known for his right-wing views on abortion and same-sex marriage. Initially, he kept the hearing over a nationwide ban on the key drug used for medicated abortion off the docket, and in a phone call last Friday he asked lawyers not to publicize today’s hearing, saying he was concerned about safety. Legal observers were outraged at the attack on judicial transparency—a key part of our justice system—and Chris Geidner of LawDork outlined the many times Kacsmaryk had taken a stand in favor of the “public’s right to know.” According to Ian Millhiser of Vox, Kacsmaryk let 19 members of the press and 19 members of the public into today’s hearing.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[primorcoin]

New Post has been published on https://primorcoin.com/paradigm-crypto-policy-council-enlists-paul-ryan-among-other-d-c-vets/

Paradigm Crypto Policy Council Enlists Paul Ryan Among Other D.C. Vets

Web3 venture capital firm Paradigm has launched a Crypto Policy Council that includes former Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R-WI) and former U.S. Congressman Steve Israel (D-NY), among other political figures, the company announced Monday. 

The eight-member bipartisan council will advise Paradigm’s leadership and assist the company in “tell[ing] the story of Web3 in Washington and around the world.”

Ryan will lead the council as senior advisor along with Chris Brummer, director of Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law. 

Marta Belcher, the only technology-native member of the policy council, currently serves as special counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and works as an attorney focusing on blockchain and emerging technologies.

“Tackling crypto policy challenges requires an array of perspectives and experiences,” Justin Slaughter, Paradigm’s head of policy, said in a tweet on Monday. “This team has it all.”

Thrilled to finally announce this endeavor. Tackling crypto policy challenges requires an array of perspectives and experiences. This team has it all.https://t.co/kpm96q6dK7

— Justin Slaughter (@JBSDC) November 7, 2022

Other Washington veterans appointed to the council include Deb Callahan, former president of the League of Conservation Voters; Makan Delrahim, former U.S. assistant attorney general; Nicole Elam, president and CEO of the National Bankers Association; and Parker Poling, former chief of staff to Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who is widely anticipated to chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee, should Republicans retake the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections. 

“This is not a lobbying group, they will not be lobbying Congress or advocating externally,” a Paradigm spokesperson told Decrypt. “The policy council will advise Paradigm and offer its opinions on crypto policy internally.”

The council’s members will be “compensated nominally for their part-time advisory role,” the spokesperson noted, while highlighting their “tremendous talents” and “unique cross-sector expertise.”

“Policy council members will meet regularly throughout the year, both in person and virtually, to advise Paradigm on the latest crypto policy developments,” the spokesperson said.

Late last month, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Alexandria Occasio-Cortez (D-NY), among other Democratic lawmakers, circulated letters to federal financial regulators including the SEC and CFTC, asking them to clarify their policies on barring ex-employees from seeking jobs in the crypto sector. 

“Crypto firms have hired hundreds of ex-government officials,” the letter read. “We are concerned that the crypto revolving door risks corrupting the policymaking process and undermining the public’s trust in our financial regulators.”

The letter—and Paradigm’s push into federal policymaking terrain—come at a time when financial regulators and legislators appear poised to make landmark determinations as to crypto’s regulatory fate. 

A divisive “DeFi killing” bill that would see the majority of the crypto industry regulated by the CFTC is currently circulating around the capital, unfinished.Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, a federal judge ruled that decentralized file sharing platform LBRY violated federal securities laws in offering its native token, LBC, in a move that some called an “extraordinarily dangerous precedent” for crypto. 

Editor’s note: this article has been updated to include additional comments from a Paradigm spokesperson.

Stay on top of crypto news, get daily updates in your inbox.

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#Blockchain #Crypto #CryptoNews #TraedndingCrypto

[gctonki]

Nyc snow totals

"A foot of heavy, wet snow is not going to be an easy task to shovel," the NWS said. It also warned about some of the dangers of shoveling wet snow, explaining that the heavy slush can put a "big strain on the heart," and recommended that people take frequent breaks. The NWS advised travelers on Monday to wear a hat, as there would likely be wet snow falling from trees as temperatures increased to about 40 degrees. Other surrounding areas of Boston received significant snowfall, including: In Framingham, which is about 22 miles away from Boston, the NWS reported 14 inches of snowfall. Total Liquid Accumulation: Forecast (in) 0. The overnight snowfall brought 9.8 inches of snow to Boston, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Boston. 7-hour rain and snow forecast for New York City, NY with 24-hour rain accumulation, radar and satellite maps of precipitation by Weather Underground. (CNN) The first major winter storm of 2021 blasted New York City and other parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Monday. While one city surpassed snowfall expectations, another fell far short of the forecast. Powerful Noreaster could bring record snow to the Northeast 02:13. Daily snow observations from GHCN stations are available using the pulldown menus below to select the state, month, and year of interest for either snowfall or snow depth data. Most of the snow tapered off by mid-morning Friday. GHCN Daily snowfall and snow depth observations. Up to 10 inches of snow was predicted for New York City, and Boston was expected to see up to 8 inches. Locally higher amounts were possible, with LaGuardia reporting nearly 10 inches of accumulation, well more than expected, by about 3 p.m. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also initiated a two-hour delayed start time for government offices due to the storm, and declared a state of emergency for the Garden State beginning at 3 p.m. Ahead of the storm, public schools in Boston and New York City announced they would be closed on Monday, and in Massachusetts nonemergency state employees working in agencies of the Executive Branch had a delayed start time. The storm, dubbed Winter Storm Scott, moved quickly throughout the affected areas, coming and leaving within hours. “Their insights and their mentorship will be tremendously helpful to students who aspire to public office, as well as to those who are looking to lead in other sectors,” she said.Weeks after Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, parts of the northeast were hit with snowfall that caused school cancellations and transportation complications. It shows the most snow in Western New York fell in Mayville. Williams said both officials grappled with public health crises including COVID-19, homelessness and the opioid epidemic. The National Weather Service released an updated snowfall total list to include snows from Monday and Tuesday. “We are thrilled to welcome Mayor de Blasio and Mayor Janey to campus as Menschel Senior Leadership Fellows,” Dean Michelle A. Kim Janey, the former acting mayor of Boston, will also serve as a fellow at the public health school. Chan School of Public Health, the schools said in separate announcements Wednesday. Here are the snowfall totals expected by 5 a.m. The map above will show how much snow has fallen over the last. The Pinpoint Weather Team said the bulk of the snow will fall in Denver between 4-10 p.m. NEW YORK (AP) - Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is headed to Harvard this fall as a teaching fellow at the university’s schools of government and public health.ĭe Blasio, a Democrat who served as mayor from from 2014 to 2021, will take part in “a variety of discussions, events, and programming” at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and will teach classes on leadership and public service at the Harvard T.H. Source: National Weather Service’s National Snowfall Analysis.

[jerrydevine]

insane shit from the finale of my beloved shadowhunters:

-they just blow up edom and get rid of it before the intro sequence <3

-MAX omg with his little glasses :((((((

-maryse walking magnus down the isle <33333

-malec wedding obviously malec wedding

-jace dancing with maryse at the reception

-malec first dance being to what a wonderful world.............

-maryse telling magnus alec izzy jace and max about how she's dating luke and everyones like uhhh yeah duh!!!!!

-maryse telling magnus alec izzy jace and max about how she's dating luke and CLARY shows up out of nowhere to tell her what she thinks .. ksjfgksjdhfg

-maia only being in like 2 minutes of the ep :((

-published author simon lewis <3

-INQUISITOR ALEC LIGHTWOOD-BANE!!!!!

-HIGH WARLOCK OF ALICANTE MAGNUS LIGHTWOOD-BANE!!!!!!!!

-head of the ny institute izzy <33

-jace wanting to fuck simon so bad

-simon wanting to fuck jace so bad

-the fact that clary just like . becomes a mundane but gets back the sight w/o explanation ?? and then the show ends <3

and last but not least:

-lorenzo rey, former lizard, being in gay love with the guy magnus was jealous of?!

[captainkirkk]

The Magnus Archives Fic Recs

In no particular order, a list of my favourite fics I’ve found since getting into TMA. 

(Contains spoilers)

ceylon, assam, and darjeeling by Sciosa

People do not bring Jonathon Sims tea. Martin Blackwood, newly-minted archival assistant, has apparently not received this memo.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

patchwork by Jothowrote

Part 1 of Anthill verse

It was happy hour at the Anthill, and it was busy. Jon got there late, held back at the institute by an irritated Elias. Elias knew exactly what Jon did with his Friday nights, and he hated it.

In fact, one of the main reasons Jon went each week was because of Elias’ distaste for the place. Jon himself wasn’t overly keen of the dusty, faded décor, grimy floor, or limited selection of IPAs, but he didn’t go to the Anthill for the place, as Elias well knew. He went for the people.

An AU in which all the various Avatars hang out at a bar.

Martin: A Model Assistant by idareu2bme, kristsune

Tim finds Martin's old photoshoot, and makes everyone appreciates model!Martin the way he should be.

doctor, don't look me in the (eye)s by blacksatinpointeshoes (Note: Crossover with the Bright Sessions!)

Part 1 of jon sims v the nhs (+ podfic)

Joan Bright has a new patient. He's carrying an old tape recorder and is covered head to toe in scars. Jonathan Sims looks dangerous, but Dr Bright has dealt with all sorts of atypical individuals. She has no reason to be nervous.

Right?

avatar groupchat by gayprophets

10:12 PM Jared Boneturner: the arm bone was a femuur :) i looked it up Elias: Humerus. Jared Boneturner: yeah it was pretty funny :)

tell me again about how it hurts by Wildehack (tyleet)

After Ny-Ålesund, Jon goes to the prison and compels his way as far as Elias’s cell block before a guard stops him. There’s a bright streak of blood dripping unchecked from the guard’s nose, and his eyes are vacant. He says calmly: “There are twenty people between us, and I’m prepared to sacrifice them all if you keep walking.”

deep within, just beneath the skin by cacowhistle

A collection of drabbles that explore the things that may come with becoming the Archivist.

(A collection of drabbles that focus on the more eldritch monster parts of Jonathan Sims. Some good, some bad.)

Come Change Your Ring With Me by j quadrifrons (Jenavira)

The Lukases demand the Archivist marry into the family, and the Institute relies on them too much to say no. Peter is smug. Elias is fuming. Martin is suffering. Jon thinks this might be tolerable if only Peter would hurry up and leave him alone already.

OR, the soap opera we call an Archives revolves around Peter Lukas this time.

Canary by brinnanza (+ podfic)

There is a door in Jon’s office that is not supposed to be there.

AKA: Helen comes bearing gifts.

Hey Martin, I Like Your Shirt! by idareu2bme

Tim has started shamelessly flirting with Martin around the office. Martin can tell it's an act, but what he doesn't understand is why Tim's doing it in the first place.

the umbrella by Wildehack (tyleet)

"And to think—all of Jonah Magnus’ carefully laid plans, the centuries of scheming, the murders, the sacrifices, all of that work could have been completely undone if Martin Blackwood had gone back for an umbrella.”

Clothes Have No Gender by kristsune 

Jon wears a skirt to the Institute for the first time, and gets reactions he hadn't expected.

these halls ain't empty with you by hulklinging

Jon doesn't meet someone like him until he's almost twelve years old.

Once he does, though, he'll do anything to not let go.

(The Magnus Institute's human experiments are not alright. But at least they're not alone.)

It Serenely Disdains to Destroy Us by trill_gutterbug (+ podfic)

Martin gnaws his lower lip. “Do you think he’ll - I mean, do you think it’ll be…”

Melanie's smile becomes a little less of a grimace. She claps his shoulder, not ungently. “Martin. It’ll be fine. It’s only temporary. He’s not moving in.”

Martin chuckles. “Yes. Of course.”-

Jon's flat is being fumigated. He is not impressed. Martin offers his spare bedroom.

Martin Blackwood Tries to Save the World (and Drags Jon with Him) by TheRealAndian

It's the end of the world, and Jon and Martin have no idea how to fix it. That is, until a suspicious door lands them unsuspectingly in the past, long before the apocalypse. Now they have to work together with their former coworkers and their younger selves to stop the Watcher's Crown from being completed, and maybe even admit their feelings for one another.

Hybrid Signal by Mad_Maudlin

To be a monster is to be a hybrid signal, a lighthouse: both shelter and warning at once.

Martin receives a message from an unknown individual, and discovers there's more to his role at the Magnus Institute than he previously realized.

a gift; a promise by holdingbee

jon requests an assistant. or a few, if elias can spare them. elias certainly can.

a self-indulgent one-shot where martin and jon meet a little differently.

Like Real People Do by HistoriaGloria

'Martin Blackwood had been an archival assistant for over 2 years when he found the first tape.'

Martin finds a tape which reveals some uncomfortable truths about his boss and sets him searching for the monster that Elias refers to only as 'Archivist'. But for all of Martin's work and research at the Magnus Institute, he is not prepared for what he might find down this path.

[libertariantaoist]

News Roundup 1/14/21

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

The House votes to impeach Trump. [Link]

Thousands of people in Missouri were overpaid state unemployment benefits. The state is now asking for the money to be repaid. [Link]

Eddie Lee Howard was freed after spending 26 years on death row. Howard was exonerated of rape and murder charges. [Link]

NY Governor Cuomo now supports legal weed and sports betting as tax revenues in his state fall. [Link]

Biden

Biden picks Libya War advocate Samatha Powers to be head of USAID. [Link]

Several Democratic Senators have spoken out against voting for a waiver that Gen. Lloyd Austin will need to become Secretary of Defense. [Link]

Iran

Iran will attempt to develop a new uranium-metal fuel for a research nuclear reactor. The Iran Nuclear Deal prevents this kind of nuclear research. However, the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018. The new fuel is not key to Iran developing nuclear weapons. [Link]

The US levied sanctions on two Iranian foundations. [Link]

An Israeli minister says Israel could attack Iran if the US returns to the Nuclear Deal. [Link]

Syria

Israeli airstrikes killed 57 people in eastern Syria. [Link]

Africa

Three Democratic US Senators demand Ethiopia release journalists from jail. [Link]

Ethiopia reports killing a former Foreign minister who was a part of the Tigray government. [Link]

A human rights observer reports 80 civilians were killed by an unknown group in the region near Sudan. [Link]

Four UN peacekeepers were killed in Mali. [Link]

The Cameroon Army opened fire on villagers, killing nine. [Link]

Read More

[impressivepress]

Matisse And The Nationalism of Vichy, 1940-44

How did André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck, Andre Dunoyer de Segonzac and Henri Matisse fare in Paris during the Nazi occupation 1940-44? Given that their Fauve works in German museums had been seized by the Nazis, sold for cash or possibly destroyed in a bonfire of degenerate art, were they and their works then banned in France?

This was not the case. The Nazi occupiers did check poster announcements and visit art exhibitions before they opened to the public, but they interfered minimally in the artistic life of Paris, and confined their nefarious activities to slashing paintings by Jewish artists still hanging on gallery walls. As for Paris salons, at the Salon d’Automne for example, French-born artists in good standing could continue to exhibit there as long as they placed their signatures onto a document headed, "I certify that I am French and not Jewish." My source for this is the pages of signatures from the 1942 Salon d’Automne. Finally, to the extent that the Vichy government retained any autonomy on what went on in occupied Paris, it welcomed the rebirth of art like early Fauve painting which, as the last modern art movement said to be rooted in a purely French tradition, coincided with its own nationalist agenda.

A group show of Fauve paintings ("Les Fauves 1903-1908") took place at Galerie de France in June 1942. Opened on Feb. 8, 1942, its inauguration was held under the aegis of Louis Hautecoeur, head of the fine arts department in the Vichy government at that time. At the reopening of the Musée National d’art moderne, a state institution, in August 1942, paintings by the Fauves were very much in evidence. When that show traveled to Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, the Fauve contingent was there as well. In 1943, a book on the Fauves came out at éditions du Chène with a text by Gaston Diehl. Also in 1943, Comoedia Charpentier published a collection of interviews -- most of them with Fauve artists.

How much Matisse partook of this officially sanctioned revival of the Fauve movement is a question posed in my book, Artists under Vichy, published by Princeton University Press in 1992. My answer -- or rather my very questioning -- has displeased Hilary Spurling, the author of Matisse the Master, the second volume of her much-praised biography. According to Spurling, I intimated that Matisse’s attitude during the Occupation years meant psychological collusion or passive collaboration with the "Fascist authorities." "Psychological collusion," "passive collaboration" -- these words are not mine. As for the "Fascist authorities," implied in this collusion or collaboration, although there was communication and much "collaboration" between the pro-fascist government of Pétain run out of the French town of Vichy and the Nazi occupiers who ruled from Berlin, they were quite separate entities and it was possible for a French person to be anti-Nazi and pro-Vichy.

There is no question that Matisse managed to steer clear of the Nazis by living in the South of France, mostly in Nice, a city in the non-occupied zone of France run by Vichy -- until all of France was occupied following the Allies’ landings in North Africa. Unlike his former comrades Vlaminck and Derain, he did not prostitute himself by going on a trip to Nazi Germany in the company of SS officers, and did not ooh and aah at the sight of National Socialist art the way they did. He did not attend the parties given at the German embassy in Paris. While this forbearance suggests that he did not collaborate with the Nazis, it does not say anything about his views of the regime of Vichy.

Through his art and through his words, Matisse did accompany the Fauve revival -- albeit from a distance. Considering the serious operation the artist underwent in early 1941, and the fragile state of his health thereafter, his active participation in the art life of France at that time is that much more surprising. In addition to giving interviews to the art critics of the period, Matisse spoke on the Radio Diffusion Nationale de Nice, a branch of the official Vichy radio. All these interviews -- concerned with artistic issues -- were published in officially sanctioned publications of that time: Comoedia, Nouvelle Revue Francaise, Les Beaux Arts, Le Rouge et le Bleu. Matisse’s paintings were on view with other Fauve painters at the Salon d’Automne of 1943 and in the group shows of Galerie Charpentier. A number of his works were included in the show of "Les Fauves" at the Galerie de France in June 1942, and in the exhibition of modern French art officially sent to Spain in 1943. The Vichy government bought two drawings from his show of recent drawings at Galerie Louis Carré in 1941. Books illustrated by the great master came out at that time. This information is easily verifiable, and given in more detail in my text and in texts cited in my bibliography. If nothing else, these facts suggest that Matisse’s name and his art were appropriated by the Vichy regime.

The question I did not fully resolve in 1992 was whether the great master was unaware of being appropriated by Vichy, or supremely indifferent to the context in which his work was shown. What I noticed and wrote about in my second book on the Vichy years, their antecedents and their sequel (French Modernisms, Cambridge University Press, 2001), is that Matisse had already displayed his indifference to context by allowing work from his studio (Branch of Lilac, 1914) to be on view in Berlin in 1937 at an exhibition of modern French art co-organized by the Nazi and French governments. Only artists born on French soil -- and their birthplace was clearly indicated in the catalogue -- were considered French enough to represent French art in this repugnant German context. Fauve painting was present, but not the work of the foreigner Picasso nor the work of the Jews Chagall and Soutine, among the so-called foreigners who had made France their patrie.

This rarely discussed exhibition of modern French art in Nazi Berlin, held the same year as the show of degenerate art in Munich, was positively reviewed in the art press of Nazi Germany at that time, and succeeded in stirring confusion in the minds of those who assumed that all vanguard French art was anathema to Hitler and his cultural henchmen. Hitler visited the exhibition, and apparently acquired a small sculpture by Aristide Maillol. I have no information on any other purchase of French art by Hitler, or by Goering, an aficionado of modern French art.

Matisse’s supreme indifference to the context in which his work was shown (and his thoughts published and aired) is not enough to say that Matisse shared the nationalism of Vichy. What can be said is that for several years prior to World War II, the art world had been divided between a Franco-French Ecole Française rooted in French tradition, and a foreign-born (and often Jewish) Ecole de Paris. During this period, Matisse had, at least on one occasion, expressed his views on the subject of art and its national traditions. That was in December 1924, at the time of his first major retrospective in Copenhagen, at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (September-December 1924) when he was interviewed by the Danish critic Finn Hoffmann.

In the final chapter of an anthology entitled L’Art face a la crise 1929-1939, published in 1980, the French art historian Jean Laude discusses this interview: "As for the problem of a national content of painting, Henri Matisse declares in 1924, in an interview with the Danish critic Finn Hoffmann, ‘I do not consider as a positive thing in every aspect that so many foreign artists come to Paris. The consequence is often that these painters bear a cosmopolitan imprint that many people consider as specifically French. French painters are not cosmopolitan. . . ‘." A little further, Matisse specifies with the same interviewer that in his teaching, he always stressed the need to ground oneself on a national heritage "which is what I have done for myself." Jean Laude, hardly a lightweight art historian, cites as his source for this passage the Danish review Buen (no.2, December 1924), translated into French in the journal Macula (no. 1, 1976). That journal can be consulted at the library of the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University.

By describing French artists as "not cosmopolitan," by advising his students to ground their art in a national heritage and by saying that he himself had grounded his art in a national heritage, Matisse -- who rarely can be caught off guard on any subject -- did give himself away as a partisan of the national content of painting. The view expressed in that interview was more than an off-the-cuff "single remark" (Spurling’s words), it was the expression of a position in a serious debate that was to become exclusionary during Vichy and involved the issue of artistic decadence in Ecole de Paris painting, the nefarious influence of foreign talent on French art, and the work of Pablo Picasso.

By what formal criteria a member of the Ecole de Paris could be distinguished from a member of the Ecole Française was not always clear. Yet supporters of the Ecole Française argued firmly for the cultivation of national traditions. The pro-Ecole Française critic Louis Vauxcelles pointed a finger at the "barbarian horde" (Ecole de Paris foreigners) who "have never really looked at Poussin and Corot, never read a fable by la Fontaine, ignore and, in the bottom of their hearts, look down on what Renoir has called the gentleness of the French School."

Matisse’s advice to his Danish counterparts, that they must follow his lead and ground themselves in their national tradition, was not exactly genuine, for Matisse himself had looked at art beyond his national heritage, at exotic textiles, at art from Africa and Oceania, at Persian miniatures and at Vincent van Gogh, but his words echoed the views of Franco-French artists who reeled at the success of non-French artists on the Paris scene at that time, Chagall, Soutine and Picasso among them. Foreign artists, Matisse was saying, would be well advised to stay in their own country, search for their own national traditions, and let French art flourish in France. Of course, this was 1924, and between then and the years of the Vichy regime, Matisse could well have changed his views.

Indeed, much has been made of Matisse’s "delicate" position during the war due to the Resistance activities of close members of his family. The arrest of his wife and daughter, about which he learned two days after the event, was greeted by him as "the greatest shock of my life," he told the painter Charles Camoin in a letter of May 5, 1944. "It is very delicate, right now, it is very compromising," he added. Compromising as it was for Matisse to get involved in the fate of these family members, Matisse did activate himself on their behalf. He asked Camoin to intervene with friends in Paris. The playwright Sacha Guitry acknowledges in his memoirs being contacted. Madame Matisse was imprisoned but not deported, and survived the war. So did Marguerite, though she was tortured by the Gestapo, and escaped from a train headed for a concentration camp. It is more than likely that Matisse’s intervention was of some help, at least to Amélie. But Madame Matisse and her daughter lived apart from the master in concrete and spiritual ways. And, it was not infrequent during those years for family members to hold divergent political ideas.

It is hard to know what to make of Matisse’s remark upon hearing the news of Vlaminck’s arrest as a collaborator after the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. In a letter to Charles Camoin on November 16, 1944, he says, "Basically, I think that one should not torment those who have diverging ideas from one’s own, but that is what today is called la Liberté." On the one hand, Matisse’s tolerance of diverging ideas in art was magnanimous, but his lack of political commitment meant one less voice on the side of "la Liberté" during Vichy, and an important one at that. The fact that Vlaminck had been on the side of those who caused Amélie and Marguerite great harm during the Occupation years escapes the great master’s consciousness. Yet had there been fewer individuals sharing Vlaminck’s ideas, and more of them on the side of Amélie and Marguerite, human lives would have been saved.

Finally, Matisse’s poor state of health has put into question any notion that the artist could have had an indulgent life style and many friends around him during the war years. However, while his age and infirmities might preclude an indulgent sexual life, his fragile state of health did not cause him to be isolated. That is an absurd idea. The artist remained in touch with the outside world through the visits of collectors (Pierre Levy), dealers (Louis Carre, Martin Fabiani), art book publishers (Albert Skira), biographers (Pierre Courthion, Louis Aragon), journalists and artist friends. He even took a trip to Switzerland. Throughout that period, the old Fauve painter Charles Camoin, a longtime friend, is one of Matisse’s most loyal ears and eyes. "I saw your beautiful ensemble, exploding with color, at the Salon [d’Automne] where your influence can be felt," Camoin reports on November 10, 1943. Indeed, the most written-about painters in France at that time, shown under the collective label Bleu Blanc Rouge, used a vivid palette in their paintings, inspired by Matisse’s bold harmonies.

Overall, reading through Matisse’s correspondence with Camoin in La Revue de l’Art (12, 1971) makes me suspect that Matisse’s behavior during Vichy had little to do directly with the presence of Marshall Pétain at the helm of the French government. The master could accommodate himself with "any regime, any religion, so long as each morning, at eight o’clock I can find my light, my model and my easel." Or so he told Georges Duthuit. (Transition Forty Nine, no. 5, December 1949, p. 115). What was a more likely influence on his behavior was the absence of Picasso from the Paris art scene. For four years, Picasso, the foreigner, did not have a single exhibition of his recent work, and Matisse had the limelight all to himself. During Vichy, the foreigner who had successfully competed with the equally famous French artist (on the latter’s turf, so to speak) was not on view. At a time of French nationalism and Fascism in Franco’s Spain, the Loyalist Picasso and his art, symbols of Judeo-Marxist foreign decadence in France, were in purgatory.

Not only were the ex- and old Fauves going to triumph at the Salons, in the galleries and elsewhere during Vichy, but they could, like Vlaminck, publish anti-Picasso diatribes in the French press (Comoedia, 6 June, 1942). They could also rise in anger when someone dared to say positive things about Picasso. Thus, Camoin tells Matisse in August 1941, after reporting on a talk in which a "Jewish" lecturer had called Picasso the greatest French painter of our time, because he has done the French the honor of coming to France to work: "I left before the end. . . . It is another proof of the hold of the Jews in our era, out of which the judeo métèque [central European] style has emerged for which Picasso is the inspiration."

In August 1944 came the Liberation of Paris, and the first Autumn Salon to be held in the newly freed city. This time Picasso is given a room of his own that he fills with examples of his wartime production. It is a triumphant return for Picasso, marred, however, by disturbances that have remained unattributed. On Nov. 16, 1944, Matisse wrote a letter to Camoin: "Have you seen the Picasso room? It is much talked about. There were demonstrations in the street against it. What success! If there is applause, whistle." One can guess who the demonstrators might have been -- cronies of the Fauves, still ranting against the Judeo-Marxist decadent Picasso.

~ Michele C. Cone.

MICHÈLE C. CONE is a New York-based critic and historian. Her latest book is French Modernisms: Perspectives on Art before, during and after Vichy (Cambridge 2001).

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 18, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Today President Joe Biden traveled to Dearborn, Michigan, to sell his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan. Visiting Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, he tested an electric version of the classic F-150 pickup and urged Americans to use the race to dominate the market in electric vehicles as a way to create jobs. The American Jobs Plan provides $174 billion to switch the nation’s car industry away from fossil fuels and toward renewables, and Ford’s electric F-150 could help sell the idea.

Union leaders support the idea of constructing the nation’s new electric fleet despite their concern that the new vehicles need less human labor than vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. (Ford says that building the new electric truck—the Lightning—will add jobs.) But Republican lawmakers, especially those whose states produce oil, remain skeptical.

Biden is quietly and deliberately trying to rebuild the American economy, which has been gutted in the years since 1981. Yesterday, he announced that the Treasury would deposit the benefits of the child tax credit, expanded in the American Rescue Plan Congress passed in March shortly after Biden took office, directly into people’s bank accounts on the 15th of every month, beginning in July. The child tax credit will amount to at least $250 per child every month, up to an annual amount of up to a maximum of $3600 per child. About 90% of all families with kids—about 39 million of them—will receive the money; the program is expected to cut child poverty in half. It is a tax cut, but one that benefits ordinary Americans.

Biden appears to be gambling that restoring the economy and rebuilding the middle class will weaken Trump’s hold on the dispossessed voters who cling to his racist nationalism out of anger at being left behind in today’s economy. He gives the impression of a president who is above the fray, simply trying to do what’s best for the nation.

But it seems hard for him to get media attention as the Republicans continue to make more dramatic news.

Today’s headlines were dominated by the fight in Congress over a commission to investigate the events surrounding the January 6 insurrection. Last week, Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, and John Katko (R-NY), the top Republican on the committee, hammered out a deal to create an independent commission patterned on the one that investigated the 9/11 attack. Katko was one of the ten Republican representatives who voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 insurrection.

According to Politico, McCarthy authorized Katko to negotiate and gave him a list of demands, including equal representation for Republicans and Democrats on the committee, power for both parties to subpoena witnesses, and a final report before the end of the year so it wouldn’t still be active before the 2022 election.

Thompson conceded these three big points to the Republicans. And then, this morning, McCarthy came out against the deal. “Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,” he said.

Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) has repeatedly called for McCarthy to be subpoenaed to testify about his contact with Trump around the time of the insurrection, and Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) says that McCarthy dismissed him when Kinzinger warned before January 6 that the party’s rhetoric would cause violence.

“McCarthy won’t take yes for an answer,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said. “He made three requests—every single one was granted by Democrats, yet he still says no.” A senior Republican House aide told Politico: “I think Kevin was hoping that the Democrats would never agree to our requests—that way the commission would be partisan and we can all vote no and say it’s a sham operation.... Because he knows Trump is going to lose his mind” over the commission.

Indeed Trump later weighed in, saying the deal was a “Democrat trap.” This afternoon, in yet another illustration of how determined House leadership is to protect the former president, it began “whipping” House Republicans—that is, trying to get them to hold the party line— to oppose the creation of the commission. Nonetheless, Politico reported tonight that dozens of Republicans are considering supporting the commission despite how much it would infuriate Trump, because it would provide them political cover in 2022.

The measure will come to the floor of the House on Wednesday and should pass. The real question will be how it fares in the Senate, where seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection in January. Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD), who voted to acquit the former president, told Sahil Kapur of NPR News that he wanted a bipartisan commission that would focus on January 6. “We clearly had an insurrection on that particular day, and I don’t want it to be swept under any rug,” he said.

While Republicans try to avoid a reckoning over January 6, there are signs that the hold of Trump loyalists is weakening. Yesterday, the Maricopa County, Arizona, Board of Supervisors sent a spectacular letter to Karen Fann, the president of the Arizona Senate that authorized the “audit” of the ballots cast in Maricopa County by the private company Cyber Ninjas. The 14-page letter tore apart the entire project, pointing out that the Cyber Ninjas are utterly ignorant of election procedures.

It is a devastating take down, saying, for example: “You have rented out the once good name of the Arizona State Senate to grifters and con-artists, who are fundraising hard-earned money from our fellow citizens even as your contractors parade around the Coliseum, hunting for bamboo and something they call ‘kinematic artifacts’ while shining purple lights for effect.” It concludes by begging Fann “to recognize the obvious truth: your ‘auditors’ are in way over their heads. They do not have the experience necessary to conduct an audit of an election. They do not know the laws, nor the procedures, nor the best practices. It is inevitable that they will arrive at questionable conclusions. It is time to end this. For the good of the Senate, for the good of the Country and for the good of the Democratic institutions that define us as Americans.”

Perhaps sensing blood in the water, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie this morning hinted he was considering a presidential run in 2024. He said he would make that decision without deferring to “anyone.” Still, his repeated claim that the party must stop being “reckless” seemed aimed specifically at the former president, whose refusal to acknowledge the danger of Covid-19 led to Christie’s own hospitalization with the disease.

Tonight offered more bad news for the former president. A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James said: “We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA.” Manhattan district attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., has been conducting a criminal investigation of the former president and his family for more than a year, focusing on finances. Now the New York attorney general’s office will be collaborating.

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[blackkudos]

Elizabeth Catlett

Elizabeth Catlett (April 15, 1915 – April 2, 2012) was an American and Mexican graphic artist and sculptor best known for her depictions of the African-American experience in the 20th century, which often focused on the female experience. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C. to parents working in education, and was the grandchild of freed slaves. It was difficult for a black woman in this time to pursue a career as a working artist. Catlett devoted much of her career to teaching. However, a fellowship awarded to her in 1946 allowed her to travel to Mexico City, where she worked with the Taller de Gráfica Popular for twenty years and became head of the sculpture department for the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In the 1950s, her main means of artistic expression shifted from print to sculpture, though she never gave up the former.

Her work is a mixture of abstract and figurative in the Modernist tradition, with influence from African and Mexican art traditions. According to the artist, the main purpose of her work is to convey social messages rather than pure aesthetics. Her work is heavily studied by art students looking to depict race, gender and class issues. During her lifetime, Catlett received many awards and recognitions, including membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, the Art Institute of Chicago Legends and Legacy Award, honorary doctorates from Pace University and Carnegie Mellon, and the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement Award in contemporary sculpture.

Early life

Catlett was born and raised in Washington, D.C. Both her mother and father were the children of freed slaves, and her grandmother told her stories about the capture of their people in Africa and the hardships of plantation life. Catlett was the youngest of three children. Both of her parents worked in education; her mother was a truant officer and her father taught at Tuskegee University, the then D.C. public school system. Her father died before she was born, leaving her mother to hold several jobs to support the household.

Catlett's interest in art began early. As a child she became fascinated by a wood carving of a bird that her father made. In high school, she studied art with a descendant of Frederick Douglass.

Education

Catlett completed her undergraduate studies at Howard University, graduating cum laude, although it was not her first choice. She was also admitted into the Carnegie Institute of Technology but was refused admission when the school discovered she was black. However, in 2007, as Cathy Shannon of E&S Gallery was giving a talk to a youth group at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh, PA, she recounted Catlett's tie to Pittsburgh because of this injustice. An administrator with Carnegie Mellon University was in the audience and heard the story for the first time. She immediately told the story to the school's president, Jared Leigh Cohon, who was also unaware and deeply appalled that such a thing had happened. In 2008, President Cohon presented Catlett with an honorary Doctorate degree and a one-woman show of her art was presented by E&S Gallery at The Regina Gouger Miller Gallery on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.

At Howard University, Catlett's professors included artist Lois Mailou Jones and philosopher Alain Locke. She also came to know artists James Herring, James Wells, and future art historian James A. Porter. Her tuition was paid for by her mother's savings and scholarships that the artist earned, and she graduated with honors in 1937. At the time, the idea of a career as an artist was far-fetched for a black woman, so she completed her undergraduate studies with the aim of being a teacher. After graduation, she moved to her mother's hometown of Durham, NC to teach high school.

Catlett became interested in the work of landscape artist Grant Wood, so she entered the graduate program of the University of Iowa where he taught. There, she studied drawing and painting with Wood, as well as sculpture with Harry Edward Stinson. Wood advised her to depict images of what she knew best, so Catlett began sculpting images of African-American women and children. However, despite being accepted to the school, she was not permitted to stay in the dormitories, therefore she rented a room off-campus. One of her roommates was future novelist and poet Margaret Walker. Catlett graduated in 1940, one of three to earn the first masters in fine arts from the university, and the first African-American woman to receive the degree.

After Iowa, Catlett moved to New Orleans to work at Dillard University, spending the summer breaks in Chicago. During her summers, she studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago and lithography at the South Side Community Art Center. In Chicago, she also met her first husband, artist Charles Wilbert White. The couple married in 1941. In 1942, the couple moved to New York, where Catlett taught adult education classes at the George Washington Carver School in Harlem. She also studied lithography at the Art Students League of New York, and received private instruction from Russian sculptor Ossip Zadkine, who urged her to add abstract elements to her figurative work. During her time in New York, she met intellectuals and artists such as Gwendolyn Bennett, W. E. B. Dubois, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Jacob Lawrence, Aaron Douglas, and Paul Robeson.

In 1946, Catlett received a Rosenwald Fund Fellowship to travel with her husband to Mexico and study. She accepted the grant in part because at the time American art was trending toward the abstract while she was interested in art related to social themes. Shortly after moving to Mexico that same year, Catlett divorced White. In 1947, she entered the Taller de Gráfica Popular, a workshop dedicated to prints promoting leftist social causes and education. There she met printmaker and muralist Francisco Mora, whom she married later that same year. The couple had three children, all of whom developed careers in the arts: Francisco in jazz music, Juan Mora Catlett in filmmaking, and David in the visual arts. The last worked as his mother's assistant, performing the more labor intensive aspects of sculpting when she was no longer able. In 1948, she entered the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" to study wood sculpture with José L. Ruíz and ceramic sculpture with Francisco Zúñiga. During this time in Mexico, she became more serious about her art and more dedicated to the work it demanded. She also met Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

In 2006, Kathleen Edwards, the curator of European and American art, visited Catlett in Cuernavaca, Mexico and purchased a group of 27 prints for the University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA). Catlett donated this money to the University of Iowa Foundation in order to fund the Elizabeth Catlett Mora Scholarship Fund, which supports African-American and Latino students studying printmaking. Elizabeth Catlett Residence Hall on the University of Iowa campus is named in her honor.

Activism

Catlett worked with the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) from 1946 until 1966. However, because some of the members were also Communist Party members, and because of her own activism regarding a railroad strike in Mexico City had led to an arrest in 1949, Catlett came under surveillance by the United States Embassy. Eventually, she was barred from entering the United States and declared an "undesirable alien." She was unable to return home to visit her ill mother before she died. In 1962, she renounced her American citizenship and became a Mexican citizen.

In 1971, after a letter-writing campaign to the State Department by colleagues and friends, she was issued a special permit to attend an exhibition of her work at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Later years

After retiring from her teaching position at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, Catlett moved to the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos in 1975. In 1983, she and Mora purchased an apartment in Battery Park City, NY. The couple spent part of the year there together from 1983 until Mora's death in 2002. Catlett regained her American citizenship in 2002.

Catlett remained an active artist until her death. The artist died peacefully in her sleep at her studio home in Cuernavaca on April 2, 2012, at the age of 96. She is survived by her 3 sons, 10 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren.

Career

Very early in her career, Catlett accepted a Public Works of Art Project assignment with the federal government for unemployed artists during the 1930s. However, she was fired for lack of initiative, very likely due to immaturity. The experience gave her exposure to the socially-themed work of Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias.

Much of her career was spent teaching, as her original intention was to be an art teacher. After receiving her undergraduate degree, her first teaching position was in the Durham, NC school system. However, she became very dissatisfied with the position because black teachers were paid less. Along with Thurgood Marshall, she participated in an unsuccessful campaign to gain equal pay. After graduate school, she accepted a position at Dillard University in New Orleans in the 1940s. There, she arranged a special trip to the Delgado Museum of Art to see the Picasso exhibit. As the museum was closed to black people at the time, the group went on a day it was closed to the public. She eventually went on to chair the art department at Dillard. Her next teaching position was with the George Washington Carver School, a community alternative school in Harlem, where she taught art and other cultural subjects to workers enrolled in night classes. Her last major teaching position was with the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), starting in 1958, where she was the first female professor of sculpture. One year later, she was appointed the head of the sculpture department despite protests that she was a woman and a foreigner. She remained with the school until her retirement in 1975.

When she moved to Mexico, Catlett's first work as an artist was with the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP), a famous workshop in Mexico City dedicated to graphic arts promoting leftist political causes, social issues, and education. At the TGP, she and other artists created a series of linoleum cuts featuring prominent black figures, as well as posters, leaflets, illustrations for textbooks, and materials to promote literacy in Mexico. Catlett’s immersion into the TGP was crucial for her appreciation and comprehension of the signification of “mestizaje”, a blending of Indigenous, Spanish and African antecedents in Mexico, which was a parallel reality to the African American experiences. She remained with the workshop for twenty years, leaving in 1966. Her posters of Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, Malcolm X and other figures were widely distributed.

Although she had an individual exhibition of her work in 1948 in Washington, D.C., her work did not begin to be shown regularly until the 1960s and 1970s, almost entirely in the United States, where it drew interest because of social movements such as the Black Arts Movement and feminism. While many of these exhibitions were collective, Catlett had over fifty individual exhibitions of her work during her lifetime. Other important individual exhibitions include Escuela Nacional de Arte Pláticas of UNAM in 1962, Museo de Arte Moderno in 1970, Los Angeles in 1971, the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York in 1971, Washington, D.C. in 1972, Howard University in 1972, Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1976, Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, and the 2011 individual show at the Bronx Museum. From 1993 to 2009, her work was regularly on display at the June Kelly Gallery.

Catlett's work can be found in major collections such as those of the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, National Museum in Prague, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Iowa, the June Kelly Gallery and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.

The Legacy Museum, which opened on April 26, 2018, displays and dramatizes the history of slavery and racism in America, and features artwork by Catlett and others.

Awards and recognition

During Catlett's lifetime she received numerous awards and recognitions. These include First Prize at the 1940 American Negro Exposition in Chicago, induction into the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana in 1956, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Iowa in 1996, a 1998 50-year traveling retrospective of her work sponsored by the Newberger Museum of Art at Purchase College, a NAACP Image Award in 2009, and a joint tribute after her death held by the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in 2013. Others include an award from the Women's Caucus for Art, the Art Institute of Chicago Legends and Legacy Award, Elizabeth Catlett Week in Berkeley, Elizabeth Catlett Day in Cleveland, honorary citizenship of New Orleans, honorary doctorates from Pace University and Carnegie Mellon, and the International Sculpture Center's Lifetime Achievement Award in contemporary sculpture. The Taller de Gráfica Popular won an international peace prize in part because of her achievements . She received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1991.

Art historian Melanie Herzog has called Catlett "the foremost African American woman artist of her generation." By the end of her career, her works, especially her sculptures, sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

In 2017, Catlett's alma mater, the University of Iowa, opened a new residence hall that bears her name.

Catlett was the subject of an episode of the BBC Radio 4 series An Alternative History of Art, presented by Naomi Beckwith and broadcast on March 6, 2018.

Artistry

Catlett is recognized primarily for sculpting and print work. Her sculptures are known for being provocative, but her prints are more widely recognized, mostly because of her work with the Taller de Gráfica Popular. Although she never left printmaking, starting in the 1950s, she shifted primarily to sculpture. Her print work consisted mainly of woodcuts and linocuts, while her sculptures were composed of a variety of materials, such as clay, cedar, mahogany, eucalyptus, marble, limestone, onyx, bronze, and Mexican stone (cantera). She often recreated the same piece in several different media. Sculptures ranged in size and scope from small wood figures inches high to others several feet tall to monumental works for public squares and gardens. This latter category includes a 10.5-foot sculpture of Louis Armstrong in New Orleans and a 7.5-foot work depicting Sojourner Truth in Sacramento.

Much of her work is realistic and highly stylized two- or three-dimensional figures, applying the Modernist principles (such as organic abstraction to create a simplified iconography to display human emotions) of Henry Moore, Constantin Brancusi and Ossip Zadkine to popular and easily recognized imagery. Other major influences include African and pre-Hispanic Mexican art traditions. Her works do not explore individual personalities, not even those of historical figures; instead, they convey abstracted and generalized ideas and feelings. Her imagery arises from a scrupulously honest dialogue with herself on her life and perceptions, and between herself and "the other", that is, contemporary society's beliefs and practices of racism, classism and sexism. Many young artists study her work as a model for themes relating to gender, race and class, but she is relatively unknown to the general public.

Her work revolved around themes such as social injustice, the human condition, historical figures, women and the relationship between mother and child. These themes were specifically related to the African-American experience in the 20th century with some influence from Mexican reality. This focus began while she was at the University of Iowa, where she was encouraged to depict what she knew best. Her thesis was the sculpture Mother and Child (1939), which won first prize at the American Negro Exposition in Chicago in 1940.

Her subjects range from sensitive maternal images to confrontational symbols of Black Power, and portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and writer Phyllis Wheatley, as she believed that art can play a role in the construction of transnational and ethnic identity. Her best-known works depict black women as strong and maternal. The women are voluptuous, with broad hips and shoulders, in positions of power and confidence, often with torsos thrust forward to show attitude. Faces tend to be mask-like, generally upturned. Mother and Child (1939) shows a young woman with very short hair and features similar to that of a Gabon mask. A late work Bather (2009) has a similar subject flexing her triceps. Her linocut series The Black Woman Speaks, is among the first graphic series in Western art to depict the image of the American black woman as a heroic and complex human being. Her work was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance movement and the Chicago Black Renaissance in the 1940s and reinforced in the 1960s and 1970s with the influence of the Black Power, Black Arts Movement and feminism. With artists like Lois Jones, she helped to create what critic Freida High Tesfagiorgis called an "Afrofemcentrist" analytic.

The Taller de Gráfica Popular pushed her to adapt her work to reach the broadest possible audience, which generally meant balancing abstraction with figurative images. She stated of her time at the TGP, "I learned how you use your art for the service of people, struggling people, to whom only realism is meaningful."

Critic Michasel Brenson noted the "fluid, sensual surfaces" of her sculptures, which he said "seem to welcome not just the embrace of light but also the caress of the viewer's hand." Ken Johnson said that Ms. Catlett "gives wood and stone a melting, almost erotic luminosity." But he also criticized the iconography as "generic and clichéd."

However, Catlett was more concerned in the social messages of her work than in pure aesthetics. "I have always wanted my art to service my people – to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential." She was a feminist and an activist before these movements took shape, pursuing a career in art despite segregation and the lack of female role models. "I don't think art can change things," Catlett said: "I think writing can do more. But art can prepare people for change, it can be educational and persuasive in people's thinking."

Catlett also acknowledged her artistic contributions as influencing younger black women. She relayed that being a black woman sculptor "before was unthinkable. ... There were very few black women sculptors – maybe five or six – and they all have very tough circumstances to overcome. You can be black, a woman, a sculptor, a print-maker, a teacher, a mother, a grandmother, and keep a house. It takes a lot of doing, but you can do it. All you have to do is decide to do it."

Artist statements

No other field is closed to those who are not white and male as is the visual arts. After I decided to be an artist, the first thing I had to believe was that I, a black woman, could penetrate the art scene, and that, further, I could do so without sacrificing one iota of my blackness or my femaleness or my humanity.

"Art for me must develop from a necessity within my people. It must answer a question, or wake somebody up, or give a shove in the right direction — our liberation."

Selected works

Students Aspire

"For My People" portfolio, published 1992 by Limited Editions Club, New York

"Ralph Ellison Memorial", Manhattan

"Torso", created in 1985, is a carving in mahogany modeled after another of Catlett's pieces, Pensive (b. 1946) a bronze sculpture. The mahogany carving is in the York College, CUNY Fine Art Collection (dimensions: 35' H x 19' W x 16' D). The exaggerated arms and breasts are prominent features of this piece. The crossed arms are broad, with simple geometric shapes and ripples to indicate a shirt with rolled-up sleeves, along with a gentle ridge along the neck. The hands are carved larger than what would be in proportion to the torso. The figure's eyes are painted with a calm, yet steady gaze that signifies confidence. Catlett evokes a strong, working-class black woman similar to her other pieces that she created to portray women's empowerment through expressive poses. Catlett favored materials such as cedar and mahogany because these materials naturally depict brown skin.

Selected collections

Miami-Dade Public Library System, Miami-Dade County, FL

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI

[sylviainwriting]

a pointless recollection of 8/24/2019

It was a night that stood out from the typical fridaysaturdaysunday bullshit. An outlier worth remembering and worth dancing my fingers on the keyboard for. My memory fucking sucks and if I don’t write it down, it didn’t happen five years from now. 

Plank Road Tavern was the destination. Taylor, my typical sidekick for the night. A glass of red and a realization in the Uber that we were hardly tipsy enough for a Saturday night. We went to watch a friend perform and pretend to be a country singer. The bar was dusty and dark. The locals sitting on the stools looked like they may have planted themselves there since noon. The live music was bursting through the cracks on the walls, our legs taking us straight to the source. The patio was muggy, lined in romantic yellow lights, and as perfect a Summer night you could hope for. 

It was a goddamn high school and college reunion that I would have avoided had I known. When I saw a former best friend, she aggressively started diving into the latest drama in a way that you would not do if you were in the company of a genuine friend. The other former friend not even hiding her disinterest in seeing me. Her eyes darting from side to side as we say our hello’s and halfheartedly hug. Let’s all shake on a pact to stop hugging people we don’t like. All of us secretly sizing each other up. Does she look the same? Is she seeing anyone? Is she happy? Happier than me? Girls are fun. 

Then there were the college acquaintances. Years ago I may have smiled, maybe given a wave. Some sort of acknowledgment that we spent four years blacked out together. No, I don’t owe these people anything. There’s a reason we didn’t keep in touch and I don’t need to find out why that was. It doesn’t surprise me that you live in Lakewood at 27. I know I sound bitter but it’s coming more from a place of not caring and caring enough not to be fake. 

Taylor and I needed a body guard by the name of alcohol. A survival tactic in this highly dangerous environment of past friends, lovers, and enemies. Two tall doubles? Sure! $10 each? I got paid yesterday.  

The Tito’s was tasting better by the sip and I found myself giving the bartender my credit card for the third time. The night was looking like it just got a fresh coat of paint; the people less annoying, my mood softening, and inhibitions melting.  But I was in trouble because vodka was in control now.

A tall, dark, and bearded boy was suddenly to my left, asking me how my night was going. Finally a man striking up conversation in real time and not behind a gray bubble on your iPhone. Dressed head to toe in all black, a hat covering dark brown hair that was definitely cut in hipster fashion. There was something inviting about his demeanor. Was it his kind eyes? Lips that stayed turned up, as if in on a secret I didn’t know about? We kept the pleasantries short, as I hate being the girl who leaves her friends.

They all agreed he was handsome, the words suddenly waking me up to how handsome he really was. Something told me to go outside on the patio and seize the moment. Seize this man who was confident enough to approach a woman at the bar. 

I heard my name shouted from the corner, my strategy falling into place. He was seated at a picnic table with who I came to learn were coworkers of his, finishing their shift together at none other than Plank Road Tavern. He was a cook there. They welcomed me surprisingly well for a girl who looks like me and was drunk like me. They began recounting their night and telling me the best foods on the menu. Asking me what I liked to eat. It was nice to be a wallflower at the end of the table, hearing what it’s like working in the restaurant industry. A world I was never privy to. 

The boy followed me inside, which turned into following me into the Uber, and eventually onto a couch. I was happy to have a shadow as cute as him. The night was blurring ever so slightly, the details less sharp, but I wanted this. I don’t take strangers home, ever, but felt my old fashioned values slipping away. I think that’s why I’m writing this. It was so out of character that it needs to be documented in my life’s personnel file. 

We apparently had conversation in the car. It must have flowed well enough. I was starting to regret those tall doubles. Word to self: you’re too old to get that drunk. Stop it. 

I brought him back to Taylor’s house, where my car was. Thank god I didn’t drive and that Taylor also brought someone home. We crashed onto the couch and stripped our clothes in record time. He was on top and I moaning on the bottom. He said I was tight. He’s not wrong. I don’t let just any willing participant feel that part of me. Many girls look for validation in the number of men that desire them but I think your relationship with yourself is so much more meaningful. 

He gave me his black shirt to sleep in because my clothes were hastily thrown across the room. I woke up at sunrise, sweating and with an inevitable pounding headache. I crept into Taylor’s bed, one eye open and one eye closed on the walk there. I woke up again hours later to Taylor saying there was a strange man reading a book on her couch. Fuck. I shouldn’t have left him alone on the couch. Someone once told me that’s bad manners. 

Reality hit me like a wave. I looked down to find myself wearing a shirt that just barely covered my ass. “I couldn’t leave without my shirt”, he said, shirtless and sporting a dad bod that I appreciate. I noticed one of his front teeth was stained a different color than the rest and wondered why that was. Something that wouldn’t have caught my attention at night but of course in the day is one of the first features I notice on a person. 

He asked if I could drive him to his car. I made sure to put on my favorite playlist, hoping he’d hear something that would peak his interest. I found out his name. 32. Studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art. From Rochester, NY. Nothing that came as a surprise to me based on the person sitting next to me. Apparently it was a repeat of our conversation from the night before. But I felt myself putting walls back up and being prickly towards him. With each mile, I was battling thoughts of “do I speak to him again or is this not for me?” Maybe he is slimy and does this at the end of every shift— finds a girl who had a few Tito’s too many. I began asking questions but tuning out his answers and then welcomed more silence into the conversation altogether. Let him ask some questions for a change (not a strength of men BTW). To my surprise, he asked what my plans were for the day. His shift didn’t start until 1 pm. Did I want to get breakfast? Words started coming out of my mouth before I could stop them. I told him I had a family thing, which was a lie. Before he left, he gave me a hug and reminded me that I have his phone number. 

It was a Sunday x10. The kind that you want to sleep all day but you’re awful at taking naps / your body still hates you / interacting with humans feels like a mistake. I caved at 7 pm, sending him a “nice to meet you” text. I don’t know what it was that ultimately changed my mind. Maybe it’s the way he folded my shirt and jeans neatly in the morning. Or offering to make us breakfast but there were no eggs. Or asking if I wanted gas money for driving him to his car. It could’ve been him telling me he plays drums in a band since I’m a sucker for musicians. But I think every person you meet was planted there by the universe. The universe watches with a glass of wine and makes bets like your life is a poker game. You win some, you lose some, and sometimes you even get to orgasm (not this time).

“Yeah I was worried I wouldn’t hear from you again”, he texted back.

[flower-of-the-desert]

I’ve seen some interesting interpretations of the scene between Magnus and Underhill saying that it wasnt bad because Underhill was just concerned about the security - which is his job - and wasnt happy about his boss breaking the rules for personal gain, and that he wasnt actually doing anti-DW, etc etc. Which is all fine and dandy but here’s why it doesnt work for me:

1) Underhill being concerned with security. This one I get. It makes sense, it’s his job, he’s supposed to keep outsiders outside. But Magnus isnt some random stranger Alec picked up on the street. He’s a close confidant of the NY shadowhunters, he’s the former High Warlock, he’s a DW leader. He’s proven his loyalty more than once and saved shadowhunters left, right and center. He’s also responsible for the goddamn wards protecting the place! If he’s considered safe enough to be allowed to ward the entire Institute, Underhill shouldnt have no issue with him staying there however long.

Otherwise this just reads as typical shadowhunter bullshit where they’ll tolerate a downworlder as long as he’s useful to them but once he’s not - out on the street you go!

2) Underhill not being anti-DW. Well, yes he says he personally doesnt mind but immediately afterwards he follows it with “it’s just there are protocols against this sort of thing...”.  What thing exactly? Shadowhunters bringing their partners over? Warlocks living there? Any DW? Mundanes? Like the context of this particular exchange is just really... I dunno, clear? Full of implications? Like Magnus asks if it’s because he’s a warlock, Underhill denies but then proceeds to say that the rules dont allow it without really explaining what it is in this context so it just comes back to Magnus’s assumption that it’s about him being a warlock.

So then the scene reads like Underhill supposedly not having an issue personally with a warlock staying at the Institute but at the same time trying to enforce a rule that says he isnt allowed to stay there. You cant have it both ways. He’s either lying about not minding or he feels he has no choice but to follow the rules even if he personally disagrees with them but in that case we should have seen him be reluctant about it and unhappy to have to say that to Magnus or explain that he’s got no choice but to obey the law although if it were up to him he wouldnt say anything. Or something. Instead we get him giving Magnus nasty stares and acting all petty and making remarks behind Alec’s back which to me clearly points to the fact that he does have a personal issue with it after all.

3) Underhill being unhappy about his boss breaking the rules. Again I can see how that makes sense. And it ties in with the previous point. But again, Magnus isnt a stranger, he’s a trusted consultant of the NY Institute, he’s a friend to more than just one shadowhunter and he’s clearly been trusted with a lot of things around there even before he got involved with Alec. And Alec isnt breaking any rules that would harm his people, he’s not being reckless, he’s not making bad decisions that would affect the Institute or whatever. He had his boyfriend stay a few days till he finds a new place to live. Like if that’s not allowed then Clary and Simon should have never been brought to the Institute at all or allowed to stay. So Underhill being unhappy about it again comes back to SH vs DW in my opinion.

And both he and Alec fall into this mess and I think this is the first time I’ve seen a backwards character development of sorts? Like usually in this kind of plot lines the character would start the episode/season following the Bad Guys(TM), obeying the rules they’ve set for him and in the process hurting the people he loves because he’s making the wrong choices. Then by the end he’s got his moment of truth and realises these people/organization/whatever are Bad(TM) and he should break away from them and stop obeying their terrible laws. This is usually accompanied by their lover helping them see the light and all that jazz. Here instead we get the opposite - Alec starts out being like oh, the clave’s rules are just suggestions, nobody would mind one bit and ends it with I have to follow the clave’s rules. And in our context the clave is the Bad Not Good Evil Organization that our hero is supposed to break away from and stop following their laws. Except he cant even do as little as letting his boyfriend spend a few days because the clave said so.

Like ???? Why do you keep telling me he’s one of the heroes of this story when he’s got his head so far up the clave’s ass that I dont know how he’s still breathing tbh.

[newstfionline]

It’s Cold, Dark and Lacks Parking. But Is This Finnish Town the World’s Happiest?

By Patrick Kingsley, NY Times, Dec. 24, 2018

KAUNIAINEN, Finland--Jan Mattlin was having what counts as a bad day in Kauniainen.

He had driven to the town’s train station and found nowhere to park. Mildly piqued, he called the local newspaper to suggest a small article about the lack of parking spots.

To Mr. Mattlin’s surprise, the editor put the story on the front page.

“We have very few problems here,” recalled Mr. Mattlin, a partner at a private equity firm. “Maybe they didn’t have any other news available.”

Such is the charmed life in Kauniainen (pronounced: COW-nee-AY-nen), a small and wealthy Finnish town that can lay claim to being the happiest place on the planet.

Finland was named the world’s happiest country by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in April, based on polling results from 156 nations. And a second survey found that Kauniainen’s 9,600 residents were the most satisfied in Finland, leading the local mayor, Christoffer Masar, to joke that theirs was the happiest town on earth.

Some Finns were surprised; a few even unhappy.

In the global consciousness, the stereotypical Finn is melancholic, introverted and more prone to suicide than most other nationalities. Finns themselves buy into parts of the stereotype: If a stranger smiles at you in the street, goes a Finnish proverb, they’re either drunk, foreign or crazy.

“My trouble with the word ‘happiness’ is that we never know what we’re talking about when we talk about happiness,” said Professor Frank Martela, who researches well-being at the University of Helsinki, and grew up a few miles from Kauniainen. “We might mean life satisfaction, or being joyful every day. It’s a bit ambiguous.”

So can happiness really be measured? And if so, are Finns really that cheery?

To try to answer those questions, a trip to Kauniainen seemed mandatory.

The reasons for the town’s happiness are not immediately obvious upon arrival.

Kauniainen, which lies on the outskirts of Helsinki, the Finnish capital, is pretty, but not stunning: a collection of large detached houses, sprinkled throughout a thin fir forest, centered around an unremarkable town square.

At this time of year, the day doesn’t get light properly till after 9 a.m. The light fades again by 3:30 p.m.

Ask a resident if they feel happy, and you get a measured response, but hardly an ecstatic one.

“What is happiness?” Mr. Masar, the mayor, asked rhetorically, over lunch last month at the town’s only deli.

At Moms, the town’s only late-night bar, a few soccer players were in a wry but subdued mood, commiserating after a loss earlier that evening.

“When we lose,” deadpanned Antti Raunemaa, a construction executive, “we’re only happy after the second beer.”

The barkeep suggested another stop to find more smiles. “Maybe the McDonald’s at Espoo?” said Jenny Lindholm, nodding toward the next town along. “There’s nowhere else, really.”

And yet: There was. Just not where a happiness-hunter might initially expect it.

Kauniainen’s blandly named Adult Education Center, a tall building on the edge of town, did not sound promising. But it was here, not the bar, where large numbers of residents were having fun that evening.

In the basement, they were weaving carpets on vast looms, and making pottery. On the ground floor, a choir was singing. On the floors above, others were painting replicas of Orthodox Christian icons--or practicing yoga.

Subsidized by both the state and the city, the center offers cheap evening classes to residents “in basically anything that people might be interested in,” said Roger Renman, the center’s director.

Around 15 percent of the town’s population are enrolled here at any one time, some paying less than a dollar per hour of tuition, depending on the course.

Similar centers are found across Finland, but Kauniainen’s is particularly active, especially for a town of this size.

It’s this kind of service that makes the town cheerier than most, reckoned Seija Soini, a retired businesswoman taking part in a painting class.

“The main reason is that people have something to do--things like this!” Ms. Soini said, as she painted a portrait of her niece. “It’s like psychotherapy.”

And the education center was just the leading edge in the town’s activity options for residents. For what Kauniainen lacks in parking places, it makes up for with state-funded services.

In this single small town, there are over 100 sports and cultural clubs, all of them subsidized in some way by the local council: clubs for the Swedish-speaking minority, clubs for the Finnish majority, a ski slope, a children’s music school, a children’s art school, an athletics stadium, an ice rink--and even a purpose-built set of outdoor stairs, known as a “kuntoportaat,” which allow people to keep fit by walking up and down.

When residents argued, two decades ago, whether they should build an ice hockey rink or a handball court, the council solved the dispute by funding both.

The only obviously absent institution is a police station: With minimal crime rates, there is no need.

All this supplements a good and cheap universal health care system, free university education and affordable child care.

And a school system in which children are rarely tested, and teachers rarely inspected, but which, despite a recent dip, still ranks as one of the best in the world.

To pay for all this, taxes are high by American standards: Someone earning $45,000 might pay more than double the amount of tax in Finland as in some American states.

But residents said they can feel the dividend: a society with low inequality, high opportunity and a strong sense of solidarity.

“For me, happiness is about being contented with your life and the possibilities you have in life,” said Finn Berg, a former head of the town council. “And if you put it that way, then this is a happy place, because we have a lot of possibilities here.”

[tdupere772]

Profile: Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Siva

(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45168837)

     Lula da Silva is seen by many as a savior to Brazilian Democratic politics. His charismatic and influential behavior promised change to the “people” of Brazil. His followers showed signs of some of the most loyal and supportive people in history, as they physically defended him until the moment he surrendered to authorities, and even still so today as he remains behind bars. During Lula’s reign as president (2003-2011), he was most famously known for removing 30 to 40 million people out of poverty, and for relating to his people as “one of them.”

Life Before Politics/ Early Political Stages

     Lula comes from a lower class family, where he worked as a shoe shiner, factory worker, and street vendor as a child to help his family make financial ends meet. Following the military coup that ended in 64, Lula sought out work at Villares Metalwork in São Bernardo do Campo. Soon after, he became part of the Metalworker’s union, eventually leading him into the role as the union’s president in 1975. His socioeconomic background led to his national attention, as he led his first movement against the military regime’s economic policy. He was also noticed for being a founder of the Workers Party (PT). According to BBC, “It was a long struggle to the top. Lula ran for president unsuccessfully three times before eventually being elected in 2002.”

     After taking office in January 2003, Lula sought to improve the economy, enact social reforms, and end government corruption. Some of his efforts in helping the poor include, a Zero Hunger scheme to assure minimum sustenance to every Brazilian, or monthly cash transfers to mothers in the lowest income strata if providing proof of sending their children to school and getting their health checked. The symbolic message behind these efforts are what stuck out as some of Lula’s best political assets.  The message was that “the state cares for the lot of every Brazilian, no matter how wretched or downtrodden, as citizens with social rights in their country.” Lula led the country during a period of “unprecedented economic growth.”

Corruption Scandals

     Lula, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2011, as the head of the left-wing Workers’ Party, is not only “one of the most charismatic public figures in Latin America but is still the most popular politician in Brazil.” However, Lula still ended up at the heart of corruption, which eventually led to him stepping down and surrendering to authorities. Lula is currently serving a 12-year sentence in prison, for being found guilty of money laundering and bribery. Lula is best known for his corruption scandal in “Operation Car Wash.” BBC describes the scandal as followed, “Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into allegations that executives at the state oil company Petrobras had accepted bribes from construction firms in return for awarding them contracts at inflated prices.” On top of that, there were allegations that some of the money was used to buy off politicians and to buy their votes. Lula still denies all accusations on the scandal and with his ties to the OAS construction firm. However, because of his conviction, he was no longer eligible for the presidential election of 2018. Even behind bars Lula still advocating for his ideas. BBC quoted Lula as he said, “There is no point in trying to end my ideas, they are already lingering in the air and you can't arrest them.”

Media Involvement

https://twitter.com/lulaoficial?lang=en

     Lula shows heavy involvement on both Twitter and Facebook, with over 4 million Facebook followers, and over 600 thousand Twitter followers. Although Lula is currently in prison, his campaign and followers still post daily tweets and statuses under the official verified accounts. Below is an example of a translated Facebook status posted today:

(https://www.facebook.com/Lula/)

     His legacy and beliefs seem to be carried out and reinforced by his followers on social media and in real life. News websites such as BBC, also have videos displaying the support Lula is backed up with, even until the very moments of his surrender. This article, features a video of Lula forcing himself through a crowd of his supporters to turn himself in. According to the Journalism In The America’s Blog, “The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) and the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj) have classified as censorship and a restriction on journalism the decisions of Federal Supreme Court Ministers Luiz Fux and Dias Toffoli, which prohibit former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from granting a press interview from prison.” There have also been restrictions against the Brazilian Constitution that prohibits journalists from interviewing the former president.  

Frameworks of Populism

     Mudde and Kaltwasser outline Latin American populism in three waves. The third wave ( current) claims to “fight the free market and aim to construct a new development model that will bring real progress to the poor” (Mudde and Kaltwasser, 2017, pg. 31). Many believe that Lula did just this. He pulled millions out of poverty and stood behind the idea of “bringing sovereignty back to the people.” Mudde and Kaltwasser continue in later chapters to explain different types of populist leaders. Page 68, outlines the “vox populi” a.k.a, the voice of the people. The major distinctions of a vox populi are that there is a (1) clear separation from the elites and (2) connection to the people (Mudde and Kaltwasser, 2017, pg.68) Coming from a poor background with no political family history, Lula fits right into this type of populist. BBC quoted that, "They [Brazilians] identify with Lula because he's one of them, coming from poorer parts, then becoming a metal worker, and then all the way to the presidency, without departing from these origins." Finchelstein makes an important note on populism stating that,

        “ On a global scale, populism is not a pathology of democracy but a political form that thrives in democracies that are particularly unequal, that is, in places where the income gap has increased and the legitimacy of democratic representation has decreased” (Finchelstein, 2017, pg. 5).

In the case of Lula, it is interesting because he founded a populist party (Workers Party) and continued to be supported by them throughout his presidency. According to A “Left Turn” in Latin America? Populism, Socialism, and Democratic Institutions, “it is a party that emerged from the ashes of labor-based traditions associated with President Getúlio Vargas (1930–45; 1950–54). Yet the PT’s fiscal discipline since taking office in 2003 means that it cannot be considered populist” (Schamis, 2006, pg. 21). We don’t often see populist party candidates winning presidential elections and when we do there is a fine line of what happens to that populism, and whether that party continues to exist or not. Regardless of Lula’s current status and separation from politics, his wise words and actions appear to live on throughout his supporters, and it will be interesting to see history unfold as Brazil continues under its new far-right president, Bolsonaro.

     E. Schamis, Hector. (2006). Populism, Socialism, and Democratic Institutions. Journal of Democracy. 17. 20-34. 10.1353/jod.2006.0072.

     Finchelstein, F. (2017). From fascism to populism in history. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

     Mudde, C., & Kaltwasser, C. R. (2017). Populism: A very short introduction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

[doonasdream]

The Head of the NY institute Alec Lightwood & The former High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane “Not” breaking in the house of the new High Warlock of Brooklyn Lorenzo Rey