tnflorvil.bsky.social
Associate Prof. of History @UNM/Author of Black Germany (2023 @ChLinksVerlag)/ traveler/foodie/griever/@RadInstitute Fellow 2023-24/Working on a biography of Black German activist and poet May Ayim/
https://www.tiffanynflorvil.com/
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"Jackie Kay is a distinctively Scottish voice in British poetry. In her new collection, May Day, accessible and gratifying, the personal and the political are seamlessly interwoven," as Linton Kwesi Johnson has written. 11/
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In May Day, she tackles her involvement in political activism, solidarity movements, antiracism, BLM, and over multiple decades. 10/
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From 2016 to 2021, Kay was the Makar, the poet laureate of Scotland. She was Chancellor of the University of Salford between 2015 and 2022. Her most recent publication, May Day, was published in April 2024. 10/
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Mathew is an acclaimed documentary maker. Currently, Kay is a Prof. of Creative Writing at the University of Newcastle. She lives alone. But her partner of 20 years, Denise Else, who is a BBC sound engineer, lives nearby. Here is a link of Kay reading her poetry: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZGC... 9/
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She has won numerous literary awards for your publications. Kay is a lesbian, and for a while, Kay thought she was the only Black lesbian in Scotland. She lives in Machester. For a period of 10 years, she lived there with her son Matthew, Carol Ann Duffy, and Duffy's daughter. 8/
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Kay began writing because “there wasn’t anybody else saying the things I wanted to say…I started out of that sense of wanting to create some image of myself.” She was appointed MBE in 2006 and the CBE in 2020; both for her contributions to literature. 7/
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Red Dust Road allowed her to focus on the search of her biological parents. The book was adapted for the stage and premiered in August 2019. She forged connections with numerous writers, including Audre Lorde. She shared some of her poetry with Lorde and asked for advice. 6/
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Kay has also written other works, including Bessie Smith, Other Lovers, Trumpet, Why Don't You Stop Talking, Darling: New & Selected Poem, etc. She has also written children's books, such as Coorie Doon: A Scottish Lullaby Story. 5/
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The Adoption Papers is about a biracial girl (not unlike Kay), who was adopted by a white Scottish couple. It is told from three different perspectives: the mother, the birth mother, and the daughter. Kay's writing spans genres. In 2010, she published her memoir Red Dust Road. 4/
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She studied at the University of Stirling and published her first book of poetry, The Adoption Papers, in 1991. The volume was a bit autobiographical and she also won two awards for the book in 1992. 3/
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Her adoptive father was an MP and worked for the Communist Party. Her adoptive mother worked as a secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. She dealt with racism from teachers and students at school. 2/
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*1857
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I think Black history frightens the status quo because it challenges their assumptions and fractures their power.
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In Infamous Bodies, Samantha Pinto argues that "Seacole and her adventurous afterlives remap the boundaries of black civic participation through the tensions between imperialism, multiculturalism, transnational feminism, global capitalism, and cultural nationalism." Seacole is a Black feminist. 13/
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Aww, Holly. You were always a gem.
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I find it sad that Secole went bankrupt after serving in Crimea. Nightingale was deliberately horrible to her. But apparently, scholars found that she supported the Seacole Fund. So she came around and saw her as important.
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So cool!!
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Yes, I read that. But couldn't included everything.
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She died in 1881 with very little recognition of her actions in Crimea. There are books and research on her that you can check out. 12/
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In 1957, she wrote her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands. It was the first autobiography written by a Black woman in Britain. It is a wonderful book that I have taught in my classes. Here is a link to the book: digital.library.upenn.edu/women/seacol... 11/
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Secole was a skilled healer. After the Crimean War, she returned to London in poor health and later declared bankruptcy. Upon learning of her difficulties, people pitched in to create the Seacole Fund, which skept her financially afloat. 10/
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At the British Hotel, she supported soldiers by supplying meals and care. She also traveled to the front to offer soldiers care and provisions. She was good for the morale and her nursing skills were appreciated. Her mother's training served her well in Crimea. 9/
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Florence Nightingale did not like Seacole, making the trip to Crimea difficult. So Seacole funded the trip herself, establishing the British Hotel. She was also not kind to Seacole in Crimea; she didn't want her nurses to associate with Seacole. 8/
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She traveled back to Panama for a time. It was from Panama that she learned of the Crimean War.Then Seacole traveled to England and tried to organize a second contingent to Crimea, but was refused. She applied for funding and was refused again. These rejections were due to racism. 7/
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She also treated patients in Panama with cholera infections. She also acquired cholera and rested. Returning to Jamaica in 1852, medical officials asked her to provide care to patients of yellow fever. This task proved difficult. 6/
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They returned to her family home. From 1843-44, her family home burned down in a fire, her husband died, and then her mother passed. She works through her grief, treating patients during the cholera epidemic of 1850 in Jamaica. She also traveled to Cruces, Panama, where her brother was. 5/
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Seacole nursed at the British Army hospital and traveled around the Caribbean, including the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Republic of Haiti. In 1836, she married Edwin Hamilton Seacole in Kingston. They opened a store in Black River, which failed. 4/
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Seacole never disavowed her Jamaican and Scottish heritage and considered herself a Creole. Her black ancestry was not a hindrance to her. She worked on and off with her mother. 3/
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I love this.
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Her mother was a healer who used Caribbean and African medicines. She was nicknamed The Doctress and knew folk medicine and tropic diseases. Seacole's mother was her first teacher of nursing and medicine. Her father was Scottish and was a Lieutenant in the British Army. 2/
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Sorry I was late with this post.
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The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) published a pamphlet about her life in 2020s, which her son helped to compile. She sang at Jones' funeral in 1964 and two years later, she died from a brain hemorrhage at the young age of 46. 11/
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She was featured in the 1964 civil rights stage show made for TV entitled Freedom Road: Songs of Negro Protest. Prescod continued to promote awareness around racism and discrimination. Her son, famed sociologist Colin Prescod, moved w/ her from Trinidad and she raised him as a single parent. 10/
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Her achievement in The Crucible was impressive and significant. Prescod was part of a group that included actors and singers who created the first theatrical and literary agency for People of Color. This group included Cy Grant, Edric Connor, and Pearl Connor, to name a few. 9/
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Prescod's journey to England at the age of 34, challenges the stories of the working-class Windrush generation. She was well-educated and made considerable strides in the British cultural scene, especially with her work with the national Theater Company under Laurence Olivier. 8/
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She also supported The West Indian Gazette (WIG), a journal created by Jones and Amy Ashwood Garvey. She was a prominent community activist but hasn't had the recognition of Jones or Ashwood Garvey. 7/
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Here is a clip of her singing "We Shall Overcome," which she sang during the demonstration. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2u_... 6/
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Along with Jones, they organized the March on Washington solidarity demonstration in London in 1963. They marched to the US embassy to coincide with King's March on Washington. 5/
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Prescod also was a switchboard operator. Beyond TV and the stage, she was an anti-racist activist who was a close friend of Claudia Jones. Jones and Prescod coordinated London's first Caribbean Carnival in 1959, which is widely considered the precursor to the Notting Hill Carnival. 4/
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In 1954, she was cast in Barry Reckford's first play, Flesh to a Tiger. She also landed BBC contracts and appeared in TV roles. In 1959, she appeared in Sylvia Wynter's play Under the Sun, which the BBC broadcasted. She also appeared in the production of The Crucible. 3/
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Prescod was among the first Black women to appear with the National Theater Company. She was also one of the earliest Caribbean entertainers to appear on British TV. She was cast in many TV roles and theater productions. 2/