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Category: 01-History Monday

May 12: Three Time Lapse Travel Videos by DeFrees Productions

Published by Betsy R. Marks on May 12, 2014

A few months ago, while exploring Time-Based Media options for class, I came across these videos produced by DeFrees Productions. generated with a couple of [Sound and Video warning] GoPro cameras and a LOT of time on the road, Brian DeFrees created these videos from around 200,000 images.

I’ve wanted to do something like this for years, but from inside the car. Been pricing out GoPro cameras, thinking that might be the way to go. I dunno, but these are awesome, particularly since Brian hit a lot of the highlights I’ve seen.

Roadtrips were a staple of my family life from the time I was around 8 years old until I settled in my current area. I’ve started taking them again because I miss travel and because for me it’s much more about the journey than the destination. I like the concept of camper travel (never did it as a kid – we were all about car camping then) but the cost of gas makes me think it’s not practical. Maybe if I could get someone to back me for it…

Well, while not precisely history, there’s a lot of history behind the sights and sites Brian visited.

Happy Monday

And…

And finally…

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March 10: Wealth Inequality in America

Published by Betsy R. Marks on March 10, 2014

This video began to make the rounds in my feed shortly after the 2012 elections. I’m sorry it didn’t start to circulate before the election, but now that 2014 is on us, it’s time to revisit the subject, especially in light of Robert Reich’s new feature, Inequality for All.

If you don’t have the time or the patience to sit through a full-length documentary, here’s a summary (not directly related to the movie) that should spell it out for you.

I encourage you to watch the full-length movie, though. It’s available online through a variety of sources, including Netflix streaming, which is how I watched.

I’ve been howling about Trickle Down economic policies for decades. Here’s why.

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March 3: “12 Years a Slave” and “Slavery And The Making Of America” (Revised)

Published by Betsy R. Marks on March 3, 2014

Ordinarily, I’d be posting a video for History Monday, but not today.

Today I’m posting the link to the 2014 Best Picture Oscar Award-winning 12 Years a Slave. I’d post a link to the movie itself, but I’m certain it will return to theaters in the very near future, and I encourage you to go see it.

12 Years a Slave is a tough watch because it presents the terrible, cold, hard, unshakable reality of slavery. Solomon Northrup’s story is Roots for today’s world.

Movies like these bring home the truth, whether people want to hear it or not. It is important to tell these stories, especially today, when people like Arkansas state representative Jon Hubbard can be so remarkably unclear about the cost that they can suggest  slavery was a “blessing in disguise” and sites like Save Our Heritage (which I refuse to link to – you can go find this one on your own) post the sort of revisionist history that would have you believe being a slave isn’t so bad, and that we ought to return to those times.

You can complain about reality all you want, but you can’t alter it. That’s why it’s reality. It’s what happened. And what’s happening now, today, here in the US and abroad. That’s how I dedicate my Mondays this year: To recognizing the truth.

[Revised to add…]

So, because I haven’t got a live link to either 12 Years a Slave or Roots, I give you a different documentary, entitled Slavery and the Making of America. Yeah, it’s long. It’s also important. And I’m adding it here after the initial posting date, because I found it after I posted.

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February 24: Rochester: A City of Quality

Published by Betsy R. Marks on February 24, 2014

No, it’s not an Earth shattering representation of history. The city’s fallen on hard times, thanks to a bunch of bad corporate choices and a whole mess of stupid educational choices, but this was my home for the first 21 years of my life and there’s a lot to be said for revisiting history as it was 50 years ago, when I was born.

Midtown Plaza is gone. The clock that was its centerpiece was relocated and a great deal of downtown is a ghost town. And yet…

And yet. U of R is still there. Eastman School of Music is there. Strong Museum of Play is there.

I’ve been away since 1986, though I return occasionally. I still think of the clock in the middle of Midtown Plaza and the monorail that took you through Santa’s mountain with all the fake glittery snow. Light Impressions was one of my favorite places to hang out. Got my first Sandra Boynton things at Scrantoms. Cathay Pagoda was an amazing Chinese restaurant in the center of downtown.

Memory is a way to travel through time and space. So are movies like these.

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February 17 (President’s Day): National Geographic’s Expedition Week ~ The Real George Washington

Published by Betsy R. Marks on February 17, 2014

Today is President’s Day in the United States. Based on George Washington’s birthday, it’s a holiday for many, and now celebrates our presidents in general, though it falls between Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays on the calendar each year.

There’s a lot of myth and mystery surrounding our first official president. This biography does some work to separate fact from fiction.

We depart slightly from Black History month, though in reality, it’s impossible to separate the two, as the president was also a slave holder. Take the time to learn a little more about George Washington.

[Unfortunately, only this preview remains on YouTube. The full documentary is gone. -BMD]

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February 3: Journey to Freedom; Alfre Woodard & Cicely Tyson ~ “Ain’t I a Woman”

Published by Betsy R. Marks on February 3, 2014

Before I post the following three videos, I’m going to say something that stands a chance of making me unpopular. Shocking, I know.

Morgan Freeman, in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in December, 2005, said “I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history.” I agree. I’m not confining my exploration of history to a single month. I chose Monday to highlight the subject entirely at random. But it’s clear after Google celebrated Harriet Tubman’s life with a Google Doodle, folks aren’t so keen on American History that they know who Harriet Tubman was or what she did to earn her place in history.

To gain an understanding of the Underground Railroad and its accomplishments, you can watch this documentary on the subject, from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Sojourner Truth has a similar place in American history, and equally hazy recognition. She is best known for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, given at the Women’s Convention in 1851. Tubman and Truth, Cady Stanton and Anthony. They helped lay the foundations on which we stand and continue to fight for equality.

I owe a great deal to all four of these women, who fought for equality at a time when we were considered property, not free to pursue our own destinies. So do all the women in this country who enjoy the freedom to vote, to work, to own property and to live independently.

Here are two interpretations of Sojourner Truth’s famous speech:

and

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January 27: ASK A SLAVE Ep 2: Abolitioning

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 27, 2014

And we’re back with Lizzie Mae, once again, as she tackles the question of Abolition from her own unique perspective.

We’re entering Black History Month in short order. I figure some reminding is in order, while we remember why slavery’s end and equal rights are important.

Remember: The questions are real (and shameful). The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

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January 20 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day): PBS American Experience ~ Citizen King

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 20, 2014

Citizen King is a two-hour biography of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. produced by WGBH for the PBS series American Experience in honor of Dr. King’s 75th birthday. The original movie aired January 19, 2004. Clicking the link above will bring you to the web page devoted to the movie, including a timeline, teaching materials and more.

The fact is, Citizen King centers around Dr. King, and on what he achieved in just 39 short years. I think it’s a good but incomplete picture. Before you watch the movie, though, I strongly suggest reading this Blog entry from the Daily Kos.

My birth year, 1963, was a turning point in the Civil Rights movement. I grew up in Rochester, NY and had little experience with the southern states until I moved to Maryland in 1986, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have experience with racism. The question is the degree.

I have tried to honor Dr. King’s messages and am glad to have a platform for sharing these important words, so that those who might learn more can remember that we are not done with the search for justice and equality for everyone, but need to work every day to achieve Dr. King’s goal:

We are not so far removed from those days in the 1960s. Not all of us are ready to join hands, though we are much closer than we were.

… when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

I believe we aren’t done with the work and we aren’t all free. Not yet.

On this rare occasion, I’m providing a link to the entire YouTube playlist, so you can watch all 13 parts in sequence if you wish. Each part is roughly nine minutes long. Click the link below to go straight to YouTube to watch.

Citizen King (Parts 1-13) on YouTube on History Monday.

Or you can watch each segment here, on WordPress:

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January 13: Tax the Rich: An animated fairy tale

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 13, 2014

Originally posted on December 5, 2012, this short video hasn’t gotten nearly enough air time, and I think it’s important enough that I’m gong to share it under History. Today’s history lesson comes from Fred Glass for the California Federation of Teachers, narrated by Ed Asner (of Lou Grant and Mary Tyler Moore Show fame, among others).

The perils of a tax-free society have made the rounds recently, as the Tea Party fights harder than ever for deregulation and tries to shelter ever increasing amounts of funding from social programs. The cost is already profound, but it’s going to get a lot worse if we don’t find  way to loosen the grip of Corporate America.

Sorry – in a soapbox-y mood this week!

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January 6: ASK A SLAVE ~ Ep 1: Meet Lizzie Mae

Published by Betsy R. Marks on January 6, 2014

I used to say the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask. I’ve revised that line of thinking, thanks to Lizzie Mae.

These first started hitting my feed around the end of last year, and I meant to get to them, but I didn’t, until around mid December when I was already deep in Advent Calendar Land. It’s embarrassing, sitting there, howling all by yourself. I wanted to share with the rest of the world. And now I am. Look for more of these throughout the next few months.

The saddest (most hilarious) part is that these responses are based on real life.

From the credits:

Ask A Slave is a comedy web series based on the actress’ time working as a living history character at [a popular historic site]. Starring Azie Dungey as Lizzie Mae and directed by Jordan Black.
All questions and interactions are based on true events.

Real Questions. Real Comedy.
Learn more @ www.AskASlave.com

Really. People are that insensitive, uneducated and just flat out stupid.

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