>when she said (to paraphrase)- they had no choice in
>surnames, these were from their owners, but instead chose to
>come up with first names for their children.
>I should find the exact quote;
>
>"Black naming practices, so often impugned by
>mainstream society, are themselves
>an act of resistance. Our last names
>belong to the white people who once
>owned us. That is why the insistence
>of many black Americans, particularly those most marginalized,
>to give
>our children names that we create,
>that are neither European nor from
>Africa, a place we have never been,
>is an act of self- determination."

Fuck yes - I loved that part too. Especially since in my teenage/immature years, I was guilty myself of side-eyeing "black" names like that fucking Key & Peele skit. Once I grew up and learned more about the reasons behind this (and of course, so many other things about the black culture and experience in America) I became (and remain) ashamed of myself.

So that portion of the essay was not only well-written and on point but hit close to home because of my own past ignorant, awful behavior/transgressions.


>Im mainly interested in reconstruction because she talks about
>attempts to create a more perfect union
>by people who were half a step from bondage.
>im amazed, awed and highly impressed by the profound humanity
>in all this.

For real for real for real. It's the bravest and most impressive story in American history, all of it. That the slaves were "freed" and despite the fact that it'd have been totally understandable for them to be selfish in that moment and fight just for THEIR rights, they had the foresight and vision to fight for ALL humans from ALL walks of life in this country rather than just their own community/people.

Christ. What could possibly be more admirable.


>- "With federal troops tempering widespread white
>violence, black Southerners started branches of the Equal
>Rights League — one of the nation’s first human
>rights organizations — to fight discrimination and organize
>voters; they headed in droves to the polls, where they placed
>other formerly enslaved people into seats that their enslavers
>had once held.
>
>...They helped pass more equitable tax legislation and laws
>that
>prohibited discrimination in public transportation,
>accommodation
>and housing.
>Perhaps their biggest achievement was the establishment
>of that most democratic of American institutions: the public
>school.
>
>..., the years directly after slavery saw the greatest
>expansion
>of human and civil rights this nation would ever see.
>In 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment, making the United
>States one of the last nations in the Americas to outlaw
>slavery.
>The following year, black Americans, exerting their new
>political power, pushed white legislators to pass the Civil
>Rights Act,
>the nation’s first such law and one of the most expansive
>pieces of civil rights legislation Congress has ever passed.
>
>It codified black American citizenship for the fi rst time,
>prohibited housing discrimination and gave all Americans the
>right to buy and inherit property, make and enforce contracts
>and seek redress from courts.
>In 1868, Congress ratifi ed the 14th Amendment, ensuring
>citizenship to any person born in the United States"
>---
>America would've been a very different place today if white
>southerners hadn't prevailed and the jim crow era had never
>happened.
>its a lot to take in and think about.

It's a ton to think about. Words can't really do it justice.