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May 30, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Your Writing is Unique and Tremendous.

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The LOVE sculpture in LOVE Park in Philadelphia.

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May 25, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Mauna Kea (Sacred Mountain) on Hawaii Island (Big Island), one of a few remaining sacred monuments in Hawaii under threat of desecration by the greed of capitalism and control of colonialization. As Kia'i (protectors) of Mauna Kea, we succeeded in suspending (temporarily) construction of a Thirty-Meter-Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea's zenith and downward into her soul.

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The Martin Luther King Memorial Monument in Washington, DC. It gives me hope for the future of America and the Church in the world.

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I meant to say Easton and not Towson in my comment below.

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I have ancestors who came from Marydel, which is only 36 miles from Towson. I am wondering if anyone knows where one could find the names of the "Towson Boys" whose names were connected with the statue that was removed? I would like to see if any of my ancestors were among the "Towson Boys". I've already verified that another wing of my family held slaves in Ky. This MD. story only adds to the pain of emotions I already feel about our unfortunate racial history.

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On the Francisco Fajardo highway in Caracas, Venezuela is the statue of Maria Lionza. She is naked and riding a tapir with a pelvic bone held above her head. She is believed to be the daughter of an indigenous leader and she was born with green eyes (an indication that she was mestizo...the new race). When l moved to Venezuela, it was reported that Caracas was the most "secular" city in Latin America. Not so! The Maria Lionza spirituality was alive and well. There were other attempts to integrate the religions of the Spanish conquistadors, the African slaves, and the indigenous Venezuelans. In Coro, I discovered a wooden Virgin Mary statue that had a spinning mechanism which allowed the worshiper to chose one of three faces: the White Virgin, the Black Madona, or the Brown Goddess. But Maria Lionza was the real spirit of the country. In 2022, it was relocated to the Sorte mountains, where there is an important pilgrimage every October.

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Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten and whipped by various enslavers as a child. Early in life, she suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate overseer threw a heavy metal weight, intending to hit another slave, but hit her instead. The injury caused dizziness, pain, and spells of hypersomnia, which occurred throughout her life. This a Wikipedia quote. But she preserved and did everything she could to change the situation for many slaves.

Clara Barton also needs to be brought back into the consciousness of the general population.

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Kehinde Wiley’s “Rumors of War” is arresting.

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founding
May 18, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Dianna,

You may be interested in a Peace Bell in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The story is attached. Seems it was not without controversy, like the statue you describe in today’s article. It is , however, an example of a monument standing for international peace!

Shari

https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/history/oak-ridge-international-friendship-bell/

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May 18, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Cumming, Ga where I live, in 1912 there was a lynching and subsequence expulsion of all black residents from the county. The Klan was entrenched since. Oprah Winfrey did a show about our county in the 80's. FINALLY in the past 10 years the town put up a plaque to acknowledge the event (AMAZING) and is offering full scholarships to children of the descendents of those whose land and homes and lives were taken. A major step in the right direction for such a red red place. I would upload a picture but I don't see that option.

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Here is a book based on what happened when a southern church took a closer look at its memorial windows dedicated to Confederate leaders: https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5909/

(Yes, this is shameless self-promotion.)

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May 18, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Paddy looks adorable. :).

And happy early birthday to your newsletter.

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May 18, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Isn't Easton also where the Third Haven Friends meeting house is located?

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May 18, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

Loved empty altars, do draw on that. For us in this area, the most sacred monument is the land that belonged to Pomo and Miwok people.

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founding
May 18, 2023Liked by Diana Butler Bass

The windows designed by Marc Chagall at the Reins cathedral

A Russian Jew who had to flee the Nazis occupation of France

He returned and here his art triumphed over hate

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