ejb innit @estherjoyb - Tumblr Blog

Real question: Why are black people generally less accepting of homosexuality than other races?

Real answer: antiblack racism has ya’ll thinking black people do the most. the whole world is homophobic. but when a black person is homophobic, all of the sudden black folks do it the most.it’s not that black people are more homophobic, rather, people are more willing to inspect black people’s homophobia than any other race.

evolutia

"inspect" is right. To the anon, you remember Prop 8 don’t you? Black people got blamed for the passing of rescinding the rights of gay couples, they got blamed for it. The legislators of the law (white people) did not get blamed for it. The voters (white people again) who’s political capital completely dwarfs Black people’s didn’t get held responsible, Black people did and that is only because of the hypervisibility that Black people have.

People largely ignore white people’s accountability when it comes to homophobia and they create the laws. Ain’t that some shit?

kny111

Hypervisibility in the black community! thank you that word explained what I was trying to. They have an urge to reaffirm a black person is as fucked up as the stereotypes say so they follow it with hypervisibility, ‘all eyes on us’.

estherjoyb

for ethnographic work that disrupts this myth, along with many others, see

E. Patrick Johnson, Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008).

jaded-mandarin

estherjoyb

Muscles of the Back, Jacques-Fabien Gautier-Dagoty, 1746

#anatomy #art #science

mothernaturenetwork

World’s tallest living wall takes hydroponics to new heights Employees at Desjardins Group headquarters in Quebec can breathe easier (and have something gorgeous to gawk at during lunch) thanks to a new 15-story vertical garden.

estherjoyb

Hydroponics would make the air so clean

#science #quebec

whatshouldtheatrecallme

When someone refuses to take rehearsals seriously

You want to be like

estherjoyb

Also theatre classes (*cough *cough)

#gif #instructor problems #theatre #rehearsal problems

whatshouldwecallme

When someone makes fun of me

In high school:

Now:

#wswcm #gif #strength

whatshouldtheatrecallme

When your non-theatre friends are talking about how much free time they have

You’re like

#wswcm #theatre

ilovecharts

Sarah delivers a few charts worth of media criticism.

medievalpoc

Information on Giuseppe Castiglione, Jesuit Missionary Painter (also known as Lang Shining)

Giuseppe Castiglione, also known as Lang Shining (郎世寧), was born on July 19, 1688, in the central San Marcellino district of Milan, Italy, the site of a renowned Botteghe degli Stampator painting studio.

At the age of 27, he received instructions to go to China, and, on the journey, did wall paintings in Jesuit churches in Coimbra (Portugal) and Macao.

Castiglione’s style was based on the emphasis on color, perspective, and light found in Italian Renaissance art. In China, where Castiglione went by the Chinese name Lang Shining, he came to the attention of the Qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795) and served as an artist for the court. Castiglione eventually became a respected painter and earned the appreciation of the Qianlong emperor, which was a considerable honor for a foreign artist at the time. Following the taste and tradition of painting in China, Castiglione was able to forge a new style that combined elements with his Western training in art.

Further Reading:

Giuseppe Castiglione at Columbia.edu

Wikipedia Page

Postal Stamps of Castiglione’s paintings

Giuseppe Castiglione: A Jesuit Painter at the Court of the Chinese Emperors. Cécile Beurdeley, Michel Beurdeley. 1971.

Teaching World History: A Resource Book. edited by Heidi Roupp (ch 39)

Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China By Anita Chung. (p 52)

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives By Fred Kleiner. (p.83)

The Jesuits: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts, 1540-1773, Volume I edited by John W. O’Malley (p. 357)

medievalpoc

In 2008, BBC One Television debuted a fantasy TV series about Camelot called Merlin (also called The Adventures of Merlin ), set at the time when Merlin, Arthur and Guinevere were teenagers, before they became legends. When the series debuted, viewers quickly noted the racially-diverse cast. Some criticized this multi-racial vision of British legend as “historically inaccurate” and “political correctness,” while others applauded it as a welcome twist which was more reflective of modern British society than the all-white Britain of ancient history. But was historical Britain all-white? Were there any people of color in Britain during “Arthurian” times? (And what do we mean by “Arthurian” times anyway?) In this lesson, we will investigate the racial composition of Roman & Medieval Britain, and how racial diversity was portrayed in medieval Arthurian legends.

Black in Camelot: Racial Diversity in Historical England and Arthurian Legend (Fantasy and Sci-Fi in the Classroom)

VIEW OR DOWNLOAD the Lesson Plan Here!

Relevant Courses:

Writing/Literature

History, Classical/Medieval

Humanities, Western Civilization

Sociology

Anthropology/Archaeology

Student Learning Outcomes

Locate and Discuss historical and/or archeological evidence suggesting or disproving the presence of Africans in Roman and medieval Britain (and Europe)

Demonstrate awareness of the portrayal of people of color in medieval Arthurian literature

Discuss the portrayal of ethnic diversity in current Arthurian-themed television shows and films

(via medievalpoc)

djjarak-deactivated20121015

Before I say a word, know that I’m not a racist. I simply think that changing the ethnicity of classic characters just to prove how not racist you are is a cheap thing for production companies to do. I mean, Lancelot was not an African. Not in one story or piece of art was he depicted as anything but an English born white man. Do you have any idea how rare Africans were in England in those days? Only just recently has the first skeletal remains of a black man been found and from the condition of them, he was most likely a slave and not treated very well. I know Lancelot isn’t real. Unlike Mulan, he really is from a fairy tale… but c’mon. I know I may sound like I’m taking this stuff too seriously, but why bother getting into a TV series if you’re not going to let yourself really get into it.

allerasphinx

Isn’t it hilarious when you think about the fact that Lancelot didn’t exist? You know who else didn’t exist? Basically every character in this series! Do you know what else didn’t exist? Magic…magic totally didn’t exist. And people couldn’t turn into dragons. And there are no such things as wraiths. There’s a lot about this show that could be complaining about, but you’ve chosen to complain about the fact that Lancelot isn’t white.

Dear self-proclaimed non-racist, if in a fantasy series, with magic and dragons and entire universes existing through portals in hats, you find it more unrealistic/unbelievable that Lancelot is played by a person of colour, what do you think that makes you?

I don’t see as many complaints when history’s completely white-washed and characters who should be people of colour aren’t played by people of colour. I don’t see anyone complaining because Jesus is usually depicted by a blonde-haired blue-eyed white dude even though there was no way in hell he was white. Just because Lancelot’s always been depicted as someone white doesn’t mean it should stay that way, (especially when you consider the fact that people of colour are severely underrepresented in entertainment). The story of King Arthur is a legend that has been interpreted many different ways through many different lenses and in fact, there are a few black characters who do appear in the legends. There are even artistic depictions of at least one knight as a black man:

[Art by Pavel Tatarnikov]

There might not have been very many Africans in England and Wales, but contrary to popular belief, black people didn’t suddenly appear on earth as downtrodden slaves. There were significant numbers of black Africans who went to Europe during the 15 century onward. Also, ever heard of Moors? They ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula for 700 years (from 8th-15th centuries). North Africa was very prosperous and advanced in comparison to England during the middle ages. There are plenty of depictions and mentions of wealthy blacks in actual European history. There are also depictions of people of colour in popular stories (Shakespeare’s Othello for instance).

Simply because there was a skeleton of one black man found in England that indicates that he was likely poor, doesn’t mean every black person in England (during whatever time period you’re invoking to support your ill-formed ideas) was poor. There is historical evidence of wealthy people of colour from various time periods in England and even though European history tends to be depicted as completely white in general—it wasn’t. That sort of thinking doesn’t even make any sense when you consider that there were Africans in ancient Rome. It doesn’t make any sense when you consider that there was plenty of trade happening between European countries and African countries for centuries—honestly, these continents are not that far apart at all (Strait of Gibraltar).

In addition, slavery as we think of it did not exist until the trans atlantic slave trade, and though there were systems of slavery in various parts of the world—including England, they weren’t race-based.

Next time you launch a complaint like this, perhaps you should spend a little time actually googling for historical reference? I mean, not that it matters since as we’ve established, Lancelot didn’t exist and there are people who turn into wolves and dragons on this show. I’m sure your delicate sensibilities will be just fine.

fuckyeaharthuriana

Thank you for this commentary. (And Palamedes, Safir and Segwarides were PoC in arthurian legends).

amethystlavenderphthaloblue-dea

Bloop bloop bloop!

shwetanarayan-deactivated202504

Reblogging for commentary

And for a Lancelot I’d actually want to watch.

breefolk-hates-staff

One additional comment: Lancelot got treated really badly on Once Upon A Time. He appeared in only a few episodes and was then killed off-screen. Considering how few PoC there are on the show (off the top of my head, I can only think of two: Sydney/Genie/Magic Mirror and Anton the Miniaturized Giant), it would be nice to bring him back, either through some miraculous resurrection or in further flashbacks.

medievalpoc

I think this is an old post, but I just wanted to add a few things on Sir Morien and Black British history.

In the Arthurian canon, written at the same time as the rest of the Arthurian Romances, there is an entire Romance devoted entirely to a Black Knight (very specifically Black), Sir Morien.

He was all black, even as I tell ye: his head, his body, and his hands were all black, saving only his teeth. His shield and his armour were even those of a Moor, and black as a raven…

Had they not heard him call upon God no man had dared face him, deeming that he was the devil or one of his fellows out of hell,

for that his steed was so great, and he was taller even than Sir Lancelot, and black withal, as I said afore…

When the Moor heard these words he laughed with heart and mouth (his teeth were white as chalk, otherwise was he altogether black)…

And yet, even some students of Arthurian Literature have never heard of him. As for artwork depicting these characters in the Middle Ages, here is a Black Knight in a Medieval fresco showing scenes from the Arthurian Cycle:

This seems to be a case in which a show loosely based on historical fiction is considerably less racially diverse than the actual Medieval texts on which it is based. And considerably less diverse than the society that produced it, too.

FYI, the OP’s assertion that Black people in England, specifically, were “rare” isn’t super accurate, nor is the claim that they were poor or enslaved:

One of the richest inhabitants of fourth century Roman York, buried in a stone sarcophagus with luxury imports including jewellery made of elephant ivory, a mirror and a blue glass perfume jar, was a woman of black African ancestry, a re-examination of her skeleton has shown.

Now, 16 centuries after her death, her skeleton is helping prove the startling diversity of the society in which she lived.

"We’re looking at a population mix which is much closer to contemporary Britain than previous historians had suspected," Hella Eckhardt, senior lecturer at the department of archaeology at Reading University, said. "In the case of York, the Roman population may have had more diverse origins than the city has now."

Those people didn’t just evaporate when modern historians decided a new “period” of history has begun about a century later.

There’s plenty of documentation of Black individuals living their lives in the early and “High” Medieval Period in England, in both art and documents: