viα cervvo: Anubis was associated with the mummification and protection of the dead for their journey into the afterlife. He was usually portrayed as a half human, half jackal, or in full jackal form wearing a ribbon and holding a flail in the crook of its arm. The jackal [Note: recent genetic studies show that the Egyptian jackal is actually a form of the grey wolf and has thus been renamed the “Egyptian Wolf” was strongly associated with cemeteries in ancient Egypt, since it was a scavenger which threatened to uncover human bodies and eat their flesh. The distinctive black color of Anubis “did not have to do with the jackal [per se] but with the color of rotting flesh and with the black soil of the Nile valley, symbolizing rebirth.”
Anubis is depicted in funerary contexts where he is shown attending to the mummies of the deceased or sitting atop a tomb protecting it. In fact, during embalming, the “head embalmer” wore an Anubis costume. The critical weighing of the heart scene in the Book of the Dead also shows Anubis performing the measurement that determined the worthiness of the deceased to enter the realm of the dead (the underworld, known as Duat). New Kingdom tomb-seals also depict Anubis sitting atop the nine bows that symbolize his domination over the enemies of Egypt.
Gaspar YangaGaspar Yanga—often simply Yanga or Nyanga—was a leader of a slave rebellion in Mexico during the early period of Spanish colonial rule.Known as the Primer Libertador de America or “first liberator of the Americas,” Gaspar Yanga led one of colonial Mexico’s first successful slave uprisings and would go on to establish one of the Americas earliest free black settlements.
It’s more than a conscious effort to receive this history and realize all that I have not known, all I believe, all I am forced to re-approach with this new information, all of those I now look at and ask do you know … That’s not an easy undertaking by any means!
BLACK MEXICAN ICONS
TOP LEFT: PIO DE JESUS PICO: last governor of Mexican California
TOP RIGHT: VINCENTE GUERRERO : second president of Mexico
Both Black Men and Both direct descendants of the Olmec Mayans, the Africans of Ancient Mexico.
The Mix: Songs inspired by the Civil Rights Movement
NPR’s Michele Norris gathered 100 songs for a special NPR Music Radio channel to commemorate 50 years since 1963—a pivotal moment in the struggle for equality. Listen to the mix here.
(Photo: Joe Alper)
Composer, Producer, Singer and pianist Patrice Rushen in the early 1980s, photographed by Bobby Holland. A child prodigy and classically trained pianist, the 1976 University of Southern California graduate is best known for her hit songs (all of which she wrote or co-wrote) “Forget Me Nots” “Haven’t You Heard,” and “Remind Me” and yes, her beautiful headful of braids! All of these songs and many others have been sampled countless times, most notably by Will Smith (“Men In Black”) and Mary J. Blige’s “You Remind Me”, which is based on “Remind Me.” According to her official website, Ms. Rushen receives about thirty requests every week to sample her music. Beyond her own stellar music career, Ms. Rushen has broken many barriers behind the scenes. She was the first woman to serve as Musical Director for the Grammy Awards, the Emmy Awards, the NAACP Image Awards and the People’s Choice Awards. She was also the Musical Director for Janet Jackson’s “janet.” Tour. Ms. Rushen has also composed many musical scores for film and television including “The Women of Brewster Place,” “Ruby Bridges,” and the theme song for “The Steve Harvey Show” (the sitcom, not his current talk show). Ms. Rushen has said that she has modeled her career after her friend and mentor Quincy Jones and she has recorded with him and many other musical legends like Prince, Minnie Riperton, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Chaka Khan, Carlos Santana and more. In 2005, she received an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston and in 2008, she accepted the newly created position of Ambassador for Artistry in Education at the school. Ms. Rushen is still composing and performing today and also works with several organizations that focus on music education programs for inner-city youth. Photo: Bobby Holland/Michael Ochs Archives.
My lovely aunts in their modeling days in Newark, New Jersey, in the early 1950s. On the left is Mildred Taylor, my grandmother’s sister and a Vintage Black Glamour favorite (see my link in the comment section) and Queen Esther James, her best friend to this day. I was 25 before I realized that Aunt Esther wasn’t technically my aunt which means, of course, that she is every bit my aunt. This photo is from Aunt Esther’s personal collection and was taken by Wells Raney, a photographer for The Afro-American newspaper at the time.
Billie Holiday, photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1949. One of my favorite scholars, Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin, noted the following in her book, “If You Can’t Be Free, Be a Mystery: In Search of Billie Holiday: “The photographer remembers photographing her for two hours, and while she was initially despondent, she returned from a brief sojourn “on a different plane, all energy, sympathy, cooperation and interest.” Photo: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Lena Horne, seen here in a 1940s MGM publicity photo, was born 96 years ago today in Brooklyn, New York. Bonus points if you can name her favorite department store…