1. This Flight Crew – In August Flight AA 372, traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth, TX to Phoenix, AZ, staffed entirely with a female black flight crew, flew in honor of aviator and veteran Bessie Coleman.
Coleman was born on January 26, 1892 and was the first black woman and Native American to receive a pilot’s license and the first black woman and Native American to receive an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
She did have to go to France to do it though because flight schools in America at the time prohibited both women and black people from applying. After she honed her skills she returned to the U.S. where she because a star as a barnstorming stunt flyer, dubbed “Queen Bess.”
2. This Series – Last summer I was slightly obsessed with the series Blood & Treasure. It aired on CBS and was the perfect show for the summer – a little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of adventure. Kind of like Indiana Jones mixed with the Oceans movies mixed with the Librarians.
This year it’s only airing on Paramount+. Now I have Paramount+ but the problem is I didn’t see it advertised anywhere so I only found out it was airing at all about a week ago. It actually started in July. At least if there is a season three it’ll pop up for me now (fingers are crossed.)
4. These Crispbread Crackers – There is regular or a gluten-free version. I’ve been having them for lunch with either cream cheese or goat cheese, sometimes I add capers and salmon or cucumbers and radishes.
[Found at Trader Joes]
5. This Instagram Post – Qasim Rachid is the best.
7. These Beautiful Pickled Veg – This is from my favorite food vlogger Beryl Shereshewsky‘s Instagram. I’ve mentioned her before in a past Seven Things. Her next post is going to be on pickling things. Can’t wait! (Also, I need to learn how to make vegetables look this pretty.)
1. This Knitting Clock – I want one of these SOOOOOO badly. I’m not sure how great it would be for actually telling time but it knits a row a day so I think it could work more like a calendar. Either way it’s super fun!
At the end of the year you have about a 79 inch (2 meter) scarf. It’s incredibly brilliant. There’s also a grandfather clock version.
2. This Miniaturist – her attention to detail is truly mind boggling.
4. These Fashion Models – Can you image being at Milan Men’s Fashion Week and all of a sudden you see JEFF GOLDBLUM and KYLE MACLACHLAN strutting down the runway? Okay, I know, realistically, can any of us imagine ourselves even at the Milan Men’s Fashion Week. But still, these two men in their sixties can totally hold their own against the twenty-something models and I think that is fan-freaking-tastic! We need more 6o+ year-old fashion models!
Kyle MacLachlan & Jeff Goldblum at the Prada fashion show during Milan Men’s Fashion Week 2022 – photos by Daniele Venturelle (Getty Images)
5. This Black Woman in History – Pauline E. Hopkins was an extraordinary woman: Author, Publisher, Editor, Singer, Activist, Lecturer, Hopkins wore many hats.
Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins was among America’s most influential magazine editors and feminists of the 1900s. She was an American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor. As a shareholder and editor, she sat at the helm of ‘The Colored American’ – the first monthly publication dedicated to African-American culture. She was ousted for being ‘too radical’. Hopkins is also considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes.
from MessyNessyChic (Vol.DXCI)
A few of her books have been or are being reissued. Here’s one that is coming out in August that I absolutely want to get. It’s already available in other versions, if you don’t want to wait to read it, but I love the cover art on this…
A mixed-race Harvard medical student stumbles upon a hidden Ethiopian city, the inhabitants of which possess both advanced technologies and mystical powers.Long before Marvel Comics gave us Wakanda, a high-tech African country that has never been colonized, this 1903 novel gave readers Reuel Brigg –a mixed-race Harvard medical student, passing as white, who stumbles upon Telassar. In this long-hidden Ethiopian city, the wise, peaceful inhabitants of which possess both advanced technologies and mystical powers, Reuel discovers the incredible secret of his own birth. Now, he must decide whether to return to the life he’s built, and the woman he loves, back in America–or play a role in helping Telassar take its rightful place on the world stage. Considered one of the earliest articulations of Black internationalism, Of One Blood takes as its theme the notion that race is a social construct perpetuated by racists.
6. This Guy’s Commentary on Planes Landing at Heathrow During Storm Eunice – Big Jet TV’s commentator, Jerry Dyers, is the best kind of British. His enthusiasm is infectious and you will find yourself rapt as you watch these planes in harrowing weather conditions. It may no longer be live but it doesn’t make it any less gripping (and in some parts truly entertaining) to see.
7. This Ruling from Colombia’s Highest Court – Today Colombia joined several other predominantly Catholic Latin American countries (and Cuba) in decriminalizing/legalizing abortion. Women in Colombia will now be able to receive abortions up to 24 weeks in safe facilities and doctors won’t have to fear about ramifications if they are put in a situation where they need to give an abortion to save the life of a mother or if they are asked to abort a fetus that resulted from rape or incest.
Ask you can imagine, there was much celebration.
People demonstrate in front of Colombia’s constitutional court against and in favour of removing abortion from the penal code, in Bogota, Colombia February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez
Hi guys, I think that I have finally figured out most if not all of the email issues so fingers crossed!
1. This ‘Lesson of Worth’ Video from L’Oreal – YES! Viola Davis, I believe you. I have worth. Honestly, Viola Davis is one of those people who could read the phone book and I’d find it inspiring.
2. This Photo of the All-Black 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps – There is so much that is amazing about this photo. The fact that there was an all-black military unit in 1869 (a rarity to be sure), the fact that there was a “Bicycle Corps” (the bicycles back then were not nearly as easy to maneuver as the bicycles of today), and the fact that they chose to shoot the photograph in a place where the men clearly couldn’t ride their bicycles (at least I don’t think they could – actually, maybe they could!) It makes me want to know more about the Corps. Fortunately, Montana PBS created an hour-long documentary, and the full thing is available on YouTube.
“Formed in 1869, the 25th Infantry was one of four African-American military units posted west of the Mississippi, serving as protectors and peacekeepers.” [From ‘U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps: Wheels of War‘ on. HistoryNet.com]
“Bicyclists’ group on Minerva Terrace. [Lt. James A. Moss’s company of 25th Infantry, U. S. Army Bicycle Corps, from Fort Missoula, Montana.] YNP.” October 7, 1896
[Found by KK, thanks so much!]
3. This Betty White Sitcom, ‘Life with Elizabeth’ – Losing Betty White on December 31st was a great loss for the world. There are few people who have brought as much joy to so many for so many decades.
Betty White is most well known for playing Sue Ann Nivens on Mary Tyler Moore and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls but she had many recurring roles over the years:
Elka Ostrovsky on Hot in Cleveland (2010-2015) Agatha McLeish on Pound Pupplies (2010-2013, animated) Ann Douglas on The Bold & The Beautiful (2006-2009) Catherine Piper on Boston Legal (2005-2008) Mitzi Stiles on Ladies Man (1999-2001) Shirley Wallace on Maybe This Time (1995-1996) Sylvia Schmidt on Bob (1996) Rose Nylund on The Golden Palace (1992-1993) Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985-1992) Ellen Harper Jackson on Mama’s Family (1983-1986) Joyce Whitman on The Betty White Show (1977-1978) Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-1977) Vickie Angel / Honey on Date With the Angels (1957-1958) Elizabeth on Life with Elizabeth (1952-1955)
This doesn’t include her film roles and guest appearances!
Other than an uncredited role as an extra in a short film called Time to Kill (1945) and a role as a “Phone Girl” on a TV series called Hollywood on Television, Betty’s very first role was as Elizabeth opposite Del Moore on Life with Elizabeth. Each episode consisted of three unrelated skits which told the story of everyday life for a typical married couple. What made the show unique is that sometimes the characters would break the imaginary fourth wall and talk to the audience.
4. These Earrings (and barrettes and pins oh my…) from Get Made in LA – I am in BIG TROUBLE! Mid-Century designs in my favorite colors in super lightweight acrylic. I mean, look at how great they look with my hair! They have every color so as long as you like the style you’ll find something you’ll love.
5. This Company That Makes Replacement Straps – Recently I bought a cross-body bag that was exactly what I wanted but for one problem – the strap was too short. The fact is, as a plus-sized woman, most cross-body bag straps are too short for me. Most cross-body bags hit me right below my boobs. I had been searching and searching for cross-body bags for plus-sized people and then it dawned on me, could I buy a longer strap?
The answer is YES!
I found Mautto via an online search and I’m very happy wth the strap I received. The color doesn’t exactly match. I may order another in the darker shade of red and use this first one with my iPad bag – It’s a much better quality strap. AND they are manufactured in the US!
6. This Book of Poetry by Amanda Gorman – I’m not that much into reading poetry, mostly because it usually goes right over my head, but I’ve been reading a poem a day from ‘Call Us What We Carry‘, and not only do I get it (well, most of it) but it makes me feel hopeful – which is pretty much the point.
7. This Movie – I knew that I had to see Encanto the minute I heard that Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved with the project. The cast is super talented – Stephanie Beatriz (Bob’s Burgers), María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo (he plays Bruno, we don’t talk about Bruno) , Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow (she voices my favorite character, Luisa), Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitan, Diane Guerrero, and Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show and NCIS.) The music is next level for a Disney film. And the story is something that many people can relate to – well, I know that I did. (As the eldest child, only daughter and only unmarried person in a family of four I have felt invisible for most of my life.) Available on Disney+ [TRAILER]
