Does the phrase “underground railroad” mean anything to you?
Comment on “This script is fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman.”
HollowNaught@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Am I the only one who doesn’t know who Harriet Tubman is?
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
CanadianCarl@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Not everyone is from North America. That is like me asking you, does “Dr. Kwame Nkrumah” mean anything to you?
andros_rex@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Tbh, it should. American educations don’t touch Africa barring a dip into Egypt, which usually compresses the dynasties in a way that does nothing for a deeper understanding. Even as someone with a BA in history, that watched the course listing like a hawk for “history of the Sahel” or “history of the Mali empire” or some lovely 3000-4000 course - nothing.
I should have been taught who Nkrumah was. And Léopold Senghor, and Kenyatta…
Instead, I lean on The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith. Which is a good book, but by a journalist, not a historian.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 2 months ago
does “Dr. Kwame Nkrumah” mean anything to you?
C’mon, there are lots of NBA fans outside of the United States.
Soulg@ani.social 2 months ago
If only that question was a direct response to someone talking about an American historical figure by name.
HollowNaught@lemmy.world 2 months ago
…no?
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Okay, Harriet Tubman, born into slavery in the early 1800s, escaped slavery, probably best known today for helping other slaves escape to free states via a system of secret routes, sympathizers and safe houses referred to as the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad had nothing to do with trains, it was just a code word. Tubman went on to serve as a spy for the Union army during the American civil war, and was a figure in the women’s suffrage movement, surviving into the 20th century.
So, the fact that she was a black woman is kind of important to Harriet Tubman’s lore, and casting Julia Roberts in the role is rather inappropriate.
MutilationWave@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Squirrelanna@lemmynsfw.com 2 months ago
Congrats on being one of the lucky 10,000 learning something new, especially about a genuine hero!
JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 months ago
I can’t help but wonder if the down voters are unfamiliar with the comic and didn’t click it, because it sounds a little condescending otherwise lol.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 months ago
Just adding on to others, they made her a leader you can play as in Civ 7. (This is just a fun fact, obviously she’s important outside of being in a video game.) civilization.fandom.com/…/Harriet_Tubman_(Civ7)
AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 2 months ago
We call it the subway nowadays.
Whelks_chance@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Like the Eurostar
JandroDelSol@lemmy.world 2 months ago
TL;DR, she was an insanely brave black woman who helped a metric fuck ton of slaves escape the south.
Hadriscus@lemm.ee 2 months ago
She’s the original free runner www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1dhATC-ekQ
LordCrom@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Never be afraid to ask a question to rectify a lack of knowledge.
tino@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Probably not, but she’s an important figure of the American history. The real question, though, is who will know about Harriet Tubman in a few years, once she gets erased from American history books.
essell@lemmy.world 2 months ago
At least people will be able to remember she looked like Julia Roberts
jaybone@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Elon Musk will build The Above Ground Railroad to save white South African immigrants from the tyranny of paying taxes.
k0e3@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
The Above Ground Hyperloop
FriendBesto@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Yeah, she died in 1913, if she has not been erased in 112 years, and with people still want to make a movie about her…
Perhaps you may be leaning into conspiracy theories and are fear mongering yourself and others. Stop it.
Here, from Wikipedia:
Parks, monuments, and historical sites
National parks and national monuments related to Tubman in the United States are the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, both in Maryland,[215] and the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn.[216] The Salem Chapel in St. Catharines, Canada where Tubman worshipped, is a National Historic Site of Canada.[217]
The city of Auburn, New York has several historical sites related to Tubman, including her gravesite.[218][219] Other state and local historical sites about Tubman include the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park[220] and the Harriet Tubman Memorial Garden[221] in Maryland, and the Harriet Tubman Museum is in New Jersey.[222]
Artistic portrayals
Tubman is the subject of many works of art. Musicians including Woody Guthrie, Wynton Marsalis, and Walter Robinson have written songs celebrating her.[223] She is the subject of operas by Thea Musgrave,[224] Nkeiru Okoye,[225] and Hilda Paredes,[226] as well as plays by Carolyn Gage and a collaboration of May Miller and Willis Richardson.[227] Tubman is the focus of novels by Elizabeth Cobbs,[228] Marcy Heidish,[229] Anne Parrish,[230] and Bob the Drag Queen,[231] and is a character in novels by Terry Bisson,[232] Ta-Nehisi Coates,[233] and James McBride.[234]
Since Tubman’s life was first dramatized on television in a 1963 episode of the series The Great Adventure,[235] she has been portrayed in TV productions such as The Good Lord Bird,[236] Timeless,[237] Underground,[236] and A Woman Called Moses.[238] Cynthia Erivo received an Academy Award nomination for portraying Tubman in the 2019 biographical film Harriet.[239]
Dozens of schools,[247] streets and highways,[248] church groups, social organizations, and government agencies have been named after Tubman.[249] In 1944, the United States Maritime Commission launched the SS Harriet Tubman, its first Liberty ship named for a black woman.[211]
On November 11, 2024, Tubman was posthumously commissioned as a one-star general in the Maryland National Guard in recognition of her military service during the Civil War.[250]
andros_rex@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yeah, it’s not like we’ve got a government administration that is actively seeking to remove mentions of women and people of color from their websites.
Its not like the Smithsonian is returning artifacts to people against their requests, and pulling specific items from view to please the current administration.
FriendBesto@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
First and foremost, you are side stepping my comment. She ain’t getting “erased.” You could admit to just being wrong there. Instead of moving the goal post.
First link: They are removing DEI stuff from NASA. We do not have to insert DEI into everything if it is not merited. They are not trying to “erase” people from history. DEI is based on political ideology that tends to be performative rather actually useful. Look at all the corporations that claims to support LGBT issues in the USA but say and do nothing in Muslim countries? Why? Because it is all a grift that people in the USA and other countries fall for. Search about the missing money from BLM, Something like half of the 90+ million is just gone. Mostly in houses, salaries to friends, family and crazy lifestyles, ttavelling. Up here in Toronto, the head of BLM embezzled like $100,000 from York University. Then claimed racism when they took her to court, backtracked that claim the day before the court date and said she would try to pay it back as a way to avoid possible jail. Merited credit is good, Tubman is not going anywhere.
Second link: They are returning the stuff to their rightful owners. They could just donate the items, if they wanted to and care so much about the history. As they claim. . If it was part of the collection it would be on display.
tino@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Image
FriendBesto@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing!