Series: Star Trek The Next Generation
Episode: 1.13 Angel One (01-25-88)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1
Notable Guest Stars:
Karen Montgomery – Beata
Sam Hennings – Ramsey
Patricia McPherson – Ariel
Leonard Crofoot – Trent
Review:
Continue reading “The Rewatch 91: Angel One”
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Episode: 1.04 Code of Honor (10-12-87)
Rating: 1/5
Redshirt Status: 0/0
Notable Guest Stars:
Jesse Lawrence Ferguson – Lutan. Appeared in the film Boyz n The Hood. He also appeared in a movie called The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh which sounds ridiculous, but I love Pittsburgh movies. Might have to watch it.
Karole Selmon – Yareena. She does not have many credits, but is still active.
James Louis Watkins – Hogan. He had a minor role in X-men the Last Stand.
Review:
Continue reading “The Rewatch 81: Code of Honor”
Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 3.15 Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (01-10-1969)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/3/49
Notable Guest Stars:
Frank Gorshin- Commissioner Bele. He is another Batman series Alum.
Lou Antonio – Lokai. He is known for his role in films such as Cool Hand Luke.
Review:
Continue reading “The Rewatch 65: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 2.24 The Omega Glory (03-01-68)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/21/44
Notable Guest Stars:
Morgan Woodword – Captain Ronald Tracy. He appeared earlier in the series as Dr. Van Gelder in Dagger of the Mind.
Morgan Farley– Yang Scholar He is a return from The Archons episode. He also was a WWII veteran.
Ed McGready – Dr. Carter (hey look, he’s not named Morgan!) Known for his work on various TV programs.
Review:
Continue reading “The Rewatch 48: The Omega Glory”This week seems to have a theme of Mexican women who are in the arts born in the early 19th century. Rosario Castellanos was a poet, activist and author who became associated with the “Generation of 1950”, a poet’s group that gained popularity following the end of WWII.
Rosario was born in Mexico City on May 25, 1925 to a family of ranchers in the state of Chiapas, so she grew up in Comitán. During the years before her birth, landowners in Mexico had a hold on the power structure. Her family was of mixed heritage and had indigenous servants. She was an introverted child and found herself at odds with her family. She didn’t care for the way the indigenous people were treated, and her relationship with her mother was estranged after she proved to favor her brother.
When she was 9 years old, President Lazaro Cardenas passed and enacted the 1934 Agrarian code which redistributed land from the wealthy elite and changed the social-political makeup of Mexico. It also effected Rosario’s family, as much of their property was confiscated. The country had spent much of its recent history with the power being in the hands of wealthy landowners, and the redistribution of land broke up that power hold.
When she was 15 she moved to Mexico City with her parents. Unfortunately, within a year, both her parents had died, leaving her and her siblings orphans. She enrolled in the National Autonomous University of Mexico, studying literature and philosophy. She also joined the National Indigenous Institute, developed by President Cardenas, to help promote literacy in impoverished sections of the country. She also began writing for the newspaper Excélsior.
It was while she was at the school that she met Ricardo Guerra Tejada, a fellow academic and philosopher. The two married in 1958. The two of them had one son, Gabriel, born in 1961. Rosario suffered from depression and fertility issues and would have no more children. She and Ricardo divorced in 1971 after Ricardo’s infidelity came to light.
In 1960, she published Ciudad Real, a collection of short stories that focused on the differences between selected groups. It dealt with both racial and gender related bias. She also became the press director for the University a year later. She also taught at the university and had visiting professorship in various universities across North America. In 1963, she wrote Oficio de tinieblas or in English as The Book of Lamentations in one translation and The Office of Darkness in another. The story recreates a native rebellion in a more modern time period. The struggle of native people was an influence over much of her work. She was inspired by also by two Catholic authors as well, including Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz, who I profiled several weeks ago.
Rosario’s work was varied. She was dedicated to improving literacy and women’s rights in Mexico. She also served in several governmental positions, culminating in being assigned in 1971 to be Mexico’s ambassador to Israel in 1971.
Rosario died on August 7, 1974. She was 49 years old, and her death was an electrical accident. She left behind a body of work that showcased the idea of feminism in Mexico as well as better treatment for indigenous people. She holds a high spot in Mexico for both her literary and governmental pursuits. Two of her works were published after her death, as well.
Most of the sources of information about her that appear in English online appear to just repeat the same information. There are several sites and videos in Spanish that may include information but unfortunately my Spanish is not good enough to translate that quickly. I’m also sure offline there is more information, if you are interested in learning more about Rosario and her works. Amazon has several of her published works in Spanish.
Further Reading
Wikipedia: Rosario Castellanos
Wikipedia: Cardenista Land Reform 1934-1940
Encyclopedia Britannica: Rosario Castellanos
Rosario Castellanos was one of Mexico’s greatest Poets – Constance Grady (Vox.com)
Rosario Castellanos – Beth Miller (2012)
This week we are going have a double feature, the first two women to ever serve in the US Senate: Rebecca Felton and Hattie Caraway. Women having the right to vote was passed with the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920, but it would be quite a while before women started taking office in the highest offices in the government. In fact, Rebecca Felton was appointed to be a Senator for a day in 1922, but Hattie Caraway, the first woman to be elected to the Senate was sworn in November 1931, almost a full decade after Rebecca served her day.
Several of the next female Senators would be widows of Senators who died in office. The first time more than 2 women served at once wouldn’t be till the 1990s. Even in the current congress, women only make up 22 percent of the elected body. Only 29 states have ever had a female senator, and only 51 women have ever served in Congress. The current congress is actually the highest percentage ever of women.
Rebecca Felton was born Rebecca Ann Latimer on June 10, 1935. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia with three siblings. Her father was a general store owner and merchant, and was able to afford to send his daughter to live with relatives in Madison so that she could attend Methodist Female College, where she graduated at the top of her class in 1852 at 17. The college at the time was set up to provide a foundation education for the women who would one day be the wives of the businessman and planters. However, the war between the states would soon see the educational facility closed down.
A year later Rebecca married William Felton and moved with him in Cartersville, Georgia. William was, like her father, a planter and owned a plantation. Her experiences during the civil war, both as a resident of Georgia who saw the results of Sherman’s march and her life as a slave owner influenced her later political life. She saw slavery as mainly economical, a investment. However, she felt that she would have rather have given up ‘domestic slavery’ then have seen the detriment of the war on Georgia.
After the war,both she and her husband became more politically active. Rebecca herself focused on prison reform and women’s suffrage. However, she was not a intersectional feminist by any means. She pushed against the right to vote for black citizens, claiming education and voting would lead to more black crime. She was in favor of lynching and was otherwise a supremacist in attitude.
Her time in the senate arrived as an appointment. in 1922, Sen. Thomas E. Watson died. The governor of Georgia, Thomas Hardwick, decided to appoint Rebecca as a placeholder till a special election could take place. However, congress didn’t meet again until after the special election was held. Hardwick had been running for the position, but ended up losing to Walter F. George. George decided to allow Rebecca to be sworn in on November 21, 1922. She was the Senator from Georgia for 24 hours, as George was sworn in on November 22.
Rebecca continued her activism after she left office. She passed away on January 24, 1930 at the age of 94. It would be another year before another woman would take office in the US Senate.
Hattie Caraway would be the first woman elected into the Senate, but like Rebecca it would start as an appointment.
She was born Hattie Ophelia Wyatt on February 1, 1878 in Bakersville, Tennessee. Like Rebecca, she was the daughter of a farmer who owned a store. The family as a whole moved to Hustburg when she was four. She would remain there till her college years when she would transfer from Ebenezer College to Dickson Normal College where she would earn her bachelors of Arts degree in 1896.
She went on to teach for about eight years prior to her marriage to Thaddeus Caraway. She had met Thaddeus in college, but the pair didn’t marry until 1902. The pair would move to Jonesboro, Arkansas with their three children and set up a legal practice for Thaddeus and cotton farm.
In 1912, the couple made a second home in Maryland after Thaddeus was elected to the US House of Representatives for Arkansas. He would hold that position for 9 years before he was elected senator in 1921. In 1931, Thaddeus died suddenly from a blood clot while the couple was back home in Arkansas. The governor decided to appoint Hattie to hold the seat till an election could be held. She won the special election to finish out her husband’s final term. She won an election on her own right in 1932, and then proceed to hold her seat until 1945.
During her time in office, she became the first woman to preside over the Senate, to chair a committee and to win a re-election. She was given the responsibility of presiding over the senate twice. Once in 1932 (although it was not officially noted down) and again in 1943. She was a great supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and his new deal programs, although she, like Rebecca before her, was against any anti-lynching bill. She was focused on issues dear to her state, requesting to serve on the agricultural committee. She earned a reputation as “Silent Hattie” for her lack of speeches made on the floor. She tended to reserve her opinions for committee meetings and rallies instead.
After loosing her re-election campaign in 1944, she served both Roosevelt and Truman on their Employees’ Compensation committees. She suffered a stroke in early 1950 while still serving on the Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board , and died later that year on December 21.
Further Reading
Rebecca Felton
Wikipedia: Rebecca Latimer Felton
The History of the First Methodist Church of Madison
Country Life in Georgia – Rebecca Felton (Ebook available free from Google Play)
Georgia Encyclopedia: Rebecca Latimer Felton
House History: Felton, Rebecca Latimer
Hattie Caraway
Wikipedia: Hattie Wyatt Caraway
House History: Caraway, Hattie Wyatt
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Hattie Ophelia Wayt Caraway
US Senate: A Woman Presides over the Senate
Title: The Wedding Dress
Bookit #3
Author: Rachel Hauck
Release Date: 2012
Medium: Paperback
My grade: A-
I really enjoyed this book, which is actually the first in the series. However, none of the books appear to be interconnected other than a few minor things. The third book, which I’m not reading at this time might have some more connections, however. Basically, you can read this book and The Wedding Chapel in any order and not be out-of-place. Continue reading “Bookit Review: The Wedding Dress”
Sokorra Lewis 