LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Charleston vs. South Carolina; Then There's Savannah

What I like about Charleston: Fresh Berry Salad.

What I like about South Carolina: Francis Marion. And the Sea Islands and Gullah and the ports -- the birds!  All those rice plantations went down when slavery was abolished, and those thousands and thousands of acres of swamp re-configured by slave hand labor -- with -- hoes -- for rice growing, are now mostly wildlife habitats. (Heart break -- not because of the birds but the cruelty, the suffering, the grief, the hell of generation after generation -- and then they were denied, thanks to Booth, their little bit of the world they'd made by their hands.)


Savannah -- the most beautiful public urban space in the U.S. It has not one, not two, but three Historic Districts, each beautiful in its own way. One of the historic classic squares is a square of robins. I've never seen so many robins in one place at once, ever. Savannah has not one, not two, but three Historic Districts, each beautiful in its own way. (It never occurred to me ever that I'd spend a day and night in Savannah.) In contrast with Charleston, how does Savannah, founded by people with actively practiced religious principles become so easy-going? Well, the ‘people’ did force Oglethorpe to give up the No Slavery and No Rum pretty quick (though Oglethorpe wasn’t that draconian – beer and wine, fine, but rum, he thought was bad for the health of a community). But John Wesley and churches churches are all over this town, yet you can take go-cups out of the bar - restaurant and wander anywhere in Savannah. It's a town that welcomes parties, and has the wildest St. Patrick's Day party in the country, They Say! In Charleston one feels that drinking at all is not quite the thing, though you are, of course, encouraged to do so.  Until 9 PM when it rolls up the sidewalks .... (surely there are many places in Charleston to eat and drink until the wee hours, but we didn't see them, and they don't advertise to tourists -- yet surely the military knows where they are).

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