The Perspectives where Men and Women Place themselves ahead of everything else in existence must stop. The Man Nor the Woman Came First and it is the Divine Asexual Being that had no Reproductive organs but evolved them divinely for us. When We encounter people in the Streets there are Inters, Men and Women and those who don't have Reproductive organs but deserve to survive and not be ostracized to please the Ego of those that consider themselves the perfect men or women. Check Darwin's Theory and look at the Sea Polyp and then look at every Species ever in existence and why do some women get beards and mustaches and some men produce milk its not because either came first but are both offshoots of a Divine Evolutionary chain but that is not a direspect but a difference that we must acknowledge and accept. As Existence first began things got rolling in a necessary way but Because a Being Started Asexual did not ever meant it did not want or is currently involved in a marriage and we at Kaleidoscope believe that we must treat each with respect and that it should be a crime if we cannot respond to there is only one god and that we cannot have the Free natural Birth entitlement as children of the Earth, Solar System and Universe to Declare our Believe in Alpha, Hermatta, Brosyleon, Ibu Jagaat, Abati Gazi, Karima and our Pantheons on many Divine Councils of what we consider the Most Divine Deities and we are demanding the Entitlement to be judged by these laws as Chrisitans want to be Judged by their own laws but Muslims want to be Judged by their own laws so we need Interfaith Laws and they Must be Total Good in Equal Respect and Understanding, Ovastanding and agreeing to disagree respectfully without violating the natural birth entitlements granted to us by the Divine creators and keepers of this existence. By Pastors Kwame and Paul Rudland
If a Man should let a woman in front of him if he is gay should let a man go ahead of them that they think needed to rush at the moment or is every society going to be ladies first and is that even before the Inters or A sexuals? If a Lesbian Holds the Door for a Straight Woman is that Offensive and if she is a butch should a Straight man hold the door open for her as well ?
When We are of Different Religious Opinions in an Interfaith World Christians and other Religions have to remember when your religion is disrespectful to us please remember as individuals with our own minds that must always discover their own religious path we are entitled to have our own natural Moral Individual Relgious opinion and we must be respected and we don't need to remember you in that way to pray and honor your passing as we believe something different and being forced to watch yall go where we have different opinions on or have different rituals and ceremonies for does not mean we don't care for you any less and it should never be looked at at as disrespectful to not have to appear in places that openly disrespect you to pay the most homage to who you lost and hold dare!!!
On Our Journey to Seek Equal Love for All me and my Husband Pastor Paul HannaLand sought Divine Help and we searched deep and far and through many Theological Theories from Ourstory and we Were Contacted by the Divine Supreme Architect Alpha the Original Deity that started Existence way prior to the 4 billion year old Earth and so we ask all those that consider themselves an Alpha to stop interrupting Divine Prayers and Messages as Alpha is Far away or close but with 13 Trillion Suns and if each of them had 9 Planets there would be 117 Trillion Possible Planets around those Suns and on the Earth they Still Do not know the True Cost of Sin and Weight As The Divine Alpha a Asexual or Intersex Divine Deity needs the Environment to be adequate So Alpha the Divine Council and the Eternal Children can help all these locations. The Divine Teachings are not to ever take lightly and all must remember the vows and oaths taken by those who wear the cloth and the Responsibilities that are placed upon them and Why We are Petitioning for our own Court and searching for more Judges, Peace Architects, Peace Commanders, Liturgical Dancers, Church and orphan medical staffs, Surgeon Generals, Interfaith Pastors, Nuns, Preachers, Fire Fighting Generals, Mystitic Arts Teachers..
Many Stories have Great Moral and Parable lessons that were never once placed in a Bible. The Story of the Boy who cried Wolf is a Beautiful one and necessary for all to understand. There is one thing about that Story along with other Moral Stories and Parables that need to expand upon certain themes as in todays Mini Lesson we Explore a Variation on The Boy who cried Wolf Story. If you have not Read it before please read or listen to it first before continuing with this Lesson. This Story is Called the Girl who Cried Wolf. Once Upon a Time in a Village in the English town of Bristol a Little Girl at the age of 11 lived in a far of Quaint and Private Religious town. Her Name Janessa Whisperton and her family were from two hard working farming families. Janessa would always do all her chores and even the chores of her younger and older siblings when they did not complete their tasks because they were either called to do something else and forgot or kept getting called to do other things until the next day. Janessa on this day would be finishing up tending to the soil on a new patch of cleared land area on the Whisperton's Famous farm; that would help other fruits, vegetables, Flowers, and Trees grow in a special way. A Wolf named Terrible and was kicked out of a Wolf Tribe because he killed another male Wolf named Howlingheart to try and replace him with his Forever Wolf Wife. Terrible was taken in by an English family and cared for with a few minor incidents that they discovered but many other horrible things happened to that family until the English Animal Lovers ZOO came to take the Rogue lone Wolf. Terrible would be in the ZOO for five years and always attacked the handlers who thought he was just being aggressive but Terrible was trying to eat each of them. One night on the month beginning the sixth year of Terrble at the ZOO Terrible opened his Cage and raced towards the Bristol Village to seek freedom and hunt to control a Wolf Tribe in England. Terrible would sadly take a few lives before arriving at the Whisperton Forrest leading up to the Descendants farm. Janessa sees Terrible stalking her and she drops everything she has and runs to warn the Family who sprint out to see whats wrong. Janessa tells them how big Terrible is and he is a 6ft tall wolf but when on two legs is far taller. The Whispertons search but Terrible left the forrest and hid in another Village and hunted there and sadly eat a little boy bringing home Groceries. The Whispertons row Janessa for dropping the Farm tools, seeds, and for being scared of her own shadow. Janessa cries herself to sleep trying to warn them and even runs out side at 9pm at night to warn her Mother not to go out side to add some special things to the soil. Janessa is sent to her room and slapped by her older Aunt who thinks she is up to something and just simply wants to scare people or make them care for her more than the other Whisperton children. Mrs. Tiffany Whisperton adds the special mixture to the soil and does not notice that she barley escaped being eaten by Terrible who walks all over the farm gaing the scent of Each of the Whispertons. Over the next month Janessa would warn them on 10 separate occasions where either her or one of the others working on the farm were about to be eaten and is beaten and whipped for being a liar. The Whispertons make Janessa go to a Psychologist and Janessa becomes depressed and is forced to take perscription pills. The Other Siblings kept telling her why do you always want to be the girl who cries wolf when nothings there to become the favorite? Janessa cries but continues working. Janessa would stop taking the pills after a month because it made her too slow to run away from the wolf. 2 months pass and Janessa has not talked to her family besides being cordial and even had to throw many rocks at terrible several times to stop getting eaten but Janessa refused to tell her family or friends. The sad morning that lead to the tragic following events was when Janessa's cousin who slept over finds all the pills and they all force Janessa to take the pills before she is allowed to do chores. Janessa is scared but still does her work but when she sees Terrible she is more frieghtened than she would normally be because of the pills and she falls as Terrible horribly ends her life. Tiffany sceams as she runs with he shovel screaming im sorry Janessa as she fights Terrible who over powers Tiffany and kills her. The Res of the family race behind Terrible but he leaves the Whisperton forrest and races to another nearby forest. The Whispertons bury the Mother and Daughter in their planned Grave sights and the whole Whisperton family begin to go through the stages of Depression as some try to teach the lessons of checking what others say intead of doubting.
Written by Pastors P and K HannaLand
First Look at each species and from a distance and how many species can you tell me that are clearly male from female from a 10 foot distance? In Humans Some Women look like men and some men look like women naturally. Many of these humans with opposite sex facial and body features are still straight so this occurrence does not lead to one's sexual preference. The fact that the Rectogenital which is found in horse females, the mouth/ Anus which is found in Sea Polyps, the sexual stimulation both male and females still receive today in many species from anal sex; in my humble spiritual opinion prove to me that our ancestors and many other divine species have these type of sexual organs and particularly the original Divine Creator. For the Divine Creator to be a God it would in fact have to be a Trans Man and never a pure born male. I think most preachers who are disrespectful to the LGBT are also ignorantly disrespectful to many Divine Species and specifically the Divine Creator. I feel most of these people are really false prophets leading people on the wrong spiritual path. Another proof that the creator(s) are hermaphrodite can also be found in How many species in the natural environment have the natural ability to change their sex. The disrespect and abuse of the trans and other LGBT community is a sin that will cost many unless they are willing to change and repent.
Kaleidoscope Theory
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Origins
Section 1: Da Grand Multiverse Creation theory
Section 2: Intelligent Design
Section 3: The Dimensions and the Multiverse
Section 4: Mighty Youth
Section 5:The Great Betrayl
Section 6: The War
Section 7:Aftermath
Section 8: Revolution
Section 9: The Challenge
Section 10: Unforgiving Crisis
Section 11: Restoration
Section 12: The Peace Process
Section 13: Divine Council
Section 14: Restoration
Section 15: Research
Chapter 2: Divine Gardens
1: Environmental Respect
2: Laws of the garden
3: Competitive Disaster
4: Unity
5: Many sins
6: Fall from grace
7: Banishments
Chapter 3: Fallen Empire
Chapter 4: Morals and Ethics
Section 1: Morals
Chapter 5: Persecution
Section 1:
Section 2:Crimes Against Humanity
Section 3:
Section 4:
Section 5:
Section 6:
Section 7:
Section 8: World War 2
Part A: Army of the Pink Triangle
Part B: Alan Turning
Part C: Josephine Baker
Section 9:
Section 10:
Section 11:
Section 12:
Section 13: Stone Wall
Chapter 6: Leadership
Section 1: Leadership
Section 2 : Hermata
Section 3: Kawiya
Section 4: Abati Gizi/ Father Time
Section 5: Ibu Jagat/ Mother Universe
Section 6: Karima
Section 7: Jesus Christ
Section 8: Haile Selassie
Section 9: Mahatma Gandhi
Section 10: Mother Theresa
Section 11: Martin Luther King
Section 12:Emmeline Pankhurst
Section 13: Eleanor Roosevelt
Section 14: Malcom X
Section 15: Claudia Castrosín Verdú
Section 16: Harvey Milk
Section 17: Winston Churchhill
Section 18: Wong Fei Hung
Section 19: Kofi Annan
Section 20: Morihei Ueshiba
Section 21:EDITH WINDSOR
Section 22:ELLEN DEGENERES
Section 23: BAYARD RUSTIN
Section 24:BARBARA GITTINGS
Section 25:AARON FRICKE
Section 26:MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
Section 27: MARSHA JOHNSON
Section 28: Leonard Matlovich
Section 29: RICHARD ISAY
Section 30: LAVERNE COX
Section 31:
Section 32
Section 33:
Section 34:
Section 35:
Section 36:
Section 37:
Section 38:
Section 39:
Section 40:
Chapter 7: Quotes, Poems and Prayers
Section 1 Quotes
Section 2: Poems
Section 3: Prayers
Chapter 8: Vocation
1: Purpose
2: Dedication
3: Discipline
Chapter 9: Dating, Love and Marriage
Section 1: Dating
Section 2: A Comprehension of Love
Section 3: Love Trails
Section 4: Types of Marriage
A) Monogomous
B) Polygamous
Section 5: The Laws of Marriage
Section 6: Tales of Marriage
A:
B:
C:
D:
E:
F:
Chapter 10: Evironmental Awareness
Chapter 11: The growth and maintenance of Medicine (pioneers)
Chapter 12: Science and Discovery
Chapter 13:The Spiritual Energy
Section 1:
Section 8: Mystic Rituals
Section 9: the Study of Chi
Chapter14: The Ever Expanding Multiverse
Chapter 15: the path to salvation
Chapter 16: Human Rights
Chapter 17: Fighting Extinction
Chapter 18: Allies
Chapter 19: Justice
Chapter 20: Against All Odds
Chapter 21: Peace Architecture
Section 1: Peace Keeping
Section 2: Peace Building
Section 3: Peace Architecture
Chapter 22: Emergency Preparation and Response
Chapter 23: Consious Nutrition
Veganism
Chapter 24: Sentient Rights
Chapter 25: The Children of Eternity
Chapter 1: Grand Multiverse Creation theory
Section 1: Da Grand Multiverse Creation Theory
Section 3: Grand Nebular Theories
The Nebular Theory
So…how did the solar system form and end up with all these different types of objects? Currently the best theory is the Nebular Theory . This states that the solar system developed out of an interstellar cloud of dust and gas, called a nebula . This theory best accounts for the objects we currently find in the Solar System and the distribution of these objects.The Nebular Theory would have started with a cloud of gas and dust, most likely left over from a previous supernova. The nebula started to collapse and condense; this collapsing process continued for some time. The Sun-to-be collected most of the mass in the nebula’s center, forming a Protostar . A protostar is an object in which no nuclear fusion has occurred, unlike a star that is undergoing nuclear fusion. A protostar becomes a star when nuclear fusion begins. Most likely the next step was that the nebula flattened into a disk called the Protoplanetary Disk ; planets eventually formed from and in this disk. Three processes occurred with the nebular collapse: Temperatures continued to increase The solar nebula spun faster and faster The solar nebula disk flattened The orderly motions of the solar system today are a direct result of the solar system’s beginnings in a spinning, flattened cloud of gas and dust.
Hermaphordite
Evidence
Cell
reproduction is the process by which cells divide to form new
cells. Each time a cell divides, it makes a copy of all of
its chromosomes, which are tightly coiled strands of DNA,
the genetic material that holds the instructions for all
life, and sends an identical copy to the new cell that is created.
This is a process called Mitosis, and can be found in greater
detail by following the link.
Humans
have 46 Chromosomes within each of their body cells. Other
species have different numbers of Chromosomes, however. One
species of fern has 1262 of them! As you might guess, the
number of chromosomes does not directly impact the complexity of an
organism. As chromosomes vary in size, one human chromosome
can hold genetic information equivalent to the amound ot
genetic information in many chromosomes from another organism.
A chromosomes consists of two halves,
called Chromatids. These halves are divided in their
center by a centromere. This structure is what attaches
to spindle fibers during mitosis to pull one chromatid to
each side of the cell when it divides.
In
humans, 44 of the chromosomes consist of autosomes, and
the remaining two are the sex chromosomes. These
chromosomes determine the gender of the organism. (A male has
an X and a Y, while a female has to Xs).
In
addition, all the chromosomes in an organism excluding the sex
chromosomes are part of a homologous pair. They contain
genes to control the same traits but the genes do not have the same
instructions. For example, one chromosome might have the genes
for brown eyes while its homolouge might have genes for blue eyes.
One homolouge is inherited from the mother while the other is
inherited from the father.
The
Cell Cycle
The
cell cycle is the of steps that cells take to grow, develop,
and reproduce. It can be broken down into five steps:
G1
Phase
S
Phase
G2
Phase
M
Phase
Cytokinesis
G1
Phase
During
the G1 Phase, the cell grows and stores up energy that it will use
during cell division. Nutrients are taken in and all the usual
cell processes take place. Once cells are fully grown, they
proceed on to the S Phase.
S
Phase
During
the S Phase, the DNA in the cell's nucleus is copied. This
means that the cell then attains two copies of all the necessary DNA
for normal cell activity, leaving a full set to be transferred into
the new cell that will be created after the cell divides.
G2
Phase
During
this phase, the cell prepares for cell division. This phase
represents a time gap between the time when the cell
copies its DNA and when it divides.
M
Phase
During
this phase, cell division takes place through Mitosis.
Cytokinesis
During
Cytokinesis, the cytoplasm in the cell divides
and the cell's membrane pinches inward
and the cell begins to divide. Also, when plant
cells divide, a cell plate forms between the two new cells to divide
them. After this step, the new cell and sometimes the original
cell also restart the cell cycle by beginning G1 Phase again.
However, sometimes cells enter G0 phase, which is a phase
where cells exit the cell cycle after they are fully grown and
continue to serve their purpose in an organism.
Other
Methods of Cell Reprocuction
Several
other methods of cell reproduction exist. These
include meiosis and
binary fission. During binary fission, bacterial cells divide
asexually. Meiosis, which is explained in further detail by
following the link above, is used to change diploid body cells into
haploid reproductive cells.
In
biology, a hermaphrodite (/hɜːrˈmæfrədaɪt/)
is an organism that has complete or partial reproductive
organs and
produces gametes normally
associated with both male and female sexes.[1] Many taxonomic groups
of animals (mostly invertebrates)
do not have separate sexes.[2] In
these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form
of sexual
reproduction in
which either partner can act as the "female" or "male".
For example, the great majority
of tunicates, pulmonate snails, opisthobranch snails, earthworms,
and slugs are
hermaphrodites. Hermaphroditism is also found in some fish species
and to a lesser degree in other vertebrates.
Most plants are also hermaphrodites.
Historically,
the term hermaphrodite has
also been used to describe ambiguous
genitalia and gonadal
mosaicism in
individuals of gonochoristic species,
especially human beings. The word intersex has
come into usage for humans, since the word hermaphrodite is
considered to be misleading and stigmatizing,[3][4] as
well as "scientifically specious and clinically
problematic."[5]
A
rough estimate of the number of hermaphroditic animal species is
65,000.[6] The
percentage of animal species that are hermaphroditic is about 5%.
(Although the current estimated total number of animal species is
about 7.7 million, the study,[6] which
estimated the number, 65,000, used an estimated total number of
animal species, 1,211,577 from "Classification phylogénétique
du vivant (Vol. 2)" - Lecointre and Le Guyader (2001)). Most
hermaphroditic species exhibit some degree of self-fertilization.
The distribution of self-fertilization rates among animals is
similar to that of plants, suggesting that similar processes are
operating to direct the evolution of selfing in animals and plants.
Etymology[edit]
The
term derives from the Latin: hermaphroditus,
from Ancient
Greek: ἑρμαφρόδιτος, romanized: hermaphroditos,[7] which
derives from Hermaphroditus (Ἑρμαφρόδιτος),
the son of Hermes and Aphrodite in Greek
mythology.
According to Ovid,
he fused with the nymph Salmacis resulting
in one individual possessing physical traits of male and female
sexes;[8] according
to the earlier Diodorus
Siculus,
he was born with a physical body combining male and female
sexes.[9] The
word hermaphrodite entered
the English
lexicon as
early as the late fourteenth century.[10] Alexander
ab Alexandro stated,
using the term hermaphrodite, that
the people who bore the sexes of both man and woman were regarded by
the Athenians and the Romans as monsters, and thrown into the sea at
Athens and into the Tiber at Rome.[11]
Zoology
Sequential
hermaphrodites
Most
species of parrotfish start
life as females and later change into males.
Sequential
hermaphrodites (dichogamy)
occur in species
in
which the individual is born as one sex, but can later change into
the opposite sex.[12] This
contrasts simultaneous hermaphrodites, in which an individual may
possess fully functional male and female genitalia. Sequential
hermaphroditism is common in fish (particularly teleost fish)
and many gastropods (such
as the common
slipper shell),
and some flowering plants. Sequential hermaphrodites can only change
sex once.[13] Sequential
hermaphroditism can best be understood in terms of behavioral
ecology and
evolutionary life
history theory,
as described in the size-advantage mode[14] first
proposed by Michael
T. Ghiselin[15] which
states that if an individual of a certain sex could significantly
increase its reproductive success after reaching a certain size, it
would be to their advantage to switch to that sex.
Sequential
hermaphrodites can be divided into three broad categories:
Protandry:
Where an organism is born as a male, and then changes sex to a
female.[12]
Example:
The clownfish (genus Amphiprion)
are colorful reef fish found living in symbiosis with sea
anemones.
Generally one anemone contains a 'harem', consisting of a large
female, a smaller reproductive male, and even smaller
non-reproductive males. If the female is removed, the reproductive
male will change sex and the largest of the non-reproductive males
will mature and become reproductive. It has been shown that
fishing pressure can change when the switch from male to female
occurs, since fishermen usually prefer to catch the larger fish.
The populations are generally changing sex at a smaller size, due
to natural
selection.
Protogyny:
Where the organism is born as a female, and then changes sex to a
male.[12]
Example: wrasses (Family Labridae)
are a group of reef fish in which protogyny is common. Wrasses
also have an uncommon life history strategy, which is termed
diandry (literally, two males). In these species, two male morphs
exists: an initial phase male and a terminal phase male. Initial
phase males do not look like males and spawn in groups with other
females. They are not territorial. They are, perhaps, female
mimics (which is why they are found swimming in group with other
females). Terminal phase males are territorial and have a
distinctively bright coloration. Individuals are born as males or
females, but if they are born males, they are not born as terminal
phase males. Females and initial phase males can become terminal
phase males. Usually, the most dominant female or initial phase
male replaces any terminal phase male when those males die or
abandon the group.
Bidirectional
Sex Changers:
where an organism has female and male reproductive organs, but act
as either female or male during different stages in life.[12]
Example: Lythrypnus
dalli (Family Lythrypnus)
are a group of coral
reef fish in
which bidirectional sex change occurs. Once a social hierarchy is
established a fish changes sex according to its social status,
regardless of the initial sex, based on a simple principle: if the
fish expresses subordinate behavior then it changes its sex to
female, and if the fish expresses dominant or not subordinate
behavior then the fish changes its sex to male.[16]
Dichogamy
can have both conservation-related implications for humans, as
mentioned above, as well as economic implications. For
instance, groupers are
favoured fish for eating in many Asian countries and are
often aquacultured.
Since the adults take several years to change from female to male,
the broodstock are
extremely valuable individuals.
Earthworms are
simultaneous hermaphrodites, having both male and female
reproductive organs.
A
simultaneous (or synchronous) hermaphrodite (or homogamous) is an
adult organism that has both male and female sexual organs at the
same time.[12] Self-fertilization often
occurs.
Reproductive
system of gastropods: Pulmonate land
snails and
land slugs are
perhaps the best-known kind of simultaneous hermaphrodite, and are
the most widespread of terrestrial animals possessing this sexual
polymorphism. Sexual material is exchanged between both animals
via spermatophore,
which can then be stored in the spermatheca.
After exchange of spermatozoa,
both animals will lay fertilized eggs after a period of gestation;
then the eggs will proceed to hatch after a development period.
Snails typically reproduce in early spring and late autumn.
Banana
slugs are
one example of a hermaphroditic gastropod. Mating with a partner is
more desirable biologically, as the genetic material of the
resultant offspring is varied, but if mating with a partner is not
possible, self-fertilization is practiced. The male sexual organ of
an adult banana slug is quite large in proportion to its size, as
well as compared to the female organ. It is possible for banana
slugs, while mating, to become stuck together. If a substantial
amount of wiggling fails to separate them, the male organ will be
bitten off (using the slug's radula),
see apophallation.
If a banana slug has lost its male sexual organ, it can still mate
as a female, making its hermaphroditic quality a valuable
adaptation.
The
species of colourful sea
slugs Goniobranchus
reticulatus is
hermaphroditic, with both male and female organs active at the same
time during copulation. After mating, the external portion of the
penis detaches, but is able to regrow within 24 hours.[17][18]
Hamlets,
unlike other fish, seem quite at ease mating in front of divers,
allowing observations in the wild to occur readily. They do not
practice self-fertilization, but when they find a mate, the pair
takes turns between which one acts as the male and which acts as
the female through multiple matings, usually over the course of
several nights.
Earthworms are
another example of a simultaneous hermaphrodite. Although they
possess ovaries and testes, they have a protective mechanism
against self-fertilization. Sexual reproduction occurs when two
worms meet and exchange gametes,
copulating on damp nights during warm seasons. Fertilized eggs are
protected by a cocoon, which is buried on or near the surface of
the ground.
The
free-living hermaphroditic nematode Caenorhabditis
elegans reproduces
primarily by self-fertilization, but infrequent out-crossing events
occur at a rate of approximately 1%.[19]
The
mangrove killifish (Kryptolebias
marmoratus)
is a species of fish that lives along the east coast of North,
Central and South America. These fish are simultaneous
hermaphrodites. K.
marmoratus produces
eggs and sperm by meiosis and routinely reproduces by
self-fertilization. Each individual hermaphrodite normally
fertilizes itself when an egg and sperm produced by an internal
organ unite inside the fish's body.[20]
Pseudohermaphroditism[edit]
Main
article: Pseudohermaphroditism
When spotted
hyenas were
first discovered by explorers, they were thought to be
hermaphrodites. Early observations of spotted hyenas in the wild led
researchers to believe that all spotted hyenas, male and female,
were born with what appeared to be a penis. The apparent
penis in female spotted hyenas is
in fact an enlarged clitoris, which contains an external birth
canal.[21][22] It
can be difficult to determine the sex of wild spotted hyenas
until sexual
maturity,
when they may become pregnant. When a female spotted hyena gives
birth, they pass the cub through the cervix internally, but then
pass it out through the elongated clitoris.[23]
Humans[edit]
1860
photograph by Nadar of
an intersex person displaying genitalia, one of a nine-part
series.
The series may be the earliest medical photographic documentation
of intersex.[25]
Hermaphrodite is
used in older
literature to
describe any person whose physical characteristics do not neatly
fit male
or female classifications,
but some people advocate to replace the term
with intersex.[26][27] Intersex
describes a wide variety of combinations of what are considered male
and female biology. Intersex biology may include, for example,
ambiguous-looking external genitalia, karyotypes that
include mixed XX and XY chromosome pairs (46XX/46XY, 46XX/47XXY or
45X/XY mosaic).
Clinically,
medicine currently describes intersex people as having disorders
of sex development,
a term vigorously contested.[28][29] This
is particularly because of a relationship between medical
terminology and medical intervention.[30] Intersex
civil society organizations,
and many human rights institutions,[31][32] have
criticized medical
interventions designed
to make intersex bodies more typically male or female.
Some
people who are intersex, such as some of those with androgen
insensitivity syndrome,
outwardly appear completely female or male, frequently without
realizing they are intersex. Other kinds of intersex conditions are
identified immediately at birth because those with the condition
have a sexual organ larger than a clitoris and smaller than a penis.
Some
humans were historically termed true
hermaphrodites if
their gonadal tissue
contained both testicular and ovarian tissue,
or pseudohermaphrodites if
their external appearance (phenotype)
differed from sex expected from internal gonads. This language has
fallen out of favor due to misconceptions and pejorative
connotations associated with the terms,[33] and
also a shift to nomenclature based on genetics.
Intersex
is in some caused by unusual sex hormones; the unusual hormones may
be caused by an atypical set of sex chromosomes. One possible
pathophysiologic explanation of intersex in humans is
a parthenogenetic division
of a haploid ovum into two haploid ova. Upon fertilization of the
two ova by two sperm cells (one carrying an X chromosome
and the other carrying a Y chromosome),
the two fertilized
ova are
then fused
together resulting
in a person having dual genitalial, gonadal (ovotestes)
and genetic
sex.
Another common cause of being intersex is the crossing over of
the SRY from
the Y chromosome to the X chromosome during meiosis.
The SRY is then activated in only certain areas, causing development
of testes in
some areas by beginning a series of events starting with the
upregulation of SOX9,
and in other areas not being active (causing the growth
of ovarian tissues).
Thus, testicular and
ovarian tissues will both be present in the same individual.[34]
Fetuses
before sexual
differentiation are
sometimes described as female by doctors explaining the
process.[35] This
is technically not true. Before this stage, humans are simply
undifferentiated and possess a Müllerian
duct,
a Wolffian
duct,
and a genital
tubercle.
Botany[edit]
Main
article: Sexual
reproduction in plants
Hermaphrodite is
used in botany to
describe a flower that
has both staminate (male,
pollen-producing) and carpellate (female,
ovule-producing) parts. This condition is seen in many common garden
plants. A closer analogy to hermaphroditism in botany is the
presence of separate male and female flowers on the same
individual—such plants are called monoecious.
Monoecy is especially common in conifers,
but occurs in only about 7% of angiosperm species.[36] The
condition also occurs in some algae.[37] In
addition, some plants can change their sex throughout their
lifetime. This process is called Sequential
hermaphroditism.
In
fiction[edit]
Hermaphroditic
life forms in fiction include the Hutts in Star
Wars (as
elaborated in spin-off novels), Hermats in Peter
David's Star
Trek: New Frontier series,
and Asari in
the Mass
Effect game.
The Trill
symbionts in Star
Trek are
also notable as a species that melds with hosts of either sex
It
is my belief that we started from an Hermaphrodite organism and then
evolved into a two gender species. I believe the 2 genders had and
still do have vainity and genetic purification personality problems
and it led to the lack of comprehension and respect for the
Hermaphrodite gender. I believe we have scientifically failed
Hermaphrodites to get them to live as they are and to keep both
organs functioning.
Time zero Positive
thought emerges and negative thought appears a battle begins and an
explosion occurs the universe begins to form
Grand
Creator Hermata started creation in its simplist form and will
always be working towards improving it. Some creations have an
Origin that resulted in them starting from one organism and then
multiplying. In humans
Grand
Creator Hermata took several steps to guide Evolution
Section 1: Supreme Alphas Birth Date the Birth of Existence
Alph
Section 2: Mighty Youth
Diety
Family Tree
Grand
Creators
Hermatta
and Posyleon
Grand
Architects ( Portions of Hermatta and Posyleon )
Blascymund
( Hermatta Portion)
Darnurnyte
(Hermatta Portion)
Kinlovsul
(Hermatta Portion Name choosen by Posyleon-Kind, Loving, Soul)
Strenpressidom
( Hermatta Portion)
Asyunga
( Posyleon portion Name Choosen by Hermatta- A Special
Yunīverisitīwochi
u neva gave away)
Olatyion
( Posyleon Portion)
Philoscytis
( Posyleon Portion)
Eternbustion
(Posyleon Portion)
Souljas
of Eternity ( Portions of Hermatta and Posyleon )
Ultimate
Negatives
The Negative remains of Hermatta and Posyleon started this family
line
Subtracatta
Posifityz
Submissive
Negatives
Eternal
Children + Da Positives
Hermatta's
and Posyleon's Line
Generation
1
Hermion-
A hermorphadite Diety A good child at first but Feels entitled to
take over the throne and rulership of the multiverse.
Hermaya-
A Hermorphadite Diety tries to stop Hermion from Killing Hermatta
and Posyleon and is the first death of the Eternal children.
Hermatta and Posyleon were able to restore the soul but it took a
long time to get Hermaya back to original form.
Jamoja-
A Hermophadite Diety
That loves Trees, Bushes, grass, weeds, Flowers, in all their
aspects this Diety Only takes forms that encompas these.
Kawiya
A Hermorphadite Diety That Loves the Oceans and Only takes Aquatic
and Aquanoid forms. Likes Palurie but think Palurie loves another so
Kawiya takes a vow of chasity. Palurie and Puegadeus are close and
Puegadeus tries to lure Palurie away from Kawiya. Kawiya and Palurie
have a chance encounter and the relationship begins to blossom.
Puegadeus begins to lie to Kawiya about Palurie and as Puegadeus is
about to propose Palurie stumbles upon them an argument ensues and
all is revealed to Kawiya when Puegadeus catches on that Kawiya
knows he attackes Palurie and before Puegadeus is killed Posyleon
separates them and when Puegadeus future revealed he would not stop
he was sentenced to the Posyell dimension.
Philoscytis
(Posyleon Portion & Strenpressidom
(Hermatta
Portion)
Palurie
-A Hermaphdite deity Has a love for the moons and animal creatures
specifically the canine creatures and insects, Palurie falls in
love with the original wolf and mantis creatures and Palurie changes
Hermas (His and Hers) to combine both creatures. Palurie helps
Jamoja create plant and animal environments.
Puegadeus
A Hermophadite deity Who loves the Ocean, Land, and creatures.
Puegadeus always felt Hermop (He and She) was the most talented and
deserving to rule. ( Fell in love with Kawiya and was almost killed
by Palurie before being banished to another dimension)
Chavedani-
A Hermophadite Deity – Has a love and talent for solving problems
and finding solutions to help.( loved Puegadeus and keeps trying to
get to the other dimension to be with Heirm (him and her) but no one
trusts that)
Olatyion
( Posyleon Portion) Blascymund ( Hermatta Portion)
Rhoquil-
A Hermaphodite deity has a special knack for rehabilitation
Zeenado
Jyluk(Pink
Gay fancydressing HOD, Extremely inventive and resourceful Seraqu's
marital mate)
Nu
–
(What the Eygptains foolishly thought was Personification of the
formless, watery disorder from which the world emerged at creation
and a member of the Ogdoad Since they were to ignorant they were
blind to the true paths.
Asyunga
( Posyleon portion) and Kinlovsul ( Hermatta Portion)
Seraqu(Grey HOD, Jyluk's marital mate),
Dionus-
A Hermaphodite deity
Dragardino HOD
Darnurnyte
(Hermatta Portion) and Eternbustion (Posyleon Portion)
Drygunia
HOD
Kaijuni
Generation
2
These
first born gods would then give rise to further Protogenoi; Nyx
(Night), Erebus (Darkness), Ouranos (Sky), Pontus (Sea), The
Ourea (Mountains),
Aether (Light) and Hemera (Day)
Generation
3
THE
TITANS
The
next generation of Greek gods and goddesses were the offspring of
Ouranos and Gaia.
Gaia would give birth to six sons and six
daughters. The six male Titans being Cronus,
Iapetus, Oceanus, Hyperion, Crius and Coeus, and the female
Titanides named Rhea, Themis, Tethys, Theia, Mnemosyne and
Phoebe.
Gaia would incite the Titans to rise up against their
father, and Cronus would ultimately take up a sickle to castrate
Ouranos, and destroy much of the god's powers.
Cronus would take up the position
of supreme deity, and the rule of the Titans would then become known
as the Golden Age of Greek mythology.
Chaos
Gaia
Goijura
Natti
Eon
Dragudna
Yamir
Heh –
Personification of infinity and a member of the Ogdoad[54]
Kek –
The god of Chaos and Darkness, as well as being the concept of
primordial darkness. Kek's female form is known as Kauket.
Generation 4
Drygudia
Olorun
Odudua -Yoruba
Earth Goddess
Ra (Re)
– The foremost Egyptian sun
god,
involved in creation and the afterlife. Mythological ruler of the
gods, father of every Egyptian king, and the patron god
of Heliopolis.[56]
Atum –
A creator god and solar deity, first god of the Ennead[8]
Brahma
Lakshmi
Vishnu
Saraswati
Farbauti
Laufey
Aegir
Ran
Kaija
Jade
Emperor
Jade Empress
Buri
Bestla
Ibu Jagat
Abati
Gazi
Aganju
Yoruba
Spirit of Volcanoes
Elusu
Yoruba
Goddess of Water
Osanyin
Yoruba
God of Plants
Oshun
Yoruba
Goddess of Love
Orunmila
Yoruba
God of Wisdom
Generation
5
Ve
Vili
Odin
Frigg was
regarded as the Queen of the Æsir and
the goddess of the sky. Moreover, with her special status as the
spouse of Odin,
the deity, with her power of foreknowledge, was also frequently
associated with fertility, household, motherhood, marriage, and
even domestic matters. In essence, of all the Norse gods, it was the
mythic aspects of Frigg that were mostly related to the perceived
bliss of family life.
On
the other hand, Frigg’s love for family and motherly
protectiveness also leads to the tragic episode of her favored child
Balder’s death (discussed later). Interestingly enough, in spite
of Frigg’s eminence in later Norse mythology (during the Viking
period), her Old Germanic version is steeped in mystery – a factor
that is still debated in the academic world.
Tyr
Osiris –
god of death and resurrection who rules the underworld and enlivens
vegetation, the sun god, and deceased souls[22]
Chronos and Gaia Line
Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Hades
God
Yaweh
Jah
Eternal Empress
Ogun
Yoruba
God of Weapons
Obatala
Yoruba
God of Purity
Oshunmare
Yoruba
Spirit of Rainbows
Oya
Yoruba
Goddess of Many Things
Shango
Yoruba
God of Storms
Heimdallr was
once considered to be the father of humankind, as vaguely mentioned
in the Old Norse poem Völuspá.
Other scholars have hypothesized that Heimdall as a figurehead was
historically perceived by the Norse tribes as being responsible for
creating the hierarchy and classes among men. In any case, reverting
to mythology, Heimdall also plays an important role in the
impending Ragnarok,
where he will sound the dire call of Gjallarhorn to
signal the arrival of the giants and monsters. And in the consequent
confrontations, Loki and
Heimdall are foretold to slay one another.
hide
Anubis/Anput –
The god/goddess of embalming and protector of the dead[53]
[55]
Karima
Ahuya
Wayze
Myz
Generation 6
Aje
Shaluga
Yoruba
God of Wealth
Babalú
Ayé
Yoruba
God of Healing
Bayani
Yoruba
Goddess
Dada
Yoruba
God of Abundance
Egungun-oya
Yoruba
Goddess of Prophecy
Elegua
Yoruba
Trickster God
Eshu
Yoruba
Trickster God
Hare
Yoruba
Trickster God
Jakuta
Yoruba
God of Lightning
Morimi
Yoruba
Goddess of Fire
Ochosi
Yoruba
God of Hunting
Oduduwa
Yoruba
Hero God
Oko
Yoruba
God of Farming
Olokun
Yoruba
God of the Sea
Onile
Yoruba
Goddess of Blacksmithing
The
Orishas
Yoruba
Spirits of Many Things
Sopona
Yoruba
God of Illness and Disease
Yansan
Yoruba
Goddess of the Wind
Yemaya
Yoruba
Goddess of Childbirth
The
Abiku
Yoruba
Demons
Oshe
Yoruba
information of Storms
Hestia,
Demeter,
,
Aphrodite,
Hermes,
Apollo,
Artemis,
Ares,
Athena,
Hephaestus
Ganesha
Shiva
Bragi (which
roughly translates to ‘Poet’ in Old Norse), often considered as
the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology,
pertains to a unique mythical character who possibly shared traits
with the historical 9th-century bard Bragi Boddason, who
himself might have served in the courts of Ragnar Lodbrok and Björn
at Hauge. In any case, when it came to legends, the god Bragi was
perceived as the bard of Valhalla,
the magnificent hall of Odin where
all the fallen heroes and warriors are gathered for the ultimate
‘showdown’ at Ragnarok. To
that end, Bragi was hailed as the skillful poet-god who sang and
delighted the hordes of the Einherjar (warriors
who died in battles and were brought to Odin’s majestic hall by
the Valkyries)
Idun (or Iðunn in
Old Norse, meaning ‘Rejuvenating One’) belonged to
the Aesir tribe
of Norse gods, and as such, was considered as the Norse goddess of
eternal youthfulness. This aspect was represented by her strikingly
exuberant long golden hair. In the mythical narrative, she is also
mentioned as being the wife of Bragi
Loki is
regarded as the trickster among the Norse gods, who as a jötunn,
being the son of giant Farbauti and
giantess (or goddess) Laufey,
also possesses the power to shapeshift. Essentially, he is projected
as an entity who is not entirely evil in his whimsical purposes, and
yet particularly scheming in his cruel actions – many of which
lead to misfortunes and even tragedies (like the accidental death
of Balder
Thor
Sif
Balder
Vidar-In Gylfaginning (first
part of Poetic Edda), Vidar is mentioned to wear a thick shoe
(like Thor)
which is constantly mended by the god himself. That is because the
shoe would keep Vidar relatively safe as he plunges his foot down
Fenrir’s throat to smash the monster’s heart at
the Ragnarok (although Völuspá mentions
how Vidar would slay Fenrir by
thrusting his sword into the wolf’s heart). To that end, there
might have been a tradition among the Norse shoemakers to keep (or
dedicate) little scraps of leather from the trimmings of their shoes
to aid the Silent God of Vengeance.
Dragud
Tatenen –
Personification of the first mound of earth to emerge from chaos
in ancient
Egyptian creation myths[57]
Aten –
Sun disk deity who became the focus of the monolatrous or
monotheistic Atenist belief
system in the reign of Akhenaten[7]
Generation 7
hide
Aker –
A god of the earth and the horizon[3]
Amun –
A creator god, patron deity of the city of Thebes,
and the preeminent deity in Egypt during the New
Kingdom[4]
Anhur –
A god of war and hunting[5][6]
Bennu –
A solar and creator deity, depicted as a bird[9]
Geb –
An earth god and member of the Ennead[10]
Hapi –
Personification of the Nile
flood[11]
Horus –
A major god, usually shown as a falcon or as a human child, linked
with the sky, the sun, kingship, protection, and healing. Often
said to be the son of Osiris and Isis.[12]
Khepri –
A solar creator god, often treated as the morning form of Ra and
represented by a scarab
beetle[13]
Khnum (Khnemu)
– A ram god, the patron deity of Elephantine,
who was said to control the Nile flood and give life to gods and
humans[14]
Khonsu –
A moon god, son of Amun and Mut[15]
Maahes –
A lion god, son of Bastet[16]
Montu –
A god of war and the sun, worshipped at Thebes[17]
Nefertum –
God of the lotus blossom from which the sun god rose at the
beginning of time. Son of Ptah and Sekhmet.[18]
Nemty –
Falcon god, worshipped in Middle
Egypt,[19] who
appears in myth as a ferryman for greater gods[20]
Neper –
A god of grain[21]
Ptah –
A creator deity and god of craftsmen, the patron god of Memphis[23]
Set –
An ambivalent god, characterized by violence, chaos, and strength,
connected with the desert. Mythological murderer of Osiris and
enemy of Horus, but also a supporter of the king.[24]
Shu –
Embodiment of wind or air, a member of the Ennead[25]
Sobek –
Crocodile god, worshipped in the Faiyum and
at Kom
Ombo[26]
Sopdu –
A god of the sky and of Egypt's eastern border regions[27]
Thoth –
A moon god, and a god of writing and scribes, and patron deity
of Hermopolis[28]
Wadj-wer –
Personification of the Mediterranean sea or lakes of the Nile
Delta[29]
Female[edit]
hide
Amunet –
Female counterpart of Amun and a member of the Ogdoad[3]
Anuket –
A goddess of Egypt's southern frontier regions, particularly the
lower cataracts
of the Nile[30]
Bastet –
Goddess represented as a cat or lioness, patroness of the city
of Bubastis,
linked with protection from evil[31]
Bat –
Cow goddess from early in Egyptian history, eventually absorbed by
Hathor[32]
Hathor –
One of the most important goddesses, linked with the sky, the sun,
sexuality and motherhood, music and dance, foreign lands and goods,
and the afterlife. One of many forms of the Eye
of Ra.[33]
Heqet –
Frog goddess said to protect women in childbirth[34]
Hesat –
A maternal cow goddess[35]
Imentet –
An afterlife goddess closely linked with Isis and Hathor[36]
Isis –
Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, linked with funerary rites,
motherhood, protection, and magic. She became a major deity
in Greek and Roman
religion.[37]
Maat –
Goddess who personified truth, justice, and order[38]
Menhit –
A lioness goddess[39]
Mut –
Consort of Amun, worshipped at Thebes[40]
Neith –
A creator and hunter goddess, patron of the city of Sais in
Lower Egypt[41]
Nekhbet (Nekhebit)
– A vulture goddess, the tutelary
deity of
Upper Egypt[42]
Nephthys (Neb-t
kha-t)
– A member of the Ennead, the consort of Set, who mourned Osiris
alongside Isis[43]
Nepit –
A goddess of grain, female counterpart of Neper[44]
Nut –
A sky goddess, a member of the Ennead[45]
Pakhet –
A lioness goddess mainly worshipped in the area around Beni
Hasan[46]
Renenutet –
An agricultural goddess[47]
Satet –
A goddess of Egypt's southern frontier regions[48]
Sekhmet –
A lioness goddess, both destructive and violent and capable of
warding off disease, protector of the pharaohs who led them in war,
the consort of Ptah and one of many forms of the Eye
of Ra.[49]
Tefnut –
Goddess of moisture and a member of the Ennead[50]
Wadjet (Uatchit)
– A cobra goddess, the tutelary deity of Lower Egypt[51]
Wosret –
A goddess of Thebes[52]
The Rigveda speaks
of Thirty-three
gods called
the Trayastrinshata ('Three
plus thirty'). They consists of the 12 Adityas,
the 8 Vasus,
the 11 Rudras and
the 2 Ashvins. Indra also
called Śakra, lord of the gods, is the first of the 33 followed
by Agni.
Some of these brother gods were invoked in pairs such as Indra-Agni,
Mitra-Varuna and Soma-Rudra.
Adityas[edit]
Mitra,
the patron god of oaths and of friendship,
Varuna,
the patron god of water and the oceans,
Śakra,
also called Indra,
the king of gods, and the god of rains
Dakṣa,
Aṃśa,
Aryaman,
Bhaga,
god of wealth
Vivasvat,
also called Ravi or Savitṛ,
Tvāṣṭṛ,
the smith among the gods,
Pūsan,
patron god of travellers and herdsmen, god of roads,
Dhāt,
god of health and magic, also called Dhūti
Vamana
Rudras[edit]
The Ramayana tells
they are eleven of the 33 children of the sage Kashyapa and
his wife Aditi,
along with the 12 Adityas,
8 Vasus and
2 Ashvins,
constituting the Thirty-three
gods.[7] The Vamana
Purana describes
the Rudras as the sons of Kashyapa and Aditi.[8] The Matsya
Purana notes
that Surabhi –
the mother of all cows and the "cow of plenty" – was the
consort of Brahma and their union produced the eleven Rudras. Here
they are named: Nirriti, Shambhu, Aparajita Mrigavyadha, Kapardi,
Dahana, Khara, Ahirabradhya, Kapali, Pingala and Senani.[9] Brahma
allotted to the Rudras the eleven positions of the heart and the
five sensory
organs,
the five organs of action and the mind.[8][10]
Vasus[edit]
Assistants
of Indra and
of Vishnu
Agni the
"Fire" god, also called Anala or
"living",
Varuna the
"Water" god, also called Antarikṣa the
"Atmosphere" or "Space" god,
Vāyu the
"Wind", the air god, also called Anila ("wind")
Dyauṣ the
"Sky" god, also called Dyeus and Prabhāsa or
the "shining dawn"
Pṛthivī the
"Earth" god, also called Dharā or
"support"
Sūrya the
"Sun" god, also called Pratyūsha,
("break of dawn", but often used to mean simply "light"),
the Saura sectary
worshipped Sūrya as their chief deity.
Soma the
"Moon" god, also called Chandra
Samudra the
"Sea" god, also called as "Sagar"
Ashvins[edit]
The
Ashvins (also called the Nāsatyas)
were twin gods. Nasatya is
also the name of one twin, while the other is called Dasra.
Generation 8
Fenrir the
Wolf,
Jörmungandr the
Serpent
Hel,
who was the daughter of Loki and
the giant Angrboda
Generation 9
Generation 10
Flamianna
Mageno
Ultimate
Subtracavoids (The Evil remains of Hermatta and Posyleon that they
thought they destroyed started this family line)
Subtracatta
Posifityz
Offspring
Generation 1
Omega
Dragonosaur
Blud
Evispell
Section 2: Intelligent Design
Section 3:The Dimensions and the Multiverse
The Dimensions
What is a Dimension? –
a Dimension is a Reality,Realm or plane of Existence
What is The
Interdimensional hypothesis?
The interdimensional
hypothesis(IDHorIH), is an idea advanced by Ufologists such as
Jacques Vallée that says unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and
related events involve visitations from other "realities"
or "dimensions" that coexist separately alongside our own.
The Heavens
Dimension 1 contains the Heavens of
Hermata and the creators children. This is the Original Dimension
that spawned the other 4 Dimension. It can be said that Time 0
originated here in Dimension 1 when Grand Creator Hermata the first
Diety came into Existence.
Dimension 1 is the birthplace
of the Original Dieties and where their separate Heavens Reside
after multiple first generation creations turned on the Dieties the
creations were banned from this Dimension and the other Dimensions
were created.
Dimension 2 is the
Mythical Realms where the messengers of the Dieties Reside and live
out their existence.
Dimension 3: The
Multiverse is the 3rd Dimension and it is where
creations were toned down to prove moral theories amongst the
dieties.In the Dimensions the Mythical realms and The Trail
Domains have Daughter Universes.
The Multiverse
What is the Multiverse Theory?
In science the Multiverse Theory
states that there may be multiple or even an infinite number of
universes that together comprise everything that exists: the
entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical
laws and constants that describe them.
There are at least five theories
stating why a multiverse is possible!
The 5 threories are;
1. Infinite universes.
2. Bubble universes.
3. Daughter universes.
4. Mathematical universes.
5. Parallel universes.
1. Infinite universes.
2. Bubble universes.
3. Daughter universes.
The Daughter universes Theory. Or
perhaps multiple universes can follow the theory of quantum
mechanics, how subatomic particles behave, as part of the "daughter
universe" theory. If you follow the laws of probability, it
suggests that for every outcome that could come from one of your
decisions, there would be a range of universes — each of which saw
one outcome come to be. So in one universe, you took that job to
Africa. In another, perhaps you were on your way and your plane
landed somewhere different, and you decided to stay. And so on.
4. Mathematical universes.
5. Parallel universes.
What is a Universe?
A single Universe is all of space and
time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all
other forms of matter and energy. A single Universe is a big, open
place.
What is a
Galaxy?
A galaxy is a huge collection of gas,
dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems. A galaxy is
held together by gravity. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, also has a
supermassive black hole in the middle.
Some galaxies are spiral-shaped like
ours. They have curved arms that make it look like a pinwheel. Other
galaxies are smooth and oval shaped. They’re called elliptical
galaxies. And there are also galaxies that aren’t spirals or
ovals. They have irregular shapes and look like blobs. The light
that we see from each of these galaxies comes from the stars inside
it.
There are an estimated 100 billion
galaxies in the universe, but this number is likely to increase to
about 200 billion as telescope technology in space improves .
Dimension 4
Dimension 4 is Limbo this
is where the good athiest and those that are undicided upon go.
Limbo is for those with a 2nd
chance at redemption.
Dimension 5 is Hell
was created by the dieties to send those who are pure
evil or do great acts of evil, until they are redeemed or for
eternity.
Section 4: Mighty Youth
Section 5:The Great Betrayl
Section 6: The War
Section 7:Aftermath
Section 8: Revolution
Section 9: The Challenge
Section 10: Unforgiving Crisis
Section 11: Restoration
Section 12: The Peace Process
Section 13: Divine Council
Section 14: Restoration
Section
15: Research
According
to research, the universe is approximately 13.8
billion years old
THE ORIGIN OF THINGS has always been a central concern for humanity;
the origin of the stones, the animals, the plants, the planets, the
stars and we ourselves. Yet the most fundamental origin of them all
would seem to be the origin of the universe as a whole – of
everything that exists, without which there could be none of the
creatures and things mentioned above, including ourselves. Perhaps
that is why the existence of the universe, its origin and nature,
has been a subject of explanation in almost all civilizations and
cultures. In fact, every culture known to anthropology has had a
cosmogony – a history of how the world began and continues, of how
mankind was created and of what the dieties expect of us. The
understanding these civilizations had of the universe is very
different to what science teaches us today. However, the absence of
a cosmology in these societies, of some explanation for the world in
which we live, would be just as unthinkable as the absence of
language itself
The Heliocentric Model The idea that
the Sun is at the centre of the universe and that the Earth revolves
around it, known as the heliocentric theory, was first proposed by
Aristarchus of Samos (320 -350 BC, Greek mathematician and
astronomer), who arrived at the notion based on his estimates of the
sizes and distances of the Sun and the Moon. He concluded that the
Earth revolves around the Sun and that the stars compose a fixed and
very distant sphere. His theory attracted little attention, mainly
because it contradicted the geocentric theory of Aristotle, then
held in the highest prestige, and because the very idea of the Earth
moving about was not particularly appealing.
About two thousand years later, in
1510, Copernicus (Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473 -1543, Polish
astronomer) set down his own heliocentric model in the work
Commentariolus, which circulated anonymously; Copernicus seemed to
have foreseen the furore the theory would provoke and only allowed
it to be published after his death. The work was brought out openly
for the first time in 1543 under the title De Revolutionibus Orbium
Coelesti, and carried a dedication to Pope Paul III.
After the publication of Copernicus’
theory, however, certain technological and scientific advances
rendered it clearly superior to the Ptolemaic system. Tycho Brahe
(1546-1601, a Danish astronomer) played an important role in
advancing instrument-based techniques for making precise
measurements with the naked eye, as refracting glasses and
telescopes had not yet been invented. These measurements were
roughly ten times more precise than earlier calculations. In 1597
Brahe moved to Prague, where he hired Johannes Kepler (1571-1630,
German mathematician and astronomer) as his assistant. Later, Kepler
was to use Tycho’s measurements to establish his laws of planetary
motion. These laws showed that the planets move in elliptical orbits
with the Sun at one focus. With this realization, theoretical
calculations and measurements acquired much greater congruity than
under the older system.
If for no other reason, the precision
and the economy this afforded would have proved so important on long
sea voyages that the laws would have imposed themselves for
practical reasons alone. In developing the telescope, Galileo
created an instrument of vital importance to astronomical research,
as it lends extraordinary powers of magnification to the human eye.
When he trained his telescope at the Sun, he discovered sunspots;
when he focused on Jupiter, he discovered its first four moons;
turning to the Milky Way, he revealed that it was composed of myriad
stars. The discovery of the galaxy It was precisely with the
development of optical, mechanical and photographic techniques that
the distances of the nearest stars could finally be determined, thus
dispelling the notion of a sphere of fixed stars. With stellar
distances now measured – and understood to be incredibly long –
the interpretation gradually began to take hold that the stars and
the Sun were
objects of the same nature. Each star
therefore had the “right”, in principle, to host a planetary
system
We tend to think of our universe in
terms of three-dimensional space; we can walk forwards, sideways and
even jump up and down. To these we can add a further dimension:
time. These four dimensions constitute the spacetime universe in
which we live, but we could imagine other universes. From a
mathematical perspective, we can, for example, imagine various
two-dimensional universes; the surface of a ball is a
two-dimensional entity, as is the surface of a table. Imagine the
surface of a child’s balloon as a two-dimensional universe. We can
draw two-dimensional galaxies on that surface, populated by
two-dimensional ants. Some of these ants might be astronomers whose
task it is to observe the other galaxies and measure their distances
and speeds.
Let’s imagine for an instant that
someone blows into the balloon and makes it expand. What will the
astronomer-ant see? Basically, he will see that the galaxies closest
to him recede slowly while those more distant shuttle away at a
faster speed. This ant will have discovered Hubble’s Law. If we
imagine the opposite - that instead of expanding, the balloon begins
to deflate-, what the ant will see is all of the galaxies edging
closer to each other – the opposite of Hubble’s Law. What the
law proves, therefore, is that our universe is in expansion! In
other words, it will be larger in the future and it was smaller in
the past. The further back in the past, the smaller the universe. If
we follow the logic through, we can imagine a balloon so small that
it shrinks to a mere
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ea/v20n58/en_20.pdf
Chapter
2: Divine Gardens
Chapter 2: Divine
Gardens
1: Environmental
Respect
2: Laws of the
garden
3: Competitive
Disaster
4: Unity
5: Many sins
6: Fall from grace
7:
Banishments
The man said should not the most powerful rule
the woman said well you must be all knowing to be the ruler
and Father Time said to the people in the gardens there are other
Gods some more powerful than I, I am not the God of mass quantity or
breeding the perfect species neither am I all knowing I learn as I
learn but I am here to spread Justice, peace and Love
Chapter
3: Fallen Empire
Along
time ago in a land far away their lived a tribe of people called the
Kaleidians their empire was vast and united a all for one, one for
all type of society. The state they lived in was named Kaleidopia It
was ruled by a council of 3; Jacob A priest, Fetuh a knight,
Deandra an empress,. Their was a mixture of colors and beliefs as
many travled to visit the empire because of its riches. The main
belief system called for equality of all and respect for other
religions. Justice ruled the empire and fairness was expected. Some
consider Kaleidopia to be the most socially just society to have
ever existed. On the 12th
of July 899 BC the Kaleidians welcomed the Raviers into their
empire. The Raviers were ruled by Queens and the new Queen Esmerelda
was visting towns in search of a husband. The Queen meets with the
council. Her eyes fell on Jacob. She ignored the fact that he was
married to an inventor named Wesley. She invited Jacob who was
unaware to come visit her empire so that he can see how to help.
Jacob left and went to visit Ravine. When he arrived the Queen told
him “Renounce Wesley the two of you can bare no offspring there is
no fruit to bare from your efforts.” Jacob replied “Never not
one of you understand what love is and I do I will never forsake my
husband I am a man of faith and loyal to my oaths.” Her brother
Edwin screams “Kill the nasty bastard”They cut the head off of
Priest Jacobs.
Time
went by and Wesley began to worry as he did not even receive a
letter which was unusual. Fetuh and Deandra gather an army and head
to the Ravine. The remaining council memebers and their army arrive
at the gates of Ravine. Queen Esmerelda greets them and shouts “
Your Kind has no place in this World, he would choose a man over me,
the sickness of your lot must be cleansed from the Earth.” Deandra
leads the charge and they over run Ravine recovering Jacobs body and
head. They leave and travel home to bury Jacob. Edwin survived the
attack and he begins to go to other Empires claiming that the
Kaleidians were trying to conquor the world and enforce their
lifestyle on every one. The other Empires panic and begin to join
forces with Edwin. Fetuh Kisses his wife before he goes to address
his army “I believe we are a special people with faith in the
rights of our fellow human beings, we are outnumbered and always
will be may they feel our sting as they attack our hive.” Deandra
is being dressed by her wife Sheva, “ If this be the last moment I
see your beautiful face I want you to know I love you eternally so
may fate always bring me to you” She joins Fetuh and they head to
the gates. The Battle lasts 5 years before Fetuh is captured he is
taken to the Emperors and commanded to lead Kaleidopia as a sole
king he must reject his religion and swear loyalty. Fetuh stands
proud “ I am loyal, loyal to Kaleidopia as I see nothing but
brothers and sisters that breath and bleed like me” Fetuh is
hanged. In just two more years the walls fall and Kaleidopia is
burnt to the ground.
Chapter 4: Morals and Ethics
Section
1: Morals
Moral Character Defined by Damon
(1988) identified six ways that social scientists have defined
morality: (1) an evaluative orientation that distinguishes good and
bad and prescribes good; (2) a sense of obligation toward standards
of a social collective; (3) a sense of responsibility for acting out
of concern for others; (4) a concern for the rights of others; (5) a
commitment to honesty in interpersonal relationships; and (6) a
state of mind that causes negative emotional reactions to immoral
acts. This categorical scheme may not accommodate all useful
definitions, particularly the more substantive definitions offered
by philosophers and theologians.
While most
researchers support a multidimensional aspect to moral character,
especially Lickona’s (1991) advocacy of cognitive, affective, and
behavioral components, several authors support additional
components. For example, Narvaez and Rest (1995) suggest that the
skills of moral and character development should be considered in
terms of four psychological components. They say that the focus
should be on the internal processes and behavioral skills that are
required for moral behavior and propose that sensitivity, judgment,
and motivation emerge from the interaction of cognitive and
affective processes. 1. Ethical Sensitivity—the perception of
moral and social situations, including the ability to consider
possible actions and their repercussions in terms of the people
involved; 2. Ethical Judgment—the consideration of possible
alternative actions and the rationale for selecting one or more as
best; 3. Ethical Motivation—the selection of moral values most
relevant in the situation and the commitment to act on that
selection; 4. Ethical Action—the ego strength combined with the
psychological and social skills necessary to carry out the selected
alternative. For Huitt (2000), moral character incorporates the
underlying qualities of a person’s moral or ethical knowledge,
reasoning, values, and commitments that are routinely displayed in
behavior. Character is associated with the quality of one’s life,
especially in terms of moral and ethical decisions and actions. As
described in framework for developing the whole person, Huitt (2004)
placed moral character is one of three core elements that are
dynamically related to both the personal and social aspects of one’s
life. That is, development in each of the ten identified domains and
the other core elements of spiritual development and personal style
influence the development of one’s moral character and this
development, in turn, influences development in the ten domains and
the other core elements. Berkowitz (2002) identified seven
psychological components of the “moral anatomy,” and urged
scientists and educators to begin reconstructing the “complete
moral person.” 1. Moral behavior (prosocial, sharing, donating to
charity, telling the truth) 2. Moral values (believe in moral goods)
3. Moral emotion (guilt, empathy, compassion) 4. Moral reasoning
(about right and wrong) 5. Moral identity (morality as an aspect
self-image) 6. Moral personality (enduring tendency to act with
honesty, altruism, responsibility 7. “Metamoral” characteristics
meaning they make morality possible even though they are not
inherently moral. Vessels’ (1998) divided cognition into moral
knowing and moral reasoning. He addressed will or volition by
examining the intersections between moral feeling and both thinking
(empathy, motivation) and knowing (values, beliefs), and by defining
moral behavior as intentional by definition. According to Vessels,
the intersection of moral knowing, reasoning, feeling, and behaving
yields conscience, which reflects one’s (a) past thoughts,
feelings, and behavior, (b) one’s present thoughts and feelings,
and (c) one’s view of the future in terms of MORAL AND CHARACTER
DEVELOPMENT 4 feeling compelled to act morally. He agrees with the
other researchers in that moral character includes both personal and
social aspects, which he describes as personal and social integrity.
With respect to
personal integrity, Vessels states that people with moral character
are predisposed to: (1) show kindness and compassion with empathetic
understanding; (2) show the courage to be honest and principled
irrespective of circumstances; (3) acquire a wide range of abilities
that enable them to independently resolve problems, analyze
situations where moral values and principles may be in conflict, and
adapt to change in a personally and socially constructive manner;
and (4) display a high level of effort in their daily work, and a
high level of commitment to individual and group goals and
standards. With respect to social integrity, he states that people
with moral character are predisposed to (1) show an interest-in and
concern-for others in the spirit of friendship and brotherhood and
to act on these concerns routinely, (2) perform as responsible and
other-directed team members within families and other groups, and
(3) view the preservation of social institutions and improvement of
both self and community as civic duties.
Chapter 5: Persecution
Part A: Army of the Pink Triangle
The pink triangle
was used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify and shame
homosexuals. This symbol, which was used to label and shame, has
been embraced by the gay community as a symbol of pride. However, in
the 1930s & 1940s there was nothing celebratory about the pink
triangle. Gays were forced to wear the pink triangle on their breast
pockets in the concentration camps to identify them as homosexual to
set them apart from other prisoners.
Triangles of
various colors were used to identify each category of "undesirable":
yellow for Jews, brown of Gypsies, red for political prisoners,
green for criminals, black for anti-socials, purple for Jehovah's
Witnesses, blue for immigrants, and pink for homosexuals.
The pink triangles
were slightly larger than the other colored triangles so that guards
could identify them from a distance. It is said that those who wore
the pink triangles were singled out by the guards to receive the
harshest treatment, and when the guards were finished with them,
some of the other inmates would harm them as well. At the end of the
war, when the concentration camps were finally liberated, virtually
all of the prisoners were released except those who wore the pink
triangle. Many of those with a pink triangle on their pocket were
put back in prison and their nightmare continued. One of the groups
that was targeted for extermination by the Nazis continues to be
under attack to this day, not just verbally but physically, all over
the world: homosexuals. The fact that gays were put in German
concentration camps is not known by many. The stories of the
survivors reveal an unimaginable cruelty and suffering. It is the
same kind of senseless, irrational hatred that still haunts Gays,
Jews, Blacks, and other minorities today.
The Taliban in
Afghanistan required non-Muslims to wear identifying badges on their
clothing, just as the Nazis required their "undesirables"
to wear identifying logos so long ago. History repeats itself. The
list of systematic, deliberate and well-orchestrated exterminations
is a long one. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 - 1918 in the Ottoman
Turkish Empire, the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the
ethnic cleansing of Bosnia and the Sudan, and numerous other
genocidal campaigns are testament of the world's complacency.
It seems the
lessons of the Holocaust and the Pink Triangle have been lost on
many. Because "those who forget history are doomed to repeat
it" we continue to display the Pink Triangle atop Twin Peaks.
It is important to keep alive the memory of the Holocaust victims
and to remind everyone of the consequences of unchecked hatred. The
Pink Triangle display is also intended as an instrument to initiate
discourse about hate crimes. We want to help prevent others from
experiencing the results of hatred that Matthew Shepard, Allen
Schindler, Brandon Teena, and countless others have been subjected
to. If we can help prevent additional crimes like those committed
against them, we will have been successful in our attempt to inform
the public.
https://www.thepinktriangle.com/history/symbol.html
Part B: Alan Turing
Alan Mathison
Turing OBE FRS (/ˈtjʊərɪŋ/; 23 June 1912 –
7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer
scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical
biologist.[6] Turing was highly influential in the development
of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of
the concepts of algorithm and computation with
the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of
a general-purpose computer.[7][8][9] Turing is widely
considered to be the father of theoretical computer science
and artificial intelligence.[10] Despite these
accomplishments, he was never fully recognised in his home country
during his lifetime, due to his homosexuality, which was then a
crime in the UK.
During the Second
World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher
School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park,
Britain's codebreaking centre that
produced Ultra intelligence. For a time he led Hut 8,
the section that was responsible for German naval cryptanalysis.
Here, he devised a number of techniques for speeding the breaking of
German ciphers, including improvements to the pre-war
Polish bombe method, an electromechanical machine
that could find settings for the Enigma machine.
Turing played a
pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the
Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including
the Battle of the Atlantic, and in so doing helped win the
war.[11][12] Counterfactual history is difficult with
respect to the effect Ultra intelligence had on the length of the
war,[13] but at the upper end it has been estimated that this
work shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved
over 14 million lives.[11]
After the war,
Turing worked at the National Physical Laboratory, where he
designed the Automatic Computing Engine, which was one of the
first designs for a stored-program computer. In 1948, Turing
joined Max Newman's Computing Machine Laboratory at
the Victoria University of Manchester, where he helped develop
the Manchester computers[14] and became interested
in mathematical biology. He wrote a paper on the chemical basis
of morphogenesis[1] and predicted oscillating chemical
reactionssuch as the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, first
observed in the 1960s.
Turing was
prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts; the Labouchere
Amendment had mandated that "gross indecency" was a
criminal offence in the UK. He accepted chemical
castration treatment, with DES, as an alternative to
prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday,
from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a
suicide, but it has been noted that the known evidence is also
consistent with accidental poisoning.[15]
In 2009, following
an Internet campaign, British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown made an official public apology on behalf of
the British government for "the appalling way he was
treated". Queen Elizabeth II granted Turing a
posthumous pardon in 2013.[16][17][18] The Alan Turing
law is now an informal term for a 2017 law in the United
Kingdom that retroactively pardoned men cautioned or convicted under
historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing
Part C: Josephine Baker
Josephine
Baker
Josephine
Baker was
a well-known entertainer of the Jazz Age and identified as bisexual.
She was one of the most successful African-American performers in
French history and used her platform as an entertainer to advocate
for desegregation, refusing to perform in segregated venues and even
speaking at the 1963 March on Washington. Baker also served as a spy
for the French during World War II, passing along secrets she heard
while performing for German soldiers.
Josephine
Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalised
French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an
American-born French entertainer, activist, and French
Resistance agent. Her career was centered primarily in Europe,
mostly in her adopted France. During her early career she was
renowned as a dancer, and was among the most celebrated performers
to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris.
Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927
caused a sensation in Paris. Her costume, consisting of only a
girdle of artificial bananas, became her most iconic image and a
symbol of the Jazz Ageand the 1920s.[citation needed]
Baker was
celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously
dubbed her the “Black Venus”, the "Black Pearl", the
"Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born
in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and
became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist
Jean Lion in 1937.[2] She raised her children in France. "I
have two loves, my country and Paris." the artist once said,
and sang: «J'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris».[3]
Baker was the first
African-American to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent
film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri
Étiévant.[4]
Baker refused to
perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted
for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1968 she
was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United
States by Coretta Scott King, following Martin Luther King
Jr.'s assassination. After thinking it over, Baker declined the
offer out of concern for the welfare of her children.[5][6]
She was also known
for aiding the French Resistance during World War
II.[7] After the war, she was awarded the Croix de
guerreby the French military, and was named a Chevalier of
the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker
Section
2: Stone wall
The Stonewall
riots (also referred to as the Stonewall uprising or
the Stonewall rebellion) were a series of spontaneous, violent
demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBT) community[note
1] against a police raid that began in the early
morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in
the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New
York City. They are widely considered to constitute the most
important event leading to the gay
liberation movement[4][5][6][7] and the modern fight
for LGBT rights in the United States.[8][9]
Gay Americans in
the 1950s and 1960s faced an anti-gay legal system.[note
2][10] Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to
prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they
favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals
and heterosexualsalike. The last years of the 1960s, however,
were very contentious, as many social/political movements were
active, including the civil rights movement, the counterculture
of the 1960s, and the anti-Vietnam War movement. These
influences, along with the liberal environment of Greenwich Village,
served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots.
Very few
establishments welcomed gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those
that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were
rarely gay. At the time, the Stonewall Inn was owned by
the Mafia.[11][12][13] It catered to an assortment of
patrons and was known to be popular among the poorest and most
marginalized people in the gay community: drag
queens, transgender people, effeminate young
men, butch lesbians, male prostitutes, and homeless
youth. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but
officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn.
Tensions between New York City police and gay residents of
Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and
again several nights later. Within weeks, Village residents quickly
organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on
establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about
their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested.
After the Stonewall
riots, gays and lesbians in New York City faced gender, race, class,
and generational obstacles to becoming a cohesive community. Within
six months, two gay activist organizations were formed in New York,
concentrating on confrontational tactics, and three newspapers were
established to promote rights for gays and lesbians. Within a few
years, gay rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the
world. On June 28, 1970, the first gay pride marches took
place in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco,[14] and the
anniversary of the riots was commemorated in Chicago. Similar
marches were organized in other cities. The Stonewall National
Monument was established at the site in 2016.[15] Today,
LGBT Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the
end of June to mark the Stonewall riots. Stonewall 50 -
WorldPride NYC 2019 commemorated the 50th anniversary of the
Stonewall uprising with city officials estimating 5 million
attendees in Manhattan,[16] and on June 6, 2019, New York City
Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill rendered a formal
apology on behalf of the New York Police Department for the actions
of its officers at Stonewall in 1969.
Chapter
6: Leadership
Section
1: Leadership
leadership
/ˈliːdəʃɪp
noun
the action of
leading a group of people or an organization.
"different
styles of leadership"
synonyms:
guidance, direction, authority, control, management, superintendence, supervision; More
the state or
position of being a leader.
"the party
prospered under his leadership"
synonyms:
headship, directorship, direction, governorship, governance, administration,
jurisdiction, captaincy, superintendency, control, ascendancy, rule, command,
power, mastery, domination, dominion, premiership, sovereignty
"she won the leadership of the Conservative Party"
the leaders
of an organization, country, etc.
plural
noun: leaderships
"the
leadership was divided into two camps"
Section 1: Leadership
Section 2 : Hermata
Section 3: Kawiya
Section 4: Abati Gizi/ Father Time
Section 5: Ibu Jagat/ Mother Universe
Section 6: Karima
Section 7: Jesus Christ
Jesus'
childhood home is identified in the gospels of Luke and Matthew as
the town of Nazareth in Galilee,
where he lived with his family. Although Joseph appears in
descriptions of Jesus' childhood, no mention is made of him
thereafter.[128] His
other family members—his mother, Mary, his
brothers James, Joses
(or Joseph), Judas and Simon and
his unnamed sisters—are mentioned in the gospels and other
sources.[129]
The
Gospel of Mark reports that Jesus comes into conflict with his
neighbors and family.[130] Jesus'
mother and brothers come to get him (Mark
3:31–35)
because people are saying that he
is crazy (Mark
3:21).
Jesus responds that his followers are his true family. In John, Mary
follows Jesus to his crucifixion, and he expresses concern over her
well-being (John
19:25–27).
Jesus
is called a τέκτων (tektōn)
in Mark
6:3,
traditionally understood as carpenter but
could cover makers of objects in various materials, including
builders.[131][132] The
gospels indicate that Jesus could read, paraphrase, and debate
scripture, but this does not necessarily mean that he received
formal scribal training.[133]
When
Jesus is presented as a baby in the temple per Jewish Law, a man
named Simeon says
to Mary and Joseph that Jesus "shall stand as a sign of
contradiction, while a sword will pierce your own soul. Then the
secret thoughts of many will come to light" (Luke
2:28–35).
Several years later, when Jesus goes missing on a visit
to Jerusalem,
his parents find
him in the temple sitting
among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions, and the
people are amazed at his understanding and answers; Mary scolds
Jesus for going missing, to which Jesus replies that he must "be
in his father's house" (Luke
2:41–52).
Baptism and
temptation
Main
articles: Baptism
of Jesus and Temptation
of Christ
The
Baptism of Christ (1895)
by Almeida
Júnior
The
Synoptic accounts of Jesus' baptism are all preceded by information
about John
the Baptist.[134][135][136] They
show John preaching penance and repentance for the remission of sins
and encouraging the giving of alms to
the poor (Luke
3:11)
as he baptizes people in the area of the Jordan
River around Perea and
foretells (Luke
3:16)
the arrival of someone "more powerful" than
he.[137][138] Later,
Jesus identifies John as "the Elijah who was to come"
(Matthew
11:14, Mark
9:13–14),
the prophet who was expected to arrive before the "great and
terrible day of the Lord" (Malachi
4:5).
Likewise, Luke says that John had the spirit and power
of Elijah (Luke
1:17).
In
Mark, John baptizes Jesus, and as he comes out of the water he sees
the Holy
Spirit descending
to him like a dove and he hears a voice from heaven declaring him to
be God's Son (Mark
1:9–11).
This is one of two events described in the gospels where a voice
from Heaven calls Jesus "Son", the other being
the Transfiguration.[139][140] The
spirit then drives him into the wilderness where he is tempted
by Satan(Mark
1:12–13).
Jesus then begins his ministry after John's arrest (Mark
1:14).
Jesus' baptism in Matthew is similar. Here, before Jesus' baptism,
John protests, saying, "I need to be baptized by you"
(Matthew
3:14).
Jesus instructs him to carry on with the baptism "to fulfill
all righteousness" (Matthew
3:15).
Matthew also details the three temptations that Satan offers Jesus
in the wilderness (Matthew
4:3–11).
In Luke, the Holy Spirit descends as a dove after everyone has been
baptized and Jesus is praying (Luke
3:21–22).
John implicitly recognizes Jesus from prison after sending his
followers to ask about him (Luke
7:18–23).
Jesus' baptism and temptation serve as preparation for his public
ministry.[141]
The
Gospel of John leaves out Jesus' baptism and temptation.[142] Here,
John the Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus
(John
1:32).[138][143] John
publicly proclaims Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb
of God,
and some of John's followers become disciples of Jesus.[95]In
this Gospel, John denies that he is Elijah (John
1:21).
Before John is imprisoned, Jesus leads his followers to baptize
disciples as well (John
3:22–24),
and they baptize more people than John (John
4:1).
Public
ministry
Main
article: Ministry
of Jesus
Sermon
on the Mount,
an 1877 painting by Carl
Bloch (1877)
depicts Jesus'
important discourse
The
Synoptics depict two distinct geographical settings in Jesus'
ministry. The first takes place north of Judea,
in Galilee,
where Jesus conducts a successful ministry; and the second shows
Jesus rejected and killed when he travels to Jerusalem.[25] Often
referred to as "rabbi",[25] Jesus
preaches his message orally.[24] Notably,
Jesus forbids those who recognize him as the Messiah to speak of it,
including people he heals and demons he exorcises (see Messianic
Secret).[144]
John
depicts Jesus' ministry as largely taking place in and around
Jerusalem, rather than in Galilee; and Jesus' divine identity is
openly proclaimed and immediately recognized.[109]
Scholars
divide the ministry of Jesus into several stages. The Galilean
ministry begins when Jesus returns to Galilee from the Judaean
Desert after
rebuffing the temptation of Satan.
Jesus preaches around Galilee, and in Matthew
4:18–20, his
first disciples,
who will eventually form the core of the early Church, encounter him
and begin to travel with him.[136][145] This
period includes the Sermon
on the Mount,
one of Jesus' major discourses,[145][146] as
well as the calming
of the storm,
the feeding
of the 5,000, walking
on water and
a number of other miracles and parables.[147] It
ends with the Confession
of Peter and
the Transfiguration.[148][149]
As
Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the Perean ministry,
he returns to the area where he was baptized, about a third of the
way down from the Sea
of Galilee along
the Jordan
River (John
10:40–42).[150][151] The final
ministry in Jerusalem begins
with Jesus' triumphal
entryinto
the city on Palm
Sunday.[152] In
the Synoptic Gospels, during that week Jesus drives
the money changers from
the Second
Temple and Judas
bargains to betray him.
This period culminates in the Last
Supper and
the Farewell
Discourse
Jesus was
born circa 6 B.C. in Bethlehem. His mother, Mary, was a virgin who
was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter. Christians believe Jesus was
born through Immaculate Conception. His lineage can be traced back
to the house of David. According to the Gospel of Matthew (2:1),
Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, who upon hearing
of his birth felt threatened and tried to kill Jesus by ordering all
of Bethlehem’s male children under age two to be killed. But
Joseph was warned by an angel and took Mary and the child to Egypt
until Herod’s death, where upon he brought the family back and
settled in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee.
There is very little written about Jesus's early life. The Gospel of Luke (2:41-52) recounts that a 12-year-old Jesus had accompanied his parents on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and became separated. He was found several days later in a temple, discussing affairs with some of Jerusalem’s elders. Throughout the New Testament, there are trace references of Jesus working as a carpenter while a young adult. It is believed that he began his ministry at age 30 when he was baptized by John the Baptist, who upon seeing Jesus, declared him the Son of God. After baptism, Jesus went into the Judean desert to fast and meditate for 40 days and nights. The Temptation of Christ is chronicled in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (known as the Synoptic Gospels). The Devil appeared and tempted Jesus three times, once to turn stone to bread, once to cast himself off a mountain where angels would save him, and once to offer him all the kingdoms of the world. All three times, Jesus rejected the Devil's temptation and sent him off.
Jesus's Ministry Jesus returned to Galilee and made trips to neighboring villages. During this time, several people became his disciples. One of these was Mary Magdalene, who is first mentioned the Gospel of Luke (16:9) and later in all four gospels at the crucifixion. Though not mentioned in the context of the "12 disciples," she is considered to have been involved in Jesus's ministry from the beginning to his death and after. According to the gospels of Mark and John, Jesus appeared to Magdalene first after his resurrection. According to the Gospel of John (2:1-11), as Jesus was beginning his ministry, he and his disciples traveled with his mother, Mary, to a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The wedding host had run out of wine and Jesus's mother came to him for help. At first, Jesus refused to intervene, but then he relented and asked a servant to bring him large jars filled with water. He turned the water into a wine of higher quality than any served during the wedding. John's gospel depicts the event as the first sign of Jesus's glory and his disciples' belief in him. After the wedding, Jesus, his mother Mary and his disciples traveled to Jerusalem for Passover. At the temple, they saw moneychangers and merchants selling wares. In a rare display of anger, Jesus overturned the tables and, with a whip made of cords, drove them out, declaring that his Father’s house is not a house for merchants. The Synoptic Gospels chronicle Jesus as he traveled through Judea and Galilee, using parables and miracles to explain how the prophecies were being fulfilled and that the kingdom of God was near. As word spread of Jesus's teaching and healing the sick and diseased, more people began to follow him. At one point, Jesus came to a level area and was joined by a great number of people. There, at the Sermon on the Mount, he presented several discourses, known as the Beatitudes, which encapsulate many of the spiritual teachings of love, humility and compassion. As Jesus continued preaching about the kingdom of God, the crowds grew larger and began to proclaim him as the son of David and as the Messiah. The Pharisees heard of this and publicly challenged Jesus, accusing him of having the power of Satan. He defended his actions with a parable, then questioned their logic and told them such thinking denied the power of God, which only further hardened their resolve to work against him. Near the city of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus talked with his disciples. According to the gospels of Matthew (16:13), Mark (8:27) and Luke (9:18), he asked, "Who do you say that I am?" The question confused them, and only Peter responded, saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus blessed Peter, accepting the titles of "Christ" and the "Son of God," and declared the proclamation was a divine revelation from God. Jesus then proclaimed Peter to be the leader of the church. Jesus then warned his disciples of the Pharisees’ conspiracy against him and of his fate to suffer and be killed, only to rise from the dead on the third day.
Less than a week later, Jesus took three of his disciples to a high mountain where they could pray alone. According to the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus's face began shining like the sun and his entire body glowed with a white light. Then, the prophets Elijah and Moses appeared, and Jesus talked to them. A bright cloud emerged around them, and a voice said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." This event, known as the Transfiguration, is a pivotal moment in Christian theology. It supports the identity of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, the week before the holiday of Passover, riding on a donkey. Great numbers of people took palm branches and greeted him at the city's entry. They praised him as the Son of David and as the Son of God. The priests and Pharisees, fearful of the growing public adulation, felt he must be stopped. All four Gospels describe Jesus's final week in Jerusalem. During this time, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, confronted moneychangers and merchants in the temple, and debated with the high priests who questioned Jesus's authority. He told his disciples about the coming days and that Jerusalem's temple would be destroyed. Meanwhile, the chief priests and elders met with high priest Caiaphas, and set plans in motion to arrest Jesus. One of the disciples, Judas, met with the chief priests and told them how he would deliver Jesus to them. They agreed to pay him 30 pieces of silver. The Last Supper Jesus and his 12 disciples met for the Passover meal, and he gave them his final words of faith. He also foretold of his betrayal by one of the disciples and privately let Judas know it was he. Jesus told Peter that before a rooster crowed the next morning, he would have denied knowing Jesus three times. At the end of the meal, Jesus instituted the Eucharist, which in the Christian religion, signifies the covenant between God and humans. After the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus asked God if this cup (his suffering and death) might pass by him. He implored a group of his disciples to pray with him, but they kept falling asleep. Then the time had come. Soldiers and officials appeared, and Judas was with them. He gave Jesus a kiss on the cheek to identify him and the soldiers arrested Jesus. One disciple tried to resist the arrest, brandished his sword and cut the ear off one of the soldiers. But Jesus admonished him and healed the soldier's wound. After his arrest, many of the disciples went into hiding. Jesus was taken to the high priest and interrogated. He was hit and spat upon for not responding. Meanwhile, Peter had followed Jesus to the high priests' court. As he hid in the shadows, three house servants asked if he was one of Jesus' disciples and each time he denied it. After each denial, a rooster crowed. Then Jesus was led out of the house and looked directly at Peter. Peter remembered how Jesus had told him he would deny him and he wept bitterly. Judas, who was watching from a distance, became distraught by his betrayal of Jesus and attempted to return the 30 pieces of silver. The priests told him his guilt was his own. He threw the coins into the temple and later hanged himself.
The
Crucifixion
The next day, Jesus was taken to the high court where he was mocked,
beaten and condemned for claiming to be the Son of God. He was
brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. The
priests accused Jesus of claiming to be the king of the Jews and
asked that he be condemned to death. At first Pilate tried to pass
Jesus off to King Herod, but he was brought back, and Pilate told
the Jewish priests he could find no fault with Jesus. The priests
reminded him that anyone who claimed to be a king speaks against
Caesar. Pilate publicly washed his hands of responsibility, yet
ordered the crucifixion in response to the demands of the crowd. The
Roman soldiers whipped and beat Jesus, placed a crown of thorns on
his head and then led him off to Mount Calvary.
Jesus was crucified with two thieves, one at his left and the other
at his right. Above his head was the charge against him, "King
of the Jews." At his feet were his mother, Mary, and Mary
Magdalene. The Gospels describe various events that occurred during
the last three hours of his life, including the taunting by the
soldiers and the crowd, Jesus's agony and outbursts, and his final
words. While Jesus was on the cross, the sky darkened, and
immediately upon his death, an earthquake erupted, tearing the
temple's curtain from top to bottom. A soldier confirmed his death
by sticking a spear into his side, which produced only water. He was
taken down from the cross and buried in a nearby tomb.
https://www.biography.com/religious-figure/jesus-christ
Section 8: Haile Selassie
Early
life[edit]
Ras Makonnen
Woldemikael and his son LijTafari
Makonnen
Haile
Selassie's royal line (through his father's mother) descended
from Sahle
Selassie,[26] He
was born on 23 July 1892, in the village of Ejersa
Goro,
in the Harar province
of Ethiopia. His mother was Woizero ("Lady") Yeshimebet
Ali Abba Jifar,
daughter of the renowned Oromo ruler
of Wollo province Dejazmach Ali
Abba Jifar.[27] His
maternal grandmother was of Gurage heritage.[28] Tafari's
father was Ras Makonnen
Woldemikael Gudessa,
the governor of Harar. Ras Makonnen served as a general in the First
Italo–Ethiopian War,
playing a key role at the Battle
of Adwa;[27] he
too was paternally Oromo but maternally Amhara.[28] Haile
Selassie was thus able to ascend to the imperial throne through his
paternal grandmother, Woizero Tenagnework Sahle Selassie, who was an
aunt of Emperor Menelik
II and
daughter of Negus Sahle
Selassie of
Shewa. As such, Haile Selassie claimed direct descent from Makeda,
the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of ancient Israel.[29]
Ras
Makonnen arranged for Tafari as well as his first cousin, Imru
Haile Selassie,
to receive instruction in Harar from Abba
Samuel Wolde Kahin,
an Ethiopian capuchin
monk,
and from Dr. Vitalien, a surgeon from Guadeloupe.
Tafari was named Dejazmach (literally
"commander of the gate", roughly equivalent to
"count")[30] at
the age of 13, on 1 November 1905.[31] Shortly
thereafter, his father Ras Makonnen died at Kulibi,
in 1906.[32]
Governorship[edit]
Dejazmatch Tafari,
as governor of Harar
Tafari
assumed the titular governorship of Selale in 1906, a realm of
marginal importance,[33] but
one that enabled him to continue his studies.[31] In
1907, he was appointed governor over part of the province of Sidamo.
It is alleged that during his late teens, Haile Selassie was married
to Woizero Altayech,
and that from this union, his daughter Princess
Romanework was
born.[34]
Following
the death of his brother Yelma in 1907, the governorate of Harar was
left vacant,[33] and
its administration was left to Menelik's loyal
general, Dejazmach Balcha
Safo.
Balcha Safo's administration of Harar was ineffective, and so during
the last illness of Menelik II, and the brief reign of Empress Taitu
Bitul,
Tafari was made governor of Harar in 1910[32] or
1911.[35]
On
3 August, he married Menen
Asfaw of Ambassel,
niece of the heir to the throne Lij
Iyasu.
Regency[edit]
The
extent to which Tafari Makonnen contributed to the movement that
would come to depose Lij
Iyasu has
been discussed extensively, particularly in Haile Selassie's own
detailed account of the matter. Iyasu was the designated but
uncrowned emperor of Ethiopia from 1913 to 1916. Iyasu's reputation
for scandalous behavior and a disrespectful attitude towards the
nobles at the court of his grandfather, Menelik II,[36] damaged
his reputation. Iyasu's flirtation with Islam was considered
treasonous among the Ethiopian
Orthodox Christian leadership
of the empire. On 27 September 1916, Iyasu was deposed.[37]
Contributing
to the movement that deposed Iyasu were conservatives such
as Fitawrari Habte
Giyorgis,
Menelik II's longtime Minister of War. The movement to depose Iyasu
preferred Tafari, as he attracted support from both progressive and
conservative factions. Ultimately, Iyasu was deposed on the grounds
of conversion to Islam.[18][37] In
his place, the daughter of Menelik II (the aunt of Iyasu) was named
Empress Zewditu,
while Tafari was elevated to the rank of Ras and
was made heir
apparent and Crown
Prince.
In the power arrangement that followed, Tafari accepted the role
of Regent
Plenipotentiary (Balemulu
'Inderase)[nb
5] and
became the de
facto ruler
of the Ethiopian
Empire (Mangista
Ityop'p'ya).
Zewditu would govern while Tafari would administer.[38]
Empress
Zewditu with one of her trusted priests
While
Iyasu had been deposed on 27 September 1916, on 8 October he managed
to escape into the Ogaden
Desert and
his father, Negus Mikael of Wollo,
had time to come to his aid.[39] On
27 October, Negus Mikael
and his army met an army under Fitawrari Habte
Giyorgis loyal to Zewditu and Tafari. During the Battle
of Segale, Negus Mikael
was defeated and captured. Any chance that Iyasu would regain the
throne was ended and he went into hiding. On 11 January 1921, after
avoiding capture for about five years, Iyasu was taken into custody
by Gugsa
Araya Selassie.
On
11 February 1917, the coronation for Zewditu took place. She pledged
to rule justly through her Regent, Tafari. While Tafari was the more
visible of the two, Zewditu was far from an honorary ruler. Her
position required that she arbitrate the claims of competing
factions. In other words, she had the last word. Tafari carried the
burden of daily administration but, because his position was
relatively weak, this was often an exercise in futility for him.
Initially his personal army was poorly equipped, his finances were
limited, and he had little leverage to withstand the combined
influence of the Empress, the Minister of War, or the provincial
governors.[39]
During
his Regency, the new Crown Prince developed the policy of cautious
modernization initiated by Menelik II. Also, during this time, he
survived the 1918
flu pandemic,
having come down with the illness.[40] He
secured Ethiopia's admission to the League
of Nations in
1923 by promising to eradicate slavery; each emperor since Tewodros
II had
issued proclamations to halt slavery,[41] but
without effect: the internationally scorned practice persisted well
into Haile Selassie's reign with an estimated 2 million slaves in
Ethiopia in the early 1930s.[42][43]
Travel
abroad[edit]
In
1924, Ras Tafari
toured Europe and the Middle East visiting Jerusalem, Alexandria,
Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam,
Stockholm, London, Geneva,
and Athens.
With him on his tour was a group that included Ras Seyum
Mangasha of
western Tigray
Province; Ras Hailu
Tekle Haymanot of Gojjam province; Ras Mulugeta
Yeggazu of Illubabor
Province; RasMakonnen
Endelkachew;
and Blattengeta Heruy
Welde Sellase.
The primary goal of the trip to Europe was for Ethiopia to gain
access to the sea. In Paris, Tafari was to find out from the French
Foreign Ministry (Quai
d'Orsay)
that this goal would not be realized.[44] However,
failing this, he and his retinue inspected schools, hospitals,
factories, and churches. Although patterning many reforms after
European models, Tafari remained wary of European pressure. To guard
against economic
imperialism,
Tafari required that all enterprises have at least partial local
ownership.[45] Of
his modernization campaign, he remarked, "We need European
progress only because we are surrounded by it. That is at once a
benefit and a misfortune."[46]
Throughout
Tafari's travels in Europe, the Levant,
and Egypt,
he and his entourage were greeted with enthusiasm and fascination.
He was accompanied by Seyum Mangasha and Hailu Tekle Haymanot who,
like Tafari, were sons of generals who contributed to the victorious
war against Italy a quarter-century earlier at the Battle
of Adwa.[47] Another
member of his entourage, Mulugeta Yeggazu, actually fought at Adwa
as a young man. The "Oriental Dignity" of the
Ethiopians[48] and
their "rich, picturesque court dress"[49] were
sensationalized in the media; among his entourage he even included a
pride of lions, which he distributed as gifts to President Alexandre
Millerand and
Prime Minister Raymond
Poincaré of France,
to King George
V of
the United
Kingdom,
and to the Zoological Garden (Jardin
Zoologique)
of Paris, France.[47] As
one historian noted, "Rarely can a tour have inspired so many
anecdotes".[47] In
return for two lions, the United Kingdom presented Tafari with the
imperial crown of Emperor Tewodros
II for
its safe return to Empress Zewditu. The crown had been taken
by General Sir
Robert Napier during
the 1868
Expedition to Abyssinia.[50]
In
this period, the Crown Prince visited the Armenian monastery
of Jerusalem.
There, he adopted 40 Armenian orphans
(አርባ
ልጆች Arba
Lijoch,
"forty children"), who had lost their parents in Ottoman
massacres. Tafari arranged for the musical education of the youths,
and they came to form the imperial brass band.[51]
King
and Emperor[edit]
See
also: Modernisation
of Ethiopia under Haile Selassie I
Emperor
Haile Selassie standing in front of throne c. 1965
Tafari's
authority was challenged in 1928 when Dejazmach Balcha
Safo went
to Addis Ababa with a sizeable armed force. When Tafari consolidated
his hold over the provinces, many of Menelik's appointees refused to
abide by the new regulations. Balcha Safo, the governor (Shum)
of coffee-rich Sidamo
Province,
was particularly troublesome. The revenues he remitted to the
central government did not reflect the accrued profits and Tafari
recalled him to Addis Ababa. The old man came in high dudgeon and,
insultingly, with a large army.[nb
6] The Dejazmatch paid
homage to Empress Zewditu, but snubbed Tafari.[52][53] On
18 February, while Balcha Safo and his personal bodyguard[nb
7] were
in Addis Ababa, Tafari had Ras Kassa
Haile Darge buy
off his army and arranged to have him displaced as the Shum of
Sidamo Province[54] by
Birru Wolde Gabriel who himself was replaced by Desta
Damtew.[39]
Even
so, the gesture of Balcha Safo empowered Empress Zewditu politically
and she attempted to have Tafari tried for treason.
He was tried for his benevolent dealings with Italy including
a 20-year
peace accord which
was signed on 2 August.[31] In
September, a group of palace reactionaries including some courtiers
of the empress, made a final
bid to get rid of Tafari.
The attempted coup
d'état was
tragic in its origins and comic in its end. When confronted by
Tafari and a company of his troops, the ringleaders of the coup took
refuge on the palace grounds in Menelik's mausoleum. Tafari and his
men surrounded them only to be surrounded themselves by the personal
guard of Zewditu. More of Tafari's khaki clad soldiers arrived and,
with superiority of arms, decided the outcome in his
favor.[55] Popular
support, as well as the support of the police,[52] remained
with Tafari. Ultimately, the Empress relented and, on 7 October
1928, she crowned Tafari as Negus (Amharic:
"King").
The
crowning of Tafari as King was controversial. He occupied the same
territory as the empress rather than going off to a regional kingdom
of the empire. Two monarchs, even with one being the vassal and the
other the emperor (in this case empress), had never occupied the
same location as their seat in Ethiopian
history.
Conservatives agitated to redress this perceived insult to the
dignity of the crown, leading to the rebellion
of Ras Gugsa
Welle. Gugsa
Welle was
the husband of the empress and the Shum of Begemder Province.
In early 1930, he raised an army and marched it from his governorate
at Gondar towards Addis
Ababa.
On 31 March 1930, Gugsa Welle was met by forces loyal
to Negus Tafari
and was defeated at the Battle
of Anchem.
Gugsa Welle was killed
in action.[56] News
of Gugsa Welle's defeat and death had hardly spread through Addis
Ababa when the empress died suddenly on 2 April 1930. Although it
was long rumored that the empress was poisoned upon the defeat of
her husband,[57] or
alternately that she died from shock upon hearing of the death of
her estranged yet beloved husband,[58] it
has since been documented that the Empress succumbed to a flu-like
fever and complications from diabetes.[59]
Cover
of Time magazine,
3 November 1930
With
the passing of Zewditu, Tafari himself rose to emperor and was
proclaimed Neguse
Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya,
"King of Kings of Ethiopia". He was crowned on 2 November
1930, at Addis
Ababa's Cathedral of St. George.
The coronation was by all accounts "a most splendid
affair",[60] and
it was attended by royals and dignitaries from all over the world.
Among those in attendance were The
Duke of Gloucester (King
George V's
son), MarshalFranchet
d'Esperey of
France, and the Prince of Udine representing King
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
Emissaries from the United States,[61] Egypt,
Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, and Japan were also present.[60] British
author Evelyn
Waugh was
also present, penning a contemporary report on the event, and
American travel lecturer Burton
Holmes shot
the only known film footage of the event.[62] One
newspaper report suggested that the celebration may have incurred a
cost in excess of $3,000,000.[63] Many
of those in attendance received lavish gifts;[64] in
one instance, the Christian emperor even sent a gold-encased Bible
to an American bishop who had not attended the coronation, but who
had dedicated a prayer to the emperor on the day of the
coronation.[65]
Haile
Selassie introduced Ethiopia's
first written constitution on
16 July 1931,[66] providing
for a bicameral
legislature.[67] The
constitution kept power in the hands of the nobility, but it did
establish democratic standards among the nobility, envisaging a
transition to democratic rule: it would prevail "until the
people are in a position to elect themselves."[68] The
constitution limited the succession to the throne to the descendants
of Haile Selassie, a point that met with the disapprobation of other
dynastic princes, including the princes of Tigrai and
even the emperor's loyal cousin, Ras Kassa
Haile Darge.
In
1932, the Sultanate
of Jimma was
formally absorbed into Ethiopia following the death of Sultan Abba
Jifar II of Jimma.
Conflict
with Italy[edit]
See
also: Abyssinia
Crisis and Second
Italo-Abyssinian War
Ethiopia
became the target of renewed Italian imperialist designs in the
1930s. Benito
Mussolini's Fascist regime
was keen to avenge the military defeats Italy had suffered to
Ethiopia in the First
Italo-Abyssinian War,
and to efface the failed attempt by "liberal" Italy to
conquer the country, as epitomised by the defeat
at Adwa.[69][70][71] A
conquest of Ethiopia could also empower the cause of fascism and
embolden its rhetoric of empire.[71] Ethiopia
would also provide a bridge between Italy's Eritrean and Italian
Somalilandpossessions.
Ethiopia's position in the League of Nations did not dissuade the
Italians from invading in 1935; the "collective
security"
envisaged by the League proved useless, and a scandal erupted when
the Hoare-Laval
Pact revealed
that Ethiopia's League allies were scheming to appease Italy.[72]
Mobilization[edit]
Following
5 December 1934 Italian invasion of Ethiopia at Welwel, Ogaden
Province, Haile Selassie joined his northern armies and set up
headquarters at Desse in Wollo province.
He issued his mobilization order on 3 October 1935:
If
you withhold from your country Ethiopia the death from cough or
head-cold of which you would otherwise die, refusing to resist (in
your district, in your patrimony, and in your home) our enemy who is
coming from a distant country to attack us, and if you persist in
not shedding your blood, you will be rebuked for it by your Creator
and will be cursed by your offspring. Hence, without cooling your
heart of accustomed valour, there emerges your decision to fight
fiercely, mindful of your history that will last far into the
future… If on your march you touch any property inside houses or
cattle and crops outside, not even grass, straw, and dung excluded,
it is like killing your brother who is dying with you… You,
countryman, living at the various access routes, set up a market for
the army at the places where it is camping and on the day your
district-governor will indicate to you, lest the soldiers
campaigning for Ethiopia's liberty should experience difficulty. You
will not be charged excise duty, until the end of the campaign, for
anything you are marketing at the military camps: I have granted you
remission… After you have been ordered to go to war, but are then
idly missing from the campaign, and when you are seized by the local
chief or by an accuser, you will have punishment inflicted upon your
inherited land, your property, and your body; to the accuser I shall
grant a third of your property…
On
19 October 1935, Haile Selassie gave more precise orders for his
army to his Commander-in-Chief, Ras Kassa:
When
you set up tents, it is to be in caves and by trees and in a wood,
if the place happens to be adjoining to these―and separated in
the various platoons. Tents are to be set up at a distance of 30
cubits from each other.
When
an aeroplane is sighted, one should leave large open roads and wide
meadows and march in valleys and trenches and by zigzag routes,
along places which have trees and woods.
When
an aeroplane comes to drop bombs, it will not suit it to do so
unless it comes down to about 100 metres; hence when it flies low
for such action, one should fire a volley with a good and very long
gun and then quickly disperse. When three or four bullets have hit
it, the aeroplane is bound to fall down. But let only those fire
who have been ordered to shoot with a weapon that has been selected
for such firing, for if everyone shoots who possesses a gun, there
is no advantage in this except to waste bullets and to disclose the
men's whereabouts.
Lest
the aeroplane, when rising again, should detect the whereabouts of
those who are dispersed, it is well to remain cautiously scattered
as long as it is still fairly close. In time of war it suits the
enemy to aim his guns at adorned shields, ornaments, silver and
gold cloaks, silk shirts and all similar things. Whether one
possesses a jacket or not, it is best to wear a narrow-sleeved
shirt with faded colours. When we return, with God's help, you can
wear your gold and silver decorations then. Now it is time to go
and fight. We offer you all these words of advice in the hope that
no great harm should befall you through lack of caution. At the
same time, We are glad to assure you that in time of war. We are
ready to shed Our blood in your midst for the sake of Ethiopia's
freedom…"[73]
Haile
Selassie in 1934
Compared
to the Ethiopians, the Italians had an advanced, modern military
which included a large air force. The Italians would also come to
employ chemical
weapons extensively
throughout the conflict, even targeting Red
Cross field
hospitals in violation of the Geneva
Conventions.[74]
Progress
of the war[edit]
Starting
in early October 1935, the Italians
invaded Ethiopia.
But, by November, the pace of invasion had slowed appreciably and
Haile Selassie's northern armies were able to launch what was known
as the "Christmas
Offensive".
During this offensive, the Italians were forced back in places and
put on the defensive. In early 1936, the First
Battle of Tembien stopped
the progress of the Ethiopian offensive and the Italians were ready
to continue their offensive. Following the defeat and destruction of
the northern Ethiopian armies at the Battle
of Amba Aradam,
the Second
Battle of Tembien,
and the Battle
of Shire,
Haile Selassie took the field with the last Ethiopian army on the
northern front. On 31 March 1936, he launched
a counterattack against
the Italians himself at the Battle
of Maychew in
southern Tigray.
The emperor's army was defeated and retreated in disarray. As Haile
Selassie's army withdrew, the Italians attacked from the air along
with rebellious Raya and Azebo tribesmen on the ground, who were
armed and paid by the Italians.[75]
When
the struggle to resist Italy appeared doomed, Haile Selassie
traveled to the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela for fasting and
prayer.[76]
Haile
Selassie made a solitary pilgrimage to
the churches at Lalibela,
at considerable risk of capture, before returning to his
capital.[77]After
a stormy session of the council of state, it was agreed that
because Addis
Ababa could
not be defended, the government would relocate to the southern town
of Gore,
and that in the interest of preserving the Imperial house, the
emperor's wife Menen
Asfaw and
the rest of the imperial family should immediately depart for French
Somaliland,
and from there continue on to Jerusalem.[citation
needed]
Exile
debate[edit]
The
emperor arrives in Jerusalem. May 1936
After
further debate as to whether Haile Selassie should go to Gore or
accompany his family into exile, it was agreed that he should leave
Ethiopia with his family and present the case of Ethiopia to
the League
of Nations at Geneva.
The decision was not unanimous and several participants, including
the nobleman Blatta Tekle
Wolde Hawariat,
strenuously objected to the idea of an Ethiopian monarch fleeing
before an invading force.[78] Haile
Selassie appointed his cousin Ras Imru
Haile Selassie as
Prince Regent in his absence, departing with his family for French
Somaliland on
2 May 1936.
On
5 May, Marshal Pietro
Badoglio led
Italian troops into Addis Ababa, and Mussolini declared Ethiopia an
Italian province. Victor
Emanuel IIIwas
proclaimed as the new Emperor
of Ethiopia.
On the previous day, the Ethiopian exiles had left French Somaliland
aboard the British cruiser HMS Enterprise.
They were bound for Jerusalem in
the British
Mandate of Palestine,
where the Ethiopian royal family maintained a residence. The
Imperial family disembarked at Haifa and
then went on to Jerusalem. Once there, Haile Selassie and his
retinue prepared to make their case at Geneva. The choice of
Jerusalem was highly symbolic, since the Solomonic
Dynasty claimed
descent from the House
of David.
Leaving the Holy
Land,
Haile Selassie and his entourage sailed aboard the British
cruiser HMS Capetown for Gibraltar,
where he stayed at the Rock
Hotel.
From Gibraltar, the exiles were transferred to an ordinary liner. By
doing this, the government of the United Kingdom was spared the
expense of a state reception.[79]
Collective
security and the League of Nations, 1936[edit]
Mussolini,
upon invading Ethiopia, had promptly declared his own "Italian
Empire."
Because the League of Nations afforded Haile Selassie the
opportunity to address the assembly, Italy even withdrew its League
delegation, on 12 May 1936.[80] It
was in this context that Haile Selassie walked into the hall of the
League of Nations, introduced by the President of the Assembly as
"His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Ethiopia" (Sa
Majesté Imperiale, l'Empereur d'Ethiopie).
The introduction caused a great many Italian journalists in the
galleries to erupt into jeering, heckling, and whistling. As it
turned out, they had earlier been issued whistles by Mussolini's
son-in-law, Count Galeazzo
Ciano.[81] The
Romanian delegate, Nicolae
Titulescu,
famously jumped to his feet in response and cried "To the door
with the savages!", and the offending journalists were removed
from the hall. Haile Selassie waited calmly for the hall to be
cleared, and responded "majestically"[82] with
a speech sometimes considered[by
whom?] among
the most stirring of the 20th century.[8]
Although
fluent in French, the working language of the League, Haile Selassie
chose to deliver his historic speech in his native Amharic.
He asserted that, because his "confidence in the League was
absolute", his people were now being slaughtered. He pointed
out that the same European states that found in Ethiopia's favor at
the League of Nations were refusing Ethiopia credit
and matériel while
aiding Italy, which was employing chemical weapons on military and
civilian targets alike.
It
was at the time when the operations for the encircling
of Makale were
taking place that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the
procedure which it is now my duty to denounce to the world. Special
sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that they could
vaporize, over vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain.
Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so
that the fog issuing from them formed a continuous sheet. It was
thus that, as from the end of January 1936, soldiers, women,
children, cattle, rivers, lakes, and pastures were drenched
continually with this deadly rain. In order to kill off
systematically all living creatures, in order to more surely poison
waters and pastures, the Italian command made its aircraft pass over
and over again. That was its chief method of warfare.[83]
Noting
that his own "small people of 12 million inhabitants, without
arms, without resources" could never withstand an attack by a
large power such as Italy, with its 42 million people and
"unlimited quantities of the most death-dealing weapons",
he contended that all small states were threatened by the
aggression, and that all small states were in effect reduced
to vassal
states in
the absence of collective action. He admonished the League that "God
and history will remember your judgment."[84]
It
is collective security: it is the very existence of the League of
Nations. It is the confidence that each State is to place in
international treaties… In a word, it is international morality
that is at stake. Have the signatures appended to a Treaty value
only in so far as the signatory Powers have a personal, direct and
immediate interest involved?
The
speech made the emperor an icon for anti-fascists around the world,
and Time named
him "Man of the Year".[85] He
failed, however, to get what he most needed: the League agreed to
only partial and ineffective sanctions on Italy. Only six nations in
1937 did not recognize Italy's occupation: China, New Zealand, the
Soviet Union, the Republic of Spain, Mexico and the United
States.[70] It
is often said the League of Nations effectively collapsed due to its
failure to condemn Italy's invasion of Abyssinia.
Exile[edit]
A
plate from the dinner service sold by Haile Selassie in England in
1937
Haile
Selassie in 1942
Haile
Selassie spent his exile years (1936–41) in Bath,
England, in Fairfield
House,
which he bought. The emperor and Kassa
Haile Dargetook
morning walks together behind the high walls of the 14-room
Victorian house. Haile Selassie's favorite reading was "diplomatic
history." But most of his serious hours were occupied with the
90,000-word story of his life that he was laboriously writing in
Amharic.[86]
Prior
to Fairfield House, he briefly stayed at Warne's Hotel
in Worthing[87] and
in Parkside, Wimbledon.[88] A
bust of Haile Selassie by Hilda
Seligman is
in nearby Cannizaro
Park to
commemorate this time and is a popular place of pilgrimage for
London's Rastafari community. Haile Selassie stayed at the Abbey
Hotel in Malvern in
the 1930s and his granddaughters and daughters of court officials
were educated at Clarendon School in North
Malvern.
During his time in Malvern he attended services at Holy Trinity
Church, in Link
Top.
A blue
plaque,
commemorating his stay in Malvern, was unveiled on Saturday, 25 June
2011. As part of the ceremony, a delegation from the Rastafari
movement gave a short address and a drum
recital.[89][90][91][92][93]
Haile
Selassie's activity in this period was focused on countering Italian
propaganda as to the state of Ethiopian resistance and the legality
of the occupation.[94] He
spoke out against the desecration of houses of worship and
historical artifacts (including the theft of a 1,600-year-old
imperial obelisk), and condemned the atrocities suffered by the
Ethiopian civilian population.[95] He
continued to plead for League intervention and to voice his
certainty that "God's judgment will eventually visit the weak
and the mighty alike",[96] though
his attempts to gain support for the struggle against Italy were
largely unsuccessful until Italy entered World War II on the German
side in June 1940.[97]
The
emperor's pleas for international support did take root in the
United States, particularly among African-American organizations
sympathetic to the Ethiopian cause.[98] In
1937, Haile Selassie was to give a Christmas Day radio address to
the American people to thank his supporters when his taxi was
involved in a traffic accident, leaving him with a fractured
knee.[99] Rather
than canceling the radio broadcast, he proceeded in much pain to
complete the address, in which he linked Christianity and goodwill
with the Covenant
of the League of Nations,
and asserted that "War is not the only means to stop war":[99]
With
the birth of the Son of God, an unprecedented, an unrepeatable, and
a long-anticipated phenomenon occurred. He was born in a stable
instead of a palace, in a manger instead of a crib. The hearts of
the Wise men were struck by fear and wonder due to His Majestic
Humbleness. The kings prostrated themselves before Him and
worshipped Him. 'Peace be to those who have good will'. This became
the first message.
...Although
the toils of wise people may earn them respect, it is a fact of life
that the spirit of the wicked continues to cast its shadow on this
world. The arrogant are seen visibly leading their people into crime
and destruction. The laws of the League of Nations are constantly
violated and wars and acts of aggression repeatedly take place… So
that the spirit of the cursed will not gain predominance over the
human race whom Christ redeemed with his blood, all peace-loving
people should cooperate to stand firm in order to preserve and
promote lawfulness and peace.[99]
During
this period, Haile Selassie suffered several personal tragedies. His
two sons-in-law, Ras Desta
Damtew and
Dejazmach Beyene
Merid,
were both executed by the Italians.[96]The
emperor's daughter, Princess Romanework,
wife of Dejazmach Beyene Merid, was herself taken into captivity
with her children, and she died in Italy in 1941.[100] His
daughter Tsehai died during childbirth shortly after the restoration
in 1942.[101]
After
his return to Ethiopia, he donated Fairfield House to the city of
Bath as a residence for the aged, until modified in the 1990s to be
used as a day care centre.[102] Advanced
negotiations are now proceeding for a community group to run the
House to preserve and develop it.[citation
needed]
1940s
and 1950s[edit]
Newspaper
illustration drawn by Charles
H. Alston for
the U.S. Office of War Information Domestic Operations Branch News
Bureau, 1943
Meeting
with Crown Prince Akihitoin
1955
Haile
Selassie with Brigadier Daniel
Sandford (left)
and Colonel Wingate (right)
in Dambacha Fort, after its capture, 15 April 1941
Plaque
commemorating the visit of Haile Selassie I to Mexico, 1954 –
Etiopía Station, line 3 of the Mexico
City Metro
British
forces, which consisted primarily of Ethiopian-backed African and
South African colonial troops under the "Gideon
Force"
of Colonel Orde
Wingate,
coordinated the military effort to liberate Ethiopia. The emperor
himself issued several imperial proclamations in this period,
demonstrating that, while authority was not divided up in any formal
way, British military might and the emperor's populist appeal could
be joined in the concerted effort to liberate Ethiopia.[97]
On
18 January 1941, during the East
African Campaign,
Haile Selassie crossed the border between Sudan and Ethiopia near
the village of Um Iddla. The standard of the Lion
of Judah was
raised again. Two days later, he and a force of Ethiopian patriots
joined Gideon
Force which
was already in Ethiopia and preparing the way.[103] Italy
was defeated by a force of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth
of Nations, Free
France, Free
Belgium,
and Ethiopian patriots. On 5 May 1941, Haile Selassie entered Addis
Ababa and
personally addressed the Ethiopian people, five years to the day
since his 1936 exile:
Today
is the day on which we defeated our enemy. Therefore, when we say
let us rejoice with our hearts, let not our rejoicing be in any
other way but in the spirit of Christ. Do not return evil for evil.
Do not indulge in the atrocities which the enemy has been practicing
in his usual way, even to the last.
Take
care not to spoil the good name of Ethiopia by acts which are worthy
of the enemy. We shall see that our enemies are disarmed and sent
out the same way they came. As Saint George who killed the dragon is
the Patron Saint of our army as well as of our allies, let us unite
with our allies in everlasting friendship and amity in order to be
able to stand against the godless and cruel dragon which has newly
risen and which is oppressing mankind.[104]
On
27 August 1942, Haile Selassie confirmed the legal basis for the
abolition of slavery that
had been enacted by Italy throughout the empire and imposed severe
penalties, including death, for slave trading.[105] After
World War II, Ethiopia became a charter
member of
the United Nations. In 1948, the Ogaden,
a region disputed with both Italian
Somaliland and British
Somaliland,
was granted to Ethiopia.[106] On
2 December 1950, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 390 (V),
establishing the federation of Eritrea (the
former Italian colony) into Ethiopia.[107] Eritrea
was to have its own constitution, which would provide for ethnic,
linguistic, and cultural balance, while Ethiopia was to manage its
finances, defense, and foreign policy.[107]
Despite
his centralization policies that had been made before World War II,
Haile Selassie still found himself unable to push for all the
programmes he wanted. In 1942, he attempted to institute a
progressive tax scheme, but this failed due to opposition from the
nobility, and only a flat tax was passed; in 1951, he agreed to
reduce this as well.[108] Ethiopia
was still "semi-feudal",[109]and
the emperor's attempts to alter its social and economic form by
reforming its modes of taxation met with resistance from the
nobility and clergy, which were eager to resume their privileges in
the post-war era.[108] Where
Haile Selassie actually did succeed in effecting new land taxes, the
burdens were often still passed by the landowners to the
peasants.[108]
Between
1941 and 1959, Haile Selassie worked to establish the autocephaly of
the Ethiopian
Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[110] The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church had been headed by the Abuna,
a bishop who answered to the Pope
of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
In 1942 and 1945, Haile Selassie applied to the Holy
Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church to
establish the independence of Ethiopian bishops, and when his
appeals were denied he threatened to sever relations with the Coptic
Church of Alexandria.[110] Finally,
in 1959, Pope
Kyrillos VIelevated
the Abuna to
Patriarch-Catholicos.[110] The
Ethiopian Church remained affiliated with the Alexandrian
Church.[108] In
addition to these efforts, Haile Selassie changed the Ethiopian
church-state relationship by introducing taxation of church lands,
and by restricting the legal privileges of the clergy, who had
formerly been tried in their own courts for civil offenses.[108]
In
1948, the Harari Muslims
of Harar peacefully
protested against religious oppression, however the state responded
violently. Hundreds were arrested and the entire town of Harar was
put under house arrest. The government also took control of many
assets and estates belonging to the people.[111][112] This
led to a massive exodus of Hararis from the Harari
Region,
which had not occurred in their history prior.[113][114] The
dissatisfaction of the Harari stemmed from the fact that they had
never received limited autonomy of Harar, which was promised
by Menelik
II after
his conquest of the kingdom. The promise was eroded by
successive Amhara governors.
According to historian Tim Carmicheal, Haile Selassie was directly
involved in the suppression of the Harari movement through his
policies.[115]
In
keeping with the principle of collective
security,
for which he was an outspoken proponent, Haile Selassie sent a
contingent, under General Mulugueta Bulli, known as the Kagnew
Battalion,
to take part in the Korean
War by
supporting the United
Nations Command.
It was attached to the American 7th
Infantry Division,
and fought in a number of engagements including the Battle
of Pork Chop Hill.[116] In
a 1954 speech, the Selassie spoke of Ethiopian participation in
the Korean
War as
a redemption of the principles of collective security:
Nearly
two decades ago, I personally assumed before history the
responsibility of placing the fate of my beloved people on the issue
of collective security, for surely, at that time and for the first
time in world history, that issue was posed in all its clarity. My
searching of conscience convinced me of the rightness of my course
and if, after untold sufferings and, indeed, unaided resistance at
the time of aggression, we now see the final vindication of that
principle in our joint action in Korea, I can only be thankful that
God gave me strength to persist in our faith until the moment of its
recent glorious vindication.[117]
Haile
Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, photographed during a radio broadcast
During
the celebrations of his Silver Jubilee in November 1955, Haile
Selassie introduced a revised
constitution,[118] whereby
he retained effective power, while extending political participation
to the people by allowing the lower house of parliament to become an
elected body. Party politics were not provided for. Modern
educational methods were more widely spread throughout the Empire,
and the country embarked on a development scheme and plans for
modernization, tempered by Ethiopian traditions, and within the
framework of the ancient monarchical structure of the state.
Haile
Selassie compromised, when practical, with the traditionalists in
the nobility and church. He also tried to improve relations between
the state and ethnic groups, and granted autonomy to Afar lands
that were difficult to control. Still, his reforms to end feudalism
were slow and weakened by the compromises he made with the
entrenched aristocracy. The Revised Constitution of 1955 has been
criticized for reasserting "the indisputable power of the
monarch" and maintaining the relative powerlessness of the
peasants.[119]
Haile
Selassie also maintained cordial relations with the government of
the United
Kingdom through
charitable gestures. He sent aid to the British government in 1947
when Britain was affected by heavy flooding. His letter to Lord
Meork, National Distress Fund, London said, "even though We are
busy of helping our people who didn't recover from the crises of the
war, We heard that your fertile and beautiful country is devastated
by the unusually heavy rain, and your request for aid. Therefore, We
are sending small amount of money, about one thousand pounds through
our embassy to show our sympathy and cooperation."[120] He
also left his home in exile, Fairfield
House, Bath,
to the City of Bath for the use of the aged in 1959.
1960s[edit]
This section needs
additional citations for verification. Please
help improve
this article by adding
citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find
sources: "Haile
Selassie" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September
2017) (Learn
how and when to remove this template message)
Haile Selassie
1st & 5th Chairman
of the Organization of African Unity
In
office
25 May 1963 – 17 July 1964
Succeeded by
Gamal
Abdel Nasser
In office
5
November 1966 – 11 September 1967
Preceded by
Joseph
Arthur Ankrah
Succeeded by
Joseph-Désiré
Mobutu
Haile
Selassie contributed Ethiopian troops to the United
Nations Operation in the Congo peacekeeping
force during the 1960 Congo
Crisis,
to preserve Congolese integrity, per United
Nations Security Council Resolution 143.
On 13 December 1960, while Haile Selassie was on a state visit
to Brazil,
his Kebur
Zabagna (Imperial
Guard) forces staged an
unsuccessful coup,
briefly proclaiming Haile Selassie's eldest son Asfa
Wossen as
emperor. The coup d'état was crushed by the regular army and police
forces. The coup attempt lacked broad popular support, was denounced
by the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church,
and was unpopular with the army, air
forceand
police. Nonetheless, the effort to depose the emperor had support
among students and the educated classes.[121] The
coup attempt has been characterized as a pivotal moment in Ethiopian
history, the point at which Ethiopians "for the first time
questioned the power of the king to rule without the people's
consent".[122] Student
populations began to empathize with the peasantry and poor, and to
advocate on their behalf.[122] The
coup spurred Haile Selassie to accelerate reform, which was
manifested in the form of land grants to military and police
officials.
Haile
Selassie with U.S. President John
F. Kennedy,
October 1963
The
emperor continued to be a staunch ally of the West, while pursuing a
firm policy of decolonization in
Africa, which was still largely under European colonial rule. The
United Nations conducted a lengthy inquiry regarding the status of
Eritrea, with the superpowers each vying for a stake in the state's
future. Britain, the administrator at the time, suggested the
partition of Eritrea between Sudan and Ethiopia, separating
Christians and Muslims. The idea was instantly rejected by Eritrean
political parties, as well as the UN.
A
UN plebiscite voted 46 to 10 to have Eritrea be federated with
Ethiopia, which was later stipulated on 2 December 1950 in
resolution 390 (V). Eritrea would have its own parliament and
administration and would be represented in what had been the
Ethiopian parliament and would become the federal
parliament.[123] Haile
Selassie would have none of European attempts to draft a separate
Constitution under which Eritrea would be governed, and wanted his
own 1955 Constitution protecting families to apply in both Ethiopia
and Eritrea. In 1961 the 30-year Eritrean
Struggle for Independence began,
followed by Haile Selassie's dissolution of the federation and
shutting down of Eritrea's parliament.
Emperor
Haile Selassie with President Gamal
Abdel Nasser of Egypt in
Addis Ababa for the Organisation
of African Unity summit,
1963.
In
September 1961, Haile Selassie attended the Conference of Heads of
State of Government of Non-Aligned Countries in Belgrade, FPR
Yugoslavia.
This is considered to be the founding conference of the Non-Aligned
Movement.
In
1961, tensions between independence-minded Eritreans and Ethiopian
forces culminated in the Eritrean War of Independence. The emperor
declared Eritrea the fourteenth province of Ethiopia in
1962.[124] The
war would continue for 30 years, as first Haile Selassie, then
the Soviet-backed
junta that succeeded him, attempted to retain Eritrea by force.
In
1963, Haile Selassie presided over the formation of the Organisation
of African Unity (OAU),
the precursor of the continent-wide African
Union (AU).
The new organization would establish its headquarters in Addis
Ababa.
In May of that year, Haile Selassie was elected as the OAU's first
official chairperson, a rotating seat. Along with Modibo
Keïta of
Mali, the Ethiopian leader would later help successfully negotiate
the Bamako Accords, which brought an end to the border conflict
between Morocco and Algeria.
In 1964, Haile Selassie would initiate the concept of the United
States of Africa,
a proposition later taken up by Muammar
Gaddafi.[125]
On
4 October 1963, Haile Selassie addressed the General Assembly of the
United Nations[126][127] referring
in his address to his earlier speech to the League of Nations:
Twenty-seven
years ago, as Emperor of Ethiopia, I mounted the rostrum in Geneva,
Switzerland, to address the League of Nations and to appeal for
relief from the destruction which had been unleashed against my
defenceless nation, by the fascist invader. I spoke then both to and
for the conscience of the world. My words went unheeded, but history
testifies to the accuracy of the warning that I gave in 1936. Today,
I stand before the world organization which has succeeded to the
mantle discarded by its discredited predecessor. In this body is
enshrined the principle of collective security which I
unsuccessfully invoked at Geneva. Here, in this Assembly, reposes
the best – perhaps the last – hope for the peaceful survival of
mankind.[128]
On
25 November 1963, the emperor was among other heads
of state,
including France's President Charles
de Gaulle,
who traveled to Washington,
D.C.,
and attended the funeral
of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
In
1966, Haile Selassie attempted to replace the historical tax system
with a single progressive income tax, which would significantly
weaken the nobility who had previously avoided paying most of their
taxes[129].
Even with alterations, this law led to a revolt in Gojjam, which was
repressed although enforcement of the tax was abandoned. The revolt,
having achieved its design in undermining the tax, encouraged other
landowners to defy Haile Selassie.
Haile
Selassie on a state visit to Washington, 1963
While
he had fully approved and assured Ethiopia's participation in
UN-approved collective security operations, including Korea and
Congo, Haile Selassie drew a distinction between it and the
non-UN-approved foreign intervention in Indochina,
consistently deploring it as needless suffering and calling for
the Vietnam
War to
end on several occasions. At the same time he remained open toward
the United States and commended it for making progress with African
Americans' Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s, while
visiting the US several times during these years.
In
1967, he visited Montréal, Canada,
to open the Ethiopian Pavilion at the Expo
'67 World's
Fair where he received great acclaim amongst other World leaders
there for the occasion.
Student
unrest became a regular feature of Ethiopian life in the 1960s and
1970s. Marxism took
root in large segments of the Ethiopian intelligentsia, particularly
among those who had studied abroad and had thus been exposed to
radical and left-wing sentiments that were becoming popular in other
parts of the globe.[121] Resistance
by conservative elements at the Imperial Court and Parliament, and
by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, made Haile Selassie's land reform
proposals difficult to implement, and also damaged the standing of
the government, costing Haile Selassie much of the goodwill he had
once enjoyed. This bred resentment among the peasant population.
Efforts to weaken unions also hurt his image. As these issues began
to pile up, Haile Selassie left much of domestic governance to his
Prime Minister, Aklilu
Habte Wold,
and concentrated more on foreign affairs.
1970s[edit]
Haile
Selassie I in Toledo (Spain) in April 1971. Picture by Eduardo
Butragueño.
Outside
of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie continued to enjoy enormous prestige and
respect. As the longest-serving head of state in power, he was often
given precedence over other leaders at state events, such as
the state
funerals of John
F. Kennedy and Charles
de Gaulle,
the summits of the Non-Aligned
Movement,
and the 1971
celebration of
the 2,500 years of the Persian
Empire.
In 1970 he visited Italy as a guest of President Giuseppe
Saragat,
and in Milan he
met Giordano
Dell'Amore,
President of Italian Savings Banks Association. He visited China in
October 1971, and was the first foreign head of state to meet Mao
Zedong following
the death of Mao's designated successor Lin
Biao in
a plane crash in Mongolia.
Human
rights in Ethiopia under Selassie's regime were poor. Civil
liberties and political rights were low with Freedom
House giving
Ethiopia a "Not Free" score for both civil liberties and
political rights in the last years of Selassie's rule.[130] Common
human right abuses included imprisonment and torture of political
prisoners and very poor prison conditions.[12] The Imperial
Ethiopian Army also
carried out a number of these atrocities while fighting the Eritrean
separatists. This was due to a policy of destroying Eritrean
villages that supported the rebels. There were a number of mass
killings of
hundreds of civilians during the war in the late 1960s and early
'70s.[131][132][133][134]
Wollo
famine[edit]
Famine—mostly
in Wollo, north-eastern Ethiopia, as well as in some parts of
Tigray—is estimated to have killed 40,000 to 80,000
Ethiopians[10][135] between
1972 and 1974. A BBC News report[136] has
cited a 1973 estimate that 200,000 deaths occurred, based on a
contemporaneous estimate from the Ethiopian Nutrition Institute.
While this figure is still repeated in some texts and media sources,
it was an estimate that was later found to be
"over-pessimistic".[138] Although
the region is infamous for recurrent crop failures and
continuous food
shortage and
starvation risk, this episode was remarkably severe. A 1973
production of the ITV programme The
Unknown Famine by Jonathan
Dimbleby[139][140]relied
on the unverified estimate of 200,000 dead,[136][141] stimulating
a massive influx of aid while at the same time destabilizing Haile
Selassie's regime.[135]
Against
that background, a group of dissident army officers instigated a
creeping coup against the emperor's faltering regime. To guard
against a public backlash in favour of Haile Selassie (who was still
widely revered), they contrived to obtain a copy of The
Unknown Famine which
they intercut with images of Africa's grand old man presiding at a
wedding feast in the grounds of his palace. Retitled The
Hidden Hunger,
this film
noir was
shown round the clock on Ethiopian television to coincide with the
day that they finally summoned the nerve to seize the emperor
himself.
— Jonathan
Dimbleby, "Feeding on Ethiopia's famine"[142]
The 1973
oil crisis,
the severity of which is demonstrated by this graph, hit Ethiopia
amidst a devastating famine, compounding its effect and undermining
support for the emperor.[119]
Some
reports suggest that the emperor was unaware of the extent of the
famine,[136] while
others assert that he was well aware of it.[143][144] In
addition to the exposure of attempts by corrupt local officials to
cover up the famine from the imperial government, the Kremlin's
depiction of Haile Selassie's Ethiopia as backwards and inept
(relative to the purported utopia of Marxism-Leninism)
contributed to the popular uprising that led to its downfall and the
rise of Mengistu
Haile Mariam.[145] The
famine and its image in the media undermined popular support of the
government, and Haile Selassie's once unassailable personal
popularity fell.[146]
The
crisis was exacerbated by military mutinies and high oil
prices,
the latter a result of the 1973
oil crisis.
The international economic crisis triggered by the oil crisis caused
the costs of imported goods, gasoline, and food to skyrocket, while
unemployment spiked.[119]
Revolution[edit]
In
February 1974, four days of serious riots in Addis Ababa against a
sudden economic inflation left five dead. The emperor responded by
announcing on national television a reduction in petrol prices and a
freeze on the cost of basic commodities. This calmed the public, but
the promised 33% military wage hike was not substantial enough to
pacify the army, which then mutinied, beginning in Asmara and
spreading throughout the empire. This mutiny led to the resignation
of Prime Minister Aklilu
Habte-Wold on
27 February 1974.[147] Haile
Selassie again went on television to agree to the army's demands for
still greater pay, and named Endelkachew
Makonnen as
his new Prime Minister. Despite Endalkatchew's many concessions,
discontent continued in March with a four-day general strike that
paralyzed the nation.
Imprisonment[edit]
The
deposition of Emperor Haile Selassie I (above rear window) from the
Jubilee Palace on 12 September 1974, marking the coup d'état's
action on that day and the assumption of power by the Derg.
The Derg,
a committee of low-ranking military officers and enlisted men, set
up in June to investigate the military's demands, took advantage of
the government's disarray to depose the 82-year-old Selassie on 12
September.[148] General Aman
Mikael Andom,
a Protestant of Eritrean origin,[147] served
briefly as provisional head of state pending the return of Crown
Prince Asfa
Wossen,
who was then receiving medical treatment abroad. Selassie was placed
under house arrest briefly at the 4th Army Division in Addis
Ababa,[147] while
most of his family was detained at the late Duke
of Harar's
residence in the north of the capital. The last months of the
emperor's life were spent in imprisonment, in the Grand
Palace.[149] Reportedly,
his mental condition was such that he believed he was still Emperor
of Ethiopia.[150]
Later,
most of the imperial family was imprisoned in the Addis Ababa prison
Kerchele, also known as "Alem
Bekagne",
or "I've had Enough of This World". On 23 November, sixty
former high officials of the imperial government were executed
by firing squad without trial,[151] which
included Selassie's grandson Iskinder
Desta,
a rear admiral, as well as General Andom and two former prime
ministers.[149][152] These
killings, known to Ethiopians as "Bloody Saturday", were
condemned by Crown Prince Asfa Wossen; the Derg responded to his
rebuke by revoking its acknowledgment of his imperial legitimacy,
and announcing the end of the Solomonic
dynasty.[151]
Death
and interment[edit]
On
28 August 1975, the state media reported that Selassie had died on
27 August of "respiratory failure" following complications
from a prostate examination followed up by a prostate
operation.[153] Dr. Asrat
Woldeyes denied
that complications had occurred and rejected the government version
of his death.[citation
needed] An
Ethiopian court found several former military officers guilty of
strangling the emperor in his bed in 1994, three years after the
military socialist Derg regime
was overthrown.[154] The
court charged them with genocide and murder, claiming that it had
obtained documents attesting to a high-level order from the military
regime to assassinate Selassie for leading a "feudal
regime".[155]Documents
have been widely circulated online showing the Derg's final
assassination order and bearing the military regime's seal and
signature.[156][157] The
veracity of these documents has been corroborated by multiple former
members of the military Derg regime.[158][159]
The
Soviet-backed PDRE fell
in 1991. In 1992, Selassie's bones were found under a concrete slab
on the palace grounds,[160] though
some reports suggest that his remains were discovered beneath a
latrine.[161] Selassie's
coffin rested in Bhata Church for nearly a decade, near his
great-uncle Menelik
II's
resting place.[162] On
5 November 2000, the Ethiopian Orthodox church gave him a funeral,
but the government refused calls to declare the ceremony an official
imperial funeral.[162]
Prominent
Rastafari figures such as Rita
Marley participated
in the funeral, but most Rastafari rejected the event and refused to
accept that the bones were the remains of Selassie. There is some
debate within the Rastafari
movement whether
he actually died in 1975.[163]
Section
9: Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi (/ˈɡɑːndi, ˈɡændi/;[2] Hindustani: [ˈmoːɦəndaːs
ˈkərəmtʃənd ˈɡaːndʱi] (
listen);
2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian activist who
was the leader of the Indian
independence movement against British
colonial rule.[3]Employing nonviolent civil
disobedience,
Gandhi led India to independence and
inspired movements for civil
rights and
freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit:
"high-souled", "venerable")[4] was
applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa[5] and
is now used worldwide. In India, he was also called Bapu,
a term that he preferred[6] (Gujarati:
endearment for father,[7] papa[7][8]),
and Gandhi ji,
and is known as the Father
of the Nation.[9][10]
Born
and raised in a Hindu family
in coastal Gujarat, western
India,
and trained in law at the Inner
Temple,
London, Gandhi first employed nonviolent civil disobedience as an
expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian
community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in
1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers
to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming
leadership of the Indian
National Congress in
1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for various social causes and
for achieving Swaraj or
self-rule.[11]
Gandhi
led Indians in challenging the British-imposed salt tax with the
400 km (250 mi) Dandi
Salt March in
1930, and later in calling for the British to Quit
India in
1942. He was imprisoned for many years, upon many occasions, in both
South Africa and India. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient
residential community and
wore the traditional Indian dhoti and
shawl, woven with yarn hand-spun on a charkha.
He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook
long fasts as
a means of both self-purification and political protest.
Gandhi's
vision of an independent India based on religious
pluralism was
challenged in the early 1940s by a new Muslim nationalism which was
demanding a separate Muslim homeland carved out of India.[12] In
August 1947, Britain granted independence, but the British Indian
Empire[12] was partitioned into
two dominions,
a Hindu-majority India and
Muslim-majority Pakistan.[13] As
many displaced Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs made
their way to their new lands, religious violence broke out,
especially in the Punjab and Bengal.
Eschewing the official
celebration of independence in
Delhi, Gandhi visited the affected areas, attempting to provide
solace. In the months following, he undertook several fasts
unto death to
stop religious violence. The last of these, undertaken on 12 January
1948 when he was 78,[14] also
had the indirect goal of pressuring India to pay out some cash
assets owed to Pakistan.[14] Some
Indians thought Gandhi was too accommodating.[14][15] Among
them was Nathuram
Godse,
a Hindu
nationalist,
who assassinated
Gandhi on
30 January 1948 by firing three bullets into his chest.[15]
Gandhi's
birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi
Jayanti,
a national
holiday,
and worldwide as the International
Day of Nonviolence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi
Section 10: Mother Theresa
Mary
Teresa Bojaxhiu[6] (born Anjezë
Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, Albanian: [aˈɲɛzə
ˈɡɔndʒɛ bɔjaˈdʒiu];
26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), commonly known as Mother
Teresa and
honoured in the Roman
Catholic Church as Saint
Teresa of Calcutta,[7] was
an Albanian-Indian[4] Roman
Catholic nun and missionary.[8] She
was born in Skopje (now
the capital of North
Macedonia),
then part of the Kosovo
Vilayet of
the Ottoman Empire. After living in Skopje for eighteen years, she
moved to Ireland and then to India,
where she lived for most of her life.
In
1950, Teresa founded the Missionaries
of Charity,
a Roman Catholic religious
congregation that
had over 4,500 nuns and
was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes
for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis.
It also runs soup
kitchens,
dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counselling
programmes, as well as orphanages and
schools. Members take vows of chastity,
poverty, and obedience,
and also profess a fourth vow—to give "wholehearted free
service to the poorest of the poor."[9]
Teresa
received a number of honours, including the 1962 Ramon
Magsaysay Peace Prize and
1979 Nobel
Peace Prize.
She was canonised (recognised
by the church as a saint)
on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September)
is her feast
day.
A
controversial figure during
her life and after her death,
Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work. She was praised
and criticised for her opposition
to abortion,
and criticised for poor conditions in her houses for the dying. Her
authorised biography was written by Navin
Chawla and
published in 1992, and she has been the subject of films
and other books.
On September 6, 2017, Teresa and St.
Francis Xavier were
named co-patrons of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta.
Section 11: Martin Luther King
Section
12: Emmeline Pankhurst
In
1903, the social
reformer Emmeline Pankhurst founded
the Women’s Social and Political Union to campaign for the
parliamentary vote for women in Edwardian Britain, ‘Deeds, not
words’ being its motto. A charismatic leader and powerful
orator, Pankhurst roused thousands of women to demand, rather than
ask politely, for their democratic right in a mass movement that has
been unparalleled in British history. Always in the thick of the
struggle, she endured 13 imprisonments, her name and cause becoming
known throughout the world.
Section 13:Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna
Eleanor Roosevelt (/ˈɛlɪnɔːr ˈroʊzəvɛlt/;
October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political
figure, diplomat and activist.[5] She
served as the First
Lady of the United States from
March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945 during her husband
President Franklin
D. Roosevelt's
four terms in office, making her the longest serving First Lady of
the United States.[5] Roosevelt
served as United States Delegate to the United
Nations General Assembly from
1945 to 1952.[6][7] President Harry
S. Truman later
called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to
her human
rights achievements.[8]
Roosevelt
was a member of the prominent
American Roosevelt and Livingston families
and a niece of President Theodore
Roosevelt.[7]She
had an unhappy childhood, having suffered the deaths of both parents
and one of her brothers at a young age. At 15, she attended
Allenwood Academy in London and was deeply influenced by its
headmistress Marie
Souvestre.
Returning to the U.S., she married her fifth cousin once removed,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in 1905. she resolved to seek
fulfillment in leading a public life of her own. She persuaded
Franklin to stay in politics after he was stricken
with a paralytic illness in
1921, which cost him the normal use of his legs, and began giving
speeches and appearing at campaign events in his place. Following
Franklin's election as Governor
of New York in
1928, and throughout the remainder of Franklin's public career in
government, Roosevelt regularly made public appearances on his
behalf, and as First Lady, while her husband served as President,
she significantly reshaped and redefined the role of First Lady.
Though
widely respected in her later years, Roosevelt was a controversial
First Lady at the time for her outspokenness, particularly on civil
rights for African-Americans. She was the first presidential spouse
to hold regular press conferences, write a daily newspaper column,
write a monthly magazine column, host a weekly radio show, and speak
at a national party convention. On a few occasions, she publicly
disagreed with her husband's policies. She launched an experimental
community at Arthurdale,
West Virginia,
for the families of unemployed miners, later widely regarded as a
failure. She advocated for expanded roles for women in the
workplace, the civil
rights of
African Americans and Asian Americans, and the rights of World War
II refugees.
Following
her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt remained active in politics
for the remaining 17 years of her life. She pressed the United
States to join
and support the United
Nations and
became its first delegate. She served as the first chair of the UN
Commission on Human Rights and
oversaw the drafting of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Later she chaired the John
F. Kennedyadministration's Presidential
Commission on the Status of Women.
By the time of her death, Roosevelt was regarded as "one of the
most esteemed women in the world"; The
New York Times her
called "the object of almost universal respect" in an
obituary.[9] In
1999, she was ranked ninth in the top ten of Gallup's
List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt
Section 14: Malcom X
Malcolm
X (May
19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister
and human
rights activist who
was a popular figure during the civil
rights movement.
He is best known for his controversial advocacy for the rights of
blacks; some consider him a man who indicted white America in the
harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans, while others
accused him of preaching racism and
violence.
Born Malcolm
Little in Omaha,
Nebraska,
he relocated to New York City's Harlem neighborhood
in 1943, after spending his teenage years in a series of foster
homes following
his father's murder and his mother's hospitalization. In New York,
Little engaged in several illicit activities, and was eventually
sentenced to ten years in prison in 1946 for larceny and
breaking and entering. In prison, he joined the Nation
of Islam (NOI)
and changed his name to Malcolm X. After his release, he
quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders
after being paroled in 1952.
During
the civil rights movement, Malcolm X served as the public face
of the controversial group for a dozen years, where he advocated
for black
supremacy,
the separation
of black and white Americans,
and rejected the notion of the civil rights movement for its
emphasis on racial
integration.
He also expressed pride in some of the social achievements he made
with the Nation, particularly its free drug
rehabilitation program.
In the 1950s, Malcolm X endured surveillance from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
for the Nation's supposed links to communism.
In
the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the
Nation of Islam, and in particular, with its leader Elijah
Muhammad.
Expressing many regrets about his time with them, which he had come
to regard as largely wasted, he instead embraced Sunni
Islam.
Malcolm X then began to advocate for racial integration and
disavowed racism after completing Hajj,
whereby he also became known as el-Hajj
Malik el-Shabazz.[A] After
a brief period of travel across Africa, he notably repudiated the
Nation of Islam, and founded Muslim
Mosque, Inc. (MMI)
and the Organization
of Afro-American Unity (OAAU)
to emphasize Pan-Africanism.
Throughout
1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was
repeatedly sent death threats. On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X
was preparing to address the OAAU in Manhattan when he was
assassinated by Thomas
Hagan,
Thomas Johnson, and Norman Butler, three members of the Nation of
Islam. The trio were sentenced to indeterminate life sentences, and
were required to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison. Conspiracy
theories regarding the assassination, and whether it was conceived
or aided by leading members of the Nation or with law enforcement
agencies, have persisted for decades after the shooting.
Malcolm X
was posthumously honored with Malcolm
X Day,
which commemorates him in various cities and countries worldwide.
Hundreds of streets and schools in the U.S. have been renamed in his
honor, while the Audubon
Ballroom,
the site of his assassination, was in part redeveloped in 2005 to
accommodate the Malcolm
X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X
section
15:Claudia Castrosín Verdú
Claudia Roxana
Castrosín Verdú, also known as Claudia Castro, is an
Argentine LGBT activist. She presides over La Fulana, an
organization that supports lesbian and bisexual women, and is also
the vice president of the Argentine Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Trans Federation [es] (FALGBT), through which she has
contributed to laws sanctioning same-sex marriage, gender
identity, and medically assisted reproduction [es].[1] In
2007 she presented, together with María Rachid, her partner at
the time, the first judicial protection for declaring the
unconstitutionality of two articles of the civil code that prevented
marriage between people of the same sex.[2] After the approval
of the Equal Marriage Law in 2010, she married Flavia Massenzio and
adopted a daughter, Estefanía.[3][4]
Castrosín used the
name Claudia Castro for twelve years to "protect" her
parents, until in 2010 she decided to present herself with her two
last names.[5] In 2012, the Buenos Aires City
Legislature named her "Outstanding Personality in the
field of Human Rights", following a Rachid project.[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Castros%C3%ADn_Verd%C3%BA
Section 16: Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard
Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American
politician and the first openly gay elected official in
the history of California, where he was elected to the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors. Although he was the most
pro-LGBTpolitician in the United States at the time, politics and
activism were not his early interests; he was neither open about his
sexuality nor civically active until he was 40, after his
experiences in the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
In 1972, Milk moved
from New York City to the Castro District of San
Francisco amid a migration of gay and bisexual men. He took
advantage of the growing political and economic power of the
neighborhood to promote his interests and unsuccessfully ran three
times for political office. Milk's theatrical campaigns earned him
increasing popularity, and in 1977 he won a seat as a city
supervisor. His election was made possible by a key component of a
shift in San Francisco politics.
Milk served almost
eleven months in office, during which he sponsored a bill banning
discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on
the basis of sexual orientation. The Supervisors passed the bill by
a vote of 11-1 and was signed into law by Mayor Moscone. On November
27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George
Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, who was
another city supervisor. White had recently resigned to pursue a
private business enterprise, but that endeavor eventually failed and
he sought to get his old job back. White was sentenced to seven
years in prison for manslaughter, which was later reduced to
five years. He was released in 1983 and committed suicide by carbon
monoxide inhalation two years later.
Despite his short
career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a
martyr in the gay community.[note 1] In 2002, Milk was called
"the most famous and most significantly open LGBT official
ever elected in the United States".[2] Anne Kronenberg,
his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey
apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a
righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it
for real, for all of us."[3] Milk was posthumously awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk
Section 17:Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai was
a Kenyan environmental activist who founded the Green Belt Movement
which campaigned for the planting of trees, environmental
conversation and women’s rights. The first woman in
East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Maathai was
elected to parliament and appointed assistant minister for
Environment and Natural Resources from 2003– 2005. Her
work was internationally recognised when, in 2004, she became the
first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her
contribution to sustainable development, peace and democracy.
Wangarĩ Muta
Maathai (wàŋɡàˈɹɛ |m|ɑː|ˈ|t|aɪ; 1 April 1940 –
25 September 2011) was a renowned Kenyan social, environmental and
political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel
Prize.[1] She was educated in the United States at Mount
St. Scholastica(Benedictine College) and the University of
Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
In 1977, Maathai
founded the Green Belt Movement,[2] an environmental
non-governmental organization focused on the planting of
trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In
1984, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2004.
Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as
assistant minister for Environment and Natural
resources in the government of President Mwai
Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. She was an
Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. She was
affiliated to professional bodies and received several awards.[3] On
Sunday, 25 September 2011, Maathai died of complications
from ovarian cancer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangari_Maathai
Section 18: Wong Fei hung
Wong
was born in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Villige, Xiqiao Country, Foshan
Town, Nanhai County, which is a present day part of Foshan
City, Guangdong
Province,
during the reign of the Daoguang
Emperor in
the Qing
dynasty.
His ancestral
home was
in Luzhou Hamlet, Lingxi Villige, Xiqiao Country, Foshan Town,
Nanhai County, Guangzhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province, which is
now part of Xiqiao
Town, Nanhai
District,
Foshan City.[1]
At
the age of five, Wong started learning Hung
Ga from
his father, Wong
Kei-ying.
He often accompanied his father on trips from Foshan to Guangzhou,
the provincial capital of Guangdong Province, where his father
peddled medicine and performed martial arts in the streets. When he
was 13, he encountered Lam Fuk-sing (林福成;
Lin Fucheng), an apprentice of "Iron Bridge Three" Leung
Kwan,
in Douchi Street in Foshan Town. Lam taught him how to use
the sling and
the essential moves of the martial art Iron
Wire Fist.[1] Later,
he learned the Shadowless
Kick from
Sung Fai-tong (宋輝鏜;
Song Huitang).[citation
needed]
In
1863, Wong started a martial arts school in Shuijiao (水腳)
in Xiguan,
which is a present day location of Liwan
District, Guangzhou
City.
His students were mainly metal labourers and street vendors. In
1886, Wong opened his family's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam (寶芝林;
Baozhilin), in Ren'an (仁安),
which is a present day part of Xiaobei Road, Yuexiu
District,
Guangzhou City.[1] In
legend, around the 1860s or 1870s, Wong was recruited by Liu
Yongfu,
the commander of the Black
Flag Army,
to be the medical officer and martial arts instructor for the
regular soldiers and the local militia in Guangzhou. He also
followed the Black Flag Army to fight the Imperial
Japanese Army during
the Japanese
invasion of Taiwan in
1895.[citation
needed]
In
1912, the Republic
of China was
established following the collapse of the Qing
dynasty.
During the chaotic early years of the Republican era, many
businessmen who operated places of entertainment in Guangzhou
decided to hire guards (or bouncers)
to protect their businesses on-site in case trouble broke out. As
Wong was trained in martial arts, he was hired by various businesses
to be one of such guards.[citation
needed]
In
1919, when the Chin
Woo Athletic Association opened
a branch in Guangzhou, Wong was invited to perform at the opening
ceremony.[1] In
the same year, Wong Hon-sam, one of Wong's sons, who was working as
a bodyguard in Wuzhou
City, Guangxi
Province,
was murdered by a rival known as "Devil Eye" Leung (鬼眼梁),
who was apparently jealous that Wong Hon-sam was better than him in
martial arts. Wong was so affected by this incident that he stopped
teaching his other sons martial arts.[5]
Between
August and October 1924, Wong's medical clinic, Po Chi Lam, was
destroyed when the Nationalist
government was
suppressing the uprising by
the Guangzhou Merchant Volunteers Corps. Wong felt so dejected and
saddened by the loss of Po Chi Lam that he fell into depression and
became ill. He died from illness on 17 April 1925 in Chengxi
Fangbian Hospital (城西方便醫院),[6] which
is the present day location of the Guangzhou First People's Hospital
(廣州市第一人民醫院)
at Panfu Road in Guangzhou's Yuexiu
District.[7] He
was buried at the foot of Baiyun
Mountain.[1]
Wong's
fourth wife, Mok
Kwai-lan,
and his sons, along with his students Lam
Sai-wing and
Dang Sai-king (鄧世瓊;
Deng Shiqiong), moved to Hong
Kong and
opened martial arts schools there.
Wong's
grave location is currently unknown. It is also believed that his
grave, along with others within the cemetery were long expunged for
future developments.[8]
Section 19: Kofi Annan
Kofi
Atta Annan (/ˈkoʊfi ˈænæn/;[1] 8
April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat
who served as the seventh Secretary-General
of the United Nations from
January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the UN were
the co-recipients of the 2001
Nobel Peace Prize.[2] He
was the founder and chairman of the Kofi
Annan Foundation,
as well as chairman of The
Elders,
an international organization founded by Nelson
Mandela.[3]
Annan
studied economics at Macalester
College,
international relations at the Graduate
Institute Geneva,
and management at MIT.
Annan joined the UN in 1962, working for the World
Health Organization's Geneva office.
He went on to work in several capacities at the UN
Headquarters including
serving as the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping between
March 1992 and December 1996. He was appointed the Secretary-General
on 13 December 1996 by the Security
Council,
and later confirmed by the General
Assembly,
making him the first office holder to be elected from the UN staff
itself. He was re-elected for a second term in 2001, and was
succeeded as Secretary-General by Ban
Ki-moon on
1 January 2007.
As
the Secretary-General, Annan reformed the UN bureaucracy; worked to
combat HIV/AIDS,
especially in
Africa;
and launched the UN
Global Compact.
He was criticized for not expanding the Security Council and faced
calls for his resignation after an investigation into
the Oil-for-Food
Programme,
but was largely exonerated of personal corruption.[4] After
the end of his term as UN Secretary-General, he founded the Kofi
Annan Foundation in 2007 to work on international
development.
In 2012, Annan was the UN–Arab
League Joint
Special Representative for Syria,
to help find a resolution to the ongoing
conflict there.[5][6] Annan
quit after becoming frustrated with the UN's lack of progress with
regards to conflict resolution.[7][8] In
September 2016, Annan was appointed to lead a UN commission to
investigate the Rohingya
crisis.
Early
years and education[edit]
Kofi
Annan was born in the Kofandros section of Kumasi in
the Gold
Coast (now
Ghana) on 8 April 1938. His twin sister Efua Atta, who died in 1991,
shared the middle name Atta,
which in the Akan
language means
'twin'.[10] Annan
and his sister were born into one of the
country's Ashanti and Fante aristocratic families;
both of their grandfathers and their uncle were tribal
chiefs.[11]
In
the Akan
names tradition,
some children are named according to the day of the week on which
they were born, sometimes in relation to how many children precede
them. Kofi in
Akan is the name that corresponds with Friday.[12] Annan
said that his surname rhymes with "cannon" in English.[13]
From
1954 to 1957, Annan attended the elite Mfantsipim school,
a Methodist boarding
school in Cape
Coast founded
in the 1870s. Annan said that the school taught him that "suffering
anywhere, concerns people everywhere".[14] In
1957, the year Annan graduated from Mfantsipim, the Gold Coast
gained independence from the UK and began using the name "Ghana".
In
1958, Annan began studying economics at the Kumasi College of
Science and Technology, now the Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology of Ghana.
He received a Ford
Foundation grant,
enabling him to complete his undergraduate studies in economics
at Macalester
College in St.
Paul, Minnesota,
United States, in 1961. Annan then completed a diplôme
d'études approfondies DEA degree
in International Relations at The
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in
Geneva, Switzerland, from 1961–62. After some years of work
experience, he studied at the MIT
Sloan School of Management[15] (1971–72)
in the Sloan
Fellows program
and earned a master's
degree in
management.
Annan
was fluent in English, French, Akan,
and some Kru
languages as
well as other African
languages.[16]
Career[edit]
In
1962, Kofi Annan started working as a budget officer for the World
Health Organization,
an agency of the United
Nations (UN).[17] From
1974 to 1976, he worked as a manager of the state-owned Ghana
Tourist Development Company in Accra.[18] In
1980 he became the head of personnel for the office of the UN
High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)
in Geneva. In 1983 he became the director of administrative
management services of the UN
Secretariat in
New York. In 1987, Annan was appointed as an Assistant
Secretary-General for
Human Resources Management and Security Coordinator for the UN
system. In 1990, he became Assistant Secretary-General for Program
Planning, Budget and Finance, and Control.[18]
When
Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali established
the Department
of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
in 1992, Annan was appointed to the new department as Deputy to then
Under-Secretary-General Marrack
Goulding.[19] Annan
was subsequently appointed in March 1993
as Under-Secretary-General of
that department.[20] On
29 August 1995, while Boutros-Ghali was unreachable on an airplane,
Annan instructed United Nations officials to "relinquish for a
limited period of time their authority to veto air strikes
in Bosnia."
This move allowed NATO forces
to conduct Operation
Deliberate Force and
made him a favorite of the United States. According to Richard
Holbrooke,
Annan's "gutsy performance" convinced the United States
that he would be a good replacement for Boutros-Ghali.[21]
He
was appointed a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to
the former Yugoslavia,
serving from November 1995 to March 1996.[22][23]
Criticism[edit]
In
2003, retired Canadian General Roméo
Dallaire,
who was force commander of the United
Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda,
claimed that Annan was overly passive in his response to the
imminent genocide.
In his book Shake
Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003),
Dallaire asserted that Annan held back UN troops from intervening to
settle the conflict, and from providing more logistical and material
support. Dallaire claimed that Annan failed to provide responses to
his repeated faxes asking for access to a weapons depository; such
weapons could have helped Dallaire defend the endangered Tutsis.
In 2004, ten years after the genocide in which an estimated 800,000
people were killed, Annan said, "I could and should have done
more to sound the alarm and rally support."[24]
External video
After
Words interview
with Annan on Interventions,
September 9, 2012, C-SPAN
In
his book Interventions:
A Life in War and Peace,
Annan again argued that the United Nations Department of
Peacekeeping Operations could have made better use of the media to
raise awareness of the violence
in Rwanda and
put pressure on governments to provide the troops necessary for an
intervention. Annan explained that the events
in Somalia and
the collapse of the UNOSOM
II mission fostered
a hesitation among UN Member states to approve robust peacekeeping
operations. As a result, when the UNAMIR
mission was
approved just days after the battle, the resulting force lacked the
troop levels, resources and mandate to operate effectively.[25]
Secretary-General
of the United Nations (1997–2006)[edit]
Appointment[edit]
Main
article: United
Nations Secretary-General selection, 1996
In
1996, Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali ran
unopposed for a second term. Although he won 14 of the 15 votes on
the Security Council, he was vetoed by the United States.[26] After
four deadlocked meetings of the Security Council, Boutros-Ghali
suspended his candidacy, becoming the only Secretary-General ever to
be denied a second term. Annan was the leading candidate to replace
him, beating Amara
Essy by
one vote in the first round. However, France vetoed Annan four times
before finally abstaining. The UN Security Council recommended Annan
on 13 December 1996.[27][28] Confirmed
four days later by the vote of the General Assembly,[29] he
started his first term as Secretary-General on 1 January 1997.
Due
to Boutros-Ghali's overthrow, a second Annan term would
give Africa the
office of Secretary-General for three consecutive terms. In 2001,
the Asia-Pacific
Group agreed
to support Annan for a second term in return for the African
Group's
support for an Asian Secretary-General in the 2006
selection.[30] The
Security Council recommended Annan for a second term on 27 June
2001, and the General Assembly approved his reappointment on 29 June
2001.[31]
Activities[edit]
Annan
with the President
of Russia Vladimir
Putin at United
Nations Headquarters in
New York City on 16 November 2001.
Recommendations
for UN reform[edit]
Silk
carpet portrait of Kofi Annan at the UN headquarters
Soon
after taking office in 1997, Annan released two reports on
management reform. On 17 March 1997, the report Management
and Organisational Measures (A/51/829)
introduced new management mechanisms through the establishment of a
cabinet-style body to assist him and be grouping the UN's activities
in accordance with four core missions. A comprehensive reform agenda
was issued on 14 July 1997 entitled Renewing
the United Nations: A Programme for Reform (A/51/950).
Key proposals included the introduction of strategic management to
strengthen unity of purpose, the establishment of the position of
Deputy Secretary-General, a 10-percent reduction in posts, a
reduction in administrative costs, the consolidation of the UN at
the country level, and reaching out to civil society and the private
sector as partners. Annan also proposed to hold a Millennium Summit
in 2000.[32] After
years of research, Annan presented a progress report, In
Larger Freedom,
to the UN General Assembly, on 21 March 2005. Annan recommended
Security Council expansion and a host of other UN
reforms.[33]
On
31 January 2006, Annan outlined his vision for a comprehensive and
extensive reform of the UN in a policy speech to the United
Nations Association UK.
The speech, delivered at Central
Hall, Westminster,
also marked the 60th Anniversary of the first meetings of the
General Assembly and Security Council.[34]
On
7 March 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his proposals for
a fundamental overhaul of the United Nations Secretariat. The reform
report is entitled Investing
in the United Nations, For a Stronger Organization Worldwide.[35]
On
30 March 2006, he presented to the General Assembly his analysis and
recommendations for updating the entire work programme of the United
Nations Secretariat. The reform report is entitled: Mandating
and Delivering: Analysis and Recommendations to Facilitate the
Review of Mandates.[36]
Regarding
the UN
Human Rights Council,
Annan said "declining credibility" had "cast a shadow
on the reputation of the United Nations system. Unless we re-make
our human rights machinery, we may be unable to renew public
confidence in the United Nations itself." However, he did
believe that, despite its flaws, the council could do good.[37][38]
In
March 2000, Annan appointed the Panel on United Nations Peace
Operations[39] to
assess the shortcomings of the then existing system and to make
specific and realistic recommendations for change.[40] The
panel was composed of individuals experienced in conflict
prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building. The report it produced,
which became known as the Brahimi
Report,
after Chair of the Panel Lakhdar
Brahimi,
called for:[41]
renewed
political commitment on the part of Member States;
significant
institutional change;
increased
financial support.
The
Panel further noted that in order to be effective, UN peacekeeping
operations must be properly resourced and equipped, and operate
under clear, credible and achievable mandates.[41] In
a letter transmitting the report to the General Assembly and
Security Council, Annan stated that the Panel's recommendations were
essential to make the United Nations truly credible as a force for
peace.[42] Later
that same year, the Security Council adopted several provisions
relating to peacekeeping following the report, in Resolution
1327.[43]
Millennium
Development Goals[edit]
In
2000, Annan issued a report entitled: "We the peoples: the role
of the United Nations in the 21st century".[44] The
report called for member states to "put people at the centre of
everything we do.[45] No
calling is more noble, and no responsibility greater, than that of
enabling men, women and children, in cities and villages around the
world, to make their lives better".[46]:7
In
the final chapter of the report, Annan called to "free our
fellow men and women from the abject and dehumanizing poverty in
which more than 1 billion of them are currently confined".[46]:77
At
the Millennium
Summit in
September 2000, national leaders adopted the Millennium
Declaration,
which was subsequently implemented by the United
Nations Secretariat as
the Millennium
Development Goals in
2001.[47]
United
Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS)[edit]
Within
the "We the Peoples" document, Annan suggested the
establishment of a United Nations Information Technology Service
(UNITeS), a consortium of high-tech volunteer corps,
including NetCorps Canada
and Net Corps America, which United
Nations Volunteers would
co-ordinate. In the Report
of the high-level panel of experts on information and communication
technology (22
May 2000) suggesting a UN
ICT Task Force,
the panel welcomed the establishment of UNITeS, and made suggestions
on its configuration and implementation strategy, including that
ICT4D volunteering opportunities
make mobilizing "national human resources" (local ICT
experts) within developing countries a priority, for both men and
women. The initiative was launched at the United
Nations Volunteers and
was active from February 2001 to February 2005. Initiative staff and
volunteers participated in the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
in Geneva in
December 2003.[48]
The
United Nations Global Compact[edit]
In
an address to The World Economic Forum on 31 January 1999,
Secretary-General Annan argued that the "goals of the United
Nations and those of business can, indeed, be mutually supportive"
and proposed that the private sector and the United Nations initiate
"a global compact of shared values and principles, which will
give a human face to the global market".[49]
On
26 July 2000, the United
Nations Global Compact was
officially launched at UN headquarters in New York. It is a
principle-based framework for businesses which aims to "Catalyse
actions in support of broader UN goals, such as the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs)".[50] The
Compact established ten core principles in the areas of human
rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption, and under the
Compact, companies commit to the ten principles and are brought
together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society to
effectively implement them.
Establishment
of The Global Fund[edit]
Towards
the end of the 1990s, increased awareness of the destructive
potential of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS pushed public health issues
to the top of the global development agenda. In April 2001, Annan
issued a five-point "Call to Action" to address the
HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Stating it was a "personal priority", Annan proposed the
establishment of a Global
AIDS and Health Fund,
"dedicated to the battle against HIV/AIDS and other infectious
diseases"[51] to
stimulate the increased international spending needed to help
developing countries confront the HIV/AIDS crisis. In June of that
year, the General Assembly of the United Nations committed to the
creation of such a fund during a special session on AIDS,[52] and
the permanent secretariat of the Global Fund was subsequently
established in January 2002.[53]
Responsibility
to Protect[edit]
Following
the failure of Annan and the International Community to intervene in
the genocide in Rwanda and in Srebrenica, Annan asked whether the
international community had an obligation in such situations to
intervene to protect civilian populations. In a speech to the
General Assembly on 20 September 1999 "to address the prospects
for human security and intervention in the next century,"[54] Annan
argued that individual sovereignty—the protections afforded by the
Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of the UN—was being
strengthened, while the notion of state sovereignty was being
redefined by globalization and international co-operation. As a
result, the UN and its member states had to consider a willingness
to act to prevent conflict and civilian suffering,[55] a
dilemma between "two concepts of sovereignty" that Annan
also presented in a preceding article in The
Economist,
on 16 September 1999.[56]
In
September 2001 the Canadian government established an ad-hoc
committee to address this balance between state sovereignty and
humanitarian intervention. The International
Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty published
its final report in 2001, which focused on not on the right of
states to intervene but a responsibility to protect populations at
risk. The report moved beyond the question of military intervention,
arguing that a range of diplomatic and humanitarian actions could
also be utilized to protect civilian populations.[57]
In
2005, Annan included the doctrine of "Responsibility
to Protect"
in his report Larger
Freedom.[57] When
that report was endorsed by the UN General Assembly, it amounted to
the first formal endorsement by UN Member States of the doctrine of
Responsibility to Protect.[58]
Iraq[edit]
In
the years after 1998 when UNSCOM was expelled by the government
of Saddam
Hussein and
during the Iraq
disarmament crisis,
in which the United States blamed UNSCOM and
former IAEA director Hans
Blix for
failing to properly disarm Iraq, former UNSCOM chief weapons
inspector Scott
Ritter blamed
Annan for being slow and ineffective in enforcing Security Council
resolutions on Iraq and was overtly submissive to the demands of the
Clinton administration for regime removal and inspection of sites,
often Presidential palaces, that were not mandated in any resolution
and were of questionable intelligence value, severely hampering
UNSCOM's ability to co-operate with the Iraqi government and
contributed to their expulsion from the country.[59][60] Ritter
also claimed that Annan regularly interfered with the work of the
inspectors and diluted the chain of command by trying to micromanage
all of the activities of UNSCOM, which caused intelligence
processing (and the resulting inspections) to be backed up and
caused confusion with the Iraqis as to who was in charge and as a
result, they generally refused to take orders from Ritter or Rolf
Ekéus without
explicit approval from Annan, which could have taken days, if not
weeks. He later believed that Annan was oblivious to the fact the
Iraqis took advantage of this in order to delay inspections. He
claimed that on one occasion, Annan refused to implement a no-notice
inspection of the SSO headquarters
and instead tried to negotiate access, but the negotiation ended up
taking nearly six weeks, giving the Iraqis more than enough time to
clean out the site.[61]
During
the build-up to the 2003
invasion of Iraq,
Annan called on the United States and the United Kingdom not to
invade without the support of the United Nations. In a September
2004 interview on the BBC,
when questioned about the legal authority for the invasion, Annan
said he believed it was not in conformity with the UN charter and
was illegal.[62][63]
Other
diplomatic activities[edit]
In
1998, Annan was deeply involved in supporting the transition from
military to civilian rule in Nigeria.
The following year, he supported the efforts of East
Timor to
secure independence from Indonesia. In 2000, he was responsible for
certifying Israel 's withdrawal from Lebanon, and in 2006, he led
talks in New York between the presidents of Cameroon and
Nigeria which led to a settlement of the dispute between the two
countries over the Bakassi peninsula.[64]
Annan
and Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad disagreed
sharply on Iran's nuclear program, on an Iranian exhibition of
cartoons mocking the Holocaust, and on the then
upcoming International
Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust,
an Iranian Holocaust
denial conference
in 2006.[65] During
a visit to Iran instigated by continued Iranian uranium enrichment,
Annan said "I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an
undeniable historical fact and we should really accept that fact and
teach people what happened in World War II and ensure it is never
repeated."[65]
Annan
supported sending a UN
peacekeeping mission to Darfur,
Sudan.[66] He
worked with the government of Sudan to accept a transfer of power
from the African
Union peacekeeping
mission to
a UN one.[67] Annan
also worked with several Arab and
Muslim countries on women's
rights and
other topics.[68]
Beginning
in 1998, Annan convened an annual UN "Security Council Retreat"
with the 15 States' representatives of the Council. It was held at
the Rockefeller
Brothers Fund (RBF)
Conference Center at the Rockefeller
family estate
in Pocantico
Hills, New York,
and was sponsored by both the RBF and the UN.[69]
Lubbers
sexual-harassment investigation[edit]
In
June 2004, Annan was given a copy of the Office
of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS)
report on the complaint brought by four female workers against Ruud
Lubbers, UN
High Commissioner for Refugees,
for sexual
harassment,
abuse of authority, and retaliation. The report also reviewed a
long-serving staff member's allegations of sexual harassment and
misconduct against Werner Blatter, Director of UNHCR Personnel. The
investigation found Lubbers guilty of sexual harassment; no mention
was made publicly of the other charge against a senior official, or
two subsequent complaints filed later that year. In the course of
the official investigation, Lubbers wrote a letter which some
considered was a threat to the female worker who had brought the
charges.[70] On
15 July 2004, Annan cleared Lubbers of the accusations, saying they
were not substantial enough legally.[71] The
internal UN-OIOS report on Lubbers was leaked, and sections
accompanied by an article by Kate
Holt were
published in a British newspaper. In February 2005, Lubbers resigned
as head of the UN refugee agency, saying that he wanted to relieve
political pressure on Annan.[72]
Oil-for-Food
scandal[edit]
In
December 2004, reports surfaced that the Secretary-General's
son Kojo
Annan received
payments from the Swiss company Cotecna Inspection SA, which had won
a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food
Programme.
Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the
allegations.[73] On
11 November 2005, The
Sunday Times agreed
to apologise and pay a substantial sum in damages to Kojo Annan,
accepting that the allegations were untrue.[74]
Annan
appointed the Independent Inquiry Committee,[75] which
was led by former US
Federal Reserve Chairman Paul
Volcker,[76] then
the director of the United
Nations Association of the US.
In his first interview with the Inquiry Committee, Annan denied
having had a meeting with Cotecna. Later in the inquiry, he recalled
that he had met with Cotecna's chief executive Elie-Georges Massey
twice. In a final report issued on 27 October, the committee found
insufficient evidence to indict Kofi Annan on any illegal actions,
but did find fault with Benon
Sevan,
an Armenian-Cypriot national
who had worked for the UN for about 40 years. Appointed by Annan to
the Oil-For-Food role, Sevan repeatedly asked Iraqis for allocations
of oil to the African Middle East Petroleum Company. Sevan's
behavior was "ethically improper", Volcker said to
reporters. Sevan repeatedly denied the charges and argued that he
was being made a "scapegoat".[77] The
Volcker report was highly critical of the UN management structure
and the Security Council oversight. It strongly recommended a new
position be established of Chief Operating Officer (COO), to handle
the fiscal and administrative responsibilities then under the
Secretary-General's office. The report listed the companies, both
Western and Middle Eastern, which had benefited illegally from the
program.[76]
Nobel
Peace Prize[edit]
See
also: List
of honours and awards received by Kofi Annan
In
2001, its centennial year, the Nobel
Committee decided
that the Peace Prize was to be divided between the UN and Annan.
They were awarded the Peace Prize "for their work for a better
organized and more peaceful world,"[2] having
revitalized the UN and for having given priority to human rights.
The Nobel Committee also recognized his commitment to the struggle
to containing the spread of HIV in Africa and his declared
opposition to international terrorism.[78]
Relations
between the United States and the United Nations[edit]
Annan
with US
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice in
2006
Annan
defended his deputy Secretary-General Mark
Malloch Brown,[79] who
openly criticized the United States in a speech on 6 June 2006:
"[T]he prevailing practice of seeking to use the UN almost by
stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it
against its domestic critics is simply not sustainable. You will
lose the UN one way or another. [...] [That] the US is
constructively engaged with the UN [...] is not well known or
understood, in part because much of the public discourse that
reaches the US heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest
detractors such as Rush
Limbaugh and Fox
News."[80] Malloch
later said his talk was a "sincere and constructive critique of
U.S. policy toward the U.N. by a friend and admirer."[81]
The
talk was unusual because it violated unofficial policy of not having
top officials publicly criticize member nations.[81] The
interim U.S. ambassador John
R. Bolton,
appointed by President George
W. Bush,
was reported to have told Annan on the phone: "I've known you
since 1989 and I'm telling you this is the worst mistake by a senior
UN official that I have seen in that entire time."[81] Observers
from other nations supported Malloch's view that conservative
politicians in the U.S. prevented many citizens from understanding
the benefits of U.S. involvement in the UN.[82]
Farewell
addresses[edit]
Wikisource has
original text related to this article:
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's address at the Truman Presidential Museum &
Library on 11 December 2006
External video
Farewell
Address by Kori Annan, December 11, 2006, C-SPAN
On
19 September 2006, Annan gave a farewell address to world leaders
gathered at the UN
headquarters in
New York, in anticipation of his retirement on 31 December. In the
speech he outlined three major problems of "an unjust world
economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights
and the rule of law", which he believed "have not
resolved, but sharpened" during his time as Secretary-General.
He also pointed to violence in Africa, and the Arab–Israeli
conflict as
two major issues warranting attention.[83]
On
11 December 2006, in his final speech as Secretary-General,
delivered at the Harry
S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence,
Missouri, Annan recalled Truman's leadership
in the founding of the United Nations. He called for the United
States to return to President Truman's multilateralist foreign
policies, and to follow Truman's credo that "the responsibility
of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the
world". He also said that the United States must maintain its
commitment to human rights, "including in the struggle against
terrorism."[84][85]
Online
access to Kofi Annan's archives[edit]
The
United Nations Archives and Records Management Section
(UNARMS) provides
full text access to Kofi Annan's declassified archives while he
served as Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006) Search
Kofi Annan's Archives
Post-UN
career[edit]
After
his service as UN Secretary-General, Annan took up residence
in Geneva and
worked in a leading capacity on various international humanitarian
endeavors.[86]
Kofi
Annan Foundation[edit]
Main
article: Kofi
Annan Foundation
In
2007, Annan established the Kofi
Annan Foundation,
an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to promote
better global governance and strengthen the capacities of people and
countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world.[87]
The
organisation was founded on the principles that fair and peaceful
societies rest on three pillars: Peace and Security, Sustainable
Development, and Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and they have
made it their mission to mobilise the leadership and the political
resolve needed to tackle threats to these three pillars ranging from
violent conflict to flawed elections and climate change, with the
aim of achieving a fairer, more peaceful world.[88]
The
Foundation provides the analytical, communication and co-ordination
capacities needed to ensure that these objectives are achieved.
Annan's contribution to peace worldwide is delivered through
mediation, political mentoring, advocacy and advice. Through his
engagement, Annan aimed to strengthen local and international
conflict resolution capabilities. The Foundation provides the
analytical and logistical support to facilitate this in co-operation
with relevant local, regional and international actors.[89] The
Foundation works mainly through private
diplomacy,
where Annan provided informal counsel and participated in discreet
diplomatic initiatives to avert or resolve crises by applying his
experience and inspirational leadership. He was often asked to
intercede in crises, sometimes as an impartial independent mediator,
sometimes as a special envoy of the international community. In
recent years he had provided such counsel to Burkina Faso, Kenya,
Myanmar, Senegal, Iraq and Colombia.[90]
Kenya
National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process (KNDR)[edit]
Following
the outbreak
of violence during
the 2007 Presidential elections in Kenya, the African Union
established a Panel of Eminent African Personalities to assist in
finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.[91]
The
panel, headed by Annan, managed to convince the two principal
parties to the conflict, President Mwai
Kibaki's
Party of National Unity (PNU) and Raila
Odinga's
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), to participate in the Kenya
National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process (KNDR).[91] Over
the course of 41 days of negotiations, several agreements regarding
taking actions to stop the violence and remedying its consequences
were signed. On 28 February, President Mwai
Kibaki and Raila
Odinga signed
a coalition government agreement.[92][93]
Joint
Special Envoy for Syria[edit]
Main
article: Kofi
Annan peace plan for Syria
Annan
meeting with former Iranian President, Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani
On
23 February 2012, Annan was appointed as the UN-Arab League envoy
to Syria,
in an attempt to end the civil
war taking
place.[6] He
developed a six-point plan for peace:[94]
commit
to work with the Envoy in an inclusive Syrian-led political process
to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian
people, and, to this end, commit to appoint an empowered
interlocutor when invited to do so by the Envoy;
commit
to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United
Nations supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by
all parties to protect civilians and stabilise the country.
To
this end, the Syrian government should immediately cease troop
movements towards, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population
centres, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and
around population centres.
As
these actions are being taken on the ground, the Syrian government
should work with the Envoy to bring about a sustained cessation of
armed violence in all its forms by all parties with an effective
United Nations supervision mechanism.
Similar
commitments would be sought by the Envoy from the opposition and
all relevant elements to stop the fighting and work with him to
bring about a sustained cessation of armed violence in all its
forms by all parties with an effective United Nations supervision
mechanism;
ensure
timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected
by the fighting, and to this end, as immediate steps, to accept and
implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause and to co-ordinate
exact time and modalities of the daily pause through an efficient
mechanism, including at local level;
intensify
the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons,
including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and persons
involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay
through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such
persons are being detained, immediately begin organizing access to
such locations and through appropriate channels respond promptly to
all written requests for information, access or release regarding
such persons;
ensure
freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists and a
non-discriminatory visa policy for them;
respect
freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as
legally guaranteed.
On
2 August, he resigned as UN and Arab League joint special envoy to
Syria,[95] citing
the intransigence of both the Assad government
and the rebels,
as well as the stalemate on the Security Council as preventing any
peaceful resolution of the situation.[96] Annan
also stated that the lack of international unity and ineffective
diplomacy among the world leaders had made the peaceful resolution
in Syria an impossible task.[97]
Global
Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security[edit]
Annan
served as the Chair of the Global
Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security.
The Commission was launched in May 2011 as a joint initiative of the
Kofi Annan Foundation and the International
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
It comprised 12 eminent individuals from around the world,
including Ernesto
Zedillo, Martti
Ahtisaari, Madeleine
Albright and Amartya
Sen,
and aimed to highlight the importance of the integrity of elections
to achieving a more secure, prosperous and stable world. The
Commission released its final report: Democracy,
a Strategy to Improve the Integrity of Elections Worldwide,
in September 2012.
Rakhine
Commission (Myanmar)[edit]
In
September 2016, Annan was asked to lead the Advisory
Commission on Rakhine State (in Myanmar)[98][99][100][101] –
an impoverished region beset by ethnic conflict and extreme
sectarian violence, particularly by Myanmar's Buddhist majority
against the Rohingya
Muslim minority,
further targeted by government forces.[102][103][104][105] The
commission, widely known simply as the "Annan Commission",
was opposed by many Myanmar Buddhists as
unwelcome interference in their relations with the Rohingya.[98]
When
the Annan commission released its final report,[100] the
week of 24 August 2017, with recommendations unpopular with all
sides, violence exploded in the Rohingya
conflict –
the largest and bloodiest humanitarian disaster in the region in
decades – driving most of the Rohingya from
Myanmar.[105][104][106] Annan
attempted to engage the United Nations to resolve the
matter,[107] but
failed.
Annan
died a week before the first anniversary of the report, shortly
after an announcement by a replacement commission that it would not
"point fingers" at the guilty parties – leading to
widespread concern that the new commission was just a sham to
protect culpable Myanmar government officials and citizens from
accountability.[101][108][106][109]
In
2018, before Annan's death, Myanmar's civilian government, under the
direction of State Councilor Aung
San Suu Kyi,
made a gesture of acceptance of the Annan commission's
recommendations by convening another board – the Advisory
Board for the Committee for Implementation of the Recommendations on
Rakhine State –
ostensibly to implement the Annan commission's proposed reforms, but
never actually implemented them. Some of the international
representatives resigned – notably the panel's
Secretary, Thailand's
former foreign minister Surakiart
Sathirathai,
and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill
Richardson –
decrying the "implementation" committee as ineffective, or
a "whitewash."[99][110]
Other
activities[edit]
At
the South
Sudanese independence referendum,
2011, with former US president Jimmy
Carter
Corporate
boards
In
March 2011,[111] Annan
became a member of the Advisory
Board for Investcorp Bank
B. S. C.[112] Europe,[113] an
international private
equity firm
and sovereign
wealth fund owned
by the United
Arab Emirates.
He held the position until 2018.
Annan
became member of the Global Advisory Board of Macro Advisory
Partners LLP, Risk
and strategic consulting firm
based in London and New
York,
for business, finance and government decision-makers, with some
operations related to Investcorp.[114]
Non-profit
organizations
In
addition to the above, Annan also became involved with several
organizations with both global and African focuses, including the
following:
United
Nations Foundation,
member of the board of directors (2008–2018)[115]
University
of Ghana,
chancellor (2008–2018)[116]
School
of International and Public Affairs of Columbia
University,
global fellow (2009–2018)[117]
The
Committee on Global Thought at Columbia
University,
fellow[118]
Lee
Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at
the National
University of Singapore (NUS),
Li Ka Shing Professor (2009–2018)[119]
Global
Centre for Pluralism,
member of the board of directors (2010–2018)[120]
Mo
Ibrahim Prize
for Achievement in African Leadership, chairman of the prize
committee (2007–2018)[121]
Alliance
for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),
chairman (2007–2018)[122]
Global
Humanitarian Forum,
founder and president (2007–2018)[123]
Global
Commission on Drug Policy,
founding commissioner.[124] The
commission had declared in a 2011 report that the war
on drugs was
a failure.[125] Annan
believed that, since drug use represents a health risk, it should
be regulated,
comparing it to the regulation
of tobacco which
reduced smoking in many countries.[126]
Annan
during the Munich
Security Conference 2018
Annan
served as Chair of The
Elders,
a group of independent global leaders who work together on peace and
human rights issues.[127][128] In
November 2008, Annan and fellow Elders Jimmy
Carter and Graça
Machel attempted
to travel to Zimbabwe to
make a first-hand assessment of the humanitarian situation in the
country. Refused entry, the Elders instead carried out their
assessment from Johannesburg, where they met Zimbabwe- and South
Africa-based leaders from politics, business, international
organisations, and civil society.[129] In
May 2011, following months of political violence in Côte
d'Ivoire,
Annan travelled to the country with Elders Desmond
Tutu and Mary
Robinson to
encourage national reconciliation.[130] On
16 October 2014, Annan attended the One
Young World Summit
in Dublin. During a session with fellow Elder Mary
Robinson,
Annan encouraged 1,300 young leaders from 191 countries to lead on
intergenerational issues such as climate change and the need for
action to take place now, not tomorrow.[131][132]
"We
don't have to wait to act. The action must be now. You will come
across people who think we should start tomorrow. Even for those who
believe action should begin tomorrow, remind them tomorrow begins
now, tomorrow begins today, so let's all move forward."[133]
Annan
chaired the Africa
Progress Panel (APP),
a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest
levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. As
Chair, he facilitates coalition building to leverage and broker
knowledge, in addition to convening decision-makers to influence
policy and create lasting change in Africa. Every year, the Panel
releases a report, the Africa
Progress Report,
which outlines an issue of immediate importance to the continent and
suggests a set of associated policies. In 2014, the Africa Progress
Report highlighted the potential of African fisheries, agriculture,
and forests to drive economic development.[134] The
2015 report explores the role of climate change and the potential of
renewable energy investments in determining Africa's economic
future.[135]
Memoir[edit]
On
4 September 2012, Annan with Nader Mousavizadeh wrote a
memoir, Interventions:
A Life in War and Peace.[136] Published
by Penguin
Press,
the book has been described as a "personal biography of
global statecraft".[137]
Personal
life[edit]
In
1965, Kofi Annan married Titi Alakija, a Nigerian woman from an
aristocratic family. Several years later they had a daughter, Ama,
and later a son, Kojo.
The couple separated in the late 1970s,[138] and
divorced in 1983.[10] In
1984, Annan married Nane
Lagergren [sv; et; ru],
a Swedish lawyer at the UN and a maternal half-niece of
diplomat Raoul
Wallenberg.[139] She
has a daughter, Nina, from a previous marriage.[140] His
brother, Kobina Annan served as Ghana’s ambassador
to Morocco.[141]
Death
and state funeral[edit]
Annan
died on the morning of 18 August 2018 in Bern, Switzerland,
at the age of 80 after a short illness.[142][143] António
Guterres,
the current UN Secretary-General, said that "Kofi Annan was a
champion for peace and a guiding force for good."[144][142] The
body of Kofi Annan was returned to his native Ghana from Geneva in
a brief and solemn ceremony at the Kotoka
International Airport in
Accra, on 10 September 2018.[145] His
coffin, draped in the blue UN
flag,
was accompanied by his widow Nane Annan, his children and senior
diplomats from the international organisation.[145][146]
On
13 September 2018, a state
funeral was
held for Annan in Ghana at
the Accra
International Conference Centre.[147] The
ceremony was attended by several political leaders from across
Africa as well as Ghanaian traditional rulers, European royalty and
dignitaries from the international community, including the U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres.[148] Prior
to the funeral service, his body lay
in state in
the foyer of the same venue, from 11–12 September 2018.[149] A
private burial followed the funeral service at the new Military
Cemetery at Burma
Camp,
with full military honours – the sounding of the Last
Post by
army buglers and a 17-gun
salute.[150][151][152][153]
Memorials
and legacy[edit]
The United
Nations Postal Administration released
a new stamp in memory of Kofi Annan on 31 May 2019. Annan's portrait
on the stamp was designed by artist Martin
Mörck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofi_Annan
Section
20:
Morihei Ueshiba
Morihei
Ueshiba (植芝
盛平, Ueshiba
Morihei,
December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969) was a
Japanese martial
artist and
founder of the martial
art of aikido.
He is often referred to as "the
founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生),
"Great Teacher".
The
son of a landowner from Tanabe,
Ueshiba studied a number of martial arts in his youth, and served in
the Japanese
Army during
the Russo-Japanese
War.
After being discharged in 1907, he moved to Hokkaidō as
the head of a pioneer settlement; here he met and studied
with Takeda
Sōkaku,
the founder of Daitō-ryū
Aiki-jūjutsu.
On leaving Hokkaido in 1919, Ueshiba joined the Ōmoto-kyō movement,
a Shinto sect,
in Ayabe,
where he served as a martial arts instructor and opened his
first dojo.
He accompanied the head of the Ōmoto-kyō group, Onisaburo
Deguchi,
on an expedition to Mongolia in 1924, where they were captured by
Chinese troops and returned to Japan. The following year, he had a
profound spiritual experience, stating that, "a golden spirit
sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into
a golden one." After this experience, his martial arts skill
appeared to be greatly increased.
Ueshiba
moved to Tokyo in
1926, where he set up the Aikikai
Hombu Dojo.
By now he was comparatively famous in martial arts circles, and
taught at this dojo and others around Japan, including in several
military academies. In the aftermath of World
War II the
Hombu dojo was temporarily closed, but Ueshiba had by this point
left Tokyo and retired to Iwama,
and he continued training at the dojo he had set up there. From the
end of the war until the 1960s, he worked to promote aikido
throughout Japan and abroad. He died from liver cancer in 1969.
After
Ueshiba's death, aikido continued to be promulgated by his students
(many of whom became noted martial artists in their own right). It
is now practiced around the world.
Tanabe,
1883–1912[edit]
Morihei
Ueshiba was born in Nishinotani village (now part of the city
of Tanabe), Wakayama
Prefecture,
Japan, on December 14, 1883, the fourth child (and only son) born to
Yoroku Ueshiba and his wife Yuki.[1]:3[2]:49
The
young Ueshiba was raised in a somewhat privileged setting. His
father Yoroku was a wealthy gentleman
farmer and
minor politician, being an elected member of the Nishinotani village
council for 22 consecutive years. His mother Yuki was from the
Itokawa clan, a prominent local family who could trace their lineage
back to the Heian
period.[2]:52–53 Ueshiba
was a rather weak, sickly child and bookish in his inclinations. At
a young age his father encouraged him to take up sumo wrestling
and swimming and entertained him with stories of his
great-grandfather Kichiemon, who was considered a very
strong samurai in
his era. The need for such strength was further emphasized when the
young Ueshiba witnessed his father being attacked by followers of a
competing politician.[3]:3
A
major influence on Ueshiba's early education was his elementary
schoolteacher Tasaburo Nasu, who was a Shinto priest
and who introduced Ueshiba to the religion.[2]:59 At
the age of six Ueshiba was sent to study at the Jizōderu Temple,
but had little interest in the rote learning of Confucian education.
However, his schoolmaster Mitsujo Fujimoto was also a priest
of Shingon
Buddhism,
and taught the young Ueshiba some of the esoteric chants and ritual
observances of the sect, which Ueshiba found intriguing. His
interest in Buddhism was sufficiently great that his mother
considered enrolling him in the priesthood, but his father Yoroku
vetoed the idea.[2]:57 Ueshiba
went to Tanabe Higher Elementary School and then to Tanabe
Prefectural Middle School, but left formal education in his early
teens, enrolling instead at a private abacus academy,
the Yoshida Institute, to study accountancy.[2]:61 On
graduating from the academy, he worked at a local tax office for a
few months, but the job did not suit him and in 1901 he left for
Tokyo, funded by his father. Ueshiba Trading, the stationery
business which he opened there, was short-lived; unhappy with life
in the capital, he returned to Tanabe less than a year later after
suffering a bout of beri-beri.
Shortly thereafter he married his childhood acquaintance Hatsu
Itokawa.[4][5]
In
1903, Ueshiba was called up for military service. He failed the
initial physical examination, being shorter than the regulation
5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m). To overcome this, he
stretched his spine by attaching heavy weights to his legs and
suspending himself from tree branches; when he re-took the physical
exam he had increased his height by the necessary half-inch to
pass.[4] He
was assigned to the Osaka Fourth Division, 37th Regiment, and was
promoted to corporal of the 61st Wakayama regiment by the following
year; after serving on the front lines during the Russo-Japanese
War he
was promoted to sergeant.[2]:70 He
was discharged in 1907, and again returned to his father's farm in
Tanabe.[5] Here
he befriended the writer and philosopher Minakata
Kumagusu,
becoming involved with Minakata's opposition to the Meiji
government's Shrine
Consolidation Policy.[4] He
and his wife had their first child, a daughter named Matsuko, in
1911.[6]:3
Ueshiba
studied several martial arts during his early life, and was renowned
for his physical strength during his youth.[7] During
his sojourn in Tokyo he studied Kitō-ryū jujutsu under
Takisaburo Tobari, and briefly enrolled in a school
teaching Shinkage-ryū.[2]:64–65 His
training in Gotō-ha
Yagyū-ryu under
Masakatsu Nakai was sporadic due to his military service, although
he was granted a diploma in the art within a few years.[4] In
1901 he received some instruction from Tozawa Tokusaburōin
in Tenjin
Shin'yō-ryū jujutsu and
he studied judo with
Kiyoichi Takagi in Tanabe in 1911, after his father had a dojo built
on the family compound to encourage his son's training.[5] In
1907, after his return from the war, he was also presented with a
certificate of enlightenment (shingon
inkyo)
by his childhood teacher Mitsujo Fujimoto.[2]:66
Hokkaidō,
1912–1920[edit]
In
the early part of the 20th century, the prefectural government
of Hokkaidō,
Japan's northernmost island, were offering various grants and
incentives for mainland Japanese groups willing to relocate there.
At the time, Hokkaidō was still largely unsettled by the Japanese,
being occupied primarily by the indigenous Ainu.
In 1910, Ueshiba travelled to Hokkaidō in the company of his
acquaintance Denzaburo Kurahashi, who had lived on the northern
island before. His intent was to scout out a propitious location for
a new settlement, and he found the site at Shirataki suitable
for his plans. Despite the hardships he suffered on this journey
(which included getting lost in snowstorms several times and an
incident in which he nearly drowned in a freezing river), Ueshiba
returned to Tanabe filled with enthusiasm for the project, and began
recruiting families to join him. He became the leader of the Kishū
Settlement Group, a collective of eighty-five pioneers who intended
to settle in the Shirataki district and live as farmers; the group
founded the village of Yubetsu (later Shirataki village) in August,
1912.[2]:83–87 Much
of the funding for this project came from Ueshiba's father and his
brothers-in-law Zenzo and Koshiro Inoue. Zenzo's son Noriaki was
also a member of the settlement group.[8]
Poor
soil conditions and bad weather led to crop failures during the
first three years of the project, but the group still managed to
cultivate mint and
farm livestock. The burgeoning timber industry provided a boost to
the settlement's economy, and by 1918 there were over 500 families
residing there.[2]:101 A
fire in 1917 razed the entire village, leading to the departure of
around twenty families. Ueshiba was attending a meeting over railway
construction around 50 miles away, but on learning of the fire
travelled back the entire distance on foot. He was elected to the
village council that year, and took a prominent role in leading the
reconstruction efforts.[2]:101–103 In
the summer of 1918, Hatsu gave birth to their first son,
Takemori.[4][5]
The
young Ueshiba met Takeda
Sōkaku,
the founder of Daitō-ryū
Aiki-jūjutsu,
at the Hisada Inn in Engaru,
in March 1915. Ueshiba was deeply impressed with Takeda's martial
art, and despite being on an important mission for his village at
the time, abandoned his journey to spend the next month studying
with Takeda.[2]:94 He
requested formal instruction and began studying Takeda's style
of jūjutsu in
earnest, going so far as to construct a dojo at his home and
inviting his new teacher to be a permanent house guest.[9]:22[10] He
received a kyōju
dairi certificate,
a teaching license, for the system from Takeda in 1922, when Takeda
visited him in Ayabe.[9]:36 Takeda
also gave him a Yagyū
Shinkage-ryū sword
transmission scroll.[11] Ueshiba
then became a representative of Daitō-ryū, toured with Takeda as a
teaching assistant and taught the system to others.[12][13] The
relationship between Ueshiba and Takeda was a complicated one.
Ueshiba was an extremely dedicated student, dutifully attending to
his teacher's needs and displaying great respect. However, Takeda
overshadowed him throughout his early martial arts career, and
Ueshiba's own students recorded the need to address what they
referred to as "the Takeda problem".[12][14]:137–139[15]
Ayabe,
1920–1927[edit]
In
November 1919, Ueshiba learned that his father Yoroku was ill, and
was not expected to survive. Leaving most of his possessions to
Takeda, Ueshiba left Shirataki with the apparent intention of
returning to Tanabe to visit his ailing parent. En route he made a
detour to Ayabe,
near Kyoto,
intending to visit Onisaburo
Deguchi,
the spiritual leader of the Ōmoto-kyō religion
(Ueshiba's nephew Noriaki Inoue had already joined the religion and
may have recommended it to his uncle).[8] Ueshiba
stayed at the Ōmoto-kyō headquarters for several days, and met
with Deguchi, who told him that, "There is nothing to worry
about with your father".[2]:113 On
his return to Tanabe, Ueshiba found that Yoroku had died. Criticised
by family and friends for arriving too late to see his father,
Ueshiba went into the mountains with a sword and practised solo
sword exercises for several days; this almost led to his arrest when
the police were informed of a sword-wielding madman on the
loose.[2]:116
Within
a few months, Ueshiba was back in Ayabe, having decided to become a
full-time student of Ōmoto-kyō. In 1920 he moved his entire
family, including his mother, to the Ōmoto compound; at the same
time he also purchased enough rice to feed himself and his family
for several years.[2]:117 That
same year, Deguchi asked Ueshiba to become the group's martial arts
instructor, and a dojo—the first of several that Ueshiba was to
lead—was constructed on the centre's grounds. Ueshiba also taught
Takeda's Daitō-ryū in neighbouring Hyōgo
Prefecture during
this period.[16] His
second son, Kuniharu, was born in 1920 in Ayabe, but died from
illness the same year, along with three-year-old Takemori.[9]:32–34
Takeda
visited Ueshiba in Ayabe to provide instruction, although he was not
a follower of Ōmoto and did not get along with Deguchi, which led
to a cooling of the relationship between him and
Ueshiba.[15] Ueshiba
continued to teach his martial art under the name "Daitō-ryū
Aiki-jūjutsu", at the behest of his teacher.[17] However,
Deguchi encouraged Ueshiba to create his own style of martial arts,
"Ueshiba-ryū", and sent many Ōmoto followers to study at
the dojo. He also brought Ueshiba into the highest levels of the
group's bureaucracy, making Ueshiba his executive assistant and
putting him in charge of the Showa Seinenkai (Ōmoto-kyō's national
youth organisation) and the Ōmoto Shobotai, a volunteer
fire service.[2]:118,
128, 137
His
close relationship with Deguchi introduced Ueshiba to various
members of Japan's far-right; members of the ultranationalist group
the Sakurakai would
hold meetings at Ueshiba's dojo, and he developed a friendship with
the philosopher Shūmei
Ōkawa during
this period, as well as meeting with Nisshō
Inoue and Kozaburō
Tachibana.
Deguchi also offered Ueshiba's services as a bodyguard to Kingoro
Hashimoto,
the Sakurakai's founder.[14]:142–149[18] Ueshiba's
commitment to the goal of world
peace,
stressed by many biographers, must be viewed in the light of these
relationships and his Ōmoto-kyō beliefs. His association with the
extreme right-wing is understandable when one considers that
Ōmoto-kyō's view of world peace was of a benevolent
dictatorship by
the Emperor
of Japan,
with other nations being subjugated under Japanese rule.[19]:638–639
In
1921, in an event known as the First Ōmoto-kyō
Incident (大本事件, Ōmoto
jiken),
the Japanese authorities raided the compound, destroying the main
buildings on the site and arresting Deguchi on charges
of lèse-majesté.[20] Ueshiba's
dojo was undamaged and over the following two years he worked
closely with Deguchi to reconstruct the group's centre, becoming
heavily involved in farming work and serving as the group's
"Caretaker of Forms", a role which placed him in charge of
overseeing Ōmoto's move towards self-sufficiency.[2]:154 His
son Kisshomaru was
born in the summer of 1921.[5][9]:32–34
Three
years later, in 1924, Deguchi led a small group of Ōmoto-kyō
disciples, including Ueshiba, on a journey to Mongolia at
the invitation of retired naval captain Yutaro Yano and his
associates within the ultra-nationalist Black
Dragon Society.
Deguchi's intent was to establish a new religious kingdom in
Mongolia, and to this end he had distributed propaganda suggesting
that he was the reincarnation of Genghis
Khan.[21] Allied
with the Mongolian bandit Lu
Zhankui,
Deguchi's group were arrested in Tongliao by
the Chinese authorities—fortunately for Ueshiba, whilst Lu and his
men were executed by firing squad, the Japanese group were released
into the custody of the Japanese consul. They were returned under
guard to Japan, where Deguchi was imprisoned for breaking the terms
of his bail.[9]:37–45 During
this expedition Ueshiba was given the Chinese alias Wang Shou-gao,
rendered in Japanese as "Moritaka" – he was reportedly
very taken with this name and continued to use it intermittently for
the rest of his life.[2]:163
After
returning to Ayabe, Ueshiba began a regimen of spiritual training,
regularly retreating to the mountains or performing misogi in
the Nachi
Falls.
As his prowess as a martial artist increased, his fame began to
spread. He was challenged by many established martial artists, some
of whom later became his students after being defeated by him. In
the autumn of 1925 he was asked to give a demonstration of his art
in Tokyo, at the behest of Admiral Isamu
Takeshita;
one of the spectators was Yamamoto
Gonnohyōe,
who requested that Ueshiba stay in the capital to instruct
the Imperial
Guard in
his martial art. After a couple of weeks, however, Ueshiba took
issue with several government officials who voiced concerns about
his connections to Deguchi; he cancelled the training and returned
to Ayabe.[9]:45–49
Tokyo,
1927–1942[edit]
In
1926 Takeshita invited Ueshiba to visit Tokyo again. Ueshiba
relented and returned to the capital, but while residing there was
stricken with a serious illness. Deguchi visited his ailing student
and, concerned for his health, commanded Ueshiba to return to Ayabe.
The appeal of returning increased after Ueshiba was questioned by
the police following his meeting with Deguchi; the authorities were
keeping the Ōmoto-kyō leader under close surveillance. Angered at
the treatment he had received, Ueshiba went back to Ayabe again. Six
months later, this time with Deguchi's blessing, he and his family
moved permanently to Tokyo. This move allowed Ueshiba to teach
politicians, high-ranking military personnel, and members of
the Imperial
household;
suddenly he was no longer an obscure provincial martial artist, but
a sensei to
some of Japan's most important citizens.[19]:134 Arriving
in October 1927, the Ueshiba family set up home in
the Shirokane district.
The building proved too small to house the growing number of aikido
students, and so the Ueshibas moved to larger premises, first
in Mita
district,
then in Takanawa,
and finally to a purpose-built hall in Shinjuku.
This last location, originally named the Kobukan (皇武館),
would eventually become the Aikikai
Hombu Dojo.
During its construction, Ueshiba rented a property nearby, where he
was visited by Kanō
Jigorō,
the founder of judo.[9]:50–53
During
this period, Ueshiba was invited to teach at a number of military
institutes, due to his close personal relationships with key figures
in the military (among them Sadao
Araki,
the Japanese Minister
of War[19]:639).
He accepted an invitation from Admiral Sankichi
Takahashi to
be the martial arts instructor at the Imperial
Japanese Naval Academy,[2]:201 and
also taught at the Nakano
Spy School,
although aikido was later judged to be too technical for the
students there and karate was
adopted instead.[14]:154–155 He
also became a visiting instructor at the Imperial
Japanese Army Academy after
being challenged by (and defeating) General Makoto Miura, another
student of Takeda Sōkaku's Daitō-ryū.[2]:207–208[19]:639 Takeda
himself met Ueshiba for the last time around 1935, while Ueshiba was
teaching at the Osaka headquarters
of the Asahi
Shimbun newspaper.
Frustrated by the appearance of his teacher, who was openly critical
of Ueshiba's martial arts and who appeared intent on taking over the
classes there, Ueshiba left Osaka during the night, bowing to the
residence in which Takeda was staying and thereafter avoiding all
contact with him.[14]:139[19]:135 Between
1940 and 1942 he made several visits to Manchukuo (Japanese
occupied Manchuria) where he was the principal martial arts
instructor at Kenkoku
University.[9]:63 Whilst
in Manchuria, he met and defeated the sumo wrestler Tenryū
Saburō during
a demonstration.[22]
The
"Second Ōmoto Incident" in 1935 saw another government
crackdown on Deguchi's sect, in which the Ayabe compound was
destroyed and most of the group's leaders imprisoned. Although he
had relocated to Tokyo, Ueshiba had retained links with the
Ōmoto-kyō group (he had in fact helped Deguchi to establish a
paramilitary branch of the sect only three years earlier[19]:134)
and expected to be arrested as one of its senior members. However,
he had a good relationship with the local police
commissioner Kenji
Tomita and
the chief
of police Gīchi
Morita, both of whom had been his students. As a result, although he
was taken in for interrogation, he was released without charge on
Morita's authority.[2]:233–237
In
1932, Ueshiba's daughter Matsuko was married to the
swordsman Kiyoshi
Nakakura,
who was adopted as Ueshiba's heir under the name Morihiro Ueshiba.
The marriage ended after a few years, and Nakakura left the family
in 1937. Ueshiba later designated his son Kisshomaru as the heir to
his martial art.[23][19]:134
The
1930s saw Japan's invasion of mainland Asia and increased military
activity in Europe. Ueshiba was concerned about the prospect of war,
and became involved in a number of efforts to try and forestall the
conflict that would eventually become World
War II.
He was part of a group, along with Shūmei Ōkawa and several
wealthy Japanese backers, that tried to broker a deal with Harry
Chandler to
export aviation fuel from the United States to Japan (in
contravention of the oil
embargo that was currently in force),
although this effort ultimately failed.[14]:156 In
1941 Ueshiba also undertook a secret diplomatic mission to China at
the behest of Prince Fumimaro
Konoe.
The intended goal was a meeting with Chiang
Kai-shek to
establish peace talks, but Ueshiba was unable to meet with the
Chinese leader, arriving too late to fulfil his mission.[2]:236–237
Iwama,
1942–1969[edit]
The
Aiki Shrine in Iwama
From
1935 onwards, Ueshiba had been purchasing land in Iwama in Ibaraki
Prefecture,
and by the early 1940s had acquired around 17 acres (6.9 ha;
0.027 sq mi)
of farmland there. In 1942, disenchanted with the war-mongering and
political manoeuvring in the capital, he left Tokyo and moved to
Iwama permanently, settling in a small farmer's
cottage.[19]:639 Here
he founded the Aiki Shuren Dojo, also known as the Iwama
dojo,
and the Aiki Shrine, a devotional shrine to the "Great Spirit
of Aiki".[24][5][9]:55 During
this time he travelled extensively in Japan, particularly in
the Kansai
region,
teaching his aikido. Despite the prohibition on the teaching of
martial arts after World War II, Ueshiba and his students continued
to practice in secret at the Iwama dojo; the Hombu dojo in Tokyo was
in any case being used as a refugee centre for citizens displaced by
the severe
firebombing.
It was during this period that Ueshiba met and befriended Koun
Nakanishi, an expert in kotodama.
The study of kotodama was to become one of Ueshiba's passions in
later life, and Nakanishi's work inspired Ueshiba's concept
of takemusu
aiki.[2]:267
The
rural nature of his new home in Iwama allowed Ueshiba to concentrate
on the second great passion of his life: farming. He had been born
into a farming family and spent much of his life cultivating the
land, from his settlement days in Hokkaidō to his work in Ayabe
trying to make the Ōmoto-kyō compound self-sufficient. He viewed
farming as a logical complement to martial arts; both were
physically demanding and required single-minded dedication. Not only
did his farming activities provide a useful cover for martial arts
training under the government's restrictions, it also provided food
for Ueshiba, his students and other local families at a time when
food shortages were commonplace.[1]:18–19[19]:135
The
government prohibition (on aikido, at least) was lifted in 1948 with
the creation of the Aiki Foundation, established by the Japanese
Ministry of Education with permission from the Occupation forces.
The Hombu dojo re-opened the following year. After the war Ueshiba
effectively retired from aikido.[25] He
delegated most of the work of running the Hombu dojo and the Aiki
Federation to his son Kisshomaru, and instead chose to spend much of
his time in prayer, meditation, calligraphy and farming.[9]:66–69 He
still travelled extensively to promote aikido, even
visiting Hawaii in
1961.[4]:xix He
also appeared in a television documentary on aikido: NTV's The
Master of Aikido,
broadcast in January 1960.[5] Ueshiba
maintained links with the Japanese
nationalist movement even
in later life; his student Kanshu
Sunadomari reported
that Ueshiba temporarily sheltered Mikami
Taku,
one of the naval officers involved in the May
15 Incident,
at Iwama.[14]:159–160
In
1969, Ueshiba became ill. He led his last training session on March
10, and was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer of
the liver. He died suddenly on April 26, 1969.[9]:72 His
body was buried at Kōzan-ji,
and he was given the posthumous
Buddhist title "Aiki-in
Moritake En'yū Daidōshi" (合気院盛武円融大道士);
parts of his hair were enshrined at Ayabe, Iwama and
Kumano.[3]:13 Two
months later, his wife Hatsu (植芝
はつ Ueshiba
Hatsu,
née Itokawa
Hatsu;
1881–1969) also died.[2]:316–317[6]:3
Development
of aikido[edit]
Main
article: Aikido
Aikido—usually
translated as the Way
of Unifying Spirit or
the Way
of Spiritual Harmony—is
a fighting system that focuses on throws, pins and joint locks
together with some striking techniques. It emphasises protecting the
opponent and promotes spiritual and social development.[26]
The
technical curriculum of aikido was derived from the teachings of
Takeda Sōkaku; the basic techniques of aikido stem from his
Daitō-ryū system.[12][27] In
the earlier years of his teaching, from the 1920s to the mid-1930s,
Ueshiba taught the Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu system; his early
students' documents bear the term Daitō-ryū.[15] Indeed,
Ueshiba trained one of the future highest grade earners in
Daitō-ryū, Takuma
Hisa,
in the art before Takeda took charge of Hisa's training.[28]
The
early form of training under Ueshiba was noticeably different from
later forms of aikido. It had a larger curriculum, increased use of
strikes to vital points (atemi)
and a greater use of weapons. The schools of aikido developed by
Ueshiba's students from the pre-war period tend to reflect the
harder style of the early training. These students included Kenji
Tomiki (who
founded the Shodokan
Aikido sometimes
called Tomiki-ryū), Noriaki
Inoue (who
founded Shin'ei Taidō), Minoru
Mochizuki (who
founded Yoseikan
Budo)
and Gozo
Shioda (who
founded Yoshinkan
Aikido).
Many of these styles are therefore considered "pre-war styles",
although some of these teachers continued to train with Ueshiba in
the years after World War II.[19]:134–136
During
his lifetime, Ueshiba had three spiritual experiences that impacted
greatly on his understanding of the martial arts. The first occurred
in 1925, after Ueshiba had defeated a naval
officer's bokken (wooden katana)
attacks unarmed and without hurting the officer. Ueshiba then walked
to his garden, where he had the following realisation:
I
felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up
from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden
one. At the same time my body became light. I was able to understand
the whispering of the birds, and was clearly aware of the mind of
God, the creator of the universe. At that moment I was enlightened:
the source of budō [the
martial way]
is God's love – the spirit of loving protection for all beings ...
Budō is not the felling of an opponent by force; nor is it a tool
to lead the world to destruction with arms. True Budō is to accept
the spirit of the universe, keep the peace of the world, correctly
produce, protect and cultivate all beings in nature.[29]
His
second experience occurred in 1940 when engaged in the ritual
purification process of misogi.
Around
2 am, I suddenly forgot all the martial techniques I had ever
learned. The techniques of my teachers appeared completely new. Now
they were vehicles for the cultivation of life, knowledge, and
virtue, not devices to throw people with.[30]
His
third experience was in 1942 during the worst fighting of World War
II, when Ueshiba had a vision of the "Great Spirit of
Peace".[1]:18
The
Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill
and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another
are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the
worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to
prevent such slaughter – it is the Art of Peace, the power of
love.[31]:223
After
these events, Ueshiba seemed to slowly grow away from Takeda, and he
began to change his art.[32] These
changes are reflected in the differing names with which he referred
to his system, first as aiki-jūjutsu,
then Ueshiba-ryū, Asahi-ryū,[33] and aiki
budō.[31]:89 In
1942, when Ueshiba's group joined the Dai
Nippon Butoku Kai,
the martial art that Ueshiba developed finally came to be known as
aikido.[16][34][35]
As
Ueshiba grew older, more skilled, and more spiritual in his outlook,
his art also changed and became softer and more gentle. Martial
techniques became less important, and more focus was given to the
control of ki.[36][37] In
his own expression of the art there was a greater emphasis on what
is referred to as kokyū-nage,
or "breath throws" which are soft and blending, utilizing
the opponent's movement in order to throw them. Ueshiba regularly
practiced cold water misogi,
as well as other spiritual and religious rites, and viewed his
studies of aikido as part of this spiritual training.[6]:17
Ueshiba
with a group of his international students at the Hombu dojo in
1967.
Over
the years, Ueshiba trained a
large number of students,
many of whom later became famous teachers in their own right and
developed their own styles of aikido. Some of them were uchi-deshi,
live-in students. Ueshiba placed many demands on his uchi-deshi,
expecting them to attend him at all times, act as training partners
(even in the middle of the night), arrange his travel plans, massage
and bathe him, and assist with household chores.[38]
There
were roughly four generations of students, comprising the pre-war
students (training c.1921–1935), students who trained during
the Second World War (c.1936–1945), the post-war students in Iwama
(c.1946–1955) and the students who trained with Ueshiba during his
final years (c.1956–c.1969).[10] As
a result of Ueshiba's martial development throughout his life,
students from each of these generations tend to have markedly
different approaches to aikido.[38] These
variations are compounded by the fact that few students trained with
Ueshiba for a protracted period; only Yoichiro Inoue, Kenji Tomiki,
Gozo Shioda, Morihiro Saito, Tsutomu
Yukawa and Mitsugi
Saotome studied
directly under Ueshiba for more than five or six
years.[25][39] After
the war, Ueshiba and the Hombu Dojo dispatched some of their
students to various other countries, resulting in aikido spreading
around the world.[40][19]:136
Honors[edit]
Medal
of Honor (Purple Ribbon) (Japan),
1960[2]:306
Order
of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette,
1964[41][2]:309
Order
of the Sacred Treasure (Japan),
1968[42]
Works[edit]
Morihei
Ueshiba, The
Secret Teachings of Aikido (2008),
Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-3030-6
Morihei
Ueshiba, Budo:
Teachings of the Founder of Aikido (1996),
Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2070-3
Morihei
Ueshiba, The
Essence of Aikido: Spiritual Teachings of Morihei Ueshiba (1998),
Kodansha International, ISBN 978-4-7700-2357-5
Morihei
Ueshiba, The
Art of Peace (2007),
Shambhala, ISBN 978-1590304488
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morihei_Ueshiba
Setion
21: EDITH
WINDSOR
The
overturning of section 3 of the Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA)
in 2013 changed the lives of thousands of couples, and it was
spurred by one woman from New York. Edith Windsor married Thea
Spyer, her partner of 40 years, in Canada in 2007. Though the
marriage was recognized above the border and in New York (which
started recognizing out-of-state gay marriages in 2008), U.S. law
prohibited the women from reaping the same benefits as other married
couples in the States. Windsor felt this first-hand when Spyer died
in 2009, leaving her with $363,000 in
estate taxes and without hope for exemption. Instead of accepting
this, she sued
the federal government,
arguing that the section of DOMA defining marriage as a union
between a man and woman was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court
eventually agreed, and on June 26, 2013 Windsor and Spyer's marriage
was recognized. Windsor remarried in
September 2016; she died in
2017, just short of her first anniversary.
Section
22: ELLEN
DEGENERES
She
sacrificed her career for us.
Ellen
DeGeneres made television history when she announced
she was gay in
1997. Hours after appearing on The
Oprah Winfrey Show,
after having come out to TIME magazine
earlier in the month, DeGeneres's fictional sitcom counterpart of
the same name followed suit in a two-part special episode of Ellen.
The reveal was almost as significant for Ellen the character as it
was for Ellen the real-life comedian: In the mid-'90s, LGBT
characters—especially well-rounded, relatable ones—were
practically non-existent in prime-time. The "Puppy Episode"
opened the door for several more television programs starring openly
gay characters. Today, Ellen continues to light up screens on her
daytime talk show while remaining an active supporter of LGBT
rights.
Section
23: BAYARD
RUSTIN
Bayard
Rustin was instrumental in one of the greatest civil rights
demonstrations in history. In 1963, he worked with Martin Luther
King Jr. to organize the March on Washington, then in the 1980s he
redirected his focus to a different cause. "Gay people are the
new barometer for social change," he said
in a speech in
1986. He died the following year, but his extensive activism work
included fighting for the passage of New York’s gay rights bill
and urging the NAACP to acknowledge the AIDS epidemic.
Section
24:BARBARA
GITTINGS
The
concept of "gay rights" was virtually nonexistent in
buttoned-up 1950s America. But that didn't stop Barbara
Gittings from
carving out a space for gay women like her where she saw the need
for one. She founded the New York chapter of America's first lesbian
organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in 1958 when she was 26
years old, and in the 1960s she picketed to end discrimination
against gay employees in the federal government. But perhaps the
greatest legacy she left behind is the American Library
Association's bibliography of literature about gays and lesbians,
one of the first collections of its kind.
Section
25: AARON
FRICKE
In
spring of 1980, Aaron
Fricke looked
forward to attending prom with the rest of his classmates at
Cumberland High in Rhode Island. But unlike his peers, Fricke hoped
to go with a date of the same gender. Once the principal caught wind
of the plan he made his stance clear: No same-sex couples would be
allowed into the event. Fricke challenged his school in court and
won the right to attend prom with his male date—the judge even
required his school to provide enough security to keep them safe
from harassment. Fricke
v. Lynch is
now considered a landmark
case in
the fight for LGBT student rights.
Section
26: MARTINA
NAVRATILOVA
In
1981, Czech-American tennis star Martina Navratilova was at the top
of her game—she had won Wimbledon twice already and was about to
start a record-breaking string of nine Wimbledon final appearances.
Then she put her career and celebrity status in jeopardy by coming
out, first as bisexual and then as a lesbian. Navratilova estimates
that she lost
millions in
endorsement deals following her revelation. Despite the financial
setback, she continued to dominate the tennis court while using her
star power to advocate for gay rights. In 1992, she joined other
activists in a
lawsuit challenging
a Colorado amendment that banned extending civil rights protections
to gay people.
Section
27: MARSHA
JOHNSON
The
Stonewall Riot of 1969, in which a late-night raid of a prominent
New York City gay bar devolved into a violent struggle between
patrons and police, is largely seen as the driving event behind the
gay rights movement. Today Stonewall is recognized as a national
monument, but the names of many of the men and women who led the
unrest are still missing from history books. Marsha P. Johnson, a
trans woman from New Jersey, was on the front lines that night
according to eyewitness accounts. After she helped spark a national
resistance, Johnson continued to support LGBT communities during the
AIDS crisis. According to Mic,
she joined the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power in the 1980s, which,
among other things, fought to lower the price of HIV/AIDS
medication.
Section
28: Leonard
Matlovich
Leonard
Matlovich wasn't the first gay man to serve in the military, but he
may have been the first to come out on such a public platform. For
most of his life, including his years spent in Vietnam, Matlovich
kept his true sexuality a secret from the world. Then in 1975, he
decided to come out to his superiors. An interview with The
New York Times soon
followed, and then a famous appearance on the cover
of TIME magazine that
displayed his portrait above the words "I Am a Homosexual."
The story attracted plenty of backlash, but it also initiated a
conversation many people were hesitant to have at the time.
Matlovich's admission eventually led to his discharge from the Air
Force, where he had continued to serve as a race relations counselor
after returning to the States. He died of complications from AIDS at
age 44, and his gravestone in
Washington D.C.'s Congressional Cemetery reads: "When I was in
the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a
discharge for loving one."
Section
29:RICHARD
ISAY
Even
after the American Psychiatric Association declassified
homosexuality as an illness in 1973, the stigma persisted in the
medical community. Gay patients were often approached as sick
individuals who needed to be cured. According to his obituary in The
New York Times,
Dr. Richard Isay was one of the first prominent
psychiatrists/psychoanalysts to encourage his gay patients to accept
themselves rather than deny their feelings. Isay, a gay man himself,
was already an established mental health professional when he came
out of the closet. He was ostracized by his colleagues, but he
continued to present his then-radical notions about homosexuality at
meetings and in his writings nonetheless. Attitudes shifted in 1992,
when Isay teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union to
threaten the American Psychoanalytic Association with a
discrimination lawsuit. The APA agreed to start treating analysts
the same regardless of their sexuality and to promote education on
the subject within the network.
Section
30:LAVERNE
COX
Laverne
Cox has already made history several times throughout her career. In
2014, her role on Orange
is the New Black earned
her the first Emmy
nomination for
an openly trans actor, and in
2017 she
became the first transgender regular to play a trans character on
broadcast TV with CBS’s Doubt.
When she isn’t blazing trails as an actor, she’s working
off-screen to bolster LGBT rights as a film
producer and motivational
speaker.
Section
31:
Section
32
Section
33:
Section
34:
Section
35:
Section
36:
Section
37:
Section
38:
Section
39:
Section
40:
Chapter
7: Quotes, Poems and Prayers
“Human
rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy.
These are things you fight for and then you protect.”
― Wangari
Maathai
“Finally
I was able to see that if I had a contribution I wanted to make, I
must do it, despite what others said. That I was OK the way I was.
That it was all right to be strong.”
― Wangari
Maathai
“A
tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that
in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how
high we go it is from our roots that we draw sustenance. It is a
reminder to all of us who have had success that we cannot forget
where we came from. It signifies that no matter how powerful we
become in government or how many awards we receive, our power and
strength and our ability to reach our goals depend on the people,
those whose work remain unseen, who are the soil out of which we
grow, the shoulders on which we stand”
― Wangari
Maathai
“The
generation that destroys the environment is not the generation that
pays the price. That is the problem.”
― Wangari
Maathai
“Today
we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our
thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support
system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in
the process heal our own - indeed to embrace the whole of creation
in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. Recognizing that
sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an
idea whose time has come”
― Wangari
Maathai
Section 2 Quotes
and Poems
The Art Of Peace
Morihei Ueshiba
Translated and
Edited by John Stevens for Shambhala; Boston and London;2005AD
Translators
introduction
Chapter
8: Vocation
Chapter
9: The Laws and Tales of Marriage
Section 1: Dating
At an Early age we can develop feelings for each other but in youth
we do not understand things fully and patience is a virtue......
The benefits of Abstenance
Waiting until you are mature and responsible
For Sex It is best to wait until marriage but we are all flawed and
some can wait and some cant
Some never find love, some love one only and some love more than
one.
Monogomous principles – this is respected when there is only one
person you are intimate with.
or polymorous principles are expected if one is to become intimate
before marriage .
Polyamory
(from
Greek πολύ poly, "many, several", and Latin amor,
"love") is the practice of, or desire for, intimate
relationships with more than one partner, with the informed consent
of all partners involved. It has been described as "consensual,
ethical, and responsible non-monogamy".
Please Remember before
engaging in an act of Intamacy the Effects it will have when it
comes time to marry as some will not want you if you give away your
body too much.
Section 2:A
Comprehension of Love
Section 3: Types of
Marriage
A) Monogomous
Straight Monogomous
Lesbian Monogomous
Gay Monogomous
Trans Monogomous
B) Polygamous
Straight Polygamy
Female head
Male Head
Lesbian Polygamy
Gay Polygamy
Bi Polygamy
Section 3: The Laws
of Marriage
A) Monogomous
Straight Monogomous
Lesbian Monogomous
Gay Monogomous
Trans Monogomous
B) Polygamous
Straight Polygamy
Lesbian Polygamy
Gay Polygamy
Bi Polygamy
Section
4: Tales of Marriage
A) Monogomous
stories
Straight Monogomous
Lesbian Monogomous
Gay Monogomous
Trans Monogomous
B) Polygamous
stories
Straight Polygamy
Lesbian Polygamy
Gay Polygamy
Bi
Polygamy
Section
10: Evironmental Awareness
Chapter
11: The growth and maintenance of Medicine (pioneers)
Marie
Skłodowska Curie changed
the world not once but twice. She founded the new science of
radioactivity – even the word was invented by her – and her
discoveries launched effective cures for cancer.
“She
was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, first female professor at
the University of Paris, and the first person – note the use of
person there, not woman – to win a second Nobel Prize.”
Chapter
12:The ethics and Morals of Science and Discovery
Chapter
13:The Spiritual Energy
Section 1: Mystic Rituals
Section 2: the Study of Chi
Chapter
14: The Ever Expanding Multiverse
The Multiverse is
continually growing with each Universe Expanding at varrying rates
Chapter 15: the
path to salvation
***Until you are
Vegan you will spend time in Purgatory or hell until your way is
earned and path redeemed.
1)
Equalia
Kaleidoscopians
Followers
Worship Da Grand Creator Hermata and seek to become Peace Architects
for Eternity
2)
Omeyocan
Nativescopians
3)
Da
Great Beyond
Kalailens
-
Abati
Gazi- Father Time
Ibu
Jagat- Mother Universe
Karima-
4)
Kaleiobia
Kaleiobas
Yarobas
Olorun (Yoruba
alphabet:
Ọlọrun) is the ruler of (or in) the Heavens. The Supreme God or
Supreme Being in the Yoruba
pantheon,
Olorun is also called Olodumare.
Humans
do not worship Olorun directly; there are no sacred areas of worship
or ordained person. Olorun is outlying, distant, and does not
partake in human rituals. There are no shrines or sacrifices
dedicated directly to him, although followers can send prayers in
his direction.[1]
Among
Yoruba Christians and Muslims,
the word Ọlọrun is
also commonly used to denote their faith in God as The Almighty
Divine, The Absolute Sovereign.
For
Yoruba traditions, there is no centralized authority; because of
this and the way the traditions were spread through the slave trade
to other areas of the world, there are many different ways that
Yoruban people and their descendants or orisa-based faiths can
understand the idea of Olorun.[1]
5)
Trāyastriṃśa
6)
Mount Olympus
7)
God's Kingdom
Christleiscopes
Jeweleiscopes
Musliscopes
https://www.ancient.eu/Moses/
8)
Zion
Kaleidofarians
Rastafarians
Christians
9)
Valhalla
Norseiscopes
10)
Tian
A
LGBT Pantheon of Dieties rule this heaven
Kaleidoscopians
Kaleintists
Scientologists
Christians
Jewlelescopes
Musliscopes
11)
Utopia
Polygamists
and Polymorous interFaith based beliefs
Kaleidoscopians
Kaleintists
Kaleidofarians
Scientologists
Christians
Jewlelescopes
Musliscopes
12)
Scientifica
Kaelintists
Scientology
13)
Celestial paradise
This
is a Place for the Dieties to take a break and all who come here
work towards a vacation for the dieties and help prepare them to
recover from judgements and for future judgements
14)fields
of Aaru
15)
Kaleidoscopia
Hermata is
preparing this for Gud and Luv
Kaleidoscopians
Kaleintists
Kaleidofarians
Christiscopians
Section 2:
Scriptures
https://www.ancient.eu/Moses/
Moses (c.
1400 BCE) is considered one of the most important religious leaders
in world history. He is claimed by the religions
of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and
Bahai as an important prophet of God and the founder of monotheistic
belief. The story of Moses is told in the biblical books of Exodus,
Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers but he continues to be
referenced throughout the Bible and
is the prophet most often cited in the New Testament. In the Quran
he also plays an important role and, again, is the most often cited
religious figure who is mentioned 115 times as opposed to Muhammed
who is referred to by name only four times in the text. As in the
Bible, in the Quran Moses is a figure who alternately stands for
divine or human understanding.
Moses is best known from the story in the biblical Book of Exodus
and Quran as the lawgiver who met God face-to-face on Mount Sinai to
receive the Ten Commandments after leading his people, the Hebrews,
out of bondage in Egypt and
to the "promised land" of Canaan.
The story of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt is only found in the
Penteteuch, the first five books of the Bible, and in the Quran
which was written later. No other ancient sources corroborate the
story and no archaeological evidence supports it. This has led many
scholars to conclude that Moses was a legendary figure and the
Exodus story a cultural myth.
The Egyptian historian
Manetho (3rd century BCE), however, tells the story of an Egyptian
priest named Osarsiph who led a group of lepers in rebellion against
the wishes of the king who wanted them banished. Osarsiph, Manetho
claims, rejected the polytheism of Egyptian
religion in favor of a monotheistic
understanding and changed his name to Moses meaning "child
of..." and usually used in conjunction with a god's name
(Ramesses would
be Ra-Moses, son of Ra, for example). Osarsiph would have attached
no god's name to his own, it would seem, since he believed himself a
son of a living god who had no name human beings could - or should -
utter.
Manetho's story of Osarsiph/Moses is
related by the historian Flavius Josephus (c. 37-100 CE) who cited
Manetho's story at length in his own work. The Roman historian
Tacitus (c. 56-117 CE) tells a similar story of a man named Moses
who becomes the leader of a colony of Egyptian lepers. This has led
a number of writers and scholars (Sigmund Freud and Joseph Campbell
among them) to assert that the Moses of the Bible was not a Hebrew
who was raised in an Egyptian palace but
an Egyptian priest who led a religious revolution to establish
monotheism. This theory links Moses closely with
the pharaoh Akhenaten (1353-1336
BCE) who established his own monotheistic belief in the god Aten,
unlike any other god and more powerful than all, in the fifth year
of his reign. Akhenaten's monotheism may have been born of a genuine
religious impulse or could have been a reaction against the priests
of the god Amun who
had grown almost as wealthy and powerful as the throne. In
establishing monotheism and banning all the old gods of Egypt,
Akhenaten effectively eliminated any threat to the crown from the
priesthood. The theory advanced by Campbell and others (following
Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism in this) is that Moses was a
priest of Akhenaten who led like-minded followers out of Egypt after
Akhenaten's death when
his son, Tutankhamun (c.
1336-1327 BCE), restored the old gods and practices. Still other
scholars equate Moses with Akhenaten himself and see the Exodus
story as a mythological rendering of Akhenaten's honest attempt at
religious reform.
Moses is mentioned by a number of classical writers all drawing
on the stories known in the Bible or by earlier writers. He could
have been a mythological character who took on a life of his own as
his story was told over and over again or could have been a real
person to whom magical or supernatural events were ascribed or could
have been precisely as he is depicted in the early books of the
Bible and in the Quran. Dating Moses' life and the precise date of
the Exodus is difficult and is always based on interpretations of
the Book of Exodus in conjunction with other books of the Bible and
so are always speculative. It is entirely possible that the Exodus
story was written by a Hebrew scribe living in Canaan who wished to
make a clear distinction between his people and the older
settlements of the Amorites in the region. The story of God's Chosen
People led by his servant Moses to a land their God had promised
them would have served this purpose well.
The Bible Story
of Joseph, from the Book of Genesis, is one of heroic redemption and
forgiveness. Joseph was the most loved son of his father,
Israel, given the famous robe of many colors. When Joseph reported
having dreams of his brothers, and even the stars and moon, bowing
before him, their jealousy of Joseph grew into action. The
brothers sold him into slavery to a traveling caravan of Ishmaelites
who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, the captain of
Pharaoh's guard.
In
Egypt, the Lord's presence with Joseph enables him to find favor
with Potiphar and the keeper of the prison. With God's help,
Joseph interprets the dreams of two prisoners, predicting that one
of them will be reinstated but the other put to death. Joseph
then interprets the dreams of the Pharaoh, which anticipate seven
years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh
recognizes Joseph's God-given ability and prompts his promotion to
the chief administrator of Egypt.
Shortage
of food in Canaan forces Jacob to send his sons to buy grains from
the Egyptians. Benjamin, Joseph's younger brother remains at
home as Jacob fears of losing him, as he did Joseph. When
Joseph finally encounters his brothers again, he deliberately
conceals his identity. He accuses them of being spies and tells them
to return with Benjamin or he will not sell them grain. The
ongoing famine forces Jacob to reluctantly send his sons back to
Egypt with Benjamin, and they are unexpectedly invited to dine at
Joseph's house. Joseph then tests the character of his brothers by
placing a silver cup the sack of Benjamin and falsely accusing him
of theft. When Judah offers to stay in place of Benjamin,
Joseph knows that his character has changed and reveals that he is
their brother. Joseph explains they need not feel guilty for
betraying him as it was God's plan for him to be in Egypt to
preserve his family. He told them to bring their father and
his entire household into Egypt to live in the province of Goshen
because there were five more years of famine left. Joseph
supplied them Egyptian transport wagons, new garments, silver, and
twenty additional donkeys carrying provisions for the journey.
Jacob is then joyously reunited with his son Joseph.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/520477/jewish/The-Story-of-King-David-in-the-Bible.htm
King
David is
one of the most well-known figures in Jewish history. His life was
filled with much happiness and much pain. He is known by many
titles: David the
conqueror, David the pious man, David the sweet singer, David the
shepherd and David the penitent. King David was a descendant
of Judah as
well as Ruth,
and was promised by G d that
his children would rule Israel forever.
Until this very day, he is remembered by Jews everywhere, who still
chant his Psalms in
prayer, in times of joy and sorrow.
David’s
Early Life
David
was born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, in the year 2854 (907
BCE), during the era of the prophets. He was the youngest of seven
sons, and only 10 generations removed from Judah, one of Jacob's
12 sons. He was also a descendant of Ruth, the famous Moabite
convert.1
A
red-cheeked, bright-eyed and handsome young man, he used to tend to
the sheep of his father, Jesse.
Now, the people had recently anointed Saul as
the first king of Israel, but Saul soon sinned and fell from Divine
grace.
It
was then that the prophet Samuel (as
directed by G d) anointed David as king of Israel. And so his
ascension to the throne began.
David and
Saul
King
Saul and David’s first encounter occurred when an evil spirit
gripped King Saul. His advisors suggested he bring in a skilled
musician who would play for the king to ease his mind. One of the
attendants present recommended that the king bring in young David,
whom he knew to be a skilled performer. Little did Saul know that
the young lad who was playing before him was destined to be his
successor.3
At
this time, King Saul was battling the Philistines, longtime enemies
of Israel.
In
the valley of Elah,
the two armies were poised for battle, with nothing but a hill
separating them. The Philistines vastly outnumbered Saul’s army.
A Philistine
giant, Goliath, appeared on the hill, and his words came roaring
down like thunder:
Why
should you come out to engage in battle? I am the Philistine
[champion], and you are Saul’s servants. Choose one of your men
and let him come down against me. If he overcomes me in combat and
kills me, we will become your slaves; but if I best him and kill
him, you shall be our slaves and serve us.4
The
sight of the fierce giant, six cubits and a span (about 10 feet5)
tall, a towering figure on the hill, clad in armour, iron and brass
from head to foot, filled the Jews with great terror. There was not
a single man in the Israelite camp
who dared accept the challenge.
Day after day,
for 40 days, this mighty giant appeared on the hill to repeat his
challenge, morning and evening.
Then,
young David, filled with courage, approached the giant with just a
staff, a slingshot and five stones.6 And
with one shot, he slew the giant where he stood. He proceeded to cut
off his head and presented it to King Saul. The Philistines
witnessing this event fled in fear. And David was a national
hero.7,8
(See
here for more.)
True Friendship
“A
love that is not dependent on anything will never perish . . . an
example of this is the love between David and Jonathan.”9
When
David overcame Goliath in battle and was brought to King Saul’s
palace to be rewarded, he met Jonathan, the son of King Saul, for
the first time. At that moment, their love and respect for each
other was first founded: “When [David] finished speaking with
Saul, Jonathan’s soul became bound up with the soul of David;
Jonathan loved David as himself.”10
This bond
between the two proved itself, even in the most difficult of times.
Later on, King Saul began to fear that David wanted his throne and
sought to kill him. Despite knowing that David posed a potential
threat to his place in line to the crown, Jonathan loved David and
protected him from his father’s attempts to have him killed.
King
Saul then selected David to be a warrior in his army. David’s
success was so great, the verse relates, “When the [troops] came
home [and] David returned from killing the Philistines, the women of
all the towns of Israel came out . . . The women sang as they
danced, and they chanted: ‘Saul has slain his thousands; David,
his tens of thousands!’”11
King
Saul started to grow envious of David’s glory and kept a watchful
and jealous eye on David.12
King Saul vs.
David
G d
continued to grant David much success in battle. King Saul started
to fear that David’s fame and power would one day help him usurp
the throne. This led to a war between the two men.
It started when
David was playing the harp for the king, and a cloud of fear and
anger suddenly fell upon the king. King Saul took hold of a spear
and threw it at David. By Divine intervention, David managed to
escape.
David
fled south to the mountains of Judah, his home. He needed food and
weapons. He obtained these from the city of Nob.
At that time Nob was a holy place, distinguished because it housed
the Tabernacle and
the priests. David was taken in and cared for by Ahimelech and his
fellow priests. This provided David with the opportunity to stock up
on food and weapons. During his stay, he was seen by Doeg
the Edomite,
who was a servant of King Saul.
Fearing this,
David escaped to the city of Gath, and then sought refuge in one of
the caves near Adullam, in the plains of Judah. It was a secure
retreat, and David’s brothers and all his father's household came
to him. His solitary abode was soon known, and he was joined by many
who were in distress, or in debt or had any other reason to be
discontented.
Doeg the
Edomite related news of David’s whereabouts to the king.
King
Saul embarked on a quest to hunt down and kill David. There were two
times during this hunt when King Saul was at the mercy of David, and
instead of taking advantage of the situation and killing the king,
David spared his life, as he dared not to lay his hand upon G d’s
anointed one. It was only after David spared his life for the second
time that King Saul finally retreated and let David be.13
(See
here for more.)
Death of Saul
and Jonathan
King Saul was
then waging a mighty war against the Philistines.
David
was in Ziklag (where he had retreated in fear that King Saul would
change his mind and hunt him again) when he heard that Saul (and his
son Jonathan) had died in battle. David sincerely mourned the death
of Saul and Jonathan and the defeat of Israel.14
After
the death of Saul, David saw that the time had come for him to
emerge from exile and take over the leadership of his people. He
left Ziklag and proceeded to the ancient city of Hebron, in Judah.
There the people of Judah gathered and anointed him king. In the
prime of his life (he was 30 years old), David was wise in council,
prompt in action, G d-fearing and earnest, and the people
recognized him as the most suitable candidate for the throne in
those troubled times.
King
David’s ascension to the throne did not go
unprotested. Abner (previously
a general in King Saul’s army) felt that the crown should remain
in the family of King Saul. However, his forces were beaten swiftly,
and he had no choice but to acknowledge the reality of David being
king over all of Israel.
The
people swarmed to Hebron to pay homage to their beloved king and to
anoint him publicly. The occasion turned into a great national
celebration that lasted for three days. In time, he moved his
capital from Hebron to Jerusalem.15
King
David maintained a standing army consisting of 12 divisions, each
one representing one tribe of Israel. Each division numbered 24,000
men. Thus, King David's army totalled 288,000 men. David knew that
before there could be real peace for his people, he would have to
subdue the neighbouring enemies. He fought and subdued the
Philistines, invaded Moab,
slew most of their soldiers, and imposed a heavy tribute upon the
people.
Then King David
marched against Hadadezer, king of Zoba in Syria, whose empire
extended from the vicinity of Damascus eastward to the borders of
the Euphrates. He vanquished his armies, subjected his people and
sent the best of his horses to Jerusalem.
This
unparalleled succession of victories not only established King
David's power, but also spread his name abroad. He was regarded as
one of the mightiest rulers in the East.16
(See
here for more.)
King David’s
Wives
While
King David had numerous wives,17 only
eight are named in the book of Samuel: Michal,
Ahinoam, Abigail,
Maacah, Haggit, Avital, Eglah and Bathsheba.
While not much detail is given about these women, we do know
information about some of them:
Michal was
the second eldest daughter of King Saul. When the king was
confronted by Goliath, he promised that the warrior to defeat this
giant would be wed to one of his daughters. David came and slew the
giant. King Saul proposed that David marry his eldest daughter,
Merav. However, at that time, Merav had already already been given
in marriage to another.18 King
Saul then discovered that his daughter, Michal, wished to marry
David. The king requested from David as a wedding dowry to marry
Michal, one hundred foreskins from his enemies, the Philistines.
King Saul had hoped that David would fall in battle (as he grew
fearful of David as explained earlier), but David succeeded and took
Michal as his wife.19
Abigail is
described as a wise and beautiful women. It happened that when David
and his men were fleeing from King Saul, he went to a wealthy man
named Nabal to replenish his supply of food and weaponry. David
expected Nabal to act generously towards him, as he had protected
and did not take advantage of his shepherds who were him throughout
his travels. However, Nabal, a fool and a drunk, refused and even
mocked David. When his refusal was reported back to David, he made
ready for war against Nabal. Abigail, the wife of Nabal, heard about
this great commotion and quickly diffused the situation by running
ahead and greeting David with plenty of food and gifts. Ten days
later, G d struck Nabal and he died. Upon hearing of Nabal’s
death, David sought to take Abigail as his wife and proposed to
her.20
King David and
Bathsheba
It
happened sometime after David was proclaimed king that he was taking
a stroll on the rooftops, and he beheld the beauty of a woman named
Bathsheba. David inquired about the woman and was informed that she
was married to a soldier named Uriah.
Now David’s passion for Bathsheba was strong, and he wished to
marry her. He sent Uriah to the front lines of battle, knowing full
well that he was giving him a death sentence. When news of Uriah’s
death reached David, he took Bathsheba as his wife.
G d
was displeased with David’s actions and sent the prophet Nathan to
rebuke the king. Knowing that he sinned, David sat in penance until
G d forgave him.
This
story raises many questions that are beyond the scope of this
article, but a couple of points need to be addressed in order to
bring some clarity to the story.21
According
to the Talmud,
the reason King David sought to marry Bathsheba and was willing to
go to great lengths to do so was because he saw by Divine
inspiration that he was destined to marry her and bear the next king
of Israel.22 Furthermore,
before sending Uriah off to battle, he had a quick discussion with
him regarding the war; in the midst of which King David gave Uriah a
command to go home, a command that Uriah did not obey. He told the
king, “The ark and Israel and Judah are located at Sukkot,
and my master Joab and
Your Majesty’s men are camped in the open; how can I go home?”23
Referring
to Joab (David’s general) as “my master” in front of the king
was tantamount to treason, and Uriah deserved the death penalty for
his rebellion.24 However,
King David sentenced him to death under the guise of sending him to
war so people should not say, “King David had Uriah killed so that
he could take his wife.”25
Justified
though his actions may be, they were still displeasing to
G d. Nathan
the prophet informed
the king that the first child he would have with Bathsheba would die
as a consequence of his actions.26 Shortly
after this, Bathsheba gave birth to a boy who fell critically ill.
David fasted and prayed in the hope of rescinding G d’s
decree, but alas, on the seventh day, the baby passed away. David
accepted this as part of his penance, got up from fasting and
prostrated before G d.27,28
David
and Bathsheba then gave birth to a son they called Solomon, "the
peaceful," but whom Nathan the prophet, blessing him in the
name of G d, called Jedidiah, "the beloved of G d."
Solomon was destined to rule over Israel.
David’s Other
Sons
David
had a number of sons, three of whom—Absalom,
Adoniah, and Solomon—became prominent in the history of Israel.
Absalom was a
handsome, ambitious and charismatic prince. He believed that he was
destined to be king and feared that his elderly father would pass
the crown on to young Solomon (as King David was Divinely inspired
to). And so he rallied some of the greatest warriors and advisers
and led a revolt against his father.
News of the
revolt broke David’s heart and, instead of confronting his son in
an all-out war, he fled on foot with some of his loyal servants.
Absalom was determined to chase down his father, and a bloody battle
ensued. Realizing that his father had the upper hand, Absalom fled
in terror and dismay. As he was riding through the woods on his
swift mule, his long locks of his hair got caught in the spreading
branches of a large tree. Unable to extricate himself, he remained
suspended, for his mule had escaped. One of David's servants brought
this intelligence to Joab (King David’s general), who gave the
order that Absalom be put to death.
Even though
Absalom had caused great troubles for his father, King David
nonetheless grieved and mourned for the death of his son.
Unfortunately,
Absalom was not the only son to seek the throne. Adoniah also had
grand plans to obtain the crown, but King David put an immediate
halt to any other usurpers by having Solomon anointed and pronounced
King of Israel.29
(See
here for more.)
David Lives
Forever
At
the age of 70, King David passed away. It is said that before his
death he asked G d to reveal exactly when he would leave this
world.30 G d,
not wishing to divulge this information, merely informed him on
which day of the week he was die: Shabbat.
David made sure to be constantly studying Torah throughout
every Shabbat so that the Angel of Death (Satan) would not be able
to take his soul. When David’s time on earth came to an end, the
Angel of Death distracted the king from his learning by shaking the
trees in his garden. The king climbed the stairs to see what the
commotion was, but one of the steps broke underneath his feet.
Startled, the king paused from his studies, and it was that moment
that the king passed away.
https://www.ancient.eu/solomon/
According to biblical tradition (and
some say myth), King Solomon was
the third and last king in the ancient United Kingdom of Israel.
Other faiths, such as Islam and
Rastafarianism, also embrace the notion of Solomon as a sagacious
king and powerful prophet of Israel. He was renowned for his
wisdom, his prolific writings, and his building accomplishments.
Born around 1010 BCE, Solomon was the tenth son of King
David (the
second king of ancient united Israel) and the second son of
Bathsheba. Like King Saul and King David, King Solomon reigned for
40 years in one of the highest and most prosperous periods in
Israel’s history - called by many, “The Golden Age” of Israel.
During his reign, Solomon controlled the trade routes
coming out of Edom, Arabia, India, Africa,
and Judea; he constructed an elaborate and profitable web of
alliances (cemented by an enormous assemblage of hundreds of wives
and concubines), and he purportedly built the first Temple of
God in Jerusalem,
which was destroyed (along with the entire city of
Jerusalem) by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Despite initial sovereign
successes, the end of Solomon’s rule was marked by several
insurrections and attacks from both foreign and domestic enemies, as
well as a disintegration of national and religious integrity because
of cultural appeasements within Israel, which compromised and
weakened the social fabric of the United Kingdom. He died in 931 BCE
at age 80, possibly the most prosperous and productive king ever to
rule over Israel.
The Traditional Story of King Solomon
The story of King Solomon begins with his father, King David, and
his mother, Bathsheba. In the Hebrew scriptures, 2 Samuel 3 states
that King David, anointed by the Prophet Samuel before King Saul’s
demise to be his replacement, officially became King of Judea (1010
BCE). Later, 2 Samuel 5 states that (in 1002 BCE) all the
elders of Israel approached him to be their ruler, and “The king
made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they
anointed David king over Israel.” King David’s reign lasted 40
years, and like King Saul, it started off better than it ended.
David’s initial zeal for God and for
ethical integrity paved the way for his early fame and fortune,
although being a man of warfare and
blood (according to the scriptures), God decided that David was not
suitable to be the one to build God’s Temple (that would be placed
in the hands of his son, Solomon). Moreover, David’s illicit
affair and subsequent devious actions (leading to the assassination
of Uriah the Hittite and
its cover-up) complicated the rest of David’s reign - along with
the rape of Tamar, the murder of Ammon,
and the attempted coup of Absalom, among other controversies.
By the end of David’s life, he had lost touch with Israelite
society and eventually lost political control of it, as well. This
led to an attempted coup by his son, Adonijah (whose mother was
Haggith, David’s fifth wife), who proclaimed himself to be king
with the assistance of General Joab and Abiathar the Priest;
however, the majority of Israel's institutional agents did not
support Adonijah’s claim. The Hebrew scriptures state that the
Prophet Nathan went first to Bathsheba to alert her to Adonijah’s
usurpation of the throne, who then went to her husband, King David,
to break the troubling news to him. Eventually, the Prophet Nathan
joined the two, and King David officially made Solomon his heir
apparent. David said, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king
after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place” (1 Kings 1).
Solomon Becomes King
King David died from natural causes in 961 BCE, was buried in
Jerusalem, and, as suggested in the Hebrew and Greek scriptures,
facilitated the establishment of the eternal kingdom of God through
his piety and lineage. Before his death,
David gave his final admonition to his son, Solomon, saying, “Keep
the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in his ways, to keep his
statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his testimonies, as
it is written in the Law of Moses,
that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. . .
for you are a wise man” (1 Kings 2).
Map
of the Levant circa 830 BCE
by
Richardprins (GNU FDL)
The threat of civil war and
Adonijah’s immediate execution as a traitor was averted for a
time; however, Adonijah attempted to possess King David’s former
asexual concubine, Abishag the Shunammite, behind King Solomon’s
back. This enraged Solomon most likely because of Adonijah’s
surreptitious political triangulation of Bathsheba and because of
Adonijah’s political machinations to be following in King David’s
footsteps. Thereafter, “King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada’ and he struck [Adonijah] down, and he died”
(1Kings 1). King Solomon also dispatched the other ringleaders of
the coup - General Joab and Abiathar the Priest, although Joab was
executed and Abiathar was exiled.
Perhaps one of the more fantastical yet pivotal parts of the
biblical story of Solomon is the divine gift that he received from
God as recorded in the Hebrew scriptures. Solomon implored, “Now,
O Lord God, let your promise to David my father be established, for
you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in
multitude. Now give me wisdom and knowledge.” According to the
Hebrew scriptures, this impressed God, so Solomon received not only
knowledge and wisdom, but also “riches and wealth and honor, such
as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any
after you have the like” (2 Chronicles 1). The Qur'an also
indicates that Solomon received a divine gift of wisdom, along with
other special gifts (21:78–79) - "And We made Sulaiman
[Solomon] to understand (the case); and unto each of them We gave
judgment and knowledge."
Features of Solomon's Reign
Solomon’s prosperity and success were also achieved through
ingenious reforms and innovations such as the improvement of defense
measures; the expansion of the royal court; the financial windfall
from more sophisticated taxation, labor conscriptions of Canaanites
and Israelites, tributes and gifts from foreign countries under the
influence of Solomon; and a land and sea trading system that
utilized a powerful navy and army to protect assets and trade
routes. According to the Hebrew scriptures, “The king made silver
and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as
abundant as the sycamores, which are in the lowland” (2 Chronicles
1).
King Solomon was also famous for his international relationships,
forming alliances with other nearby powerful nations such as Egypt,
Moab, Tyre,
Arabia, etc. Many of these partnerships were cemented through royal
marriages and the giving of concubines to Solomon, eventually
gaining him 700 wives and 300 concubines. One of King Solomon’s
more famous political-amorous relationships was with the Queen
of Sheba (which some speculate to be
modern-day Yemen), who visited Israel with a lavish tribute of 120
talents of gold. The Hebrew scriptures state, “And when the queen
of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had
built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the
service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers and their
apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the
Lord, there was no more spirit in her” (2 Chronicles 9).
Clearly, the Queen was impressed with Solomon and his
accomplishments, and the two cultivated an intimate relationship,
with Sheba helping create, foster, and maintain Solomon’s trading
with other Arabian kings. Additionally, according to the
Rastafarian faith, Solomon and Sheba conceived a child together,
whose descendants included Haile Selassie I, "the God of the
Black race," as Selassie would then be related to both King
David and Jesus
Christ of Nazareth.
Solomon's Temple
King Solomon is credited in the Hebrew scriptures as sponsoring,
planning, funding, and executing the building of the Temple to house
the Ark of the Covenant, per the wishes of his
father, King David, and God. The building of the Temple is recorded
in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, with the ground-breaking beginning in
the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, and construction was completed
seven years later with an ostentatious dedication. In a seven-day
celebration, Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep to
celebrate the Temple’s completion and God’s willingness to dwell
among them, therein.
Solomon's
Temple, Jerusalem
by
Unknown Artist (Public Domain)
The architectural design of the Temple was modeled after the
tabernacle that had housed the Ark of the Covenant for decades (if
not centuries). Quite lavish, it was double the size and built
mainly from stone, with cedar paneling to hide all masonry, which
was overlaid with gold. The inside of the Temple was decorated with
elaborate carvings (gourds and open flowers), golden lampstands, an
altar of incense (also called “the golden altar”), and
two bronze pillars
among other embellishments. In a less-advanced architectural age, at
over 100 feet long by 40 feet wide by 60 feet high (30 x 12 x 18 m)
with outer doors of ivory, the First Temple must have seemed an
impossibility, a miraculous achievement, for most visiting
Israelites.
According to the Hebrew scriptures, after the Temple was
completed, Solomon had the Ark of the Covenant finally moved from
the tent that King David had made for it and placed it in its
specialized chamber on the most western end of the Temple called,
“The Holy of Holies.” A perfect 20 x 20 x 20 ft. (6 x 6 x 6 m)
cube, this was the most sacred room that no one besides the Chief
Priest could enter (on the Day of Atonement) without dying.
Institutionally and nationally, it was the intersection of the
Divine with his People through his mediator. The Temple did not just
house the Levitical priests of God. Side rooms and a courtyard were
constructed around the whole building, with areas sectioned off for
both the priests and the common people of Israel.
Being a builder, King Solomon also engaged in other construction
projects such as his personal palace,
the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of the Pillars, and
the Hall of Justice. Yet, Solomon did not restrict his projects to
Jerusalem alone. He also rebuilt several cities;
he commissioned fleets of ships and built numerous harbors to
accommodate the bounty of the trade routes; and he constructed
stables to house his thousands of horses and chariots. It is
even possible that he helped erect (or financed with plunder from
the Temple by the Assyrians or Babylonians) the famous Hanging
Gardens (one of the legendary Seven
Wonders of the World).
Solomon's Literature
King Solomon is also credited for contributing several books and
literary works to the Hebrew scriptures including the Book of
Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes, as well as
traditionally penning some extra-biblical works including musical
songs, poetry, histories, and scientific works in botany and zoology
(although no extant writings have been discovered, currently). Under
Solomon, Israel’s golden age produced most of the works that were
eventually gathered together into the “The Writings” or
“Kethubim” section of the Hebrew scriptures.
The Queen
of Sheba (Hebrew: מלכת
שבא; Arabic: ٱلْمَلِكَة
بَلْقِيْس, romanized: Al-Malikah
Balqīs)
is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew
Bible.
In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for
the Israelite
King Solomon.
This tale has undergone extensive Jewish, Islamic,
and Ethiopian elaborations,
and has become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile
cycles of legends in the Orient.[1]
Modern
historians identify Sheba with
the South
Arabian kingdom
of Saba in
present-day Yemen.
The queen's existence is disputed among historians.[2]
Narratives[edit]
Bible[edit]
T
Queen
of Sheba and Solomon, around 1280, window now in Cologne
Cathedral, Germany
The
Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon by Tintoretto, around 1555
he Queen of Sheba (Hebrew: מַלְכַּת־
שְׁבָא,[3] malkat-šəḇā in
the Hebrew
Bible, Koinē
Greek: βασίλισσα
Σαβὰ in
the Septuagint,[4] Syriac: ܡܠܟܬ
ܫܒܐ,[5] Ge'ez: ንግሥተ፡ሳባእ፡[6])
came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels
bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (I
Kings 10:2).
"Never again came such an abundance of spices" (10:10; II
Chron. 9:1–9)
as those she gave to Solomon. She came "to prove him with hard
questions", which Solomon answered to her satisfaction. They
exchanged gifts, after which she returned to her land.[7][8]
The
use of the term ḥiddot or
'riddles' (I
Kings 10:1),
an Aramaic loanword
whose shape points to a sound shift no earlier than the sixth
century B.C., indicates a late origin for the text.[7] Since
there is no mention of the fall of Babylon in
539 BC, Martin
Noth has
held that the Book
of Kings received
a definitive redaction around 550 BC.[9]
Virtually
all modern scholars agree that Sheba was the South Arabian kingdom
of Saba,
centered around the oasis of Marib,
in present-day Yemen.
Sheba was quite well known in the classical world, and its country
was called Arabia
Felix.[8] Around
the middle of the first millennium B.C., there were Sabaeans also in
the Horn
of Africa,
in the area that later became the realm of Aksum.[10] There
are five places in the Bible where the writer
distinguishes Sheba (שׁבא),
i.e. the Yemenite Sabaeans, from Seba (סבא),
i.e. the African Sabaeans. In Ps. 72:10
they are mentioned together: "the kings of Sheba and Seba shall
offer gifts".[11] This
spelling differentiation, however, may be purely factitious; the
indigenous inscriptions make no such difference, and both Yemenite
and African Sabaeans are there spelt in exactly the same way.[10]
The
alphabetic inscriptions from South Arabia furnish no evidence for
women rulers, but Assyrian inscriptions repeatedly mention Arab
queens in the north.[12] Queens
are well attested in Arabia, though according to Kitchen, not after
690 B.C.[7] Furthermore,
Sabaean tribes knew the title of mqtwyt ("high
official"). Makada or Makueda,
the personal name of the queen in Ethiopian legend, might be
interpreted as a popular rendering of the title of mqtwyt.[13] This
title may be derived from Ancient
Egyptian m'kit (?モホᄀ?モママ?
) "protectress, housewife".[14]
The
queen's visit could have been a trade
mission.[8][10] Early
South Arabian trade with Mesopotamia involving wood and spices
transported by camels is attested in the early ninth century B.C.
and may have begun as early as the tenth.[7]
The
ancient Sabaic Awwām
Temple,
known in folklore as Maḥram ("the
Sanctuary of") Bilqīs,
was recently excavated by archaeologists, but no trace of the Queen
of Sheba has been discovered so far in the many inscriptions found
there.[8] Another
Sabean temple, the Barran Temple (Arabic: معبد
بران),
is also known as the 'Arash
Bilqis ("Throne
of Bilqis"), which like the nearby Awam Temple was also
dedicated to the god Almaqah, but the connection between the Barran
Temple and
Sheba has not been established archaeologically either.[15]
Bible
stories of the Queen of Sheba and the ships of Ophir served
as a basis for legends about the Israelites traveling in the Queen
of Sheba's entourage when she returned to her country to bring up
her child by Solomon.[16]
Christian[edit]
C
King
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, from The
History of the True Cross by Piero
della Francesca
The
Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, Claude
Lorrain (1600‒1682),
oil on canvas
Solomon
and The Queen of Sheba, Giovanni
De Min
hristian scriptures mention
a "queen of the South" (Greek: βασίλισσα
νότου, Latin: Regina
austri),
who "came from the uttermost parts of the earth", i.e.
from the extremities of the then known world, to hear the wisdom of
Solomon (Mt. 12:42; Lk. 11:31).[17]
The
mystical interpretation of the Song
of Songs,
which was felt as supplying a literal basis for the speculations of
the allegorists, makes its first appearance in Origen,
who wrote a voluminous commentary on the Song of Songs.[18] In
his commentary, Origen identified the bride of the Song of Songs
with the "queen of the South" of the Gospels, i.e. the
Queen of Sheba, who is assumed to have been Ethiopian.[19] Others
have proposed either the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's
daughter, or his marriage with an Israelite woman, the Shulamite.
The former was the favorite opinion of the mystical interpreters to
the end of the 18th century; the latter has obtained since its
introduction by Good (1803).[18]
The
bride of the Canticles is assumed to have been black due to a
passage in Song
of Songs 1:5,
which the Revised
Standard Version (1952)
translates as "I am very dark, but comely", as
does Jerome (Latin: Nigra
sum, sed formosa),
while the New
Revised Standard Version (1989)
has "I am black and beautiful", as the Septuagint (Ancient
Greek: μέλαινα
εἰμί καί καλή).[20]
One
legend has it that the Queen of Sheba brought Solomon the same gifts
that the Magi later
gave to Christ.[21] During
the Middle Ages, Christians sometimes identified the queen of Sheba
with the sibyl Sabba.[22]
Coptic[edit]
The
story of Solomon and the queen was popular among Copts,
as shown by fragments of a Coptic legend preserved in a Berlin
papyrus. The queen, having been subdued by deceit, gives Solomon a
pillar on which all earthly science is inscribed. Solomon sends one
of his demons to fetch the pillar from Ethiopia, whence it instantly
arrives. In a Coptic poem, queen Yesaba of Cush asks
riddles of Solomon.[23]
Ethiopian[edit]
17th-century
AD painting of the Queen of Sheba from a church in Lalibela,
Ethiopia and now in the National
Museum of Ethiopia in Addis
Ababa
The
fullest and most significant version of the legend appears in
the Kebra
Nagast (Glory
of the Kings), the Ethiopian national saga, translated from Arabic
in 1322.[24][25][26] Here Menelik
I is
the child of Solomon and Makeda (the
Ethiopic name for the queen of Sheba) from whom the Ethiopian
dynasty claims descent to the present day. While the Abyssinian
story offers much greater detail, it omits any mention of the
Queen's hairy legs or any other element that might reflect on her
unfavourably.[1][27]
Based
on the Gospels of Matthew (12:42)
and Luke (11:31),
the "queen of the South" is claimed to be the queen of
Ethiopia. In those times, King Solomon sought merchants from all
over the world, in order to buy materials for the building of
the Temple.
Among them was Tamrin, great merchant of Queen Makeda of Ethiopia.
Having returned to Ethiopia, Tamrin told the queen of the wonderful
things he had seen in Jerusalem, and of Solomon's wisdom and
generosity, whereupon she decided to visit Solomon. She was warmly
welcomed, given a palace for dwelling, and received great gifts
every day. Solomon and Makeda spoke with great wisdom, and
instructed by him, she converted to Judaism. Before she left, there
was a great feast in the king's palace. Makeda stayed in the palace
overnight, after Solomon had sworn that he would not do her any
harm, while she swore in return that she would not steal from him.
As the meals had been spicy, Makeda awoke thirsty at night, and went
to drink some water, when Solomon appeared, reminding her of her
oath. She answered: "Ignore your oath, just let me drink
water." That same night, Solomon had a dream about the sun
rising over Israel, but being mistreated and despised by the Jews,
the sun moved to shine over Ethiopia and Rome (i.e. the Byzantine
empire). Solomon gave Makeda a ring as a token of faith, and then
she left. On her way home, she gave birth to a son, whom she named
Baina-leḥkem (i.e. bin al-ḥakīm, "Son of the Wise Man",
later called Menilek). After the boy had grown up in Ethiopia, he
went to Jerusalem carrying the ring, and was received with great
honors. The king and the people tried in vain to persuade him to
stay. Solomon gathered his nobles and announced that he would send
his first-born son to Ethiopia together with their first-borns. He
added that he was expecting a third son, who would marry the king of
Rome's daughter and reign over Rome, so that the entire world would
be ruled by David's descendants. Then Baina-leḥkem was anointed
king by Zadok the high priest, and he took the name David. The
first-born nobles who followed him are named, and even today some
Ethiopian families claim their ancestry from them. Prior to leaving,
the priests' sons had stolen the Ark
of the Covenant,
after their leader Azaryas had offered a sacrifice as commanded by
one God's angel. With much wailing, the procession left Jerusalem on
a wind cart lead and carried by the archangel Michael. Having
arrived at the Red
Sea,
Azaryas revealed to the people that the Ark is with them. David
prayed to the Ark and the people rejoiced, singing, dancing, blowing
horns and flutes, and beating drums. The Ark showed its miraculous
powers during the crossing of the stormy Sea, and all arrived
unscathed. When Solomon learned that the Ark had been stolen, he
sent a horseman after the thieves, and even gave chase himself, but
neither could catch them. Solomon returned to Jerusalem, and gave
orders to the priests to remain silent about the theft and to place
a copy of the Ark in the Temple, so that the foreign nations could
not say that Israel had lost its fame.[28][29]
According
to some sources, Queen Makeda was part of the dynasty founded by Za
Besi Angabo in 1370 B.C., with her grandfather and father being the
last male rulers of the royal line. The family's intended choice to
rule Aksum was Makeda's brother, Prince Nourad, but his early death
led to her succession to the throne. She apparently ruled the
Ethiopian kingdom for more than 50 years.[30]
In
the Ethiopian Book
of Aksum,
Makeda is described as establishing a new capital city
at Azeba.[citation
needed]
Edward
Ullendorff holds
that Makeda is
a corruption of Candace,
the name or title of several Ethiopian queens from Meroe or Seba.
Candace was the name of that queen of the Ethiopians whose
chamberlain was converted to Christianity under the preaching
of Philip
the Evangelist (Acts 8:27)
in 30 A.D. In the 14th century (?) Ethiopic version
of the Alexander
romance, Alexander
the Great of Macedonia (Ethiopic Meqédon)
is said to have met a queen Kandake of Nubia.[31]
Historians
believe that the Solomonic
dynasty actually
began in 1270 with the emperor Yekuno
Amlak,
who, with the support of the Ethiopian
Church,
overthrew the Zagwe
Dynasty,
which had ruled Ethiopia since sometime during the 10th century. The
link to King Solomon provided a strong foundation for Ethiopian
national unity. "Ethiopians see their country as God's chosen
country, the final resting place that he chose for the Ark – and
Sheba and her son were the means by which it came
there".[32] Despite
the fact that the dynasty officially ended in 1769 with
Emperor Iyoas,
Ethiopian rulers continued to trace their connection to it, right up
to the last 20th-century emperor, Haile
Selassie.[27]
According
to one tradition, the Ethiopian Jews (Beta
Israel,
"Falashas") also trace their ancestry to Menelik I, son of
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[33] An
opinion that appears more historical is that the Falashas descend
from those Jews who settled in Egypt after the first
exile,
and who, upon the fall of the Persian domination (539–333 B.C.) on
the borders of the Nile, penetrated into the Sudan, whence they went
into the western parts of Abyssinia.[34]
Several
emperors have stressed the importance of the Kebra
Negast.
One of the first instances of this can be traced in a letter from
Prince Kasa (King John IV) to Queen Victoria in 1872.[35] Kasa
states, "There is a book called Kebra
Nagast which
contains the law of the whole of Ethiopia, and the names of the
shums (governors), churches and provinces are in this book. I pray
you will find out who has got this book and send it to me, for in my
country my people will not obey my orders without it."[32] Despite
the historic importance given to the Kebra
Negast,
there is still doubt to whether or not the Queen sat on the throne.
Jewish[edit]
According
to Josephus (Ant. 8:165–173),
the queen of Sheba was the queen of Egypt and Ethiopia, and brought
to Israel the first specimens of the balsam,
which grew in the Holy Land in the historian's time.[8][36] Josephus
(Antiquities 2.5‒2.10) represents Cambyses as
conquering the capital of Aethiopia, and changing its name from Seba
to Meroe.[37] Josephus
affirms that the Queen of Sheba or Saba came from this region, and
that it bore the name of Saba before it was known by that of Meroe.
There seems also some affinity between the word Saba and the name or
title of the kings of the Aethiopians, Sabaco.[38]
The
Talmud (Bava
Batra 15b)
insists that it was not a woman but a kingdom of Sheba (based on
varying interpretations of Hebrew mlkt)
that came to Jerusalem, obviously intended to discredit existing
stories about the relations between Solomon and the Queen.[1] Baba
Bathra 15b: "Whoever says malkath
Sheba (I
Kings X, 1) means a woman is mistaken; ... it means the kingdom
(מַלְכֻת)
of Sheba".[39] This
is explained to mean that she was a woman who was not in her
position because of being married to the king, but through her own
merit.[40]
The
most elaborate account of the queen's visit to Solomon is given in
the Targum
Sheni to Esther (see: Colloquy
of the Queen of Sheba).
A hoopoe informed
Solomon that the kingdom of Sheba was the only kingdom on earth not
subject to him and that its queen was a sun worshiper. He thereupon
sent it to Kitor in the land of Sheba with a letter attached to its
wing commanding its queen to come to him as a subject. She thereupon
sent him all the ships of the sea loaded with precious gifts and
6,000 youths of equal size, all born at the same hour and clothed in
purple garments. They carried a letter declaring that she could
arrive in Jerusalem within three years although the journey normally
took seven years. When the queen arrived and came to Solomon's
palace, thinking that the glass floor was a pool of water, she
lifted the hem of her dress, uncovering her legs. Solomon informed
her of her mistake and reprimanded her for her hairy legs. She asked
him three (Targum
Sheni to
Esther 1:3) or, according to the Midrash (Prov. ii.
6; Yalḳ. ii.,
§ 1085, Midrash
ha-Hefez),
more riddles to test his wisdom.[1][7][8][36]
A
Yemenite manuscript entitled "Midrash ha-Hefez" (published
by S.
Schechter in Folk-Lore,
1890, pp. 353 et seq.) gives nineteen riddles, most of which
are found scattered through the Talmud and the Midrash, which the
author of the "Midrash ha-Hefez" attributes to the Queen
of Sheba.[41] Most
of these riddles are simply Bible questions, some not of a very
edifying character. The two that are genuine riddles are: "Without
movement while living, it moves when its head is cut off", and
"Produced from the ground, man produces it, while its food is
the fruit of the ground". The answer to the former is, "a
tree, which, when its top is removed, can be made into a moving
ship"; the answer to the latter is, "a wick".[42]
The
rabbis who denounce Solomon interpret I Kings 10:13 as meaning that
Solomon had criminal intercourse with the Queen of Sheba, the
offspring of which was Nebuchadnezzar,
who destroyed the Temple (comp. Rashi ad
loc.). According to others, the sin ascribed to Solomon in I Kings
11:7 et seq. is only figurative: it is not meant that Solomon fell
into idolatry, but that he was guilty of failing to restrain his
wives from idolatrous practises (Shab. 56b).[41]
The Alphabet
of Sirach avers
that Nebuchadnezzar was
the fruit of the union between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.[1] In
the Kabbalah,
the Queen of Sheba was considered one of the queens of the demons
and is sometimes identified with Lilith,
first in the Targum
of Job (1:15),
and later in the Zohar and
the subsequent literature. A Jewish and Arab myth maintains that the
Queen was actually a jinn,
half human and half demon.[43][44]
In Ashkenazi folklore,
the figure merged with the popular image of Helen
of Troy or
the Frau
Venus of
German mythology. Ashkenazi incantations commonly depict the Queen
of Sheba as a seductive dancer. Until recent generations she was
popularly pictured as a snatcher of children and a demonic
witch.[44]
Islam[edit]
I
Bilqis
reclining in a garden, Persian
miniature (c. 1595),
tinted drawing on paper
Illustration
in a Hafez Frontispiece
Depicting Queen Sheba, Walters manuscript W.631, around 1539
found [there] a woman ruling them, and she has been given of
all things, and she has a great throne. I found her and her people
prostrating to the sun instead of Allah,
and Satan has made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them
from [His] way, so they are not guided.
— Quran 27:23–24[45]
In
the above ayah,
after scouting nearby lands, a bird known as the hud-hud (hoopoe)
returns to King
Solomon relating
that the land of Sheba is ruled by a Queen. In a letter, Solomon
invites the Queen of Sheba, who like her followers had worshipped
the sun,
to submit to Allah.
She expresses that the letter is noble and asks her chief advisers
what action should be taken. They respond by mentioning that her
kingdom is known for its might and inclination towards war, however
that the command rests solely with her. In an act suggesting the
diplomatic qualities of her leadership,[46] she
responds not with brute force, but by sending her ambassadors to
present a gift to King Solomon. He refuses the gift, declaring that
Allah gives far superior gifts and that the ambassadors are the ones
only delighted by the gift. King Solomon instructs the ambassadors
to return to the Queen with a stern message that if he travels to
her, he will bring a contingent that she cannot defeat. The Queen
then makes plans to visit him at his palace. Before she arrives,
King Solomon has her throne moved to his palace with the aid of a
scholar of the scripture, who was able to move the throne in the
blink of an eye. King Solomon disguises her throne to test her
awareness, asking her if it seems familiar. She answers that during
her journey to him, her court had informed her that the throne
disappeared and since then she and her subjects had made the
intention to submit to Allah. King Solomon then explains that Allah
is the only god that she should worship, not to be included
alongside other false gods that she used to worship. Later the Queen
of Sheba is requested to enter a palatial hall. Upon first view she
mistakes the hall for a lake and raises her skirt to not wet her
clothes. King Solomon informs her that is not water rather it is
smooth slabs of glass. Recognising that it was a marvel of
construction which she had not seen the likes of before, she
declares that in the past she had harmed her own soul but now
submits, with King Solomon, to Allah (27:22–44).[47]
She
was told, "Enter the palace." But when she saw it, she
thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade
through]. He said, "Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is]
made smooth with glass." She said, "My Lord, indeed I have
wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to Allah, Lord of the
worlds."
— Quran 27:44[48]
The
story of the Queen of Sheba in the Quran shares
some similarities with the Bible and other Jewish sources.[8] Some
Muslim commentators such
as Al-Tabari, Al-Zamakhshari and Al-Baydawi supplement
the story. Here they claim that the Queen's name
is Bilqīs (Arabic: بِلْقِيْس),
probably derived from Greek: παλλακίς, romanized: pallakis or
the Hebraised pilegesh ("concubine").
The Quran does not name the Queen, referring to her as "a woman
ruling them" (Arabic: امْرَأَةً
تَمْلِكُهُمْ),[49] the
nation of Sheba.[50]
According
to some, he then married the Queen, while other traditions say that
he gave her in marriage to a King of Hamdan.[1] According
to the scholar Al-Hamdani,
the Queen of Sheba was the daughter of Ilsharah Yahdib,
the Himyarite
king of Najran.[13] In
another tale, she is said to be the daughter of spiritual creature
(Jinn)
and a human.[51] According
to E. Ullendorff, the Quran and its commentators have preserved the
earliest literary reflection of her complete legend, which among
scholars complements the narrative that is derived from a Jewish
tradition,[1] this
assuming to be the Targum
Sheni.
However, according to the Encyclopaedia Judaica Targum Sheni is
dated to around 700[52] similarly
the general consensus is to date Targum Sheni to late 7th- or early
8th century,[53] which
post-dates the advent of Islam by almost 200 years. Furthermore, M.
J. Berdichevsky[54] explains
that this Targum is the earliest narrative articulation of Queen of
Sheba in Jewish tradition.
Yoruba[edit]
Main
article: Sungbo's
Eredo
The Yoruba Ijebu
clan of Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria,
claim that she was a wealthy, childless noblewoman of
theirs known as Oloye Bilikisu
Sungbo.
They also assert that a medieval system of walls and ditches, known
as the Eredo and
built sometime around the 10th century, was dedicated to her.
After
excavations in 1999 the archaeologist Patrick Darling was quoted as
saying, "I don't want to overplay the Sheba theory, but it
cannot be discounted ... The local people believe it and that's
what is important ... The most cogent argument against it at
the moment is the dating
Model
of Herod's Renovation of the Temple of Jerusalem
by
Berthold Werner (Public Domain)
Although theology is a component of Solomon’s writings, the
wisdom genre (also seen in Egyptian and
Akkadian literature) focuses more on areas outside of theology -
providing advice on the created world, relationships, practical
matters, and assorted personal topics or challenges. Thus, Proverbs
deals with the art of living, with how to make intelligent choices
for one’s future well-being. The Song of Songs (or Song of
Solomon) is a romantic poem that presents the ultimate union between
the bride and the bridegroom, focusing on themes of love, wisdom,
beauty, power, desire, sex, loyalty, etc. The Book of Ecclesiastes
is a royal testament that includes personal reflections,
meditations, and instructions on the meaning and purposes of life,
alluding to several aspects that would have been relevant to
Solomon’s own personal experiences - wisdom, futility, riches,
servants, hedonism, productivity, and humble
self-realization. Although Solomon was the original sage for
many of his proverbs, he also searched his kingdom and empire for
other writings and ideas of erudite men and included them in his
compilations.
Outside of the Hebrew scriptures, writings also exist that are
attributed to King Solomon. In the Pseudepigrapha, The
Testament of Solomon is a 3rd century CE book that
syncretizes magic, astrology, and demonology to discuss the
construction of the Temple among other sub-topics. In the Apocrypha,
the Wisdom of Solomon is a deuterocanonical
collection of wisdom sayings attributed to King Solomon (based on
chapter 9:7–8), although the Muratorian Fragment suggests that it
was "written by the friends of Solomon in his honour."
Losing Favour With God
Despite all these great accomplishments, the Hebrew scriptures
indicate that the decline of Solomon was similar to the fall of the
previous kings of United Israel - similar, in that personal vanity
and religious/moral compromise led to social disintegration and
strife. Solomon slowly deprioritized his relationship and
obligations to God in order to appease his many foreign wives and in
order to protect the prosperity and longevity of his rule.
Ultimately, “[Solomon’s] wives turned his heart after other
gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as
the heart of David his father had been” (1 Kings 11). Solomon’s
ungrateful, disloyal actions and attitude - despite being the wisest
and most blessed man on the earth - provoked the anger and judgment
of the Lord.
Thus, although still able to keep control of the nation of Israel
because of God’s promise to King David, Solomon lost the
protection and favor of God that earlier had provided remarkable
peace and prosperity when he was obedient to God. Solomon soon found
new challenges from within and without his kingdom, including
Jeroboam who was promised to reign over Israel by the Prophet
Ahijah, from Hadad of Edom who challenged Solomon’s territorial
control in the southern territory of Israel, and from Rezon of
Damascus, who threatened Solomon’s control over the northern
territory of Israel.
King Solomon died of natural causes in 931 BCE at the age of 80.
His son, Rehoboam, inherited the throne, which led to a civil war
and the end of the United Kingdom of Israel in in 930 BCE.
Epigraphical & Archaeological Evidence
for King Solomon
As with King David, verifying the existence of King Solomon is
challenging, at best, especially since epigraphs typically provide
imprecise information, and the biblical accounts rest upon a
presupposition of supernatural realities. Although there is much
archaeological and epigraphical evidence to substantiate the
possibility of some/many (non-supernatural) scriptural assertions,
archaeological finds to date have provided mostly indirect
affirmation. With such huge gaps in archaeological evidence and with
the contamination of too many archaeological fields, it is easy to
speculate, theorize, or make an argument from silence, but it is
difficult to empirically prove or disprove the existence of Solomon.
Still, some provocative-yet-controversial archaeological finds have
been recently unearthed over the last century that require
consideration.
Although its first discoverer is unknown, in 1828 CE,
Jean–François Champollion, who also discovered the Rosetta
Stone in 1799 CE, examined the Bubastite
Portal gate (built in 925 BCE) at the temple of Amun in Thebes.
On its walls, among the historical paintings, a long list of
defeated peoples by Pharaoh Shoshenq
is accessible, including those from the “Highland/Heights of
David,” presumably led by King Rehoboam, which led Champollion to
conclude that Pharaoh Shoshenq and King Shishak of Egypt, as
referenced in 1 Kings in the Hebrew scriptures, are one and the
same.
In 1868 CE, Missionary Frederick Augustus Klein
discovered an intact stele in Dhiban, Jordan,
called the “Mesha Stele” or the “Moabite Stone,” with text
that he could not read. Although the stele was smashed by
contentious locals the next year, a papier-måché impression had
been made of it and the stele was reassembled. The inscription on
the stele references the Moabites, their god, and also references
the nation of Israel and Omri, her sixth king. Similar finds
such as the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III and the Chronicle
of Sennacherib also
confirm the existence of Israelite kings during the Assyrian
hegemony.
The
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, side A, 2nd register
by
Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (CC BY-NC-SA)
Between 1957 CE and 1971 CE, archaeologist Yigael Yadin began
excavations at two of the three cities mentioned in 1 Kings 9 (fully
at Hazor and in a cursory investigation at Megiddo), which had
gates supposedly built by King Solomon c. 960 BCE. Based on compared
archaeological evidence from all three sites, which included
Macalister’s excavation report at Gezer from
1902–09 CE, Yadin concluded that the three city gates were
designed by the same engineer (based on the same structural
dimensions), built by the same workers (stylistically and
methodologically from Phoenicia),
and utilized the same material (they contained ashlar masonry
quarried in Tyre). Additionally, in the 1860s CE, Charles Warren
discovered a wall and
courtyard in Jerusalem that were later found to be identical to the
one in Megiddo and dating from the period of King Solomon.
In 1993 CE, Avraham Biran discovered the Tel Dan Inscription on a
broken stele in northern Israel. The inscription commemorates
the victory of an Aramean king over its southern neighbors, and
specifically references both the “king of Israel,” and the “king
of the House of David.” This is perhaps the first real, direct,
historical evidence for the Davidic Dynasty in Israel.
In 2010 CE, Eilat Mazar and her team discovered a 10th century
BCE wall between the Temple Mount and the modern-day Arab
neighborhood of Silwan. The wall was part of a larger complex that
included a gatehouse, guard tower, and other buildings. Based on
artifacts found in and around the area, Mazar suspects that the wall
is at least 3,000 years old, which would place its construction in
the time period of King Solomon (as referenced in 1 Kings).
In 2012 CE, Eilat Mazar and her archaeological team discovered an
ancient structure at the Ophel in Jerusalem that dated back to the
Solomonic era. In a bedrock depression within that structure, the
archaeologists also discovered a large storage jar (or pithos) with
the earliest alphabetical letters ever found in Jerusalem written on
an earthenware jug. Although the seals do not directly reference
King David or King Solomon, the Ophel Inscription not only suggests
an advanced society living in Jerusalem earlier than previously
believed; it also indicates a fully-functioning administration that
collected taxes and implemented regulations during the period of
King Solomon’s reign.
In 2013 CE, Erez Ben-Yosef and his archaeological team discovered
radiocarbon dating evidence forcing many archaeologists and
historians to revise their presumptions about the copper mines
in Israel’s Aravah Desert. Previously assumed to be
Egyptian, the new evidence suggests that the mines were actually
operated by the Edomites, the ancient enemies of Israel repeatedly
referenced in the Hebrew scriptures, who lived during the period of
Solomon.
In 2014 CE, students and faculty from Mississippi State
University discovered six official clay seals in southern Israel
near Gaza. Although the seals do not directly reference King David
or King Solomon, the Khirbet Summeily clay seals indicate official
government activity in 10th century BCE, which had been assumed to
be too tribal for such sophistication.
In 2016 CE, Israeli archaeologists discovered numerous small
artifacts from the Temple Mount, which have been dated to the time
of the First Temple, nearly 3,000 years ago. Shards from the
archaeological dig include pottery fragments
(a standard in general archaeological dating), olive pits, animal
bones, and they all share a uniform date from the Solomonic period,
according to the team’s findings.
Conclusion
By no means conclusive, the aforementioned discoveries do give
some credence to the theory that a United Kingdom of Israel once
existed in the Mediterranean region
although Israel’s regional influence, military prowess,
infrastructural contributions, and early pivotal leaders are still
somewhat veiled. Fortunately, new archaeological discoveries
continue to be made and advanced technology continues to bring to
light the shadows of that which has been hidden for centuries and
centuries.
Archaeological and historical evidence of other kings of Israel
and Judah - such as Omri, Ahab, Joram, Ahaziah, Jehu, Hezekiah -
have been uncovered in the historical landscape (and one could
conceivably expect more to follow). Still, considering the
traditional view of King Solomon as the wisest, most prosperous man
on earth and King of his time (and of all future kings of Israel),
the lack of direct historical and archaeological references to him,
to the name “King Solomon” outside of the Hebrew scriptures,
which portray him as the wisest of all fools, is quite ironical or
evidential, indeed.
YORUBA
LEGENDS
I
THE
KINGDOM OF THE YORUBAS
THE ancient
King Oduduwa had a great many grandchildren, and on his death he
divided among them all his possessions. But his youngest grandson,
Oranyan, was at that time away hunting, and when he returned home he
learnt that his brothers and cousins had inherited the old King’s
money, cattle, beads, native cloths, and crowns, but that to himself
nothing was left but twenty-one pieces of iron, a cock, and some
soil tied up in a rag.
At
that time the whole earth was covered with water, on the surface of
which the people lived.
The
resourceful Oranyan spread upon the water his pieces of iron, and
upon the iron he placed the scrap of cloth, and upon the cloth the
soil, and on the soil the cock. p.
2 The
cock scratched with his feet and scattered the soil far and wide, so
that the ocean was partly filled up and islands appeared everywhere.
The pieces of iron became the mineral wealth hidden under the
ground.
Now
Oranyan’s brothers and cousins all desired to live on the land,
and Oranyan allowed them to do so on payment of tribute. He thus
became King of all the Yorubas, and was rich and prosperous through
his grandfather’s inheritance.
II
HOW
TRIBAL MARKS CAME TO BE USED
A CERTAIN King
named Sango sent two slaves to a distant country on an important
mission.
In
due course they returned, and he found that one slave had achieved
successfully what he had been sent to do, while the other had
accomplished nothing. The p.
3 King
therefore rewarded the first with high honours, and commanded the
second to receive a hundred and twenty-two razor cuts all over his
body.
This
was a severe punishment, but when the scars healed, they gave to the
slave a very remarkable appearance, which greatly took the fancy of
the King’s wives.
Sango
therefore decided that cuts should in future be given, not as
punishment, but as a sign of royalty, and he placed himself at once
in the hands of the markers. However, he could only bear two cuts,
and so from that day two cuts on the arm have been the sign of
royalty, and various other cuts came to be the marks of different
tribes.
III
AKITI
THE HUNTER
A FAMOUS hunter
and wrestler named Akiti boasted that he was stronger than any other
man or animal. He had easily overcome a giant, a leopard, a lion, a
wolf, and p.
4 a
boa-constrictor, and as nobody else opposed his claim, he called
himself “the King of the forest.”
Wherever
he went, he sang his triumphant wrestling-song, and everyone feared
and respected him. But he had forgotten the Elephant, who is a very
wise animal and knows many charms. One day the Elephant challenged
him and declared that he had no right to call himself “King,” as
the Elephant himself was the monarch of the forest and could not be
defeated.
Akiti
thereupon flung his spear at his enemy, but because of the
Elephant’s charm, the weapon glanced off his hide and did him no
harm. Akiti next tried his bow and poisoned arrows, and his
hunting-knife, but still without effect.
However,
the hunter also possessed a charm, and by using it, he changed
himself into a lion and flew at the Elephant, but the Elephant flung
him off. Next he became a serpent, but he could not succeed in
crushing the Elephant to death.
p.
5
At
last he changed himself into a fly, and flew into the Elephant’s
large flapping ear. He went right down inside until he came to the
heart, and then he changed himself into a man again and cut up the
heart with his hunting-knife. At last the Elephant fell dead, and
Akiti stepped out of his body in triumph, for he was now without
question “the King of the forest.”
IV
SONS
OF STICKS
A GREAT King
sent his various sons to rule over different parts of his kingdom,
and all were satisfied but one, the youngest and most ambitious, who
returned to his father after some time with the complaint that his
territory was much too small and his subjects too few.
The
King was displeased with his son, and sent for a large bundle of
sticks, which he converted into human beings.
“Here
are some more subjects for you!” he said to the astonished Prince.
p.
6
From
that time the tribe was famous for its strength and stupidity, and
went by the nickname of “Sons of Sticks,” or “Ọmọ igi”!
V
WHY
WOMEN HAVE LONG HAIR
TWO women
quarrelled, and one of them went out secretly at night and dug a
deep pit in the middle of the path leading from her enemy’s house
to the village well.
Early
next morning, when all were going to the well for water with jars
balanced on their heads, this woman fell into the pit and cried
loudly for help.
Her
friends ran to her and, seizing her by the hair, began to pull her
out of the pit. To their surprise, her hair stretched as they
pulled, and by the time she was safely on the path, her hair was as
long as a man’s arm.
This
made her very much ashamed, and she ran away and hid herself.
But
after a while she realized that her long hair was beautiful, and
then she felt p.
7 very
proud and scorned all the short-haired women, jeering at them. When
they saw this, they were consumed with jealousy, and began to be
ashamed of their short hair. “We have men’s hair,” they said
to one another. “How beautiful it would be to have long hair!”
So
one by one they jumped into the pit, and their friends pulled them
out by the hair.
And
in this way they, and all women after them, had long hair.
https://guardian.ng/life/sango-and-oya-when-love-burns/
The
tragic Shakespearean love story of Romeo and Juliet is universally
celebrated as the true definition of what love is: the two
impressionable minds see past the inter-family feud and stand firm
in the face of the opposition to what they hold dear. And at the
end, only death can lay its cold hands on their burning desire
successfully.
Death
also plays a significant role in an equally tragic love story
between Sango, a powerful Alaafin of Old Oyo Empire and Oya, his
concubine who was a spirit with powers to transform into animals and
summon rain.
Oya
and Sango. Photo – Pinterest
Sango had other women in his life – Oshun, the first and the one historians considered to be the legitimate wife and Oba was the second. The first two wives posed big competition. But Oya had something they both lacked. She became Sango’s favourite and the bond between them was made stronger due to the complimentary superpowers they possessed. And together, they were a powerful force. When it’s time to ravage their enemies, Oya, who had the power to summon wind, would lead the charge. With her power, she would blow off roofs, fall trees and breathe life into the fire set by Sango’s thunder. Generally, Oya was more than a wife to Sango. They were like Bob and Helen Parr of The Incredibles.
https://norsemythologyinformation.weebly.com/odin-and-frigga.html
Odin
and Frigga were the King and Queen of all the gods. Odin was a stern
and sometimes cruel King. He had great power that he sometimes used
for unjustified purposes. He could be spiteful and his anger was
feared by many. He was worshipped by those oh high standard such as
kings or nobles, and was greatly respected. He was the god of
battle, poetry, wisdom, and the dead. Whenever he struck his spear
to the ground, battle would begin. He decided the outcome of every
battle. He also decided which fallen warriors would join him in his
two halls Valhalla and Valaskjalf.He had two ravens named
Huninn(Thought) and Muninn(Memory), which flew over the Worlds and
returned to him with information on important happenings. He
obtained the Mead of Poetry from Jotunheim and sometimes gifted
humans with its contents in order to inspire them to poetic
greatness. He achieved great wisdom by sacrificing one of his eyes
to Mimir, the guardian of the Fountain of Mimir or Knowledge. He
also allowed himself to become a sacrificial victim, impaling
himself on a branch of Yggdrasil for nine days, after
which he died, learning the wisdom of the dead. At Ragnarok, Odin
will be killed by Fenrir, the giant wolf, but avenged by his son
Vidar.
Frigga
was Odin's loving and faithful wife. She was a mother goddess and
cared for all humans, though she was partial to mothers and
children. They had two sons together: Balder, the god of light,
purity, and beauty and Bragi, the god of poetry, elegance, and
wisdom. Frigga was able to see into the future, but she never
revealed what she saw.
https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/hephaestus/
HOME » GREEK
GODS » HEPHAESTUS
Hephaestus
Greek
God of Fire and Metalworking
Hephaestus was the god of fire, metalworking, stone masonry, forges
and the art of sculpture. He was the son of ZEUS and HERA and
married to APHRODITE by
Zeus to prevent a war of the gods fighting for her hand. He was a
smithing god, making all of the weapons for Olympus and acting as a
blacksmith for the gods.
He had
his own palace on Olympus where he made many clever inventions and
automatons of metal to work for him. Hephaestus’s ugly appearance
was the reason Zeus chose him to marry Aphrodite, but despite this
she had many affairs with both gods and men.
In one story, Hephaestus builds a tricky invention which catches
Aphrodite laying with the ARES,
the god of war, trapping them both in the bed to be laughed at and
ridiculed by the other gods.
He is similar to ATHENA in
his giving skill and help to mortals – in his case artists. It was
believed that Hephaestus taught men the arts alongside Athena.
However, he was also considered far inferior to that of the goddess
of wisdom.
Facts
about Hephaestus
Hephaestus
was known as the God of Fire.
In
some accounts, he was said to be the son of Zeus and Hera; in
others, he was the son of Hera alone, conceived in order to get
back at Zeus for bringing forth Athena.
Hephaestus
was the only ugly god among perfectly beautiful immortals.
Hephaestus
was born deformed and was cast out of heaven by one or both of his
parents when they noticed that he was imperfect.
He
was the workman of the immortals: he made their dwellings,
furnishings, and weapons.
In
his workshop, Hephaestus had assistants who were made out of gold
and who helped him with his work.
His
forge or workshop was located under a volcano, and the work he did
within it caused frequent eruptions.
In
most accounts, Aphrodite is named as his wife, although she was
unfaithful to him (with Ares, for one). Theirs was an arranged
marriage.
Hephaestus
was a patron of the arts.
He
was a kind and peace-loving god.
In
art, Hephaestus is usually depicted as bending over an anvil or
walking with the assistance of a cane.
He
was worshipped primarily in Athens, where he had a temple.
Hephaestus
manufactured the aegis (or shield) that Athena is known for
carrying.
The
arrows of Eros (known also as Cupid) were fashioned by Hephaestus
as well.
Hephaestus
was the god of the ceremony when children were officially admitted
to the city organization.
According
to a story told both by Homer and Hesiod, Hephaestus married
Aglaia, one of the three Graces.
Hephaestus
was known for making a gold basket that Europa, daughter of the
King of Sidon, used to gather flowers when she happened upon Zeus
in the meadow.
Hephaestus
crafted the armor that Achilles wore in the Trojan War. The same
arms, despite their connection to divinity, brought about the death
of Ajax.
Aphrodite
gave Harmonia an extraordinary necklace made by Hephaestus. The
piece of jewelry brought disaster to later generations.
Erichthonius
was the son of Hephaestus: he was half man, half serpent.
Maat was
also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regulated the
stars, seasons, and the actions of mortals and the deities who had
brought order from chaos at the moment of creation
Themis
(/ˈθiːmɪs/; Ancient Greek: Θέμις) is an
ancient GreekTitaness. She is described as "[the Lady] of
good counsel", and is the personification of divine order,
fairness, law, natural law, and custom. Her symbols are
the Scales of Justice, tools used to remain balanced and pragmatic.
A long time ago a bold young Arawâk hunter
captured a beautiful royal vulture. She is the daughter of Anuanima,
sovereign of a race which has its country above the sky. When at
home there, they cease to be birds, and assume the form and habits
of human beings. The captive, smitten with love for her handsome
captor, lays aside her feathers, and appears before him as a
beautiful girl. She becomes his wife, bears him above the clouds,
and, after much trouble, persuades her father and family to receive
him. All then goes well, until he expresses a wish to visit his aged
mother, when they discard him, and set him on the top of a very high
tree, the trunk of which is covered with formidable prickles. He
appeals pathetically to all the living creatures around. Then
spiders spin cords to help him, and fluttering birds ease his
descent, so that at last he reaches the ground in safety. Her family
seek to destroy him, but by his strength and sagacity he is
victorious in every encounter. The birds at length espouse his
cause, assemble their forces, and bear him as their commander above
the sky. He is at last slain by a valiant young warrior, resembling
himself in person and features. It is his own son, born after his
expulsion from the upper regions, and brought up there in ignorance
of his father. the royal vultures, who, hemmed in by crowds of
hostile birds, are unable to use their wings, and forced to fight
and die in their human forms
Queen
Nanny, Granny Nanny or Nanny (c.
1686 – c. 1755), led a community of formerly enslaved Africans
called the Windward Maroons.[1] In
the early 18th century, they fought a multi-year war against British
colonizers in Jamaica. Queen Nanny was born in what is today Ghana
of the Akan or Ashanti people.[2] According
to the oral tradition and at least one documentary source, she was
never enslaved.[2] Although
widely assumed that she arrived in Jamaica as a slave, how she
arrived in Jamaica is not certain.
In
1976 Jamaica declared Nanny as their only female national hero
celebrating her success as a leader, military tactician and
strategist.[3] During
the years of warfare, the British suffered horrendous losses in
their encounters with the Windward Maroons. Many attributed their
mastery over the British to the successful use of supernatural
powers by Nanny. This reputation coupled with the losses terrorized
the British troops. Having failed to defeat them on the battle
field, the British sued for peace signing a treaty with them on
April 20, 1740.[2] The
treaty stopped the hostilities, provided for state sanctioned
freedom for the Maroons, and a granted 500 acres of land to Nanny
and her followers. The village built on the land grant still stands
and today is called Moore
Town.
It is also known as the New Nanny Town. Modern members of the Moore
Town celebrate April 20, 1740 as a holiday. Her image is also on the
Jamaican $500 bill which is called a Nanny.
Biography[edit]
Nanny
was born into the Ashanti/Asante nation
about 1686 in what is now Ghana, West Africa. There are two versions
of her early story. It is not clear from objective sources which is
accurate. In one she came as a free woman who may have even had her
own slaves.In the other, she came to Jamaica as a slave but then
escaped, perhaps even jumping off of the ship while it was off
shore. However, the oral traditions about her arrival in Jamaica
maintain that she was always free.[2]
By
1720, Nanny and Quao, sometimes called her brother, settled and
controlled an area in the Blue Mountains. It was later given the
name Nanny
Town.
Nanny Town had a strategic location overlooking Stony River via a
900-foot (270 m) ridge, making a surprise attack by the British very
difficult.[4]
Nanny
became a folk hero. While the British captured Nanny Town on more
than one occasion, they were unable to hold on to it, in the wake of
numerous guerrilla attacks from the Maroons. The Maroons waged a
successful war against the British colonial forces over the course
of a decade.[5]
When
Nanny Town was abandoned, the Windward Maroons under the command of
Nanny moved to New Nanny Town, which consisted of 500 acres
(2.4 km²) of land granted by the government to the refugee
slaves under a 1740 treaty ending the First
Maroon War.[6]
Windward
Maroons[edit]
The
Windward Maroons fought the British on the east side of the Island
of Jamaica from their village in the Blue Mountains of Portland
Parish.[2] They
traced their heritage to the Africans who were brought to Jamaica by
the Spanish during the Spanish rule of Jamaica 1509-1665. When the
British conquered Jamaica, the Spanish left leaving many of their
slaves. These formerly enslaved people, with their ranks enhanced
with escaped and liberated slaves, became the core of the Windward
Maroons. They staged a prolonged fight against British subjugation
and enslavement.