TheeDogsbestfriend

Speranza

[AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY @AfricanArchives]

One of the most influential Black women in California, Bridget “Biddy” Mason, was one of the first black women to own land in California. #BlackHistoryMonth

She was born enslaved but sued for her freedom, used her midwifery skills to earn money that she invested in real estate & died one of the wealthiest women in Los Angeles. Her financial success enabled her to support her extended family for generations despite the fact that she was illiterate.

—Biddy Bridget Mason (1815-1891) was born into slavery and "given" as a wedding gift to a Mormon couple in Mississippi named Robert and Rebecca Smith. In 1847 at age 32, Biddy Mason was forced to walk from Mississippi to Utah tending to the cattle behind her master’s 300-wagon caravan. She "walked" from Mississippi to Utah. That's 1, 618.9 miles!
After four years in Salt Lake City, Smith took the group to a new Mormon settlement in San Bernardino, California in search of gold. Biddy Mason soon discovered that the California State Constitution made slavery illegal, and that her master's had a plan to move them all to Texas to avoid freeing them.
With the help of some freed Blacks she had befriended, she and the other Slaves attempted to run away to Los Angeles, but they were intercepted by Smith and brought back. However, when he tried to leave the state with his family and Slaves, a local posse prevented them from leaving.
Biddy had Robert Smith brought into court on a writ of habeas corpus. She, her daughters, and the ten other Slaves were held in jail for their own safety to protect them from an angry and violent pro-slavery mob until the Judge heard the case and granted their freedom.
Now free, Mason and her three daughters moved to Los Angeles where they worked and saved enough money to buy a house at 331 Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. Biddy was employed as a Nurse, Midwife, and Domestic Servant. She was one of the first Black women to own land in the city of Los Angeles.
She had the intelligence and boldness to use part of her land as a temporary resting place for horses and carriages, and people visiting town paid money in exchange for the space. That particular area was considered the first "parking lot" in Los Angeles.
Knowing what it meant to be oppressed and friendless, Biddy Mason immediately began a philanthropic career by opening her home to the poor, hungry, and homeless. Through hard work, saving, and investing carefully, she was able to purchase large amounts of real estate including a commercial building, which provided her with enough income to help build schools, hospitals, and churches.
Her financial fortunes continued to increase until she accumulated a fortune of almost $300,000. In today's money, that would be $6M. Her most noted accomplishment is the founding of the First AME Church in California. In her tireless work she was known for saying "If you hold your hand closed, nothing good can come in. The open hand gives in abundance; even as it receives."

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[Chris Murphy 🟧 @ChrisMurphyCT]

This is insane. If you wonder why some of us think the rule of law is about to fall, it's this.

The U.S. Attorney for DC is not "President Trump's lawyer" and its job is not to "protect his leadership" nor prosecute people who "refuse to put America first".

[Malcolm Nance @MalcolmNance]

@Octokraken1 @RyanShead 31% of vote went to Trump. 30% for Harris. 39% didn’t vote at all. So less than 1/3rd of voters.

FYI that’s only 22% of the 350 million population voted for the orange idiot.
Learn to do math.

[Art Candee 🍿🥤 @ArtCandee]

What would be even funnier would be this guy getting arrested for impersonating an ICE agent.

[DCPetterson.bsky.social @dcpetterson]

This is floating around the Interwebs. I don't know who wrote it.

[Brett Bruen @BrettBruen]

Our NATO allies keeping Americans safe & not even asking for mineral resources in return…

[Deb Haaland @DebHaalandNM]

Raton, Taos, Española, Los Alamos. I can’t wait to meet you tomorrow.

[Aesthetics @aestheticspost_]

Maldives

[#WOMENSART @womensart1]

Wanda Koop, Canadian painter who has exhibited internationally #WomensArt

[NEXTA @nexta_tv]

🇵🇱 Poland has already paid for Starlink satellite communications services for Ukraine, so there is no basis for its disconnection — Poland’s Minister of Digitalization, Krzysztof Gawkowski.

“We pay and will pay the subscription fee for satellite internet for Ukraine. I can’t imagine anyone deciding to terminate a business contract for a commercial service, of which Poland is a party,” the Polish minister wrote in X.

[scary lawyerguy @scarylawyerguy]

Joe Biden was expected to have encyclopedic knowledge of every foreign and domestic policy issue under the sun. Trump doesn't even know Germany is holding an election tomorrow. Your media double standard!!! 🙃

[Dr. Allison Wiltz @queenie4rmnola]

There is no fascism without racism. They need specific groups to bully, villainize, and blame for all societal problems. The more people join the hate train, the stronger the regime becomes. A few examples would be Jim Crow in America and Nazi Germany.

[Leonard Pitts, Jr. @LeonardPittsJr1]

Just three weeks till I bring my novel “54 Miles” to Tucson. Hope to see you there.

[Rep. Jason Crow @RepJasonCrow]

I served in combat. Caring for veterans is personal to me.

Firing veterans crisis hotline employees - those who meet vets at their darkest moments - is a moral stain & strategic failure.

Absolutely unacceptable, especially from the Commander-in-Chief. https://t.co/yGYxFc8A5t

[Tina Smith @SenTinaSmith]

Just so everybody is clear on Republican priorities:

We put up an amendment to make sure nobody making over $500 million gets a tax cut. Republicans voted against it.

[Shontel Brown @ShontelMBrown]

Trump is advancing a re-segregation agenda seemingly every day.

Just yesterday, he suspended the 1890 Scholars Program—a decades-old Ag scholarship for high-performing students at HBCU land grants.

[Be A King @BerniceKing]

Sixty years ago, on this day in 1965, Brother Malcolm (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) was assassinated.

Gunned down in front of his wife and daughters.

What a tragic day for humanity.

I’m praying today for his daughters, who I love dearly.

#MalcolmX

[NowThis Impact @nowthisimpact]

They voted against 'preferred pronouns' and now they want people to use the ones they prefer? Seems a bit unfair 🤷

[ITDUDE Fella @The_Real_ITDUDE]

@Acyn Fck Trump