Insane in the Memb(reign)

So...... I must discuss the clusterfuck that was the series premiere of Reign. The show with so much potential as it is based upon many interesting historical figures. So disappointing. There are several glaring historical inaccuracies that are just beyond offensive and deserve severe rebuking!

1) THESE PEOPLE ARE FRENCH! THEY WOULD NOT HAVE ENGLISH ACCENTS! Mary Queen of Scots grew up in France and has a French mother. SHE WOULD HAVE A FRENCH ACCENT! The King of France IS FRENCH! Queen Catherine is ITALIAN and would have a strange accent BUT NOT ENGLISH!

2) Urgh. The OUTFITS. Seriously.

3) There was no Bash. Diane de Poitiers had no children with the King.

4) Mary Queen of Scots grew up in the French court. Not a bloody convent. I know that would defeat the dramatic flair of the nun convulsing to death after being poisoned. But srlsy.

5) Elisabeth, the French princess, married Philip II of Spain in SPAIN. She didn't marry some hot young dude, she married a man that had been married twice already and eighteen years older.

6) THOSE OUTFITS!

7) Mary, Queen of Scots was six feet tall. Not some tiny frail little thing.

8) I highly doubt Catherine de Medici would make some comments about Colin's family being upstarts, especially since her family were...... BANKERS! *scoffs* faints*

9) Diane de Poitiers was 20 years older than King Henry, and an incredibly interesting, smart, thoughtful woman. Not some mere mistress.

10) Young Francis was weak, short and kind of funny looking. Hardly the handsome dude on television. But no one wants to see funny looking people on television.

That's what I got so far. I may watch the second episode to see if it has improved somewhat.

Ignatius Sancho!

This week is midterms week, luckily next week is Study Week! WOO! Todays important historical figure is Ignatius Sancho!


"I am sorry to observe that the practice of your country (which as a resident I love - and for its freedom - and for the many blessings I enjoy in it - shall ever have my warmest wishes, prayers and blessings); I say it is with reluctance, that I must observe your country's conduct has been uniformly wicked in the East - West-Indies - and even on the coast of Guinea. The grand object of English navigators - indeed of all Christian navigators - is money - money - money - for which I do not pretend to blame them - Commerce was meant by the goodness of the Deity to diffuse the various goods of the earth into every part--to unite mankind in the blessed chains of brotherly love - society - and mutual dependence: the enlightened Christian should diffuse the riches of the Gospel of peace - with the commodities of his respective land - Commerce attended with strict honesty - and with Religion for its companion - would be a blessing to every shore it touched at. In Africa, the poor wretched natives blessed with the most fertile and luxuriant soil- are rendered so much the more miserable for what Providence meant as a blessing: the Christians' abominable traffic for slaves and the horrid cruelty and treachery of the petty Kings encouraged by their Christian customers who carry them strong liquors to enflame their national madness - and powder - and bad fire-arms - to furnish them with the hellish means of killing and kidnapping." -Ignatius Sancho

Ignatius Sancho was born on a slave ship in 1729, although his exact birthplace and date is unknown. Though he ended up at New Granada soon after, both parents died before his second year. His father had committed suicide so that he couldn't be enslaved, and his mother died from unknown causes. After their deaths, he was taken to England to slave for three sisters in Greenwich.

Somehow he caught the attention of John Montagu, the 2nd Duke of Montagu who acknowledged Ignatius' superior intellect and gave him books and encouraged his studies. Eventually, Ignatius fled the three sisters in Greenwich in 1749 to live with John Montagu, where he worked as their butler until 1751. It was there that he immersed himself in music, literature, poetry and learning. Upon the death of the Duchess of Montagu, he was given a pension, and a years salary. Sometime in the 1760s, he became the personal valet to the next Duke of Montague until 1773. He was considered by many to be a man of discretion, refinement and superior intellect. In 1774, Montagu helped this learned man open a grocery store. As an independent business owner, he had more time to spend with his growing family (he married in the 1760s to Ann Osborne and had six children) and qualified to vote in the British elections. He is considered to be the first Black person to vote in the elections. He also found the time to write two plays and Theory of Music and create an extensive correspondence with other learned men and women. One of his friends, Frances Crewe, would publish 160 letters in two volumes after his death, which included details of his enslavement and issues of racism that he had faced.

Since the mid-1760s, he called for the abolition of the slave trade, writing to Laurence Sterne to use his own pen to lobby. His letter and Sterne's response to the letter were published and used to ignite the abolition debate. He became one of the icons for the abolitionist movement, referring to him as the "extraordinary Negro"

Ignatius died in 1780 of gout and became the first African to receive an obituary in the British press.

Graciela Dixon!

The Former Chief Justice of Panama Graciela Dixon is one of the first Afro-Panamanian women to take the position.



“Judges have the great and sensitive task of building peace in each of our rulings. Judges are one of the most important beings on earth because we have great responsibility-if we accept it. I think I am blessed to be able to take on these responsibilities.”-Graciela Dixon
Graciela has a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Panama, post graduate degree in Human Rights from University of Santa Maria La Antigua University in Panama. She received specialized judicial education with the Training Program for Court Judges and Magistrates at the General Counsel of the Judicial Branch in Barcelona, Spain, and training in constitutional law at the Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain.
She was one of the representing attorneys for the victims of US intervention in Panama in the late 1980s. In 1995, she was a national consultant to UNICEF’s Technical Committee for the Implementation of Family Code for the Republic of Panama; and in 1996, she was an international delegate for the International Women’s Organization during the Presidential elections in Nicaragua.
She practiced as a litigation attorney for 22 years until 2005, when she was elected to the Chief Justice position for 2 year tenure.

Nanny and the Maroons!

Hey everyone. I am continuing on with more figures from Black History for Black History Month. Today's figure is Nanny of the Maroons


Nanny was born c. 1686 in Ghana, a member of the Ashanti tribe and brought to Jamaica as a slave. She was sold to a sugar plantation in Saint Thomas Parish. As a young girl, Nanny and her brothers, Accompong, Cudjoe, Johnny and Quao fled the plantations and hid in Blue Mountains. Eventually they split up to form Maroon communities across Jamaica.

The Maroons were a group of former Jamaican slaves who fled their oppressive existence to resist European colonialism, a lot of the former slaves were from West Africa, similar to Nanny. They were often very skilled and adept fighters who used their knowledge of the land to their advantage. Oftentimes, the Maroons were intermarry with native Islanders, the Arawak peoples.

In 1720, Nanny and Quao settled and controlled a parcel of land (500 acres), that gave them strategic advantage over the invading Brits. It was named Nanny Town. The members of the community raised cattle, crops, and invade and burn plantations for weapons and other goods. They'd rescue other slaves and bring them back to their community. Many raids by the British were done on this town to no avail.

In over 30 years, Nanny believed to have freed over 800 slaves. She would also serve as one of the community's healers and it would increase her esteem. 

It is uncertain about what year Nanny died, some believe it was as early as 1734 others as late as 1755. Either way, she is the only "Queen Nanny".

Sanité Bélair!

Born c. 1781 as a freewoman. She served as a sergeant in the army of Toussaint Louverture during the Haitian Revolution in 18th century. She was married to a great general Charles Belair. Eventually captured by General Charles Leclerc, she was sentenced to death by decapitation, after witnessing her husband die by firing squad. Reportedly, she walked to her death with bravery and defiance.

Mary Seacole

Hey everyone. I am falling a bit behind for Black History month, because I had no internet at home. I know, the shock and agony of it all! I am almost half way through my intensive course and I couldn't be happier for it, I am eager to finish it and start working again. My feet itching to travel more, and I need money to make it happen unfortunately.

Today's person is Mary Jane Seacole



Mary Seacole was born to a Scottish Officer and a free Jamaican Creole mother in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805.  Her mother was a healer, who used traditional Caribbean and African herbal remedies to heal the sick. Mary acquired her nursing and healing skills while helping the sick with her mother, who ran a hotel, Blundell Hall, where most of the guests were disabled European soldiers and sailors who often suffered from yellow fever.

Due to her ancestry, she was declared a mulatto and was given very little rights. She was proud of her Creole, Scottish and black heritage, declaring in her autobiography"I have a few shades of deeper brown upon my skin which shows me related—and I am proud of the relationship—to those poor mortals whom you once held enslaved, and whose bodies America still owns."

She received an education from a kind patroness, after living in her house for many years and treated as one of the family. She returned to this patroness to provide care until the woman's death.  After this, she went back to assisting her mother who was often called up to help with British Army Hospital. During this time, she traveled to London to visit family and around the Caribbean, even without the requisite chaperone.

She married Edwin Seacole in 1836, and after attempting to open a shop they returned to Blundell Hall. Unfortunately for Mary, she lost her husband and mother in 1844 and the hotel had burned down in a fire. Blundell Hall was rebuilt as New Blundell Hall and Mary absorbed herself in her work. She became a very well respected member of the community and amidst the cholera epidemic proved to be an asset in Jamaica, because she believe that it was spread through other people and took this knowledge to benefit others.

In 1851, she traveled to Cruces, Panama to visit a brother, where they were hit with a cholera outbreak. After the first patient she treated survived, she earned a well deserved reputation for healing, although many patients did not survive.  This was part in due to the fact, that she was the only experienced medical practitioner in the area. She would charge the rich, but not the poor. The remarkable thing is that unlike most medical practitioners of the day, she did not use opium in her ministering. She preferred mustard rubs, cinnamon water, lead acetate and poultices.  After one of the children that she had cared for died, she performed an autopsy and learned more about the disease. She herself became sickened but thankfully survived.

I am going to skip some of the intervening years between then and the Crimean War for it is too much to discuss at this current juncture.

The Crimean War rings a bell for most of us as the war where Florence Nightingale flourished in her aiding the sick. However, Mary Seacole was there as well.

The outbreak of the Crimean War was a medical disaster. Cholera ravaged through the troops and killed off many soldiers, as the medical hospitals were grossly inadequate. Mary knowing that her experiences in Panama and Jamaica would make her asset sailed to England to apply for a nursing position, however it was to no avail as she was rejected at every turn. It is believed the other black nurses were having as much difficulty.  She even applied to the Crimea Fund for traveling expenses so that she may travel there and help the sick, but that was rejected as well.

Finally she decided to use her own funds to start up the British Hotel in Crimea for sick and convalescent British officers. As she was in London, so was an old acquaintance, Thomas Davy. They formed a partnership and bought enough supplies to send Mary to Crimea. On her boat trip to Crimea, she met a doctor who was at Florence Nightingales hospital and wrote a letter of introduction on Mary's behalf to Florence. However, as Mary arrived with the letter to Florence, her help was refused. She went on to Balaclava, and from debris and rubbish built her British Hotel. The hotel was more than a home for sick, she sold goods to British soldiers and sightseers (Yeah, I know). She would often go out of the hotel and visit casualties every day, except for Sundays.

Florence Nightingale would accuse Mary of being nothing more than a brothel, for daring to sell alcohol and charge for its services. Nightingale would refuse to have any association with Mary, whatsoever, even making sure her nurses would be careful to avoid her. Although later, Nightingale would made an anonymous donation after Seacole faced bankruptcy, after realizing perhaps that Mary was healing many of the wounded and was very well respected and affectionately called, "Mother Seacole".

After the war, Mary was unfortunately destitute from her business and unlike Nightingale received no awards and honours for her hard and outstanding work.  Her creditors pursued her back to London, where Queen Victoria's nephew took up fundraising efforts on her behalf.

Her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, was published in 1857, the first written by a black woman in Britain.

There is much more to be said about her later life, but I figured you guys should just find out for yourself!