Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People (A Review)

Behold here, in the little negro girl, the future deliverer of hundreds of her people; the spy and scout of the Union armies; the devoted hospital nurse; the protector of hunted fugitives; the eloquent speaker in public meetings; the cunning eluder of pursuing man-hunters; the heaven guided pioneer through dangers seen and unseen; in short, as she has well been called, 'The Moses of her People.--pg. 14

-Harriet Tubman's life has always been an inspiration to me. This book, written while Harriet was still alive, is a gem in many ways. Bradford (who knew Harriet well), shares her views and other esteemed people's views of her and her character. 

God had a great work for her to do in the world, and the discipline and hardship through which she passed in her early years, were only preparing her for her after life of adventure and trial; and through these to come out as the Savior and Deliverer of her people, when she came to years of womanhood.--pg. 16

 -The more I learn about Harriet, the more amazed I am by what she was able to accomplish.   And this book in particular shares her strong faith.

Brought up by parents possessed of strong faith in God, she had never known the time, I imagine, when she did not trust Him, and cling to Him, with an all-abiding confidence.  She seemed ever to feel the Divine Presence near, and she talked with God 'as a man talketh with his friend'.  Hers was not the religion of a morning and evening prayer at stated times, but when she felt a need, she simply told God of it, and trusted Him to set the matter right.--pg. 23

-After Harriet escaped from slavery, she went back 19 times to rescue other slaves and was always successful.  She brought over 300 slaves north to freedom.  This, along with a whole host of other major accomplishments, is astounding. 

-Frederick Douglass had this to say about her:

Excepting John Brown--of sacred memory--I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than she has.

Malala Yousafzai is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!

In July 2013, Yousafzai addressed the United Nations, telling delegates that the Taliban "thought that bullets would silence us, but they failed.
"The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions," she said defiantly, "but nothing changed in my life, except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born."--Scott Neuman

I am in the middle of reading I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.  So, I was excited when I found out that she was being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

She is one of the most amazing teenage girls I have ever seen.  Men and women alike fear the Taliban, yet Malala stood up to them at a young age.  She was shot for that courage, but survived to continue the fight for girls and women's rights to be educated.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee had this to say:

Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls' rights to education.

Malala is the youngest ever to receive the award.  NPR had this to say:

Yousafzai, 17, defied the Taliban in her town of Mingora in Swat Valley, near the volatile western frontier dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan. In October 2012, Taliban militiamen boarded a school bus she was on, singled her out and shot her in the left side of the head. Two other girls were also wounded in the attack.

Left in critical condition, Yousafzai received an outpouring of international support and was moved to the U.K. for treatment.
"Malala battled for her life, and came back to become an international ambassador for the rights of girls to be educated," NPR's Julie McCarthy says.

She is a previous recipient of the Sakharov Prize and was first nominated for the Peace Prize last year. She now lives in Birmingham, England, but the Taliban have threatened to target her again.

Malala is sharing the prize with Kailash Satyarthi.  The ironic part is that Malala is from Pakistan and Kailash is from India, two countries that have been at odds for a long time.

Time Magazine had this to say:

The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday.

Both Satyarthi, a 60-year-old Hindu from India, and Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Muslim from Pakistan, are renowned children’s rights activists. Malala became a household name around the globe when, in October 2012, she was shot in the head by a Taliban assassin while on her way to school. The young girl had been an outspoken advocate of girls’ education before the shooting. Afterward, she became an international beacon for the cause and was chosen as TIME’s runner-up for Person of the Year in 2012. She was later named one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People. Now, at age 17, she is the youngest-ever Nobel Laureate.

For Yousufzai, who continues to receive threats from the Pakistani Taliban who attempted to silence her demands to be educated two years ago, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize offers no better, and no louder, rebuttal.

Malala has a bright future ahead of her.  I imagine that maybe some day, it is possible that she can break barriers and become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.  That would certainly make the Taliban's blood boil.

Church of Lies--A Review

It's amusing how many people now want to take credit for the fall of Warren Jeffs.  It's a seductive story.  Everybody wants to be seen as the hero...

But Flora Jessop--well, she's the real McCoy--one of the original warriors and genuine heroes.  In fact, in many ways, Flora Jessop and a childhood friend of hers from Colorado City are truly Arizona's Founding Mothers of this hard-fought, human rights revolution.  A campaign that had to overcome more than a half-century of institutionalized neglect and indifference on the part of Utah and Arizona officials before a man like Warren Jeffs could finally be brought to justice.

There are people who might dispute that claim--but I would argue that they are people who either don't really know the story or are lying to cover their own asses.--Mike Watkiss

--After reading Carolyn Jessop's two books, Escape and Triumph, about the abuse in the FLDS polygamous cult, I decided I wanted to learn more.

--Flora Jessop is Carolyn Jessop's cousin, since most of the FLDS community are related to each other.  Flora escaped long before Carolyn, while she was still a teenager.  Flora was being sexually assaulted by her father from a very young age.  She tried to escape numerous times before she was eventually successful.

--Flora's book details her early childhood, her escape from the FLDS cult and her struggle to live a normal life afterwards.  She eventually finds peace and a good life in the outside world.  It is then that she begins to help many other women and teenagers who want to escape from the FLDS as well.

--The more I learn about the FLDS cult, the more like the mob they seem.  They indoctrinate, brainwash and abuse their members in order to keep them imprisoned.  They don't want you to escape to tell the truth, so they manipulate and try to control your every move.  If you do escape, they hunt you down and try everything in their power to force you to return.

--The women that are able to escape intact, are some of the bravest and most courageous warriors I have ever seen.

--Flora Jessop is the Executive Director of The Child Protection Project, which is an amazing organization helping many escape their lives of abuse in the FLDS.

--To this day, Jessop continues to fight for victims of abuse, wherever they may be.  As Mike Watkiss says, she is one of the "original warriors and genuine heroes" of this movement.

Carolyn Jessop--A Portrait of Courage

--At 18 years of age, Carolyn Blackmore was forced to marry 50 year old Merril Jessop. She became his 4th wife. Even though she got violently ill with each pregnancy, and the last 4 endangered her life, she gave birth to 8 children.  One of whom had numerous medical needs, and required 24/7 care.

--She lived with abuse for 17 years. Her husband was physically, emotionally and verbally abusive.  He also manipulated his other wives to punish her for not being an "obedient wife".

--She finally became disillusioned with the FLDS and polygamy.  She started planning her escape in the year 2000, and was successful on April 21, 2003.

--She was the first woman to gain full custody of her children after leaving the FDLS community.


--Carolyn Jessop has written two books, Escape and Triumph: Life After the Cult--A Survivor's Lessons.  A movie was made based on her life, In God's Country.

--I have always known that polygamy was oppressive and abusive towards women and children, but I was horrified as I learned of Carolyn's story.  I am just flabbergasted that so many men, women and children can be brainwashed so completely.

--In the FLDS, everything in a woman's life is about pleasing and obeying her husband (her priesthood head).  It is through her husband that a woman is able to get to heaven.  So, the man's needs are not only more important than a woman's, but even more important than the children's needs.

--I was shocked to hear about how the children were sexually and physically abused and neglected.  The wives couldn't risk displeasing their husbands (because that would endanger their chance of getting into heaven), so children were often neglected as a result.

--Carolyn's ability to not only survive years of brainwashing and abuse, but to escape from it is a profile in courage.  She is a heroine for women of all walks of life.

Remarkable Women Profile #1--The Iron Lady--Margaret Thatcher!

Photo Credit: Mike's America

The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.~Margaret Thatcher

I am doing research on some of my favorite women for a class that I will be teaching. I hope to do a profile on each woman.

I started with Sarah Palin and then went to Margaret Thatcher. I will go back to Palin and get a profile done on her, but right now I've immersed myself in all things Thatcher and wanted to do a post. I gave a speech to a Republican Women's club on Monday night, and talked a lot about Thatcher, so its all fresh in my mind.

Ecclesiastes 1 says there is nothing new under the sun. I found that to be so true as I studied Thatcher's life. She was fighting an identical battle in the 70's and 80's that we are fighting today. When she was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975, she had this to say:

Now, what is the challenge of our time? I believe...to overcome the country's economic and financial problems and to regain our confidence in Britain and ourselves.

How did Thatcher think Britain could accomplish this? She said, "they must abandon socialism."When she was elected Prime Minister in 1979, she saw it as her role to:

...rescue Great Britain from its 25 year slide toward socialism.

During that election campaign, Thatcher ran on three issues:

1) Taking some of the power away from the Unions 2) Tax Cuts 3) Economic Freedom

What did the liberal from the Labor Party run on?

1) Saying they had created and protected 1.2 million jobs (this sounds familiar, despite the bad economy at the time) 2) A wealth tax for the rich 3) Cutting Defense Spending

It sounds like it is right out of today's newspaper. At that time, Britain responded to Thatcher and rejected socialism.

If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.~Margaret Thatcher

Thatcher Basics:

~~She was born Margaret Roberts on October 13, 1925
~~She grew up in Grantham, above her father's grocery
~~Her family was a very, strict Methodist family
~~By her teens, she said politics was in her bloodstream
~~She was one of the few students that went to Oxford because of her intellect and not because of her wealth
~~She married Denis Thatcher on December 13, 1951
~~She passed her bar exam only 4 months after having her twins (Mark & Carol)
~~She became a member of Parliament on October 20, 1959, exactly a week after her 34th birthday
~~The Soviet Union meant the nickname, "Iron Lady" as an insult, but Thatcher took it proudly
~~She was the first and only woman to become Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 53 (so far)
~~She was the first woman ever to head the government of a major country in Europe or America
~~She chose her 22 member cabinet in 2 days
~~She got 4-5 hours of sleep a night
~~She won re-election in 1983 by a landslide, 144 seats, the largest margin since 1945
~~In 1984, she escaped a bomb attack meant for her by the IRA

Quotes:

She became an international heroine of the right.~~Anthony Sampson, British commentator

I am not a consensus politician. I am a conviction politician...~~Margaret Thatcher

Friend and foe alike could only watch in fascination, however, as Margaret Thatcher dominated the life of the country and occupied the center of the political arena as no prime minister had done since the wartime days of Winston Churchill.~~Bernard Garfinkel

It was a swift and daring move that reinforced her image of toughness, as well as her total commitment to her policies.~~Garfinkel (talking about her decision to fire moderates from her cabinet in 1981)

Sources:
~~Margaret Thatcher Website
~~The Downing Street Years
~~Madam Prime Minister
~~Thatcher