Who are we? Where did we come from? What does Melungeon even mean? I get these questions all the time from Melungeons that are trying to reconnect, and I have to tell ya’ll, I don’t think anyone today has the answer to that. I can tell you what I have gathered through my research and studies though and you guys can take what you want from that. So “Who” are we? Well, it seems there were a couple melungeon communities, we called ourselves “Ridgeminites, Portaghee, Appalachee, Malungu, and Lakeminites.” The new european settlers called us Melungeon and Mestee. Melungeon is a French word that means blended, Malungu is an African word that means mate, shipmate, or friend. By the time there was any documented history of us as Melungeon, we were a tri racial isolate group in the “Melungia” region of Appalachia, this refers to the small area that encompasses a portion east tn, east ky, west nc, and southern wv and va. Where did we come from? It is believed that the Portaghee we claimed was actually Portugeuse, and this can mostly be assumed by the remnants of portugeuse language in Melungeon Dialect. It is also believed that we have origins in Angola, as the Bunch line of Melugneons can be traced back to John Punch, the first Slave in the US, as well as the Johnson family who owned a farm also known as “angola”. Our origins seem to be more nuanced than that though. No two familes have the same origins, because the fact of it is we have many. We descend from “free people of color” this included free african americans who were formerly indentured servants, outcast members of indigenous tribes, rromani refugees (g*psies, if you aren’t familiar with Rromani, however it is conisdered a slur by the Rrom), middle eastern immigrants who were too dark to pass as white and poor european immigrants who couldn’t afford to live anywhere else. These “undesirable” communites down south were forced into the mountains, the “unihabitable” areas, expected to fend for ourselves or die. Their hope was for the latter. Relying solely on each other, the community remained isolated and endogamous, resulting in a heavily mixed race group of people that outsiders called Melungeon. You will see people argue that we descend from Turks, from the 10 lost tribes of Israel, from a crashed portuguese slave ship, from the Cherokee, the Sioux, the Creek, the Croatoan, that we are the lost Colony of Roanoke, the “moon eyed people” from local ingigenous lore, but I personally believe the truth is, they are all probably a little bit right and a little bit wrong. It’s likely some of our ancestors were in this country long before it was a country. It’s likely people were forced into the melungeon umbrella simply by looking too dark to be white but too light to be black. DNA testing Melugneon descendants seem to reflect a pretty diverse background. This is a huge reason why Melungeon communities do not recognize “blood quantum”, there is no “half melungeon”, if you are Melungeon you are Melungeon. Being all mixed up is what makes us so. It’s not so much the origins that made melungeon that bring us together, we aren’t Angolan, we aren’t Portugeuse, we aren’t Indigenous, we are all that and more, it is the mix that makes us Melungeon, the culture, the experience, and the genetic memory. Our origin is Appalachia, thats where this heavy mix was born, and where our culture was built, where our non ancient ancestors made their lives and tried to provide better futures for us, their desendants.
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The rich are getting more rich tho
YOU. CAN. BUY. INSULIN. FOR. 25 usd. WITHOUT. A. PRESCRIPTION. AT. WALMART.
Big pharma doesn’t want you to know, but insulin is more accessible to many people than they think. Anyways, eat the rich.
DON’T DO THAT BC THAT’S A DIFFERENT BRAND THAN YOU USUALLY GET, AND THEREFORE A DIFFERENT DOSAGE THAN WHAT YOU’RE USED TO.
if you take the same dose of a different brand of insulin, like the guy in the story did, there’s a good chance you will either critically overdose or critically underdose and either way you’ll be in trouble.
DO NOT!!!!! attempt to put “walmart insulin” into an insulin pump or pen. If you must use it, TALK TO THE PHARMACIST ON THE FLOOR and CALL YOUR ENDOCRINOLOGIST(or educator) for information on how to dose this. Do not consult the internet. The only place online I recommend consulting is type 1 support groups–there’s a chance someone with insulin paid for by insurance can spare a vial. Also TALK TO YOUR ENDO!!!!! They carry fridges FULL of samples of novolog/humalog. Trust me. The drug reps give them free vials like candy. My endo always makes sure if someone’s low on supply, she sends them home with at least two vials. Explain your situation. They get it. AND call your general physician. Chances are good they have vials in their fridges as well. These two types of insulin are wildly different and WILL cause harm. Keep an eye on your insulin stock and try not to get to this point; your doctors (despite what you may think of them) WILL try to help you in ways they can. Always ask for samples. Be safe, t1ds.
This man specifically died after taking cheaper insulin and people reblog it telling others to do the same.
to clarify:
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what if public libraries were open late every night so that:
– children and teens who cant get home until a later time have a safe, warm, well lit, populated area to socialize, charge devices, rest, etc
– children and teens have a safe place to go to stay away from danger
– people who have jobs that take up most of the day would still have time ANY DAY OF THE WEEK to go use the libraries facilities (printing, computers, etc)
This is exactly what public libraries are trying to achieve – public libraries as a third place is a whole thing – it’s just that the funding isn’t there (yet).
Libraries need and deserve so much funding
I’m going to apologize if this post comes off as sounding very aggressive, but having just been through one of the most stressful experiences of my entire career in libraries:
if you want this, you need to be at your local community government meetings. you need to be talking to your representatives. you need to be out there Lobbying.
Just a few weeks ago, my library, me, my coworkers, we had to write letters, send emails, make phone calls, speak at council meetings, just to beg our aldermen to give us our usual funding. Which they didn’t even give to us last year. Losing last year’s funding forced us to cut staff, hours, and all of our databases. If we’d lost this year’s funding? two positions would have been gone and we would have likely had to close on Saturdays. On Saturdays. The day of the week most of y’all working M-F jobs actually have time to go to the fucking library.
And do you want to know how much money we were asking? We were asking for an increase of approximately 13 cents a person.
13.
Fucking.
Cents.
ACROSS AN ENTIRE YEAR.
No one seems to understand how libraries are funded. It’s not just Free Stuff. It’s your tax dollars being paid back into your community. It’s crowdfunding. The highest cost anyone in my community pays for the library a year is approximately $250. Divide that up. That’s just $4 a week. That’s less than a coffee. It’s the equivalent of purchasing about 10 hardcover books a year. For that price, you could have access to every book that has ever been written, a place to go that’s not a bar, programs for kids, teens, and adults, educated staff that can help you find the answers to your questions, and so much more.
You want these late-night libraries? You want all this stuff? Start fighting for it. Start showing up. Start making phone calls. It’s not going to come out of thin air. Start fighting to erase the idea that taxes = evil. Start fighting to spread the understanding that taxes are what help us build a better society.
Make sure the people who represent you know that you want this. That this is where you want your tax dollars to go. That this is what you want them to support. That you are willing to see your tax bill go up a few more dollars for this.
Because otherwise? None of this is going to happen. Libraries are going to keep cutting their opening hours. Keep cutting staff. Keep cutting programs and databases and collections.
We NEED your support, and we need more than just a post on Tumblr. We need to see people show up and speak out.
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05/13/21
For Julie Hollek, who was 8 months old when white parents in Michigan adopted her from South Korea, her relationship to her birth country is “tenuous” at best, she said. Raised as a Catholic in a white neighborhood, she grew up speaking only English, knowing little about Korean culture, and going to school with kids who didn’t look like her.
“It’s this weird thing where this is all I know, white Catholicism, but I didn’t fit in there,” she said. “One day, if I go back to Korea, there will be many reasons why I don’t fit in Korea either. Where do I belong? To whom do I belong?” She said, “At some point, I kind of realized that I am Korean. I don’t have to do anything to be Korean, because I just am.”
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If you’re genuinely interested in learning more about settler colonialism and answering questions like “wait what does land back look like?” “What can I do?” and “What are the contexts informing this and why do Indigenous people reject being part of the US/Canada?” there are free syllabi online which can answer these questions (they will not answer it directly, the point is to get you to think for yourself and ask more questions that can lead you to thinking more deeply about this and how you can personally take action towards better practices of solidarity)
Here’s the Standing Rock Syllabus:
https://nycstandswithstandingrock.wordpress.com/standingrocksyllabus/
Allyship and Solidarity Guidelines of Unsettling America:
https://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/allyship/
Towards Decolonization and Settler Responsibility:
Sample Syllabi of the DEcolonization Resource Collection:
https://nationalhistorycenter.org/decolonization-resource-collection-sample-syllabi/
Further Readings:
https://decolonization.wordpress.com/decolonization-readings/
These are limited resources that mainly deal with North America and English-speaking countries, because that’s the context I am coming from. If you have resources from other regions and other languages, I welcome them here, or anything from your local context.
Accomplices Not Allies:
indigenousaction.org/accomplices-not-allies-abolishing-the-ally-industrial-complex
Autonomously And With Conviction:
itsgoingdown.org/autonomously-and-with-conviction-a-metis-refusal-of-state-led-reconciliation/
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05/11/21
Quarter of white Americans don’t view anti-Asian racism as a problem, report finds
37% of white Americans say they are not aware of an increase in hate crimes and racism against Asian Americans over the past year, even after the Atlanta shootings and mainstream outlets’ reports on anti-Asian hate. These numbers are higher for respondents who identify as Republican (46%) compared to Democrats (22%). 35% of Republicans and 12% of Democrats do not believe anti-Asian racism is a problem that should be addressed.
Americans are most comfortable with Asian Americans as doctors or nurses, friends, and co-workers. They are less comfortable with Asian Americans as their boss, in-laws, and president of the United States. Asian Americans are significantly underrepresented in senior positions in companies, politics, and media, but nearly 50% of non-Asian Americans believe the opposite is true.
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this image perfectly captures how i feel most hours of the day
decadence
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FREE STARTER BEADING KITS
I’m making a new post, since the last seems to have outlived it’s usefulness. V2! I don’t know why posts make it to 2k and stop getting help.
Quick break down:
-I have making starter beading kits for FREE for all Native people who don’t have the opportunity to learn to bead another way. You do not have to be enrolled, you do not need to look a certain way, you are not required to be anything but a native, and at LEAST be reconnecting. (Also, please do not message me your blood quantum and life story. You can just say your tribe, or that you’re reconnecting. It’s fine, I promise.)
-This program requires ALLIES. You want to help supply beading supplies to native people, since this artistic ability is very important to native people, particularly those displaced by colonization? Yeah? Thought so! The cost for each box, plus the shipping, comes out to about $30. Every $30 donated means another person gets a box. This program has already given out ~40 or so boxes– Imagine all the people that are being touched by this! Donation links are down below.
Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/jnwampler
Venmo: @KajiW
CashApp: $kajiw
***MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE A NOTE WHAT IT IS FOR, THANK YOU.
So, in summery:
NATIVE PEOPLE WANTING BOXES: Message me. I’ll either have a box ready or get you on the waiting list for one.
ALLIES WANTING TO HELP: Send over what you can! Even small amounts helps put these kits into the hands of those who can benefit!
Someone sent me enough to get some supplies we were really low on— send more so the boxes can be prepared, claimed, and mailed! 💕
AUTHOR | HISTORIAN | ARTIST 