The Washington football team used to be called the Redskins. It was renamed The Washington Commandersin 2022. In the 1960s, the team’s name—the Redskins—and the associated logo began to draw criticism from Native American groups and individuals. This is 2014, and it seems a little late to be dealing with that stuff,” the artist explained. “It should have been quashed a long time ago. We did everything to the Indians that we could, and it’s still going on. It seems crude and callous.
So, in my cover, I’ve brought the cultural arrogance of one side back to the sixteen-hundreds and the first Thanksgiving dinner, just to see what would happen.”
Listen here for the meaning of Thanksgiving to some American people and read the transcript.
For me, it’s like the stars at the center, the ones that guide you aren’t there anymore. So you have to shift your view. Look for light in other places. It’s the same thing when family relationships break. You find love and acceptance from other people, friends, even strangers, which is to me what Thanksgiving is about being grateful for the light wherever you find it. appreciating the family you have, and the family you choose. We asked our listeners to share some reflections on how you think about family has that definition changed? Who brings you light? This is some of what you shared.
Hi, this is Mike Caldwell in Chicago, Illinois. Over the past couple of years, my idea family has changed quite a bit. When the pandemic hit. We decided to move back to the Midwest in order to be closer to our families. And with that transition came a lot of other life developments. We were able to buy our first house, which has allowed us to create something of a family with our neighbors and our community. And it also allowed us to have our first child which has really brought our families our extended families closer to us. And so it’s felt like something of a reunion to be back in this place. And to have this new little person in our lives, and I can’t wait to experience all of these holidays and new experiences through her eyes.
“They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports”
William Bradford,* Of Plymouth Plantation
* William Bradford was the governor of the Plimoth Colony.
Referring to the 1623 harvest after the nearly catastrophic drought, Bradford wrote:
“And afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving… By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine now God gave them plenty … for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had … pretty well … so as any general want or famine had not been amongst them since to this day.”
The artist : Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863-1930) was an American painter known for his series of 78 scenes from American history, entitled The Pageant of a Nation, the largest series of paintings on American history by a single artist. Ferris enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and his decision to paint historical scenes was the result of the influence of his namesake, Jean-Leon Gérôme. By 1895, he had gained a reputation as a historical painter and he stated a series of paintings that told a historical narrative. In 1898, he sold one, but later decided to keep the paintings together as a series. He sold the reproduction rights to various publishing companies which sold many copies of his paintings, such as postcards and calendars. As a result, his work became visible and popular. It contributed to the American narrative.
Two levels
Different men
The gender of generosity
Thanksgiving ceremonies :
May 1541 Spanish explorer F. Vasquez de Coronado led 1,500 men in a thanksgiving celebration at the Palo Duro canyon, in what is known now as the Texas panhandle. The expedition he was leading was in search of gold.
French Huguenots settlers celebrated a thanksgiving ceremony in a settlement in what is nowadays called Jacksonville, Florida in 1564. They were raided by a Spanish group in 1565 and their colony was subsequently destroyed.
Plymouth, Massachussetts : a temple was built to commemorate the First Thanksgiving, in 1621In the middle of the “temple”, the stone where the Pilgrims supposedly set foot in 1620.
Question : what did artist Bob Staake represent with this illustration ?
The artist declared to the New Yorker that he was heart-broken, as he had lived in St Louis for seventeen years before moving to Boston, and the news he was watching were upsetting him.
He hoped the events in Ferguson would provide an opportunity for the USA to learn, and come together. The Gateway Arch might symbolise division and dispute, but it could also be seen as a new bridge to help people come together.
° Michael Brown : What happened to him and the reaction of the police
° The reaction of the population in Ferguson : riots
° The end of Barack Obama’s second mandate
° The situation of African-Americans Americans in American society (unemployment rate is the double of that of Whites)
° Campaign : Hands Up, don’t shoot (you can refer to this Kadir Nelson picture : Say their Names ) and to archives pictures with the sign.
Conclusion : A broken arch : the symbol of the arch, the symbol of a broken arch = a divided society….The symbols of black and white colours. The call for justice in the racial history of the USA
Adrian Tomine likes to observe people. He has described social life in the pandemic through zoom meetings. All the details in the picture say something about life in quarantine.
The light is one of the essential features of the picture. He has been inspired by Edward Hopper, for whom it was also a consistent question.
He also likes to show the contradiction of humour in painful moments.
This lone figure focuses on a promise and the hope that was made possible by the presidential election of Joe Biden and his vice-president Kamala Harris. The artist hopes young girls in his country and around the world will accept that there are no barriers they can’t overcome. The blue iris flower represents hope and the rolled-up sleeves symbolise the work that needs to be done.
Kadir Nelson uses the same medium (oil paint) that artists have used for centuries. He said that he was inspired by ancient Egypt, Renaissance, and early twentieth century painting.
This is what Kamala Harris said : (…)” while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities“.
President Biden declared : “This morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up — especially little Black and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities. But today, today, just maybe, they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way.”
Harris’s origins : the daughter of immigrants, father from Jamaica, mother from India
The USA : a country becoming more racially diverse, an interracial democracy that represents people, men and women from all over the world.
Harris’s education and role models: She was raised in Oakland, California
Her mother, who left India in the 1950s to study at UC (University of California) Berkeley
Shirley Chisholm — the pioneering first Black woman to serve in Congress and who also became the first woman to seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in the 1972 election.
The promise Joe Biden made : He would choose a woman as his running mate.
The context : Black women helped Joe Biden win the 2019 election. They have been very vocal and active in the Democratic party.
President Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a “monster” and a “communist” and argued that it would be an “insult” if she became the first female president. Republican Sen. David Perdue appeared to intentionally mock Harris’ first name at a campaign rally in Georgia.
“If you think of the kind of racist and misogynistic slurs that are hurled at Black women or sometimes even unconscious ideas about who Black women are and how they should behave, or how they should talk, I think she’s the best answer to that,” said Manisha Sinha, an American history professor at the University of Connecticut,. “In a way, I think it will lead to the country’s healing a little bit after four years of blatant racism and sexism being literally espoused from the highest office in the land.”
The phrase “American dream” has come to be associated with upward mobility and enough economic success to lead a comfortable life. Historically, however, the phrase represented the idealism of the great American experiment. A Brief History of the American Dream, bushcenter.prg
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the American dream as “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.”
Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned the American Dream in the civil rights struggle in 1963, when he told white America that Black Americans shared that dream:
“I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.“
Introduce the document : Author/title/date of publication/Genre of the document/identify the New Yorker magazine/ The question : what did this picture mean in November 2020 ?
Describe the picture precisely
Define the American Dream (look up). Mention the ideal that any American born person may become president
Read who Kamala Harris is and what she declared in her speech after the election
Mention Donald Trump’s attitude to Kamala Harris and women in general.
Kadir Nelson : his art and his goal : make African-Americans proud, show strong figures, get African- American children to identify with positive figures, represent African Americans as part of the nation.
Conclusion : Answer the question about the meaning of the picture for little girls. Explain the common points between the American dream for girls and for people of colour. Integration is the contrary of segregation. Kadir Nelson wants to integrate African Americans into American society
This cover was published six days before the 2018 Academy Awards and refers to a difficult year in the film industry, because of revelations of sexual misconduct in Hollywood caused the #MeToo movement. “Movies are the dream models by which multiple generations have codified, altered, and pushed the boundaries of their behavior,” the artist Chris Ware says about his latest New Yorker cover, his twenty-fourth.
“For too long,” Ware says, “we have forgotten that, while actors like Clara Bow, Marilyn Monroe, or Lupita Nyong’o may be film stars, they are also human beings, subject to the totality of life.”
Introduction : genre of document, title, author date. Question : what is the relationship between #Me Too and this New Yorker cover ?
Description : red dress / Academy awards/ the man’s action…
Chris Ware has been inspired by his life with his daughter, who is a student, and his wife, who is a teacher. This cover is about gun violence in schools. Teachers, students and parents have come to accept the safety drills that are supposed to prepare children and adults to an attack. The picture is ambiguous : is it a drill or a real attack ?
Introduction : Genre of the document, title, author, date, question :
What reality does this picture illustrate ?
Description : the setting, the attitude of the children and the teacher, the hidden danger….
Context and facts :
the American Constitution and the “right” to carry arms
The number of weapons owned by American citizens (compare the number of inhabitants and the number of guns)
The question of gun control : what are the laws that protect people ? how can you buy guns in the US
The meaning of protection : – gun owners say they protect themselves by owning guns – the number of attacks in schools and deaths in the USA, the nature of guns. Here
Compare with Canada.
Conclusion : Answer the question. Do guns protect the population ?
Your opinion….Your experience of alerts and training in school.
