Highlights from the VizzAy, Redux

So apparently the Dismal Swamp has been steadily burning since the week before I came here. The Dismal Swamp is partially famous for having been a hideout for runaway slaves in the antebellum (and midbellum?) South.

Every morning I wake up to the smell of barbecue chips. Who knew burning swamp would smell so festive?

Speaking of runaway slaves, I often ponder how particular my education was growing up in Virginia. History class is just totally different here. I swear my entire elementary education focused on the civil war, slavery, and civil rights. I guess it makes sense that you would really focus on the history of your region. But man oh man did I know a lot about American Slavery! Well, that and Jamestown.

Black History Month was also a really huge deal. The entire month's curriculum was devoted to it. We had assemblies, festivals, parties, and projects. I did a biographical report on Katherine Dunham (I was scandalized when my friend Mia did hers on Josephine Baker!), and I stood in as the first letter "I" in Martin Luther King Jr. It stood for "ideals!"

Was it different at your school? I for one never had to build a model of the mission system, unlike many young Californians. Do you even know what month is Black History Month? Who Emmett Till was? What area of history did you focus on?

Check out this amazing website, The Geography of Slavery where they have indexed all kinds of maps, advertisements, and information about slavery in Virginia. I once spent an afternoon looking up different runaway slaves by first name. (Run, Big Jenny, run away from Norfolk!) They've even indexed WHY they ran away, etc. Why they ran away. Seriously. Maybe this is why the Dismal Swamp is burning. This land has a lot to atone for.