1/22/13- Gingerbread Tutorial, The Thirteen

Sarah Q.

CETA Notes

January 22nd, 2013

Gingerbread tutorial, The Thirteen, Girl Crushes.

On Tuesday our class period was split into two parts:

Part I: Gingerbread tutorial

Part II: experiencing The Thirteen

Part I.

A few Notes on the art of Gingerbread making:

I.  I don’t care for a tight cloistering of people, and my hobbit-like stature kept me from seeing most of the action.

A.  That, however, was completely ok with me because I am not a visual learner  

B.  Furthermore, I didn’t want to get flour on my mostly black getup (been down that road-- it’s a bad place.)

II. We did learn that this gingerbread is not particularly pleasant to consume

III.  I personally learned about one of Archie’s highschool friends who majored in my current course of study.

A.  He has been unemployed ever since

B.  That conversation ended much more bleakly than initially anticipated.

IV. If you are like me:

A.  I am so sorry.

B.   Kremena has been lovely enough to email us the written instructions.

V.  We must each have 10 tiles completed by Wednesday, January 30th.

A.  Baking junk is in the kitchen of Shearer

B.  Tiles are on the drying rack for size reference

C.  Consider using two meter sticks on either side of the dough when rolling it out for uniform thickness.

Part II

Considering Bianca Sprigg’s “The Thirteen”

I.  Bianca Spriggs has the most commanding, eloquent, and beautiful speaking voice I have ever heard

A.  I’m already excitedly nervous to meet her

B.  I think I may be in love with Bianca Spriggs.

II. “The Thirteen” strove to honor the lives of 13 African-American women who were lynched, or otherwise murdered, at the hands of racial intolerance in KY after the civil war.

A.  The presentation incorporated instrumentals, lyrics, spoken word, and visual aids that made for what seemed to be very intimate brush with, and partial understanding of, the lives lost.

B.  I cried a little bit. Several times. All the while begging any deity that would listen to keep a friend sitting next to me from seeing how damn sensitive I am.

III. The event concluded with a reading of the names of the 13 women lost, along with the region of Kentucky from which they hailed.

IV. Ultimately, “The Thirteen” seemed  a lamentation of hate, intolerance, and injustice, but also a celebration of life, love, and womanhood. The depth and darkness of mortality is the only lens through which the light of all being can be seen. I loved “The Thirteen,” and it makes me cry to think of it now. I’m a weenie. 

Race, History, and Urban Landscape- Danny Mayer, 1/16/2013

Race, History, and Urban Landscape- Danny Mayer

Three strands of presentation:

1)      Frontier History from Paddling the Kentucky River

2)      Lexington Racial History- Rich Shine (sp?)

3)      Marxist Geographer- Neal Smith

Frontier History:

                Kentucky- Open, common ground à “Terra Nova”-Settlers   “Great Meadow”-Native Americans

                Private Coorperations formed to trade goods to N.A. in exchange for the Land—Early Gentrification.  (i.e. Ohio Co, Transylvania Co., etc.)

                Settlers- All you need to do is put up a corn patch to claim the land.

                KY River early highway system- Cheap Iron, Salt, Coal, etc.

                To get W of Appalachian Mtns , either hike in or Float in along the KY River, either way à Lex!!

                Lexington an early hub for Finance, business, etc.—Athens of the West

Lexington Split up very early on.

Racial Lexington-Rich Shine (sp?):

                In 1860, slave population roughly 25% of total Lex pop. à African Americans only 10%  total pop now.

                Lexington a huge hub for slave labor—primarily for hemp production

                Pre-Civil War—White Landowners, legally, a higher tier than their African American counterparts, so the ethnic diversity in Lex. relatively fluid.

                Post-Civil War—Mass migration of African Americans to Lexington, and white landowners needed a way of placing themselves “above” the AAs à “Enclaves” or “bottoms” established.

                In the East End, some major enclaves merged and formed one, African American, commercial district.

                At first, these enclaves were on the outer edge of the city, but as the city continued to grow, commercial development skipped over them and continued to expandà The reason most of these enclave-remnants are “inner city”

        Racial Tension still seen in:

1)      The way we retell civil war stories.  (i.e. Hunt Morgan, a confederate raider, still memorialized. Cheapside still prevalent as a bar even though it was the place to sell African American women and young girls into slavery—hence the name “cheapside”, etc.)

2)      The way our town is set up. (i.e. Transylvania University and The Sayre School both face away from historically “black neighborhoods.” Thoroughbred park masks the East End, and it memorializes no African Americans, etc.)

Lexington Adjusted Median Wealth after 2009 Recession:

                                Black                                      Hispanic                               White

                                $5,677                                   $6,325                                   $113,149

                                53% Decline                        66% Decline                        16% Decline

Marxist Geographer-Neal Smith

                Gentrification-People of higher social standing (The Gentry) moving back into cities and displacing the poor.

                Gentrification language usually very offensive.  (i.e. “revival,” “reformation,” etc. ~ Totally ignores/puts down the people being displaced.)

                “Fair and Balanced” news outlets often spin these renovations in a positive light.

                Our “Inner City” is trying to complete globally, so downtown is becoming a “Wallstreet” of sorts

                The current downtown trend—Arts, entertainment for wealthy Lexingtonians

                Wealthy worry about “my property value going down!”  yet they forget the racist, classist notion that their property value is based on the number of socially underprivileged people living in their neighborhood.