Dr. Meta L. Christy Credit: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Healer of the Unseen:  Dr. Meta L. Christy

Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 8:56am | By Ina Jane

Although systemic racism in America attempts to ensure the odds remain stacked against African Americans, Dr. Meta L. Christy proceeded to pave the way for many aspiring future Black doctors. As the first...

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Dr. Meta L. Christy Credit: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Healer of the Unseen:  Dr. Meta L. Christy

Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 8:56am | By Ina Jane

Although systemic racism in America attempts to ensure the odds remain stacked against African Americans, Dr. Meta L. Christy proceeded to pave the way for many aspiring future Black doctors. As the first Black female doctor of osteopathy, she set the standard for exemplary medical and community service. Her work brought attention to the importance of cultural sensitivity and quality patient-physician relationships within the medical world.
Originally from Salem, Ind., Dr. Meta L. Christy was born in 1895 during the Gilded Age. The population of educated African Americans was growing rapidly in the United States, and civil rights leaders emerged, pushing for greater freedom and equality. Dr. Christy and her family were a part of this cultural shift that involved reconstructing the very identity of Black people as well as creating opportunities for a better life.

Dr. Christy’s parents were working class citizens descended from free African Americans that settled in Indiana from South Carolina. Having become acquainted with illness and loss at a young age, she was among three surviving siblings of a total of six, and she lost her father at the age of 10. Steadfast and determined, Dr. Christy dedicated herself to pursuing medicine, and in 1917 she enrolled at the Massachusetts College of Osteopathy, where she studied for two years. In 1921 Dr. Christy graduated from the Philadelphia College of Infirmary and Osteopathy as the first Black female Doctor of Osteopathy. Not only did she earn her place in the world of medicine through years of rigorous schooling, but she bravely pressed forward while Jim Crow laws were still widely enforced. 

Not long after graduating, Dr. Christy returned to live with her mother in Indiana. She set up her own private practice and treated patients within the comforts of their home. Two years after her mother’s passing in 1924, she then packed up to join her brother in Las Vegas, N.M. After passing the osteopathic boards to practice medicine in New Mexico in 1929, she opened a clinic located in a poor White working class neighborhood. Although Dr. Christy catered to the Black community, she often treated patients regardless of their race or ethnicity. 

Dr. Christy was an important person in her community. During this time, African Americans were facing continued discrimination and serious violations of basic human rights within the medical world that resulted in high fatality rates and mistrust of healthcare services. One example is the notorious Tuskegee Syphilis Study conducted in Macon County, Ala., from 1932 to 1972. A group of medical officials embarked on a 40 year-long study with the intent of examining how syphilis affected African American people compared to the way that it affected White people. This study was based on outdated beliefs and nonscientific assumptions that influenced how physicians perceived and treated Black people at the time. Although penicillin became widely used to cure syphilis in 1943, for 30 long years, the United States government made sure that their Black test subjects remained unaware of three things: That they were part of an experiment; that they had syphilis, and that there was a cure. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is one example among countless others demonstrating that a lack of cultural sensitivity and awareness can affect a physician’s willingness and ability to respect patients’ rights and respond to their needs.

Throughout her career Dr. Christy demonstrated a sense of inclusiveness and dedication to supporting the welfare of her community. Until her arrival in Las Vegas, N.M., in 1926, the Black community did not have a single doctor who would treat them. It must have been validating, if not life-saving, to have one doctor who was relatable, empathetic, and responsive to their needs. The philosophy upon which osteopathic medicine was founded emphasizes the importance of quality patient-physician relationships in order to provide holistic and effective medical care. Marginalized groups of people often have a stronger need for doctors capable of empathizing with them so that they can receive the help that they need. This is why diversity in the health-care system is so important.

Well after her passing in 1968, Dr. Christy left an enduring legacy for future doctors inspired by her example. The Student National Medical Association paid tribute by establishing the Meta L. Christy Award in 1995. It serves as their top honor for exemplary practice of osteopathic medicine and true community service. To be the first Black female osteopathic doctor in the 1920s warrants respect as it must have taken some courage. The famous civil rights activist, poet, and American memoirist Maya Angelou wrote, “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”

Originally from Long Beach, CA, Ina Jane currently works as a freelance writer and enjoys indulging in the stories of those that are most inspiring and healing. She graduated from Sacramento State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities and wishes to share her passion for storytelling with her community. Outside of work, Ina enjoys art, cooking, traveling, laughing, playing with her dog, and yoga.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this blog post/article does not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tags 4womens historyblackhistorymonthdr meta christynew mexico true

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Ivan B. McClellan, Kortnee Solomon, Hempstead, Texas, n.d., photographic print, 38 x 29 in. Courtesy of Ivan B. McClellan.

The Harwood Museum of Art Presents “Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy” Narrating the Rich History of the Black Cowboy in the American Southwest

Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 12:10am | By Ariana Kramer

African Americans have been an integral part of the history of the Southwest since preCivil War days. However, their stories have largely been expunged from the cultural imagination. The Harwood Museum...

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Ivan B. McClellan, Kortnee Solomon, Hempstead, Texas, n.d., photographic print, 38 x 29 in. Courtesy of Ivan B. McClellan.

Kennedi Carter, GROOMING, 2020, archival pigment print. Courtesy of Kennedi Carter, and ROSEGALLERY.

Ivan B. McClellan, Pony Express Race, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, n.d., photographic print. Courtesy of Ivan B. McClellan.

Erwin E. Smith, "Cowboy lighting a hand-rolled cigarette...," 1908, photographic print. Erwin E. Smith Collection of the Library of Congress on Deposit at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas.

The Harwood Museum of Art Presents “Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy” Narrating the Rich History of the Black Cowboy in the American Southwest

Mon, Jan 30, 2023, 12:10am | By Ariana Kramer

African Americans have been an integral part of the history of the Southwest since preCivil War days. However, their stories have largely been expunged from the cultural imagination. The Harwood Museum of Art’s exhibition, Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy, draws attention to the presence and
contributions of these African Americans through historical photographs and contemporary art. Featured artists include Kennedi Carter, Praise Fuller, Alexander Harrison, Ivan B. McClellan, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Ron Tarver and Nate Young. Outriders will be on view in the Harwood’s Mandelman-Ribak, Ellis-Lee, and Foster Galleries from October 15, 2022 through May 7, 2023. A public opening in conjunction with William Herbert “Buck” Dunton: A Mainer Goes West will take place Friday, October 28, 2022.

“Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy depicts information that is little known in terms of the role that African Americans played in the settling and development of the Western United States,” says Daphne Rice-Allen. “Historically, this is critical. It’s important that all history be known. It took all of us to create America.”

Rice-Allen is Board President of the Black American West Museum and Heritage Center in Denver, CO and is one of the members of an Exhibitions Committee which is overseeing the curation of Outriders: Legacy of the
Black Cowboy. Other members of the Exhibitions Committee include: Nikesha Breeze, multi-media artist, Taos, NM; Larry Callies, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, The Black Cowboy Museum, Rosenberg, TX; Rita Powdrell, Director, African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; Nicole Dial-Kay, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, Harwood Museum of Art; Ari Myers, Owner and Curator, The Valley, Taos, NM; and Emily Santhanam, Curatorial Assistant, Harwood Museum of Art.

Historians estimate that one in four ranch hands in 19th century America were of African ancestry. The term “cowboy” itself developed from the derogatory use of “boy” to describe adult African American ranch hands.
That the same word now conjures images of white men in wide-brimmed hats à la John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and the Marlboro Man is not only ironic, but historically incorrect. Cowboy culture is rich with stories of men like Bill Pickett. Born in Texas to former slaves in 1870, Pickett became known for
"bulldogging,” his unusual technique for catching stray cows.
Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy is an exercise in unearthing images of the American drovers, fiddlers, cowpunchers, cattle rustlers, cooks, singers, bulldoggers, and bronc busters with African heritage. Historic photographs dating from the late 1800s to the early 1900s sourced from the Denver Public Library, Smithsonian Archives, and Washington University Archives comprise half of the exhibition. They create a visual narrative of the life and work of the cattle drivers from the years immediately before the Civil War through the turn of the 20th century. This historical imagery is balanced with contemporary responses from artists demonstrating Black individuals’ embodiment of the cowboy figure, a powerful symbol of American independence and pride. Outriders expands our idea of what constitutes an American icon and legacy, thus complicating a narrative woven deep into our popular culture.

The seven contemporary artists who are exhibiting their work in Outriders are all African Americans. This is a breakthrough exhibition for the Harwood Museum of Art, which throughout its 100-year history has rarely
shown works by African American artists.

Originally from South Carolina, Alexander Harrison is a New York-based painter who incorporates Black culture into his work. His painting Tuesday depicts a Black cowboy in a cowboy hat, red kerchief, and gold sheriff’s badge. While the subject powerfully dominates the work, the background evokes the lush rolling hills of the South. Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, a Ghana-born artist now based in Oregon, has been fascinated with American
cowboy culture since childhood when he watched many “spaghetti westerns.” Texas-native Praise Fuller specializes in cyanotypes and often integrates Western imagery such as horses, cows, and ranchland into her artwork.

Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy is being exhibited at the Harwood at the same time as William Herbert “Buck” Dunton: A Mainer Goes West. Dunton, originally from Maine, made his way to Taos, New Mexico in
1912 after being encouraged to visit by artist Ernest Leonard Blumenschein. Dunton became one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists in 1915. The Society was arguably the most important group of painters
to create and popularize images of the American West, and the Harwood Museum of Art holds many of their works in its collection.
“Buck Dunton has this reputation for painting cowboys and scenes of Western life,” says Ari Myers, the Exhibitions Committee member who initially proposed the idea for Outriders. “I feel the Outriders exhibition
is an important complement, or counterpoint, to that exhibition. Having Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy up at the same time is going to tell a richer story about the people who shaped the West through their work in
ranching and rodeo and are very much at the heart of Western and Southwestern culture.”

The Harwood Museum of Art, located at 238 Ledoux Street in Taos, New Mexico, “inspires a thriving creative community connected through excellence in the arts.” For more information, call 575-758-9826 or visit harwoodmuseum.org.

Funded in part by a grant from the New Mexico Humanities Council.  Public programs will be presented to expand on the narratives presented in the exhibitions and create multiple pathways for audiences to connect with and explore the legacy and mythology of the cowboy.

"Black Cowboys on the Big Screen", a film series presented in conjunction with the Taos Center for the Arts (TCA) with films featuring Black characters and filmmakers with culminating talk discussions exploring the history of Black cowboys in the West will be hosted at the Harwood. The short list of films include old westerns from the 30s, a documentary about the first Black Rodeo in Harlem, Blaxploitation Westerns of the 1970s, short films exploring stories of Black cowboys, and contemporary films including "Django Unchained" and "The Harder They Fall."

Click on the link for a listing of public programs:  Exhibition Events

Ariana Kramer is a freelance writer and poet who lives in Taos, New Mexico. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Reed College and a master’s in education with a concentration in leadership for ecology, culture and learning from Portland State University. Visit her website at www.arianakramer.com for more information.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this blog post/article does not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tags 4black cowboyamerican westharwood museum of artwilliam herbert buck dunton

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Colonial period chocolate making implements and ingredients. Photo by Nicolasa Chávez.

Chocolate: From Food of the Gods to the Food of Love

Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 11:41pm | By Nicolasa Chávez

This Valentine season stores large and small fill up with festive chocolate items from elegant hand-crafted bonbons to heart-shaped boxes to tiny teardrop-shaped morsels wrapped in pink and red. One often...

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Colonial period chocolate making implements and ingredients. Photo by Nicolasa Chávez.

Barcelona Chocolate. Photo by Nicolasa Chávez.

Chocolate: From Food of the Gods to the Food of Love

Sun, Jan 29, 2023, 11:41pm | By Nicolasa Chávez

This Valentine season stores large and small fill up with festive chocolate items from elegant hand-crafted bonbons to heart-shaped boxes to tiny teardrop-shaped morsels wrapped in pink and red. One often thinks of chocolate as a delicious piece of candy or decadent chocolate bar, given as a token of romantic love and friendship. It is not commonly known that chocolate has an ancient history. Long before the popularity of Belgian, Swiss, and Dutch chocolate, cacao was farmed, produced and consumed by pre-Colombian cultures in Mesoamerica. It was used in religious ritual and ceremony. Chocolate is made from the seeds that come from pods that grow on the trunk of the cacao tree. The tree was given its name, Theobroma Cacao (Food of the Gods), in 1753, by botanist Carl von Linné, in reference to its pre-Colombian ceremonial roots. This original chocolate was a cherished drink instead of the hard candy that melts in one’s mouth today. The drink made from cacao seeds that were ground into a paste on a metate and mano should not be confused with our present-day watered-down version of hot chocolate that is made from cocoa powder (which is made from defatted alkalized powder). Pre-Colombian chocolate was a thick, frothy, bitter, and spicy drink, and remained so for thousands of years. The first edible, non-drinkable, chocolate candy was not created until the middle of the 19th century. The artfully packaged chocolate boxes cherished today were not invented until 1868. How did this beloved delicacy change from a cherished food of the gods in liquid form to a desired food of love?

The history of chocolate is as intriguing as the many flavors presented upon the palate.

Theobroma Cacao comes from the upper Amazon Basin and the rich tropical zones of Ecuador and the Orinoco Valley in Venezuela. In these regions it flourished in its natural habitat until it made its way north to present-day Mexico. The earliest evidence of chocolate dates from 3000 BCE in present-day Ecuador. Its next earliest use took place on the southeastern Pacific coast of Mexico from 1900-1400 BCE by the Barra culture and 1600–1000 BCE by the Olmec cultures. By 950-900 AC it was used in the Guatemalan highlands by the Quiche Maya and was referred to as a sacred food in the Mayan creation story. Archaeological scholarship dates the earliest presence of chocolate in New Mexico to the 10th century. Cylindrical vessels dating to c. 900 AC from Chaco Canyon were tested and showed traces of Theobromine. Whether chocolate use was a daily occurrence or used for ceremonial purposes is still unknown. By the time of the Aztec conquest in Mexico cacao beans were so highly prized that Aztec rulers exacted tribute from the other native tribes that they subdued.

The Spanish were the first Europeans to learn of this New World delicacy. Christopher Columbus encountered boats in the Caribbean carrying the precious cargo. He wrote about it on his fourth and final voyage in 1504. Hernan Cortes adopted the local customs of the Aztec by exacting tribute and also drinking chocolate. He served it at a royal banquet in honor of the visiting Viceroy as early as 1532. The first officially recorded cargo of chocolate arrived in the port of Sevilla in 1585. The consumption of chocolate spread throughout the Spanish colonies, including the Philippine Islands, and eventually throughout Europe.

The name we use today, chocolate, is directly descended from the Spanish spelling and pronunciation of earlier pre-Colombian terminologies. The Mayan chacau haa or chocol haa and the Aztec cacahuatl, or xocolatl, referred to the drink made from the paste of cacao beans ground on a metate and mano. In the Philippines xocolatl is spelled tsokolate and pronounced very much the same. The Aztec pronunciation perhaps came from the Mayan verb chokola’j which meant to drink chocolate together. The ground up cacao paste was also formed into bars or wedges for long-term storage and travel. Mayan and Aztec warriors and traders carried the wedges which were easily heated with a liquid. The drink itself was considered a meal and could sustain one for an entire day.

Spanish settlers brought it up the Camino Real into New Mexico in large enough quantities to maintain the daily practice of drinking the beverage. Chocolate appears as early as 1600 on inventory lists of the provisions brought up by New Mexico’s first governor, Juan de Oñate. Throughout the colonial period the drinking of chocolate was a common part of the daily ritual of the merienda, an extended “snacking” and relaxing period in the late afternoon/early evening, in which family and friends shared and conversed and relaxed. Recipes in Mexico and New Mexico during this time included a combination of Old and New World spices and flavorings for the drink. Pre-Columbian ingredients from Mexico included vanilla, honey, chile, allspice, achiote (annatto), and local flowers, nuts and seeds.

European spices brought by the Spanish included lavender, almonds, anise, citrus, rosewater, ambergris, musk, jasmine, cloves, cinnamon, orange blossom. They also added milk, cream, and sugar. Colonial New Mexican recipes included nuts, seeds, almonds, chile, and cinnamon. Upon the opening of the Santa Fe Trail, 19th century travelers from the United States mentioned the rich frothy drink in their travel journals.

Pre-Colombian cultures, colonial traders, settlers, and 19th century chocolatiers had one thing in common, their love of the flavors and the euphoric, or otherworldly, feeling one experiences after consumption. Many in our contemporary world believe chocolate to have aphrodisiac qualities and believe this to be the reason it is gifted as a symbol of love. The chemical makeup of chocolate does, indeed, create an altered state and is responsible for one’s sense of wonder, joy, and euphoric transformation; however, it is not an aphrodisiac. It does contain the love-inducing chemical phenethylamine (PEA) which triggers the release of endorphins and augments activity of dopamine. PEA triggers the giddy and restless feelings associated with being in love. Chocolate also boosts serotonin, our feel-good brain chemical. Another important chemical, anandimide, which is in the cannabinoid family. Anandimide binds to the same receptor sites in the brain as THC, thus producing a global feeling of euphoria. The term anandamide itself comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “bliss”.

Indeed, it is bliss that many feel in the cold winter months when drinking a nice warm cup of hot chocolate, when letting a spoonful of chocolate mousse melt on one's tongue, or when biting into a favorite bonbon or truffle. For one brief moment, and a little while after, one does feel a sense of giddiness and euphoric love. Many have recorded or talked about experiencing a chocolate high. It is easy to see why chocolate was given during ancient rituals and ceremonies to transport one to the realm of the gods, or why it is given now as an expression of love and friendship during the month of February.

Nicolasa Chávez, a fourteenth generation New Mexican, is a historian, curator and performance artist, whose work concentrates on the rich multicultural heritage of New Mexico and the connection between New Mexico and the Spanish speaking world. Her exhibitions include New World Cuisine: the Histories of Chocolate, Mate y Más, The Red that Colored the World, Flamenco: From Spain to New Mexico, and Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico. She was an invited guest curator at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan, for the exhibition Possibility of the Crafts: The Third Triennial of Kogei, which highlighted the traditional arts of New Mexico. She is a contributing author to the publication A Red Like No Other: How Cochineal Colored the World (Skira Rizzoli Press) and the author of The Spirit of Flamenco: From Spain to New Mexico (Museum of New Mexico Press) and A Century of Masters: the NEA National Heritage Fellows of New Mexico (LPD Press) which won a New Mexico Book Award. She performs and conducts lecture/demonstrations on the history of Flamenco, Spanish Dance, and Argentine Tango and currently serves as the Deputy State Historian for our great state of New Mexico.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this blog post/article does not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tags 4chocolateelcaminorealfood of the godscacao tree

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Print made by John Simon (1675–1755), Portraits of Four Indian Kings of Canada: Sa Ga Yeath Pieth Tow, King of the Maquas, C. 1755, Mezzotint, third state, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B2001.2.1506. https://collections.britishart

What's in the word, savage?    

Fri, Dec 30, 2022, 10:51am | By Felicia Bartley

“My grandpa was a savage before savage was in style.” -Snotty Nose Rez Kids, “Savages” I have been hearing the word savage more than I would like to acknowledge. I have noticed...

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Print made by John Simon (1675–1755), Portraits of Four Indian Kings of Canada: Sa Ga Yeath Pieth Tow, King of the Maquas, C. 1755, Mezzotint, third state, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B2001.2.1506. https://collections.britishart

Felicia Bartley

What's in the word, savage?    

Fri, Dec 30, 2022, 10:51am | By Felicia Bartley

Felicia Bartley is from the Pueblo of Isleta. She received her master’s degree in Public Humanities from Brown University.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this blog post/article does not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tags 4indigenoussavageetymologysublime

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President Lyndon B. Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. after signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Credit: The LBJ Presidential Library

Now What? Civil Rights & The Post-Pandemic Iconography of King’s Dream

Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 2:01pm | By Cathryn McGill

Now What?Civil Rights & The Post-Pandemic Iconography of King’s Dream  How did buying a new mattress become the most prominent symbol in the annual celebration of President’s Day? (The holiday is...

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President Lyndon B. Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. after signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Credit: The LBJ Presidential Library

Cathryn McGill

Now What? Civil Rights & The Post-Pandemic Iconography of King’s Dream

Thu, Dec 15, 2022, 2:01pm | By Cathryn McGill

Now What?
Civil Rights & The Post-Pandemic Iconography of King’s Dream 

How did buying a new mattress become the most prominent symbol in the annual celebration of President’s Day? (The holiday is officially known as George Washington’s Birthday, but the name changed in the 1960s to honor Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday simultaneously.) Are all such national holiday celebrations destined to devolve into reasons to shop or vacation?  The architects of the  Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service branded it “a day on and not a day off” to obviate President’s Day-like commercialization, but will that be enough to ensure the celebration remains true to its original purpose? The relevance of the MLK holiday is contingent upon remaining hypervigilant about reflecting on the true legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s message and discerning how the commemoration will serve to critique the country’s current state of affairs related to civil rights while also taking a look at what the future holds for the realization of King’s dream of a world where all people are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. 

Here’s What:  The 4-1-1 on the Civil Rights Movement and the role of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.
The rights of citizenship, including the right to vote and the right to be free from unjust discrimination, comprise what we usually refer to as “civil rights” in America.  These rights are protected and guaranteed by the United States Constitution and a canon of federal laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and, most recently, the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act.

Every year since 1986 (legislation passed in 1983), people turn their attention to the commemoration of MLK (Martin Luther King Jr.) National Day of Service on the third Monday in January.  One of only four people in history (Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and American labor leader Cesar Chavez) to be honored with a national holiday commemoration, King is the lone African American ever to achieve this recognition.  The MLK holiday is also the only one dubbed a national day of service.  

Dr. King, a brilliant orator, an ordained Baptist Minister, and a scholar who in 1944 entered the esteemed Morehouse College at age 15, became the leader and the face of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s.  From 1955 until his assassination in 1968, King led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and was credited with organizing the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. 

January 15, 2023, is King’s 94th birthday.  He was a father, a husband, a son, and a larger-than-life personality—a human being with a long list of beautiful qualities and shortcomings.  And while we celebrate the man, the personage of Dr. King, the national holiday is arguably much more about his iconography—what he represents. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most recognizable symbols of the meaning and the furtherance of the Civil Rights Movement.  At my grandmother’s house in Oklahoma (the pseudo-South) where I grew up, King’s photo was hung next to the Sears family portraits and Jesus at the Last Supper.  The very image of the man, then and now, evoked conversations about the ongoing fight for racial equality and justice for all Americans. 

So What? Civil Rights is A Journey Not A Destination
The movement in Congress to create a national holiday for Dr. King started just four months after his assassination in 1968. Still, it took 15 years for the legislation to pass, three more years for it to take effect, and another 14 years for every state in the U.S. to recognize the holiday.  Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida recognize MLK Holiday; however,  these states celebrate the person and the iconography of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee on the same day.  The fight to create the holiday and the opposition it encountered should serve as a reminder of the ongoing racial divide in the US.  

If we are wise, we have the opportunity to use the MLK holiday as a means for amplifying the need to continue advocating for the rights of citizenship for every American.  Regarding voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, since early 2021, lawmakers in 27 states have proposed at least 148 election interference bills.  Critics say these bills are designed to roll back and suppress hard-won minority voting rights.  And we don’t even need to show a picture of the man who sparked the racial reckoning during the global pandemic—his image and what his photo represents are permanently etched in our memory. Corporations, individuals, elected officials, and government entities everywhere recognized that the 2020 dual pandemics (COVID-19 and racism) meant that we have much work to do to achieve freedom from unjust discrimination in the United States.

Now What? Civil Rights & The Post-Pandemic Iconography of King’s Dream
If Dr. King’s holiday is to evolve and avoid being co-opted by retailers, we must spend time connecting the messages behind King’s dream, and his adaptations of Josiah Royce’s Fellowship of Reconciliation principles for creating a beloved community. The King Center’s 2023 theme, “It Starts With Me: Cultivating A Beloved Community Mindset to Transform Unjust Systems,” embodies King’s dream that each person would accept their own personal responsibility for overcoming the triple evils of poverty, racism, and militarism.  

If we have learned anything from the symbolic meanings of King’s work, we know that every single one of us can serve and contribute to change.  Every time any one of us is willing to examine our power to overcome these triple evils simply by saying, I will research the facts, I will seek first to understand and then to be understood, I will speak up about injustice anywhere, and I will commit that “I am the system; therefore I am the solution,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream inches closer to being fully realized.  

Cathryn McGill is the Founder/Director of the New Mexico Black Leadership Council. McGill is committed to being a part of creating a New Mexico where "Everyone Belongs". In the West African tradition, she is a Griot - a musician, a storyteller and a unifier.

Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this blog post/article does not necessarily represent those of the New Mexico Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tags 4civilrightsmlkdaynmblcmartinlutherkingjr

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Grullas in a twilight sky Credit: Photos by Laura Paskus

Grullas

Tue, Dec 13, 2022, 7:57am | By Leeanna Teresa Martinez y Torres

Each year grullas arrive by the hundreds, settling over the valley’s farm-fields, seeking shelter on vegetated islands of the Rio Grande. But the year my boy was born, I missed their lone, throaty-calls,...

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Green Chile Stew Credit: Vanessa Baca

Slow Burn: A Family History of Green Chile Stew 

Thu, Dec 1, 2022, 11:20am | By Vanessa Baca

Wintertime in New Mexico is unique. The relatively mild weather, the smell of pine-scented woodsmoke in the air, the farolitos and luminarias that light up the nights throughout the...

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Luminarias light up adobe wall in New Mexico. Credit: Photo Courtesy Leeanna Torres.

Little brown bags: A brief meditation on a Nuevo Mexico tradition

Thu, Dec 1, 2022, 9:25am | By Leeanna Teresa Martinez y Torres

  How many candles come in a pack?  How many paper sacks will accompany each pack of lights? How many to get? And will it be enough? These are the decisions before me, in the aisle of...

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Credit: Joshua K. Concha

Cultural Identity Theft: Immeasurable Suffering

Mon, Nov 14, 2022, 2:08pm | By Joshua K. Concha

unauthorized access to your personal information has occurred, including your name children were given Anglo names. Their native languages and cultural practices were forbidden.

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Rosalia de Aragon as La Llorona Credit: by Rosa Maria Calles.

Cosas Extrañas y Duendes---Strange Things and Goblins

Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 12:32pm | By Ray John de Aragon

¡Los muertos se espantan con los vivos!  The dead are scared by the living! New Mexico is a land of mystery, suspense, and intrigue. One is easily captivated and drawn by immortal tales filled with energy,...

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Martin and Refugio Amador surrounded by their seven children in a family portrait taken in Las Cruces around 1900 Credit: Photo Courtesy of Amador Family Papers. Ms 0004. New Mexico State University Library, Archives and Special Collections Department.

Hispanic Heritage Month – Amador Family

Wed, Sep 28, 2022, 10:00am | By Jennifer Olguin

September 15 to October 15 marks Hispanic Heritage Month. This monthlong celebration recognizes the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans throughout the country. The monthlong observation...

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Prompt for image generation: 4-year-old, vaguely punk freestyling Credit: DALL-E generation by Philip Allfrey, @dr_pda

 Everything is COM-PLI-CA-TED!!

Sun, Aug 14, 2022, 3:09pm | By Ellen Dornan

After robots write and perform a new hit song about the humanities, things get complicated!

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Michael Running Wolf Credit: Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Indigenous in AI - Lakota Language Camp

Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 1:46pm | By Ellen Dornan

In January 2022, Michael Running Wolf joined our Augmented Humanity podcast to talk about his efforts to create machine learning models for Indigenous languages. Recently he caught up with us to let us...

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Hampton Sides Credit: Photo by Kurt Markus

The Click of the Shutter Means “Yes” Kurt Markus, 1947-2022

Thu, Jul 28, 2022, 11:45am | By Hampton Sides

When I think about Kurt Markus, the internationally acclaimed fine-art photographer who died last month at his home in Santa Fe, I think of the word slow. Slow, as in, he always had to meditate on things,...

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AIMING FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Sat, Jul 2, 2022, 1:27pm | By Richard Etulain

The noted Western novelist and historian Wallace Stegner once wrote, "I have been convinced for a long time that what is mistakenly called middle of the road is actually the most radical and difficult...

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“Lumbre salvaje.” Fire cresting in trees, Monte Aplanado.

Las lumbres del 2022 en el norte de Nuevo México 

Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 2:41pm | By Gabriel Meléndez

1.  In late summer, clouds thicken quickly on the ridgeline of the sierra, and the distant rumble of their thunder echoes endlessly in the mountain canyons and in the tall stands of spruce...

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Credit: Billy the Kid, circa 1873 - 1881. Ben Wittick. Wikimedia Commons

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BILLY THE KID 

Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 11:00am | By Richard Etulain

Billy the Kid is the most-written-about New Mexican. Most of the nearly 1,000 books and essays about Señor Billy picture him as a villain, hero, or combination...

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Sean Cardinalli

Juneteenth and Violence, Revisited

Wed, Jun 1, 2022, 8:27am | By Sean Cardinalli

Juneteenth is once again on the horizon. It reminds of emancipation. It is characterized by celebration. It is rooted in Black freedom delayed and so, therefore, denied. Our Black freedom is still delayed...

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Credit: Vicente Fernandez in 1965 Wikimedia Commons

El Grito Eterno: Imagining Vicente Fernandez and Remembering My Father 

Tue, May 31, 2022, 8:20am | By Matthew Villegas

The mariachi legend, Vicente Fernandez, passed away late last year at 81. Affectionately known by his legions of fans as "Chente," he left a legacy that will likely go unmatched.  Chente was...

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Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Baca Credit: Ultima and Owl, artist Kathy Gidden, oil on canvas.

Burning Última:  Rudolfo Anaya and the Impact of Book Bans on Democracy

Tue, May 31, 2022, 8:10am | By Vanessa Baca

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines democracy as a government by the people, especially the rule of the majority, and one that is characterized by free and open elections. As Americans, most of us tend...

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The La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, ca. 1930-1940. The La Fonda was built in 1922, and was acquired by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in 1925, who leased it to Fred Harvey. It was a Harvey House from 1926 to 1968. It has been locally own Credit: UNM Library, William A. Keleher Collection http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmupict000-742.xml

Mapping Queer History in New Mexico

Tue, May 31, 2022, 8:05am | By Ellen Dornan

For this month’s Augmented Humanity podcast, we’re talking with Dr. Amanda Regan, and Dr. Eric Gonzaba, co-creators of Mapping the Gay Guides, which is built around interactive geographic visualizations...

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Chábáh Davis Watson of the Tl'aashchi'i Clan, Red Bottom People, from Wheatfields, AZ. Photo Courtesy of Ninabah Davis.

Teacher Warrior

Sun, May 1, 2022, 11:40pm | By Ninabah Davis

Just recently I watched a movie on Netflix called Te Ata, the story of Mary Thompson Fisher, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, an actress and storyteller who called herself Te Ata (which is thought...

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My friend La Llorona, 2018 Credit: Photo by Rica Maestas

Loving La Llorona

Sun, May 1, 2022, 11:38pm | By Rica Maestas

It has always been easy to see myself in the infamous “crying woman,” La Llorona. Like her, I am brown and femme, a survivor of abuse and mental illness, a child forced into adulthood too soon. A consummate...

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Shozo, Goro, Mamoru and Keigo Takeuchi taken in Alvarado, CA in 1939. Credit: Photo courtesy of Shelley Takeuchi.

Shikataganai - It Can't Be Helped

Sun, May 1, 2022, 11:36pm | By Shelley Takeuchi

80 years ago, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that began an irreversible tidal wave of racial prejudice towards Asians, particularly those who were Japanese. Issei and Nissei were first-...

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New Mexico State Poet Laureate, Levi Romero

Carlos, Prieto, and Ramiro Come to Hoe the Milpa

Thu, Mar 31, 2022, 12:40pm | By Levi Romero

  I have been unable to keep up with the gardening This year and have had to hire help. I have never hired help before, and I feel as if I  Might be breaking a code-of-honor, An unstated rule where we...

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Diana Velazco

SOY MAGDALENA…Y HE PECADO

Thu, Mar 31, 2022, 12:35pm | By Diana Velazco

Me han maltratado Me han herido Por dar lo que me exigen Me han perseguido.   Mis ropajes me han desgarrado Tanto y aun mas mi moribundo Corazon y sin latidos.   Tengo ojos, tengo oidos; Tengo manos...

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Gottlieb, W. P. (1947) Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt Milton Jackson, and Timmie Rosenkrantz, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. United States, 1947. , Monographic. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https

International Jazz Day: Jazz and Democracy

Thu, Mar 31, 2022, 12:32pm | By Andy Kingston

In 2011, UNESCO teamed up with the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz to designate April 30th as International Jazz Day “in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners...

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Credit: Image Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Accessed through the New Mexico Digital Repository

Sufragista y más: Adelina "Nina" Otero-Warren

Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 1:22pm | By Dr. Anna M Nogar

       Nuevomexicana Adelina “Nina” Otero-Warren (1881-1965) is one of the outstanding early feminist figures in United States history and an actor for representation...

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Credit: Ida B. Wells. Late 19th century Credit: From Wikimedia Commons

Ida B. Wells: The Power of the Pen

Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 12:24pm | By Ina Jane

"I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” (I.B. Wells) Ida B. Wells, a renowned American journalist and social activist from Holly Springs,...

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Credit: graphic courtesy of Ariel Dougherty

COMMUNITY VISIONS – Cinematic Narratives by Women

Mon, Feb 28, 2022, 11:46am | By Ariel Dougherty

My friend Laura X, founder of the Women's History Library, sends me two and three notices a day about film screenings. A multitask-juggler of scores of feminist concerns, it is difficult for me to keep...

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Credit: Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

Encountering New Mexico

Mon, Jan 31, 2022, 9:17pm | By Darryl Wellington

 This nation’s greatest commentator on race relations, James Baldwin, never visited New Mexico (as far as my research can tell).      But Baldwin published  an...

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Credit: Creative Commons photo of MLK

The Last MLK Day

Sat, Jan 1, 2022, 12:00am | By Hakim Bellamy

“On August 6th, 1965, the President’s Room of the Capitol could scarcely hold the multitude of of white and Negro leaders crowding it. President Lyndon Johnson’s high spirits were marked...

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New Mexico's State Cookie: The Biscochito Credit: Photo Courtesy by Vanessa Baca

A Sweet and Spicy Memory: Biscochitos in New Mexico Culture

Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 6:52pm | By Vanessa Baca

In my memory, I am standing next to my grandmother, watching her roll out the dough, deliciously studded with tiny seeds of anise. I have the very important job of cutting the dough into the shapes of...

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Credit: https://web.archive.org/web/20160112123725/http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-001138.html

Instrument of Change: A Brief Look at Photography in the United States

Wed, Dec 1, 2021, 6:34pm | By Mathew Contos

Some of the earliest photographs in history captured the brutality of war, a major departure from the heroic and romantic stylization of battle paintings that preceded them. Photographs of the Mexican-American...

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Credit: Private Augustus Walley Credit: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Ellen Dornan photographer

1867: A Snapshot of the Military Occupation of New Mexico

Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 3:54pm | By Ellen Dornan

The 1867 U.S. Topo Bureau map showing the Old Territory and Military Department of New Mexico, “compiled in the Bureau of Topographic Engineers of the War Department chiefly for military purposes under...

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Credit: Unknown author; Public Domain; "Annie" daguerreotype of Poe circa 1849 jpg; originally from http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=39406

Beyond the Macabre: Edgar Allan Poe and the Psychology of Horror

Tue, Sep 28, 2021, 2:22pm | By Chrysta Wilson

Edgar Allan Poe’s status as the father of contemporary horror is so fully entrenched in the American psyche that his portrait is instantly recognizable to people who have never read his work.

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The author’s personal altar with paper flowers, candles, autumn leaves and food items. In the center is a drawing of the author’s sister Christel Angélica Chávez, Captain U.S. Air Force. Drawing by Anthony Thielen (cousin). Credit: Photo Courtesy by Nicolasa Chávez

Celebrating the Dead: Día de los Muertos and All Hallowe’en  

Tue, Sep 28, 2021, 2:05pm | By Nicolasa Chávez

Many people do not know the origins of this fun - and fright-filled night, nor of the similarities its’ origins share with Día de los Muertos

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Scene at Signing of the Constitution of the United States." Credit: Howard Chandler Christy, 1940

America’s Constitution: A Machine That Does Not Run By Itself

Wed, Sep 1, 2021, 9:28am | By Christian Fritz

When the Founding Fathers drafted America’s frame of government in Philadelphia during the constitutional convention of 1787, they knew they had begun a journey and not completed a task. By creating...

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Jack Loeffler on the San Juan River in 1971 Credit: Photo Courtesy by Terrence Moore

Invigorating Metamorphosis

Tue, Aug 31, 2021, 11:37pm | By Jack Loeffler

It’s tough to overcome inertia, especially when it is self-imposed by presumed limitations. I speak from experience as a mid-point octogenarian having survived the last eighteen months of pandemic...

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Credit: Photo Courtesy Melissa Auh Krukar

Hispasian

Fri, Jul 30, 2021, 9:06am | By Melissa Auh Krukar

The questions are always the same: “Where are you from?” or worse, “Where are you really from?” or worse yet, “What are you?”

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Credit: Pixabay photo by Bruce Tunget

Growing up “Coyota” in New Mexico

Thu, Jul 29, 2021, 3:49pm | By Nicolasa Chávez

Did being a coyote make me any less New Mexican? What exactly did it mean to be a “Coyota” in New Mexico?

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Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of the Great West, Volume I. 1855. James A. Roberts. Greenville, TN.

Map of the Indian Territory, Northern Texas and New Mexico, Showing the Great Western Prairies

Sun, Jul 25, 2021, 11:56am | By Ellen Dornan

Josiah Gregg's 1844 map is ostensibly included in Commerce of the Prairies to help the gentle reader follow the “Wild West” adventure to an exotic, foreign destination, but that neutrality is quickly belied by a closer look.

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Artist: Unnamed Youth in Immigration Detention Center Credit: Photo by: Justin Hamel

Art Cannot be Caged: Detained Migrant Youth Create an Exhibit

Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 12:07pm | By Kayla Myers

“Uncaged Art Tornillo Children’s Detention Center” is fundamentally about Central American children who came to our nation seeking security and safety and found themselves incarcerated within the walls of a sterile detention center built in the Chihuahuan Desert.

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Credit: Photo curtesy of Samantha Bomkamp

How Has the Pandemic Affected Museums? Examples from the Blackwater Draw Museum at Eastern New Mexico University

Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 10:02am | By Samantha Bomkamp

The Blackwater Draw Museum (BWDM) was among the many museums in the country whose daily operations were disrupted during the pandemic.

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Credit: Tarot de Marseilles Justice card beside Dolores Huerta mural painted by Jodie Herrera. Credit: Photo by Bethany Tabor

The Fool's Journey

Tue, Jun 1, 2021, 8:00am | By Bethany Tabor

It’s impossible to travel through Albuquerque without encountering at least one beautiful, larger-than-life mural on the side of a building or wall. The practice of mural painting—which has...

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Nasario and Prieto Credit: Nasario © Nasario Garcia, age 6, on horst Prieto in Ojo del Padre, NM.

Lágrimas: Poems of Joy and Sadness

Fri, May 28, 2021, 2:36pm | By Nasario Garcia

Beyond people, the landscape and animals were dear to my heart. “Me hablan/They Speak to Me” is a vivid manifestation of how I as a kid communicated with the peaks, valleys, ravines, and arroyos.

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National Parks Service; “Journey’s End” Artist Reynaldo “Sonny” Rivera, in collaboration with landscape architect Richard Borkovetz Credit: National Park Service

The Santa Fe Trail

Fri, May 28, 2021, 1:51pm | By Thomas Chavez

For much of its history New Mexico was an island in the wilderness, a unique European settlement among Native cultures in the middle of the continent distant from the so-called frontier lines of the United States and Mexico

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Into the Beautiful North 

Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 12:12am | By Ann Bentley

What do you think of when you hear “book club”? Middle aged women discussing the latest literary fiction or, maybe chick lit, novel, while drinking wine of course. Or maybe you think of retirees, discussing the latest John Grisham or C.J. Box novel. You probably don’t think of inmates discussing the plot line of any novel; much less bring up the plot device of “the hand of God” also known as “Deus ex machina”.

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Credit: Credit: Ernest Hemingway at his home in Cuba, circa 1950s. Courtesy of AE Hotchner.

Hemingway

Wed, Apr 7, 2021, 9:29am | By Michael Privett

For me, the Hemingway work that stuck was The Old Man and The Sea. I was stunned at its raw emotion, specifically Hemingway’s ability to depict a man fiercely at war with the natural world. I struggled with the symbolism; was the fish really a fish, or a metaphor? Did the boy represent the hubris of youth and the Old Man, God?

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Credit: Leonard Martinez (~1942, ~age 27) Credit: L. Torres

MANITO

Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 3:15pm | By Leeanna Teresa Martinez y Torres

Manito: Examining and Deconstructing New Mexico’s Tri-Cultural Myth; “Patterns of Migration”

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Denise Chávez in front of "Lalo" Chávez's mural in the lobby of La Posta in Las Cruces, NM. Photo by Daniel Zolinsky.

MOTHER’S DAY. 2019. ©2022  

Sun, May 1, 2022, 11:42pm | By Denise Chavez

Bendito, Bendito, Bendito Sea Dios Los ángeles cantan y alaban a Dios Yo creo Jesús mío que estás en el altar Oculto en la ostia te vengo a adorar I climbed one bumpy narrow step at a time with a rickety...

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Vanessa Baca

Fish Not Flesh: Symbolism of the New Mexico Lenten Feast

Thu, Mar 31, 2022, 12:33pm | By Vanessa Baca

When I was growing up, my New Mexico Catholic family each year would enjoy what we call the Lenten meal. Though Catholics are asked to eschew eating meat on Fridays during Lent, it was the Good Friday...

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Miguel Trujillo with his daughter Josephine. Credit: Photo Courtesy from the collection of Josephine Waconda.

Miguel Trujillo 

Wed, Sep 1, 2021, 12:09am | By Gordon Bronitsky

For most Americans, Indians remain the backdrop to American history. Indian heroes are the warriors of the past. Miguel Trujillo was an Isleta Pueblo Indian living at Laguna who directly confronted the...

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Credit: Mural near International Border Crossing as seen with AR viewer. (screengrab of the Augment El Paso app) Credit: Ellen Dornan, photographer

Why is El Paso in Texas?

Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 2:49pm | By Ellen Dornan

Today, Southern New Mexicans frequently cross the border to El Paso, Texas, to enjoy shopping and entertainment, perhaps appreciating the culture without understanding the long history of why El Paso...

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George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart Credit: Retrieved from the Library of Congress

Washington’s Farewell Address: Timeless Wisdom

Wed, Feb 24, 2021, 9:38am | By Brandon Johnson

A lesson from Washington’s earlier life illustrates his deep understanding of how unchecked power and privilege can do violence to the fragile nature of liberty and self-government.

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