March is the month of women's history month. Let's start off the month by recognizing some of the picture books that bring forward some of the difficult experiences and perspectives women had in overcoming sexism, racism, and injustice.
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone • {Katheryn Russell Brown | 2014}
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a 40-page picture book written by Katheryn Russell Brown, and it was published in 2014 for young children between the ages of 3 - 9 years old.
The story is based on a girl named Melba who loved music her whole life — music takes over her mind when she sleeps, she hums along to radio tunes, and is constantly daydreaming her own beats and lyrics. At the age of seven, Melba got her own big, shiny trombone and quickly fell in love with it by teaching herself how to play — she struggled at first, but her family continued to support her journey. As Melba becomes a teenager, she joins the school band and is seen as a gifted musician. Melba continues to pursue her passion for jazz by joining a band led by Gerald Wilson, who was the trumpet player of the band, and tours around the country. Soon later, Melba becomes a famed trombone player, arranger, and composer by collaborating with some of the greatest jazz hits of the twentieth century for Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Quincy Jones, and many more.
Based on this picture book, the story was very encouraging in terms of seeing how Melba was able to work her way to becoming a famous trombone player, overcoming her struggles as a black woman. This is illustrated through the images when Melba was primarily the only woman in the band, which indicates that the music industry is typically dominated by men, and it is often rare to see women playing the trombone. That said, some of the important themes this book touches on are the power of music, overcoming the obstacles of race and gender, family support, and perseverance. And lastly, this book also sheds light on Melba's impactful contribution to the music industry by paving the way for future women musicians to be taken seriously and not overlooked.
Looking at the illustrations of the picture book, the book is illustrated with crisp, powerful images by Frank Morrison. The illustrations of the book are primarily done with the use of paint, using an orange-brown color palette. The illustrations within the books also tie the overall story together by the use of a dynamic expression of the facial features as well as the body language to emphasize her love for music. To add on, each of the illustrations adds powerful importance to the message, for example, Melba being isolated from her band members who are all men which reinforces the theme of sexism.
3 notes
·
View notes
Slavic women in art. Part 1
Zinaida Serebryakova (Зинаида Серебрякова) 1884-1967
She was one of the members of the World of Art association (Мир искусства): the folk themes chosen by her, harmony, powerful plasticity, generalization of pictorial solutions distinguish the artist from the rest of the masters of this group.
Also she was one of the first Russian women who entered the history of painting.
At the beginning of the 20th century, her paintings were presented at exhibitions in Russia and abroad. Serebryakova took part in the monumental painting of the Kazan railway station in Moscow.
Zinaida Serebryakova
At the bathroom. Self-portrait. 1909
At breakfast (at lunch). 1914
Portrait of Evgeny Serebryakov. 1909
House of cards. 1919
Self-portrait. 1956
Sketches for the panel of the Kazan railway station in Moscow, 1915-1916
3 notes
·
View notes
Roe vs Wade Overturned by Supreme Court?!
Courtesy to @thombords , Guttmacher Institute, and AP News for the infographics.
In 1973 Roe vs Wade made a groundbreaking decision in the United States to allow a pregnant woman the liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
On the 2nd of May 2022, POLITICO released an Initial Draft Abortion Opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito that states the decision to allow woman the right to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction is wrong and should be overturned. Less than two months later, on the 24th of June 2022 after the leak to the news organization POLITICO the Supreme Court formally overturned Roe vs Wade in a evenly matched discussion between Supreme Justices that resulted in a 5v4 vote overturning the groundbreaking decision of allowing abortion within the United States for almost 40 plus years.
All links for information and resources about abortion, Roe vs Wade, and ways to get involved can be found below and will be continuously updated for the days following forward. Please notify me if there is any missing information and resources that should or could be added. Thank you.
ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS & POLITICAL FIGURE STATEMENTS:
POLITICO - May 2nd, 2022 {EXCLUSIVE}
Initial Draft Abortion Opinion Document
Nancy Pelosi (House Speaker) and Chuck Schumer (Senate Majority Leader) Statement {Thank you @elumish}
Pregnancy Panopticon
Library of Congress’s Roe vs Wade Periodical
NEWS:
AP News - June 24th, 2022
Reuters - June 24th, 2022
Wall Street Journal - June 24th, 2022
Kansas City Star - June 24th, 2022
NPR - June 24th, 2022
NBC News - June 24th, 2022
POLITICO - June 24th, 2022
New Yorker - June 24th, 2022
The Atlantic - June 24th, 2022
The Guardian - June 24th, 2022
Chicago Tribune - June 24th, 2022
The Hill - June 24th, 2022
Insider - June 24th, 2022
CBS News - June 24th, 2022
ABC News - June 24th, 2022
BuzzFeed News - June 24th, 2022
USA Today - June 24th, 2022
New York Post - June 24th, 2022
CNN - June 24th, 2022
New York Times - June 24th, 2022
The Washington Post - June 24th, 2022
Fox News - June 24th, 2022
The Guardian - May 3rd, 2022
ABC News - May 3rd, 2022
CNN - May 2nd, 2022
AP News - May 2nd, 2022
Reuters - May 2nd, 2022
L.A. Times - May 2nd, 2022
Washington Post - May 2nd, 2022
New York Post - May 2nd, 2022
Variety - May 2nd, 2022
MSNBC - May 2nd, 2022
Deadline - May 2nd, 2022
The Atlantic - May 2nd, 2022
The Vox - May 2nd, 2022
CBS News - May 2nd, 2022
NY Times - May 2nd, 2022
NPR - May 2nd, 2022
RESOURCES FOR ABORTION ACCESS & PREGNANCIES
Marcus Territory TikTok
Questions About In-Clinic Abortion
Common Questions from National Network of Abortion Funds
Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) +1 800-656-4673
Repro Legal Helpline +1 844-868-2812
Repro Legal Defense Fund
National Crisis Pregnancy Hotline +1-800-712-4357
All Options Counseling
The Trevor Project +1-866-488-7386
Reddit Abortion Forum
Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline +1-833-246-2632
National Network of Abortion Funds
Google Sheets Abortion Funds by State {Thank you @kaijutegu }
Northwest Abortion Funds
Pro Choice
Abortion Finder
Planned Parenthood
Abortion Clinc Pages
Ineedana
Abortion Clinics Online
Women on Web
Abortion Care Network
Plan C
HOW TO GET INVOLVED & DONATE:
Google Doc “What You Can Do” {Thank you @politicalsci
Google Doc “How To Show Up For Abortion Access” {Thank you @alisonturkos and @politicalsci }
Center for Reproductive Rights
National Organization for Women
National Women’s Law Center
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Women’s March
National Network of Abortion Funds
Keep Our Clinics
We Won’t Go Back Protest Map
Michigan’s Freedom For All Petition
9 notes
·
View notes