Beth Mclaughlin

“Inventing the rules of slavery, in 1662, Virginians decided to adopt the Roman rule partus sequitur ventrem, which says that you were what your mother was. 14”
― Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello

“The Church of England shut down that avenue of emancipation when it confirmed that baptism of a slave into the Christian faith did not require the emancipation of that slave, an understanding that Virginia codified in law. Christians could,”
― Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello

“shibboleths”
― David W. Blight, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom

“That river flows along the interstice between presence and absence. It is filled with hidden possibilities that only the finest metaphors can bring to the surface. Just as a great poet can use one scene to bring another new, unknown vista into view. It should be obvious, but the best metaphors make the best poems. Take good care not to avert your eyes from the new, unknown vistas you will encounter.”
― Haruki Murakami, Killing Commendatore