Welcome to Litsy!

#USS #WinterGames

Hi, Ugly Sweaters and all @WinterGames Participants:
I will try to post a Readathon bulletin every day in the hopes that it will help you and me keep track of all of these wonderful reading events. I fit them all on one board, so all you have to do is look at this board as your first step to see which readathons you participated in for that day.

Shoutouts and thank-yous to all of the wonderful Litsy hosts is below. 🩵❄️🩵

This is a book of stories, no doubt, but the vast majority are a minute or shorter! Less than a handful are 3 or fewer minutes. It could be hard to grasp some of it since they are so short and I listened to it rather than read it. But some “stories” were so profound, I‘m going to have to find the IRL book. The author was from #Uruguay but he shared morsels from all over the world: quotes, news, history, thoughts. But I did love his references ⬇️

Shakerism attracted the poorest of the poor in #SaintVincentandtheGrenadines, mostly descendants of slaves, who couldn‘t afford the “fees” to belong to the established religions. Shakers worshipped God with their whole bodies, shouting and (heaven forbid, apparently) jumping, which those opposed attributed to barbaric African culture. After decades of oppression, a law was passed in 1912 prohibiting it. Then came decades to try to repeal it. ⬇️

Yesterday and today I finished the last two books of the #readingtheAmericas challenge hosted by @Librarybelle and @BarbaraBB that I‘ll review separately. For every year I‘ve participated in their continent challenges I feel I have gained so much as a person learning about our world. This year‘s challenge hit close to home, since it is home. Thank you ladies for hosting these amazing challenges

And now…gearing up for #wintergames!! @Emilymdxn

This lasted for more than 50 years despite numerous efforts to repeal the law. It was finally repealed in 1965!

Finishing this book on Thanksgiving helps me to realize what more I have to be grateful for, at least for now. May our constitutional rights be protected from insidious invasion

#SaintVincentandtheGrenadines #readingtheAmericas @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

This book is such a testament to freedom of religion. Imagine this, after decades of repression

#SaintVincentandtheGrenadines #readingtheAmericas @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

The prohibition against practicing the Shaker religion was, likely, based on racism and remnants of colonialism.

#SaintVincentandtheGrenadines #readingtheAmericas @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

From a #SaintVincent newspaper editorial in 1939. Heaven forbid repealing a law that prohibited practicing religion as the masses saw fit. If that happened then the state couldn‘t censor films and literature and protect the masses from themselves! Oh how history repeats itself.

#readingtheAmericas @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

This is one incident in which five people were convicted after Shakerism was outlawed in 1912 in #SaintVincentandtheGrenadines This is from one of the arresting officers‘ reports. The established religious couldn‘t stand Shakerism and called it barbarism from Africa, since it was mainly practiced by the poor—the descendants of slaves. #readingtheAmericas @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Written in poetry this is a beautiful, haunting story of the wars fought in Cuba to gain independence from Spain. The main character is Rosa a slave turned nurse who hides in the countryside helping all who cross her path regardless of allegiance. At the moment though it was Silvia a young girl escaped from the (first) ‘re concentration ‘ camps after all her family died of starvation or disease who might stay with me longest