March is nearly over and I didn't do anything for WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

I was inspired when I saw this meme I guess it can be called of WOMEN IN STEM and "IT'S OKAY TO BE SMART"   And I began thinking about how the only subject I really loved as a young girl was science.  I wanted to be a scientist and later an Astronaut!   I know this love was influenced by my father who was on his way to becoming a doctor when the Depression hit and he had to go to work to help support his parents and siblings.   I do feel that I was born too early -- that young women today are much more likely to go into science than in my day.  I hope so!   So let's celebrate WOMEN OF SCIENCE for the end of Women's History Month.

http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/114706927717/inappropriatelyadorable-awesome-women-in-stem?utm_medium=email&utm_source=html&utm_campaign=weekly_top_posts_subject_13&utm_term=post_114706927717 

Fred Klonsky blogger and artist - or rather -- artist and blogger - had a great blog today about Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass - https://preaprez.wordpress.com/2017/03/30/donald-trump-doesnt-have-a-clue-about-susan-b-anthony-or-frederick-douglass/ 

In a way it summarizes my feeling about racism and sexism and which shall disappear first. But it does imply that men got the vote -- ALL MEN -- before any women did.  Women are still relegated to the kitchen and the bedroom all over the world. And #45 is trying to bring all that back.

We have so much to fight for right now -- and while feminism isn't #1 for me, it certainly is high on the list.  But it has to be a feminism that serves all women, and not just bourgeois white women, which is what it has been in the past.   When Black Lives Matter embraces feminism we will have a fighting chance.

When we stand up for women everywhere -- in particular the continents where women are still facing genital circumcision, and other atrocities -- then we will have a fighting chance.

There are sixteen organizations (probably more) fighting to stop female genital mutilation, as it is known, and helping the victims as well.  http://16days.thepixelproject.net/16-organisations-charities-and-grassroots-groups-working-to-stop-fgm/ 

“Female genital mutilation has nothing to do with culture, tradition, or religion. It is torture and a crime. Help us to put an end to this crime.” — Waris Dirie, Survivor of FGM, UN FGM Ambassador, Founder of the Desert Flower Foundation and former Supermodel

There is so much to be done and we can't give up the fight.  Otherwise we will surely die.

APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH - PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

June 27, 1872 - February 9, 1906

   Paul Laurence Dunbar only lived 33 years but was the first nationally recognized African American poet.  A friend of Frederick Douglass, Douglass called him the most promising young "colored" man in America.

   Just a few of his poems.  Please check the links below for more.

A Negro Love Song

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
Seen my lady home las' night,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hel' huh han' an' sque'z it tight,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hyeahd huh sigh a little sigh,
Seen a light gleam f'om huh eye,
An' a smile go flittin' by —
Jump back, honey, jump back.

Hyeahd de win' blow thoo de pine,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Mockin'-bird was singin' fine,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
An' my hea't was beatin' so,
When I reached my lady's do',
Dat I could n't ba' to go —
Jump back, honey, jump back.

Put my ahm aroun' huh wais',
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Raised huh lips an' took a tase,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Love me, honey, love me true?
Love me well ez I love you?
An' she answe'd, "'Cose I do"—
Jump back, honey, jump back.


Invitation to Love

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
Come when the nights are bright with stars
Or come when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
Drops on the hay-field yellow.
Come in the twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
Come, O love, whene’er you may,
And you are welcome, welcome.

You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it to rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.

Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd’ning cherry.
Come when the year’s first blossom blows,
Come when the summer gleams and glows,
Come with the winter’s drifting snows,
And you are welcome, welcome.


Little Brown Baby

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
Come to yo' pappy an' set on his knee.
What you been doin', suh — makin' san' pies?
Look at dat bib — you's es du'ty ez me.
Look at dat mouf — dat's merlasses, I bet;
Come hyeah, Maria, an' wipe off his han's.
Bees gwine to ketch you an' eat you up yit,
Bein' so sticky an sweet — goodness lan's!

Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes,
Who's pappy's darlin' an' who's pappy's chile?
Who is it all de day nevah once tries
Fu' to be cross, er once loses dat smile?
Whah did you git dem teef? My, you's a scamp!
Whah did dat dimple come f'om in yo' chin?
Pappy do' know you — I b'lieves you's a tramp;
Mammy, dis hyeah's some ol' straggler got in!

Let's th'ow him outen de do' in de san',
We do' want stragglers a-layin' 'roun' hyeah;
Let's gin him 'way to de big buggah-man;
I know he's hidin' erroun' hyeah right neah.
Buggah-man, buggah-man, come in de do',
Hyeah's a bad boy you kin have fu' to eat.
Mammy an' pappy do' want him no mo',
Swaller him down f'om his haid to his feet!

Dah, now, I t'ought dat you'd hug me up close.
Go back, ol' buggah, you sha'n't have dis boy.
He ain't no tramp, ner no straggler, of co'se;
He's pappy's pa'dner an' play-mate an' joy.
Come to you' pallet now — go to yo' res';
Wisht you could allus know ease an' cleah skies;
Wisht you could stay jes' a chile on my breas'—
Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes!

   "During the final ten years of his life, Dunbar wrote prolifically, turning out poetry, short stories, novels, lyrics, and a variety of narrative works. Although only 33 when he died, his legacy, most notably his dialect poetry, influenced many writers of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Regarded as one of the leading African American writers of the 20th century, Dunbar and his work continue to fuel academic debates. In recent years, new collections of his work have added more than 100 undiscovered or uncollected poetic and narrative works by Dunbar to the already large body of his writings. Taken in its entirety, Dunbar's extensive body of work provides a significant representation of African American life at the turn of the twentieth century."
Academy of American Poets - https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/paul-laurence-dunbar 
Poetry Foundation - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/paul-laurence-dunbar
Life and Career - http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/dunbar/life.htm  
Special Collection & archives - Wright State Univ. - http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/dunbar/biography