Sojourner Truth (1797 – November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826.
She gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 after she became convinced that God had called her to leave the city and go into the countryside “testifying the hope that was in her”. Her best-known speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech became widely known during the Civil War by the title “Ain’t I a Woman?”, a variation of the original speech re-written by someone else using a stereotypical Southern dialect, whereas Sojourner Truth was from New York and grew up speaking Dutch as her first language.
A memorial bust of Truth was unveiled in 2009 in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center. She is the first African American woman to have a statue in the Capitol building. In 2014, Truth was included in Smithsonian magazine’s list of the “100 Most Significant Americans of All Time”
The Paris based dance duo Daft Punk has called it quits after 28 years. The French duo consisting of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo defined the sound of French electronic music.
Their 1997 album Homework the 2001 follow-up put the group on the global dance stage.
Aside from the music, the duo had the entire visual package marked by their trademark robot helmets and black suits.
Universal Music Group has launched Virgin Music Label & Artist Services. Inspired and influenced by the spirit of the legendary Virgin Records label, the global network will deliver premium and flexible artist and label services to the industry’s entrepreneurs and independent talent worldwide.
Virgin was founded by Richard Branson in 1972, came to Universal as part of its acquisition of EMI’s recorded-music division in 2012.
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, said: “Virgin has long been a name synonymous with disruptive innovation, musical creativity and entrepreneurialism.
“We are thrilled to announce the reinvigoration of this iconic music brand as a new model for global distribution and label services – combining UMG’s unrivalled regional executive teams with dedicated resources and best-in-class services and technology, to help foster long-term partnerships and deliver global success for the next generation of independent labels and artist talent.
“In total, this global launch represents an important evolution of our industry-leading strategy to be an accelerator and vital partner for the music’s best independent artists and entrepreneurs.”
The European Commission’s says that “press and quality journalism are not for free” so the Copyright Directive creates the condition for fair bargaining between press editors and online platforms.
Australia has its own problem with the big tech giant.
The former CEO of Facebook’s Australian business Stephen Scheeler urged users to delete the social network’s app in response to Mark Zuckerberg’s “sad” decision to block news from the platform in the country.
He said that Facebook’s controversial move “looks and feels ugly” and blasted CEO Zuckerberg’s motivations.
“I’m a proud ex-Facebooker, but over the years I get more and more exasperated. For Facebook and Mark it’s too much about the money, and the power, and not about the good,” Scheeler said. “Imagine if a Chinese company for example had done this, we would be up in arms. All Australians should be quite alarmed by this.”
Amanda Berry Smith (January 23, 1837 – February 24, 1915)was a former slave who funded The Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children. She was referred to as “God’s image carved in ebony”.
Smith worked as a cook and a washerwoman to provide for herself and her daughter after her husband was killed in the American Civil War. By the time Smith was thirty-two, she had lost two husbands and four of her five children. Attending religious camp meetings and revivals helped Smith work through her grief and avoid depression. She immersed herself in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.
In 1878, Smith arranged for her daughter, Mazie, to study in England. The two traveled overseas and stayed in England for two years. On the journey over, the captain invited her to conduct a religious service on board and she was so modest that the other passengers spread word of her.
She next traveled to and ministered in India, where she stayed for eighteen months. Smith then spent eight years in Africa, working with churches and evangelizing. She traveled to Liberia and West Africa. Smith also expanded her family by adopting two African boys. While in Africa she suffered from repeated attacks of “African Fever” but persisted in her work. As a strong proponent of the Temperance Movement both in Africa and in the United States, she was invited by noted temperance advocate Rev. Dr. Theodore Ledyard Cuyler to preach at his Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York, then the largest church in its denomination, on her return to America.
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