Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Hey everyone. As you all know, Black History Month starts tomorrow (or possibly today, depending on your time zone), so let's do our usual post + educational resource recommendation.
A while ago, I read some of Frederick Douglass' speeches and holy schist what a man. Reading something that was written over a 100 years ago and having to pause to look stuff up every few sentences is not my cup of tea, but so worth it. I never read his writings in school, idk if you ever did or how common they are in schools, but they are so worthwhile. I found the most well-known ones; "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July", "I Have Come To Tell You Something About Slavery", "Country, Conscience and the Anti-Slavery Cause", "The Proclamation and a N Army", and "The Lessons of the Hour." Tip: I suggest reading them on the website Jstore (here's one: daily.jstor.org/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-ofโฆ) since there are a lot of helpful annotations to help better understand the context of some lines.
Douglass' work is just extraordinary- his arguments are nothing but logic and common sense, yet he's so elaborate and blends these arguments with insistence and fire. He seems like someone who well understood the necessity of being "radical" and of being bold enough to call people out on their bs, sometimes straight-up telling them that they knew they were in the wrong and supporting evil. He was very intelligent, and it's hard to disagree with his reasoning. Some of his statements are generally accepted as facts nowadays- but even so, a lot of what he says seems applicable to racism today. Which is a pretty sad statement on the progress (or lack thereof) that we've made since his time. Something that seems increasingly obvious the more you learn is that racism, rather than going away, takes new forms. But that doesn't mean progress isn't possible. People like Frederik Douglass have proven that progress and hope are always conceivable, no matter the adversity. Minus the 1800s jargon, his speeches are some of the most convincing, airtight, inspirational and moving things I've ever seen. I can see why he had such a large audience, and it's even better that he doesn't try to make them comfortable, but instead, says what needs to be said regardless of how they might feel about it. You've probably heard the story of Frederick Douglass in its simplest form, but actually reading his writing is amazing on so many levels. If you look at it from the honest perspective of "what is he saying? How can it be applied to racism today in addition to back then?" NOT "well the racist people he was criticizing had their reasons" or "but this person he criticized did a lot of good things too" or "he seems to be assuming the worst in the United States here", it's such a valuable way to educate yourself. Yes, those counterarguments may be true, but aside from not justifying racism, if you just honestly look at what he's saying and try to remove predisposed bias from the equation, well...
Educating ourselves will never stop being important, but won't produce real change if we don't:
Honestly open ourselves to criticism and rethink the logic of what we are emotionally attached to (my fellow fandom people, I love you, and I'm looking directly at you when I say this)
Really consider the reasons that lead marginalized people with different lived experiences than ours to their opinions, and that we are just as biased by our own experiences as they are
Accept that the voices of marginalized communities are crucial in topics that concern those groups, and that these kinds of discussions are times for the centralized/privileged groups to LISTEN
And of course, once we listen, we have to ACT.
26 - 8
Time for another little update. My videos for when I come back from my hiatus are starting to get well underway, and I'm actually filming one of them tomorrow/technically today since it's 1am for me. Specifically, a video discussing the Top 10 best moments from Sea of Monsters, in anticipation for the show's second season. And because I am perpetually indecisive on small things like the dam perfectionist Apollo kid I am, I wanted to ask you all:
Should I show my face this video or show clips from the show's first season?
This does impact how I'll film the video obviously. Anyways I'm going to bed, let me know your thoughts in next like 8 hours before I film the video and I'll see you soon.
14 - 0
Hi all! Figured I'd just do a little check-in community post. I haven't been logged in on YouTube for all of December, so I just replied to a bunch of comments, you are all so wonderful/crazy. I'm still not going back to uploading yet, and when I do, it will probably be every two weeks for the time being, but I figured I'd let you all know that progress is being made in that.
Anywho, what are your New Years Resolutions? Mine are to try not to screw up my sleep schedule and make some progress in terms of my future career.
40 - 14
I'm really sorry to tell you all this, but I have to take a hiatus from YouTube... it won't be two years this time, don't worry! Like I said in my last video, between the holidays and some bigger projects, I have my work cut out for me without an uploading schedule at the moment. Plus, I've been getting off anti-depressants over over the past several weeks and I've definitely been feeling the emotional side of it. If I want to avoid a depression relapse, I can't keep uploading if I'm not feeling up to it. I really don't need anything other than my job to think about right now. You may see a few random smaller uploads if I feel the inspiration, but generally, don't expect any uploads from me for the rest of 2024. Sending love.
48 - 17
New video just dropped, go on and check it out. I regret to inform you all that I will be uploading every two weeks instead of every week for the next little while. Between the holidays, some bigger projects and some things I'm been trying to figure out about my life right now, I honestly shouldn't be uploading at all, but I couldn't leave you all hanging. There's been so much negativity going around recently, and I had to keep contributing something positive. I won't stop spreading hope now, however small it may be. You can expect uploads every two weeks for the rest of November, December and probably the beginning of January. We'll see where life takes us after that.
9 - 0
Ok ok guys I had a thought.
A bunch of us dressed in Camp Half-Blood t-shirts singing/lip-syncing to "Revolting Children" from Matilda. Is it stupid? Yes. Will it change anyone's mind? No. Is it a small but immensely satisfying and beautiful way of rebelling?
IT SURE DAM IS. At times like this I so wish my irl friends liked Percy Jackson as much as I do because I can't unthink this thought.
48 - 11
In 2017 when *that very unpleasant familiar thing* happened, my French teacher wrote "bonjour" on the board and crossed out "bon" and asked us to say "jour" instead of "bonjour" when greeting him that day. And I vibe. I feel for those of you in the States. But we'll get through this. Don't give up. Because as Percy once said, we'll need you for what comes next. This isn't the end.
50 - 11
Friendly reminder to all of you who are American and 18+ to GO VOTE. DO IT.
34 - 12
Oh, I didn't actually expect you all to notice a difference ๐
. Well, for those of you who did notice a difference,
Did the volume/general audio of the video (a Hazel Levesque and Nico di Angelo Halloween fanfiction) seem better or worse than my usual videos?
11 - 0
Those of you who have seen my latest video (a Hazel Levesque and Nico di Angelo Halloween fanfiction), I have a poll for you:
Did the volume/general audio of the video seem different than my usual videos?
(I'm asking to see which editing strategies work best)
6 - 5
I make videos about Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Trials of Apollo, etc. I usually make discussion-like videos, top 10 videos, that kind of thing.
#those7damhalfbloods
She/her
My videos are NOT for kids. Kids could enjoy my content, but kids could also find it confusing or upsetting. I don't recommend children watching my videos. My channel is for teens and young adults; viewers 13 and up only. It's not aimed at kids.
Credits:
All hail Viria, who made and owns the art on my channel banner and channel icon.