Black History Month 2009

The 2009 card for Balck History Month is finished. It is about Phillis Wheatley (spelled the way it was originally spelled) who was the first black poet to be published. Her book of poetry was published in London in 1773 - almost 100 years before the Civil War. She was kidnapped from her family in West Africa at the age of 7 or 8 and was purchased by a Boston family, the Wheatleys. "Phillis" was the name of the slave ship on which she was transported. The Wheatleys broke with convention and educated her in English, Latin, and philosphy. By the age of 14 she was writing poetry in the style of the period. My mother decided to name me for her.

This card is a bit different . . . it has a leather pocket with an insert which can be removed. The insert has one of her poems one side. The other side contains part of a letter she wrote during the revolution pointing out the inconsistency in th viewpoint held by the colonists. While they were willing to fight for their own freedom, they had no problem denying blacks their freedom.

Because of the insert I think I'm going to have to mail these in an envelope. I have these great cellophane envelopes that work well for these cards. Anyway, now that these are finished, it's back to the 2009 goals and the block swap I signed up for.

Did I forget to mention the block swap? I promised myself that I'd do no more block swaps so I could devote more time to my original quilts. I must say I stuck to that promise for quite some time. However, the online group is swapping applique blocks of the Obama logo.

I find the logo to be an interesting part of the Obama phenomenon. It's the first time I can remember a presidential candidate who was so well marketed that his logo almost lends him brand recognition.
So I thought I'd sign up and see what I could do with these blocks. So back to the 2009 goals AND the block swap.