Tag: blogging
How to Write With Authority Even If You Have Doubts
Feeling doubtful? Read this! Post Quote: “…the impostor syndrome is actually associated with high-achieving people! If you have those feelings, you may actually be more successful than you perceive yourself to be.”
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Black History Fun Fact Friday – Sarah Rector
Welcome Back to Black History Fun Fact Friday!
I introduce to you Sarah Rector who was just eleven when she received international attention for being a millionaire.
In 1913, The Kansas City Star publicized the headline, “Millions to a Negro Girl.”
Sarah Rector was born on March 3, 1902, in Twine, Oklahoma, on Muscogee Creek, Native American land where her family had been enslaved.
The Dawes Act of 1887 was created by the United States to “bridge the gap” concerning their acquisition of Indian Land. Authorized to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians and their families, Native Americans were offered U.S. Citizenship in return.
This included land for the people they formerly had enslaved.
In 1907, The Dawes Allotment Act divided the land among the Creeks and their former slaves, and thus, Sarah and her family all received land.
“Long before the births of Sarah and her three siblings, the Creek Nation agreed with the federal government to emancipate their 16,000 slaves, giving them citizenship in their nation and entitling them to equal interest in soil and national funds. They became known as Freedmen.”
-Steve Gerkin, The Unlikely Baroness
One fact this story brings to light is the ownership of blacks as enslaved people by the Five Civilized Native American Tribes. The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations all had Blacks as slaves. In fact, Sarah and her family had a rich history as enslaved by the Creeks.
“Sarah’s father Joe Rector was the son of John Rector, a Creek Freedman. John Rector’s father Benjamin McQueen, was a slave of Reilly Grayson a Creek Indian. John Rector’s mother Mollie McQueen was a slave of Creek leader, Opothole Yahola. Their history is a rich one. The son Joe was enrolled with them on the same card.”
-Angela Y. Walton-Raji Educator, Genealogist, Author & Researcher
Per the Act, the head of a family would receive a grant of 160 acres, and this is what Sarah and her family received. “The Creek Nation was sliced up into 160-acre squares, “more or less,” and doled out to the Natives and former slaves; each received 120 acres for agriculture and 40 acres for homesteading.” (Gerkin)
This is when the story gets interesting concerning Sarah’s portion.
To help with taxes on the land, Sarah’s father leased her portion to the Devonian Oil Company of Pittsburgh, and in 1913, everything changed when it struck gold. The oil was booming, bringing in 2500 barrels a day, bringing Sarah $300 a day. Multiple new wells were productive, and Rector’s portion became part of the Cushing-Drumright Field in Oklahoma, “The most prolific early oil field in Oklahoma discovered in Creek County about twelve miles east of Cushing and one mile north of present Drumright.” (Oklahoma Historical Society)
As word of Sarah and her wealth circulated, many people sought to ask for her hand in marriage and acquire loans, and perhaps the most bizarre is her change in identity. Sarah went from a young black girl to a white one.
Being that this was the early 1900s, after all, many whites could not accept that someone like Sarah could have so much money. Thus, many began to seek to change her from black to white. Even more, Sarah’s guardianship, like our story last week, also changed, switching from her parents to a white man named T.J. Porter.
An article published in 1914 by The Chicago Defender claimed that Sarah was being ill-cared for by her “ignorant” parents, that she was uneducated, dressed in rags, and lived in unsanitary conditions.
On the contrary, Sarah and her siblings attended an all-black school in an all-black town (Taft, a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma) in a five-room house. Rector would also go on to attend Children’s House, a boarding school for teens at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, now Tuskegee University. This could have something to do with her acquaintance with men like Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B. Dubois.
Sarah left Tuskegee when she turned eighteen and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, with her family. By now, she was a full-fledged millionaire owning a Busy Bee Café, boarding house, and bakery, stocks, and bonds. As Sarah’s money increased, so did her male suitors. At twenty, she married Kenneth Campbell, and together, they had three sons. The couple divorced, and she married again, this time to William Crawford.
Sarah Rector died on July 22, 1967, at 65. Though there is much speculation on the remainder of her life, I believe that because she is not as known as some, Sarah shielded herself and her family from the spotlight as much as possible. After the false claims and accusations concerning her identity, her life seemed to fade away in the background. She went on to college and afterward moved to a different state where she and the family lived in what is known as The Rector Mansion today.
Sources: Special to The Chicago Defender
The Chicago; Nov 15, 1913; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Chicago Defender (1910 – 1975)
Remembering Sarah Rector, Creek Freedwoman
http://african-nativeamerican.blogspot.com/2010/04/remembering-sarah-rector-creek.htmlThe Unlikely Baroness by Steve Gerkin http://thislandpress.com/2015/03/24/the-unlikely-baroness/
CUSHING-DRUMRIGHT FIELD.
http://www.okhistory.org/index.php?full
Find more Articles at Black History Fun Fact Friday
Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews – Listen (Earthen Witch #3) by Sarah Doughty
Title: Listen (Earthen Witch Book 3)
Author: Sarah Doughty
Series: Earthen Witch
ISBN: 9781370998340
Language: English.
Published: October 7, 2016
Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Urban, Fiction » Romance » Paranormal
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Sarah Doughty’s latest novel, Listen is Book Three in The Earthen Witch series and I must mention here that I have not read the other two books. However, Book Three is fully capable of catching you up. Literally out of this world, I invite you to step into a place of vampires, werewolves, a shamaness and wolf extraordinaire, a cat that is really a Sphinx, a ghost that possess the body of a little boy, pixie’s and let’s not forget the protagonist herself, Earthen Witch Aisling Green.
As an Earthen Witch, Aisling possess supernatural abilities that show up even during her hot and steamy sessions with Connor Jennings, her soul mate (literally). Also a witch, Connor is Aisling’s Supernatural Soul Mate and fellow Earthen, though he is still trying to figure out how to access his powers in the way that he needs to. If Aisling got hurt sparing for instance, Connor wouldn’t be able to offer his blood’s healing powers to her, not like the master Vampire Liam. In fact, it was during sparing that the dream-sight began, a series of blackouts that causes Aisling to see fog so cloudy that she cannot see or understand what’s happening.
The story picks up when the team— vampires, werewolves, shamaness and wolf extraordinaire, a cat that is really a Sphinx, a ghost that possess the body of a little boy, pixie (and a partridge and a pear tree…lol hee hee, had to say it)— realizes two of their team members, Liam and Jon, have gone missing and set out to look for them among a common enemy: Renata Crane, a New Orleans voodoo priestess who wants more power than she has. She wants Aisling the witch, Angela the shamaness, and even the power and blood of Liam, the vampire Aisling is seeing in her dream-sights. The war is on but Aisling is sick, throwing up and having fainting spells. Something is not right with Aisling and her powers are not as strong as they were. How would this influence the battle with Renata? Listen to find out.
I’m not into the whole witch thing and I thought the beginning was a bit slow, however the story is written with enough description to help those who have not read the first two books to get a thorough understanding of what’s going on. It’s not my ideal read but it is well-written and those who are interested in stepping into the dark side will definitely have their hands full with this one.
Ratings:
Plot Movement / Strength: 3/5
Entertainment Factor: 4/5
Characterization: 4/5
Authenticity / Believable: 3/5
Thought Provoking: 3/5
Overall Rating: 3 / 5 stars
Listen is available now. And guess what? It’s free!
(This Book Cover tho! Nice..)
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/thesarahdoughty
Barnes And Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Sarah%20Doughty%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall
Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/search?query=Sarah%20Doughty&fcsearchfield=Author
iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/sarah-doughty/id990778287?mt=11
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13753138.Sarah_Doughty
Connect With The Author
Website – www.sarahdoughty.com
Instagram – www.instagram.com/thesarahdoughty
Twitter – www.twitter.com/thesarahdoughty
Did you just write a book? In need of more reviews? Register Your Book HERE! Please be sure to read through my guidelines and to register long books (300+ pages) far enough in advance for me to read them thoroughly if you have a preferred date for your published review. I publish reviews to this blog every Friday (or every other Friday). I also post them to the authors Amazon and Goodreads page and feature the linked book covers on my Author website and email list. Stay tuned for next weeks author.
Yecheilyah’s Book Reviews – Listen (Earthen Witch Book 3) by Sarah Doughty
Title: Listen (Earthen Witch Book 3)
Author: Sarah Doughty
Series: Earthen Witch
ISBN: 9781370998340
Language: English.
Published: October 7, 2016
Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Urban, Fiction » Romance » Paranormal
Sarah Doughty’s latest novel, Listen, is book three in The Earthen Witch series. While I have not read the other two books, book three can catch you up.
I invite you to enter a universe that is literally out of this world, one where there are pixies, vampires, werewolves, shamans, wolves of extraordinary prowess, a cat that is actually a Sphinx, a ghost that inhabits a little boy’s body, and, of course, the main character, Earthen Witch Aisling Green.
As an earthen witch, Aisling possesses supernatural abilities that show up even during her hot and steamy sessions with Connor Jennings, her soul mate (literally). Also a witch, Connor is Aisling’s supernatural soul mate and fellow earthen, though he is still trying to figure out how to access his powers however he needs to.
The story picks up when the team realizes two of their team members, Liam and Jon, have gone missing and set out to look for them among a common enemy: Renata Crane, a New Orleans voodoo priestess who wants more power than she has. She wants Aisling the witch, Angela the shamaness, and even the power and blood of Liam, the vampire Aisling is seeing in her dream sights. The war is on, but Aisling is sick, throwing up and having fainting spells. Something is wrong with Aisling; her powers are not as strong as they were. How would this influence the battle with Renata?
You would have to Listen to find out.
The pacing was slower than I would have liked in the beginning, but the story is written well, with enough description to help those who have not read the first two books. While it is not my ideal read, plenty of action and revelations keep you on your toes.
Ratings:
Plot Movement / Strength: 3/5
Entertainment Factor: 4/5
Characterization: 4/5
Authenticity / Believable: 3/5
Thought Provoking: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4 / 5 stars
Listen is available now. And guess what? It’s free!
(This Book Cover! Nice..)
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/thesarahdoughty
Barnes And Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Sarah%20Doughty%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall
Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/search?query=Sarah%20Doughty&fcsearchfield=Author
iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/sarah-doughty/id990778287?mt=11
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13753138.Sarah_Doughty
Connect With The Author
Website – www.sarahdoughty.com
Instagram – www.instagram.com/thesarahdoughty
Twitter – www.twitter.com/thesarahdoughty
4 Things to Remember When it Works for Them (But Not For You)
What happens when you do something that worked for others but does not work for you? Sometimes a group of people can do the same things, but only one or a few will get the results they are looking for. There are many reasons why but there are really just four core reasons why:
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It’s Not for You
What’s for you is for you and only you. Perhaps you weren’t built to fit those shoes and they weren’t built to fit yours. You’ve got your own purpose to fulfill. Of all the advice out there, no one can give you purpose. That thing gotta come from within. Surely others can show us the door, but we gotta walk through it. OK, so they did it that way, now tell me, what can you offer that is different? That’s what matters.
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Who Wants It More?
The people who actually see results is usually the people whose actions show that they want it more. This person or persons will endure failure, persists during trial, and stay motivated even when things are slow. Bottom line, these are the 3% of the people who didn’t quit.
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Who is Capable of Handling it, Once They Get It?
Next, the person or people who see results is also the person or people who understand the level of responsibility that comes with great authority. The more trustworthy you are, the more authority you have and the greater the responsibility it will require to carry it out. So, you wanna grow? Well, you gotta be willing to adjust to a bigger pot. With great authority comes greater responsibility.
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Not About You
Finally, the person who starts to see results is usually the person who understands that the key to succeeding at anything is that its more about the people and less about themselves. It’s about being of service and providing value. The secret is that it’s not about you, it’s about the people. Support the people and the people will support you. Think less about what others can do for you and more about what you can do for others.
90s Throwback Thursday Jam – Kelly Price – Friend Of Mine ft. Ronald Isley, R. Kelly
Don’t front, ya’ll know this was the Jam, late 90s…
The PBS Blog 