• JandroDelSol@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      TL;DR, she was an insanely brave black woman who helped a metric fuck ton of slaves escape the south.

    • tino@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Probably not, but she’s an important figure of the American history. The real question, though, is who will know about Harriet Tubman in a few years, once she gets erased from American history books.

      • Carl@sh.itjust.works
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        15 hours ago

        Not everyone is from North America. That is like me asking you, does “Dr. Kwame Nkrumah” mean anything to you?

        • andros_rex@lemmy.worldOP
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          12 hours ago

          Tbh, it should. American educations don’t touch Africa barring a dip into Egypt, which usually compresses the dynasties in a way that does nothing for a deeper understanding. Even as someone with a BA in history, that watched the course listing like a hawk for “history of the Sahel” or “history of the Mali empire” or some lovely 3000-4000 course - nothing.

          I should have been taught who Nkrumah was. And Léopold Senghor, and Kenyatta…

          Instead, I lean on The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith. Which is a good book, but by a journalist, not a historian.

        • Soulg@ani.social
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          12 hours ago

          If only that question was a direct response to someone talking about an American historical figure by name.

        • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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          14 hours ago

          Okay, Harriet Tubman, born into slavery in the early 1800s, escaped slavery, probably best known today for making 13 trips to the South and guiding 70 slaves on their escape to free states via a system of secret routes, sympathizers and safe houses referred to as The Underground Railroad. Tubman went on to serve as a spy for the Union army during the American civil war, and was a figure in the women’s suffrage movement, surviving into the 20th century.

          So, the fact that she was a black woman is kind of important to Harriet Tubman’s lore, and casting Julia Roberts in the role is rather inappropriate.

          The Underground Railroad had nothing to do with actual trains, but they used a lot of railroad related terminology as code speak. Trail guides were referred to as “conductors,” safe houses were “stations,” etc. Very little of it was actually underground; I’m sure a few slaves hid in root cellars or caves along the way, but there were no tunnels. Escapees were sometimes carried by boat or train but most traveled on foot and/or by wagon. There’s a sort of folklore image of slaves traveling at night under the cover of darkness, navigating by the North Star. Allegedly, the song “Follow The Drinkin’ Gourd” was a slave song that contained coded instructions for navigating along the Underground Railroad by landmarks along the trail and by using Merak and Dubhe in Ursa Major to identify Polaris…I’m pretty sure this is 20th century embellishment to the story but it’s a prominent visual, kind of like Johnny Appleseed’s pot hat.

          This bit of history is taught so widely in American schools that the term “underground railroad” has just become our word for a secret, grassroots network of routes, safe houses and guides for transporting refugees out of danger.