Up first on the Nov. 8, 2022 election ballot in Vermont is Slavery!
Today I made a short video on the subject of modern day slavery. Taxes are taken out of your paycheck and sent to the I.R.S., then the U.S. Congress votes to give your hard earned money to corporations as billion dollar subsidies. The corporations sell products internationally and do NOT give us a share of THEIR profits even though we paid for their subsidies.
Prominently placed statues of famous racists are no longer acceptable, just as policemen shooting African Americans has finally become unacceptable. Why not dispense with the far out illusion of a racist colonial capitalist USA being worth celebrating. Meanwhile left undone is the protecting of non-American Black lives from killer American GIs invading and bombing their beloved countries.
I was looking though old Brattleboro newspapers for mentions of slavery. Most of the articles are op-eds on slavery in the South, but I came across this mention of Brattleboro’s “only living ex-slave” – Mr. Jake Cartlidge. He was a Brattleboro resident for over 40 years, and this story is about trying to help him get some extra pension funds. (A warning that the newspaper used the n-word discussing his time as a slave, while quoting a slave buyer.)
From the Vermont Phoenix, Dec 6, 1912
“Town’s Ex-Slave In Need Of Funds
Efforts to Secure More Pension for “Jake” Cartlidge
Born in Slavery, Sold on the Block, Beaten by Cruel Taskmaskers – Served Pennsylvania Regiment
