Latest Posts by strxwberrymikk - Page 2
reblog to tell your mutual you’re proud of them and it’ll all work out
Stop don't scroll
Hello, I am Heba Al-Anqar, 21 years old, a university student. My university was suspended due to the war. I am writing about my family: my father Bakr (54 years old), my mother Alaa (46 years old), and my sisters Aya (18 years old), Amal (15 years old), Muhammad (13 years old), and Maryam (8 years old). We have faced many challenges in this war, from the destruction of our home to the famine we continue to suffer in northern Gaza.
My father suffers from heart problems. He had open-heart surgery when he was 36 years old. He also suffers from cartilage problems. He had his pelvic joint replaced about two years ago, in addition to other health problems. He cannot work due to his health condition.
My mother also suffers from asthma and shortness of breath, in addition to the difficulty of obtaining treatment due to the conditions and the war.
This is our house, which was destroyed by war
We have become homeless in places of refuge, in addition to the difficulty of obtaining medicine, food, and daily expenses
I created this account to request your help in this difficult ordeal by donating to meet the necessary needs, as we were relying on social assistance before the war.
My goal is to help my family live in safety and provide the necessary necessities for living, as there is a high cost of living and difficulty in obtaining necessities. We ask for your help in leaving the Gaza Strip to save my family’s life. The cost of travel is $5,000 per adult and $2,500 per child, in addition to travel and accommodation expenses of $500 per month.
Together, we can support Heba and her family through this ordeal. Your donation, no matter how big, can make a difference in my family's life to get life and start a new life
If you are looking to support Heba and her family, please consider providing assistance directly or through relevant charitable organizations.
Palestinian girls and women are forced to use tents as pads. People boost. Donate if you can
Who is Kamala Harris?
These are all from her Wikipedia page. I have picked the top 5 for each of these sections. Maybe you think other things are more important, these are just the things that stood out to me:
Highlights as District Attorney of San Francisco:
was tough on gun crime: created a gun crime unit, set 90-day minimum sentences, raised bail for gun-related crimes, and prosecuted all assault weapon possession cases as felonies.
created a hate crimes unit specifically focused on LGBTQ hate crimes against children and teens in school.
was (and is) against the death penalty; during her time as DA did not cave to pressure in several cases to seek the death penalty.
helped create the San Francisco Reentry Division, aimed at helping prisoners reintegrate after their sentences are through; the program became a national model.
refused to enforce prop 8, which was at the time California's ban on gay marriage.
Highlights as Attorney General of California
introduced the Homeowner Bill of Rights and fought against banks, mortgage companies, and credit card companies.
fought for financial reimbursement for public employee and teacher pensions.
fought for environmental protections and secured settlements and indictments against several oil companies for oil spills.
conducted a review of implicit bias in policing and the use of deadly force and introduced implicit bias training.
declared a law that California law enforcement had to collect and report police violence.
Highlights as a California Senator:
condemned Trump's Muslim ban.
opposed Trump's appointments of Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions, his nomination of Neil Gorsuch, and voted against confirming Kavanaugh.
tried to make lynching a federal hate crime.
urged the Trump administration to investigate the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China.
voted to convict Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Highlights as Vice president:
as President of the Senate, cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate that ensured the passing of the American Rescue Act.
has cast more tie-breaking votes than any other Vice president in US history - she is responsible for many of the achievements of the Biden administration actually passing the Senate.
created task forces on corruption and human trafficking.
created a women's empowerment program.
has criticized Israel's actions during the current conflict in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.
it really hurts me to see so many gazans asking us for help, though that's through no fault of their own. they've been forced to use a social media site that they're probably not familiar with (because tumblr has kind of faded out of popular consciousness), to interact with us in a second language, to distinguish themselves from the scammers who are taking advantage of genocide, and to ask strangers for help. i don't think there are any cultures where it's easy to ask for help like this, but i'm intimately familiar with how humiliating it can be in arab culture. please be kind, gracious and helpful to the gazans in your inbox. this is a desperate time for them, and in addition to the physical danger inflicted by "israel", the prices of basic resources in gaza are extremely high due to scarcity, and those that manage to escape to egypt are financially exploited by landlords there and have an extremely difficult time finding work due to their unofficial status as refugees. these families will continue to need our help and i hope we can all continue to provide it to the best of our ability.
thank you to every single fucking person on this god forsaken site that has ever posted your own art or writing. You really put a vulnerable, important part of yourself out in the open on the hellscape that is the internet and if that isnt an act of bravery and a labor of love I dont know what one is
MMMGHHH I LOVE BIG BROTHERS 🤭
check out mine and @comradeghosty ’s collab where they wrote a short story about these sillies!
Some of yall needed to hear this
Credits to @/mattxiv on Instagram
How I learned to write smarter, not harder
(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)
A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.
The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.
As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!
Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!
2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)
Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.
Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.
I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.
Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!
This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.
As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.
When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD
People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.
What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!
What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.
You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.
And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.
And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.
If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?
And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD
In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.
Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.
Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)
And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)
Hello dears! I am asking you to support my campaign to help me reach my goal. I am now in bad need your support to help me stay alive and safe. Gaza is a very dangerous place either on the level of livelihood or on the level of souls. I need your monetary support to enable me to get the basic needs for my family till Rafah crossing point reopens to move my family to safety and peace. Please help a family be alive through your small donations or througn your shares to others. Thank you so Much for your stand beside people in need.
DONATE TO HELP FADI’S FAMILY CONTINUE TO SURVIVE THE GENOCIDE AGAINST PALESTINIANS. SHARE WITH FAMILY/FRIENDS/ON OTHER APPS 🫶🏾
Lloyd Yearwood, Photograph of a drag club in Harlem, 1960s
Donate Insulin and medication to diabetics in Gaza
Urgent Request: Help Needed for My Mom’s Cancer Surgery
Dear everyone,
I'm reaching out to you with a heavy heart and a plea for help in the face of an overwhelming challenge. For almost two years, my mom has been in a fierce battle against cancer, fighting with all her strength and courage. However, 15th of March brought devastating news: the cancer has spread to her cervix, and she urgently needs surgery.
The cost of the surgery is staggering, and despite our efforts to crowdfund, we've only managed to raise $45 in over two weeks. With nowhere else to turn, I'm faced with the difficult decision of parting with some of my mom's cherished plants, hoping to raise the funds needed for her treatment.
With each donation of $10 or more, you not only contribute to her life-saving surgery but also have the opportunity to request one of her beloved plants attached to this post.
Every contribution, no matter how small, will make a difference in our fight against cancer and bring us one step closer to ensuring my mom gets the treatment she desperately needs. Please consider donating and sharing this post with your friends and family to help spread the word.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, generosity, and support during this difficult time.
PS - Two weeks ago my big sister(Ms. Jay) started this campaign (She raised the $45) before her URL got bagged! Prior to that, family, friends and Plant communities had help sustain her treatment using the same link.
RAISING FUNDS FOR GAZA.
In collaboration with @ficsforgaza, I will be offering to do art in order to help raise funds. Please consider donating!
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?
In order to participate, please be known that you must be 18 or older and your age must be in your bio.
Make a donation to one of the verified fundraisers. Here is a link containing several from which you can choose.
The minimum rate starts at $10 USD.
Once you have made your donation, please send me a screenshot with proof of your donation via ask.
PLEASE NOTE: I will not accept any money for this; all the money must go directly to the fundraiser of your choice.
WHAT KIND OF SKETCHES CAN I GET?
Depending on the amount of money donated, you can ask for:
Portrait — $10 usd.
Half body — $15 usd.
Full body — $25 usd.
HOW DO I GET MY SKETCH?
I draw for demon slayer, jojo's bizarre adventure, one piece, my hero academia, haikyuu, jujutsu kaisen mainly. Feel free to ask for other fandoms, though!
Feel free to DM me. In your request, please include: fandom, character, pose, details (such as appearance, outfits, etc). The more details, the better!
I draw Selfships and OC x Canon! (only SFW for this event).
See my portfolio here.
Estimated wait time is from ONE to TWO weeks.
CHERRYKAMADO © 2024. REBLOGS APPRECIATED!
DONATIONS FOR GAZA
As you probably know, the situation in Gaza gets worse every day. At this stage, every donation, no matter how small, might make a difference between life and death for someone trying to escape Rafah.
Donate as little as 7$ today and you get a sketch or a small illustration of yourself, an animal, a friend - whatever it is that you want.
You can find the full spreadsheet of families here: Operation Olive Branch
or you can donate to one of the randomized gofundmes from here: Gaza Funds
Send me proof of your donations and the details for the artwork you desire. YOU CAN SEND IT THROUGH DMs OR EMAIL ME (email and useful links here:)
Depending on how busy this gets, commissions might take two days or more.
*Biggers commissions are available for bigger donations! You can see illustrations I did in the past here.
would encourage people to follow @ booksagainstgenocide on instagram. they post about the big five publishers’ complicity in israeli apartheid and occupation of palestine + western literary culture’s broader participation in legitimising israel as a state and zionism as an ideology
remember that a person in georgia self-immolated back in december as well to call for a ceasefire in gaza and do not let aaron bushnell's death be as easily anonymized and scrubbed from public consciousness
a cultural reset when gege dropped these in the volumes.
how you can help palestine
*i regularly update this post with any new info i find so please always reblog the original post*
Donations
donations currently reaching gaza:
help buy e-sims for people in gaza (PLEASE HELP CONNECT GAZANS TO THE WORLD. if you would like to stay updated, please follow @/Mirna_elhelbawi on twitter)
currently holafly e-sims are needed. please donate.
donate to get food packages to gaza - care for gaza
support palestinians: buy a keffiyeh from the last and only factory in palestine - hirbawi
secondary donations:
palestine children's relief fund
palestine red crescent society
save palestine - islamic relief canada
send medical supplies to gaza - palestinian american medical association
click to donate - arab.org
donate for the recovery of hisham awartani - gofundme
one of the three palestinian students shot by a racist in vermont for wearing kufiyas and speaking arabic. hisham’s injuries have left him paralysed from below the chest.
help bring down israel's weapon trade - palaction
NOTE: journalists based in gaza are saying a demand for ceasefire is the priority as not all donations are reaching gazans (focus on the donations that are directly reaching gaza). so please contact your local MPs every single day demanding as such. palestine need a permanent ceasefire.
Petitions
petition to investigate war crimes committed by israeli military
demand ceasefire - amnesty.org
open call for immediate ceasefire
american government call for immediate ceasefire
american government to stop funding israeli military
ceasefire and increase humanitarian assistance - oxfam au
petition to get canva to address their pro-israel stance
invoke the genocide convention to call for ceasefire in gaza - world beyond war
location specific petitions
gaza call for ceasefire - oxfam (UK)
end israeli occupation - parliament uk (UK)
email your MP - medical aid for palestine (UK)
protect gaza civilians - islamic relief (UK)
stop fuelling genocide - action network (USA)
@ biden: call for ceasefire now - move on (USA)
ceasefirenow.com - jewishvoiceofpeace (USA)
call congress and demand a ceasefire - uscpr (USA - they provide a script of what you should say, so don't worry about it)
note: you can call everyday. they tally the number of calls per issue. so more calls = higher chance for them to take action. p.s. you mainly go to voicemail so don’t worry about phone call anxiety. fight through it just this once please.
australia call on israel to stop attacking palestinians - apan (AUS)
immediate ceasefire and increase in humanitarian aid in gaza - actionaid (AUS)
email your MPs - stand with palestine (AUS)
[EN5622] call for ceasefire and end to occupation - parliament of australia (AUS)
closes 13 dec @ 8.59pm AEST
[EN5628] retract governmental support to israel and demand ceasefire - parliament of australia (AUS)
closes 13 dec @ 8.59pm AEST
sign to send letter to MP for ceasefire - nccm (CANADA)
ceasefire now! - ijv (CANADA)
ceasefire and allow aid to enter gaza - oxfam (CANADA)
house of commons petition 4661 (CANADA)
closes 9 dec @ 11.03am EDT
cessez-le-feu et un couloir humanitaire - le mouvement (FRANCE)
write to your député - assemblée nationale (FRANCE)
skydda civilbefolkningen i gaza! - mittskifte (SWEDEN)
singaporeans call for immediate ceasefire (SIN)
contact your elected reps and demand a ceasefire (GERMANY)
write to the EU demanding a ceasefire (EUROPE)
template of letters you can send (EU)
guide on how to contact your MPs in EU
p.s. if the template is outdated, just use it as a guide and add a few sentences here and there that reflect the current situation. i can’t find any recent templates so :/ at least this is something
multiple actions you can take to help palestine - plant een olifbloom (NETHERLANDS)
includes: links for donations, emails to MP, emails to media, links to petitions and demonstrations
den haag, maak nú werk van vrede in israël/Palestina - the right forum (NETHERLANDS)
māori call for palestine - ourActionStation (NZ)
special visa for palestinians in gaza with family in NZ - NZ parliament/pāremata aotearoa (NZ)
deem israeli actions as war crimes - NZ parliament/pāremata aotearoa (NZ)
basta ao genocídio em Gaza! - awaaz (BRAZIL)
globo e grande mídia, parem de desumanizar civis palestinos - the intercept (BRAZIL)
Campaigns
friends of al-aqsa
❥ UK-specific
urge your MP to speak up for palestine
hands off al-aqsa
stop administrative detention
petition for UK to stop arming israel
❥ International
boycott puma — email them to end their partnership with israel
boycott coca-cola
palestine action
join the resistance
islamic relief canada
urge your MP to rally for ceasefire
decolonise palestine
poster campaign to raise awareness on the war crimes being committed against palestinians | (very very important please share + read the sources provided)
text/call campaign for people living in USA
text CEASEFIRE @ 51905 to call for a ceasefire
text RESIST @ 50409 to send a letter to your representatives to pass HR3103–a bill that prohibits tax dollars from going to israel
download 5Calls app to contact members of your congress | (more info)
fax campaign for people in the USA
go on this website to send 5 free faxes per day
here’s a link to a pre-written fax copy you can download to send (the first link on the linktree)
here’s a video that explains how to fax your senator (it’s very easy and all you need is a valid email address)
BDS movement
get involved in boycotting companies associated with israel
please let me know if you have any more links. i will add them in. and please reblog the original post!!
UPCOMING PROTESTS
PALESTINIAN LITERATURE READING LIST
Rashida Tlaib is a powerhouse. Her grandmother just passed away under occupation (her words) but she’s still organizing for HEAL Palestine— an initiative providing Health, Education, Aid, and Leadership opportunities in a collective effort to help heal Gaza’s youth.
A donation to HEAL Palestine will help shelter, feed, and treat injured and sick Palestinians who have fled military violence, and who are in dire need of basic necessities including food, clean water, and medical supplies because of Israel’s cruel blockade. currently HEAL is working to open a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a new maternity department in Rafah, plus sponsoring medical teams to go to Gaza.
In addition to funding urgent needs, a donation will support long-term solutions and projects in Palestine as well, such as mental health and mentorship for children who’ve been living with trauma their entire lives, and programs to rebuild Gaza’s education and health systems.
Here’s the link to donate.
Palestine, 1996. Source: (AP Photo/Studio Samadi)
ID: [Three young boys on top of what looks like to be a rooftop. One of them is seated. He holds a long wooden flag pole, waving the Palestinian flag in the air. The other two boys are standing behind him. One of them is wrapping a kuffiyeh around the other’s head.] END ID.
This is not a natural disaster. This was not inevitable. They didn't grow up like this. It was inflicted on them by the vilest sadists on earth.
I’m so proud to be a black girl
#OTD 1957: Althea Gibson Wins Wimbledon! 1st Black Tennis Player to win a Grand Slam!
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
NARA ID 58260. “From 143rd Street in Harlem to the center court in Wimbledon is about as far as one can travel.” —Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson, daughter of South Carolina sharecroppers, grew up in Harlem and became a champion of the very segregated sport of tennis. Gibson was the first Black tennis player to compete and win at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals (Arthur Ashe was the 1st Black man to win at Wimbledon when he defeated Jimmy Connors 8 years later, in 1975). Eventually, she would play—and beat—all other top women’s tennis players worldwide, while shattering class and racial barriers!
Gibson, L, on the Wheaties box in 2001. Serena Williams, R, in 2019.
"In 2001, Wheaties paid homage to a true champion and an icon by putting her on the cover of a Wheaties Box. Althea Gibson was the FIRST Black Woman tennis player to be on the box. Today, I am honored to be the second. I have dreamt of this since I was a young woman and it’s an honor to join the ranks of some of America’s most decorated athletes. I hope my image on this iconic orange box will inspire the next generation of girls and athletes to dream big.” —Serena Williams
COMING SOON: ALL AMERICAN - THE POWER OF SPORTS
National Archives Museum in DC, 9/16/2022 - 1/7/2024 Exhibit includes Gibson's 1956 Wimbledon trophy! (on loan from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Related Document Display: The Patsy Mink Act and Title IX Through 9/7/2022, National Archives Museum in DC More online!
Althea Gibson Wins the US Nat'l Championships, DocsTeach
Celebrate the 50th of Title IX with Archival Footage of Sporting Legends, The Unwritten Record
Celebrate Title IX's 50th! National Archives Tumblr