Black Dispatches

[mithen]

One of the best parts of writing "The House of the Earth" (if by "best" one means "most agonizing") has been doing research on slavery in America and in general.  I was reminded of that when I came across this news story about Jefferson Davis' slave, who was a spy for the Union, and other slave spies.  There's a whole book out called Black Dispatches on the topic that I'd love to get my hands on.  It's amazing--people didn't see slaves as anything but furniture, so they talked freely about strategic secrets right in front of them.  That seems so... karmically fair, somehow, that their own ignorance and inhumanity could be turned against them.  And I'm always awed and humbled and amazed by stories of what people under such impossible conditions will do to fight for their freedom.  No fictional story could do them justice.

Comments

[theclexfactor.livejournal.com]

Wow, I think you just gave me something new to read. If I find the book on amazon, I'll let you know :)

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Wow, apparently CNN got the info WAY off. It's an article written for the CIA by someone totally different! But you can find it here: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/black-dispatches/index.html

CNN is odd, but the story is great! :)

[fictionalknight.livejournal.com]

There's a whole book out called Black Dispatches on the topic that I'd love to get my hands on.

Closest I found was an article on the CIA's website... I don't suppose that's it. Do you know who wrote it?

[mithen.livejournal.com]

That is apparently it! Somehow CNN gets the information TOTALLY wrong, listing the wrong author and claiming it's a book. T_T The article you found seems to be the right one!

[fictionalknight.livejournal.com]

well, good then. :) I'm glad to know I could lead you in the right direction a little bit. But boo on CNN for getting their info wrong...

[ilyena_sylph]

Have you read Myths of American Slavery? Fascinating book.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Sounds it! I haven't learned much about it since the sketchy history classes one gets in grammar school, so it's been fascinating to learn about it as an adult when I can process and think about it a bit more.

[ilyena_sylph]

I kind of violently dislike the author's politics (anti-abortion, recognition of Biblical law, pretty much everything conservative that I violently despise), and I wasn't a bit surprised to learn he's been accused of racism, but that doesn't mean his historical data is incorrect.

[terrayndian.livejournal.com]

It's beyond my imagination to consider another person, who is just like me except for skin color, to be nothing more than a piece of property. It's even more sickening to consider how some people in the US long for those 'good old days'.

I still remember having dinner with my parents and my grandmother (she was 88-ish at the time) at a nice steak house restaurant. Partway through dinner, she motions me close and asks, "How can they afford to eat here?" I glanced over to where she was looking and there was a table of five or so black women ordering dinner. Dumbfounded at my grandmother's question, I could only answer, "Because they have jobs?" She just give me a disgusted look, as if I didn't know what I was talking about.

Altogether, it's wonderful to hear that slaves got their revenge back in the day by using their owners' arrogance against them. As you say, it humbles me to think of how strong they had to be to survive that situation and rise above it.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

I grew up in Maine and saw very little racism growing up--not because it wasn't there, of course, but because there was rarely much reason to voice it. It was just an accepted part of, well, everything. Your grandmother sounds a lot like mine. :/

Altogether, it's wonderful to hear that slaves got their revenge back in the day by using their owners' arrogance against them. As you say, it humbles me to think of how strong they had to be to survive that situation and rise above it.

I really love stories of how people managed to fight back. I mean, in a lot of cases just surviving was fighting back in a way. My brain simply can't comprehend how it must have been...

[starsandsea.livejournal.com]

I might have found a ebook version of it, but I'm not sure if it's the book you're talking about. It's here, at any rate. :)

[mithen.livejournal.com]

That's it! How odd, CNN got the author's name totally wrong and called it a book instead of a report! That's freakily far off! Thanks for the link, though... *runs to download*

[snake-easing.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're doing research! As your beta said, it's kind of necessary with something like slavery. Your slavery-fic is already better than fandom-standard, I have to say. You never treat it like some game or like the darkness in it can be used for... well, I was going to say, for getting off purposes. But that's not what I meant. What I meant was, you're clearly not one of those people who want to play in the darkness without actually facing it. Those are the kinds of stories I can't stand.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

It's funny, set the slavery off-world and make it some kind of crazy "World of Gor" thing and I don't mind it at all, it's a kind of bizarre romp--maybe because you can make the (far-fetched) argument that it's part of the alien culture and you can strip it of some of the bloody realities of Earth culture. But if it's on Earth, with humans, it's a lot harder for me to see it as something...ugh, "fun" isn't quite the word. "Romantic"? On Earth, I can't buy it as a facilitator of romance, only as an obstacle to a real relationship.

It's been fascinating to read about slavery as an adult. As a kid one kind of absorbs the information in the history books and doesn't really process it...as an adult it hits home a lot harder to read about auctions and breeding and children being sold away from their parents.

[rjunkie.livejournal.com]

Definitely true- slavery is totally incomprehensible and unforgivable, and not something to be taken lightly. That being said, I'm always appreciative that your story never devolves into simple kinky smut (which isn't to say that I never enjoy simple kinky smut sometimes...but there is a time and place for everything, yes?).

So thanks for your research and thank goodness for writers who give a damn.

[mithen.livejournal.com]

(which isn't to say that I never enjoy simple kinky smut sometimes...but there is a time and place for everything, yes?).

Someday I will write the "on an exotic world, Batman has to pretend to be Superman's pleasure slave" and will have loads of fun with it. :) And you know, I actually enjoy slavery as kinky sex when it's portrayed as...sort of "wrong but hot," if that makes sense. That's a really hard balance to strike, though, and I think maybe especially with superheroes, who have to do a fair amount of mental gymnastics (at least in my head) before indulging in "wrong but hot."

[rjunkie.livejournal.com]

Let me know when you do. I'll give anything a try- I'm just nitpicky about it.

It's absolutely true, "wrong but hot" is a fine, fine line, but if anyone can do it right it's you. When you put it that way, I think I could definitely go for some Batman/Superman wrong-but-hot action.

Mmmm, yes I could.

[ladymist.livejournal.com]

YAY! You're back! I lost you after you officially stopped you're jen-in-japan account. Hope you don't mind if I friend you again!

[mithen.livejournal.com]

Oh, friend away! I'm delighted you found me! :) In order to make sure my friendly-but-inquisitive student didn't, I had to make it unfortunately more difficult for other people. :( *friends back*

[liarashadowsong.livejournal.com]

Slavery was a terrible, terrible thing; no human (or any other sentient being) should ever be treated as property. I'm glad you're doing your research so thoroughly.

I'm afraid I know nothing about the source you're looking for, though it sounds fascinating. If you'd like, though... I'm currently taking a course about slavery in the ancient world, focusing on Greece and Rome. I'd be happy to send you PDFs of some of my reading assignments as provided by the course's website, or even .doc files of some of my lecture notes (I type them because of my lousy handwriting that becomes indecipherable for notes in classes that aren't math or science). I have an entire twenty-some page reading just about slaves in the household, with a huge section about maidservants that I used for my midterm exam, even...

If you'd like any of my readings or notes, just say so in a reply; I think I still have your email address from when you told me about your new account after I freaked out and PMed you on the SuperBat fanfic site after your jen-in-japan account became jij and I couldn't find it. *sheepish*

[mithen.livejournal.com]

I...actually would really love any PDFs you might have handy! I'm especially interested in Greek and Roman systems as a point of comparison with the American system, so you would totally make my day! And yep, I think you've still got my email. :) Thanks so much! *dances*