March Books

If I keep up at this pace, I'll probably double my reading goal. But such is life, I guess. lol Also, I'm starting to realize that I may be way too generous with my ratings.

Lover Eternal - J. R. Ward ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lover Awakened - J. R. Ward ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fortress of the King - Dakotah Fox ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fortress of the Queen - Dakotah Fox ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lover Revealed - J. R. Ward ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fae Gods: Maze - Phillina Wood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Faking with Benefits - Lily Gold ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Savage Favour - Layla Simon ⭐️⭐️⭐️ My Darling Bride - Isla Madden-Mills ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tempt Our Fate - Kat Singleton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ You're So Bad - Angela Casella ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Time with Mr. Silver - Elle Nichol ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sicko - Amo Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Throne of the Fallen - Kerri Maniscalo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Famous Last Words - C. W. Farnsworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Good Billionaire - Deborah Garland ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Deviant Hearts - Jagger Cole ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dante - Sadie Kincaid ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Our Ride to Forever - Julie Olivia ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Under His Mask - Eden Webber ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Desire or Defense - Leah Brunner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Twisted Devotion - Poppy St. John ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Strictly Business - Carrie Elks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When Heroes Fall - Giana Darling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When Villains Rise - Giana Darling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Queen and the King - Jeanette Rose & Alexis Rune ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Twisted Emotions - Cora Reilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Secret Baby for the Bratva - Isla Brooks ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Touch of Chaos - Scarlett St. Clair ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lincoln - V. H. Nicolson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Varsity Dad Dilemma - Lex Martin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wild About You - Rebecca Jenshak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Always My Comfort - Taylor Jade ⭐️⭐️⭐️ City of Darkness - Karina Halle ⭐️⭐️⭐️ There Are No Saints - Sophie Lark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ There Is No Devil - Sophie Lark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Protected and Punished - V. T. Bonds ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Indigo Ridge - Denver Perry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When We Touch - Carrie Elks ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Spring Breeze - Lily Alexander ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Off Limits - Chelle Sloan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beneath These Dark Skies - Ria Wilde ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bride - Ali Hazelwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bound by Fate - F. D. Fair ⭐️⭐️ Trying to Hate the Player - Tia Souders ⭐️⭐️ For Him - R. L. Atkinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ What I Should Have Said - R. L. Atkinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ On the Line - Naomi Loud ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ On the Line - Julia Connors ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Kiss Keeper - Krista Sandor ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pucking Revenge - Brittanee Nicole ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Abandoned - A. M. Wilson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tailgates and Truck Dates - Haley Rhoades ⭐️⭐️⭐️ When She Loves - Gabrielle Sands ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tailgates and Heartaches - Haley Rhoades ⭐️⭐️ The Turnover - Piper James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Tailgates & First Dates - Haley Rhoades ⭐️⭐️ Keeping My Captive - Angela Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Prince of Demons - Hana Hahm ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Shadow Game - Christine Feehan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Takeover - T. L. Swan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Summons - Aquila Thorne ⭐️ God Complex - Darcy Dahlia ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Forbidden Freedom - Jasmin Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Hue of Blu - Marie-France Leger ⭐️ Solace - Cat Austen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Spite - Cat Austen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Pucking Wrong Number - C. R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Technically Yours - Denise Williams ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Two of a Kind - Alexa Rivers ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Beat by Beat - Kaylee Ryan ⭐️⭐️ Puck Pact - Kristen Granata ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Scoring the Player - Rebecca Jenshak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

73 total books read for March 2024. I think that's a personal monthly record!

Film Fridays

So I drew Maria Priscilla Thurston Williams. She was born in 1866. In Versaille, Missouri. She served as editor-in-chief from 1891. To 1894. of the Kansas City weekly New Era. This caused her to seek greater independence by founding, writing and editing her own newspaper called 'the Women's Voice' sponsored by the 'colored women's auxiliary' of the Republican party, the paper was described as having 'many pleasant things to say on a choice of timely topics.' In 1916, Maria went on to publish her memoir 'My work and public sentiment' in which she identified herself as a national organizer and speaker with the Good Citizens League.She stated that 10% of the proceeds would go to supressing crime among African Americans.In 1916, She also married entrepreneur Jesse L. Williams, who owned a movie theater among several other businesses in Kansas City.The pair co-managed the movie theater, which gave the couple experience in the distribution and release of films for African-American audiences. With Maria serving both as the company's secretary and treasurer, the couple went on to co-found Western Film Producing Co. and Booking Exchange,and Williams went on to write the script for Flames of Wrath, produce a film from the script and play the role of prosecuting attorney in the five-reel film.That same year unfortunately, her husband died, and she soon married another man.She died in 1932. in Kansas City Missouri She was shot to death.The plot for 'Flames of Wrath' which was the silent crime drama in 1923.concerns the investigation of a murder after a robbery. Aimee Dixon Anthony stated that Maria could also reasonably be considered the film's director, given how undifferentiated the two roles were at that time. That distinction is typically granted to Tressie Souders, however, who served as director of 1922's A Woman's Error. Now before she became an editor she was a teacher.She was interested in activism, independence and liberal arts, which led her first to newspapers then into the film production, script writing and acting. She was the first black woman producer

What Would Rachel Do?

Get off Social Media

As famous as she was from winning the National Book Award for The Sea Around Us, Rachel was averse to public speaking and aggrandizement, much to the chagrin of her agent. When The Edge of the Sea hit the New York Times Bestseller list in the fall of 1955, she had numerous requests to speak at public events and declined most of them. 

She was a solid "NO" to the numerous requests from magazines to run a profile on her as well. Rachel didn't see her author life as a brand and didn't seek the attention. I'm not sure if she was afraid of the scrutiny she would receive by allowing the press into her personal life, or her natural shyness, but it doesn't mean she wasn't focused on the success of her work.

Indeed, The Edge of the Sea and another book about life at the sea, albeit, a non-scientific and philosophical take, Anne Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea exchanged places on the top ten list throughout 1955-56 on various news outlets. Rachel takes note of it in letters to her friend, Dorothy. 

"...I truly-even now-don't expect The Edge (The Edge of the Sea) ever to reach #1 spot, but I'd be happy that it is Mrs. Lindbergh's book and not something sensational or trashy."

Trashy included the book about a woman who under hypnosis discovers she'd lived another life decades earlier. After years of being at the top ten, Rachel doesn't hold back on her disdain for losing rank to Bridey Murphy (1956) which hit #1 on Chicago Tribune in 1956. "I think this silly Bridey Murphy thing is going to scoot right up and crowd Mrs. Lindbergh...The Edge by the way is No. 6- up one." And then weeks later,  "That wretched Bridey Murphy thing has displaced Mrs. Lindbergh! That is really a blow. "

Rachel didn't have to deal with today's social media spotlight that casts rays well beyond the reach of newspapers or magazines of her time. And she wasn't in a position to write anything with a pseudonym like Elena Ferrante, you don't get the chance to write a biography of the sea, and a scathing indictment against the chemical industry anonymously. Yet, her detachment from public scrutiny allowed her to write one of her most challenging work of all--Silent Spring (1962).  And then all hell broke loose. 

With that in mind, I've gotten to 7k words in this novel set in Maine that has Rachel as a 'macguffin' in the story. And I'm thinking with the holidays coming, this might be time to shut down my own social media, and detach myself from that public for a few weeks so I can keep writing. 

Happy Holidays everyone! See you in the New Year. 

Sources: William Souder. On a Farther Shore. The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson. 2012. 

​Always, Rachel. The Letters of Rachel Carson And Dorothy Freeman. 1952-1964. Edited by Martha Freeman.

You know that feeling when you ~technically~ know something is true, but it feels so out of your scope of understanding, you never really think too hard about it? And when you do...you feel like you're on the verge of a full-blown existential crisis because WHAT?? Is that just me??? NBCRecently, redditor u/BubblegumCrocodile inquired about those exact kinds of things, asking "What’s something you know is real/proven but still can’t wrap your head around it?" Here are 19 of the most popular, mind-boggling things they shared:1."How thin Earth's crust and atmosphere are. That we are so relatively close to plunging into a fiery hell of molten rock or being sucked into the vacuum of space." Tumeggy / Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF / Roberto Machado Noa / Getty Images2."Bluetooth. You're telling me we start out with rocks and shit and somehow I can hear music from my phone on my headphones without them being connected?" Justin Lambert / Getty Images3."That I’m closer to being a millionaire than Jeff Bezos!" Alberto Rodriguez / NBCUniversal / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images4."That we are closer to when the Tyrannosaurus Rex lived than it is to the Stegosaurus. The concept of millions upon millions of years is just unfathomable to me."—u/Same_old_xAccording to Discovery, the T-rex lived around 67–65 million years ago, whereas the Stegosaurus lived around 156 and 144 million years ago. The time between 144 million years and 67 million years is 77 million years, which is greater than the 65 million years that separates the T-rex from us. Science Photo Library - Leonello / Getty Images5."That there are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way."—u/zeekoesThere are an estimated 100 to 400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy and an estimated 3 trillion trees on Earth. You can read more about this here. Paul Souders / Getty Images6."How vinyl records work. Not only do they work, but somehow, someone figured out how to do it. What do you mean you pressed some squiggles into plastic and now it makes music when you run a needle across it? Makes absolutely no sense." Susumu Yoshioka / Getty Images7."That our bodies are made up of trillions of cells and microbes that replicate and build the construction that is 'us.' We do not control them directly in any capacity, but they are a part of us without being us. Yet, they live their own 'life' in there, ever tirelessly building, repairing, and filtering." Sebastian Condrea / Getty Images8."That airplanes can fly. I've been in one and everything lots of times, but they're just so big and heavy. I feel like it should take a rocket engine or something."9."That sharks are older than trees, the rings of Saturn, and Polaris." Nautilus Creative / Getty Images/iStockphoto10."That we've cloned a sheep. I barely have a solid internet connection, and yet we've cloned a sheep. Make it make sense, people!" Mathieu Polak / Getty Images11."That the tides are due to the moon."12."Dark matter and dark energy. It encompasses 95% of the universe, and we have no idea what it is. We can't even see it. We just know it’s there." William Attard Mccarthy - Mccart / Getty Images13."It's pretty wild that the light you see from the sun is around eight minutes younger than the sun actually is."—u/Obligatory_DRZ_rider"Take this a step further. Imagine other beings millions of light years away, observing the light omitted from Earth. They could be seeing a version of Earth many, many years ago that shows zero signs of life, let alone intelligent life. They take one look and think, 'Yup, nothing there, let’s cross it off our list.' Even if our planet has been discovered by other forms of intelligent life, it’s almost impossible that they would know we exist without being much closer to our solar system."—u/brstrz Nasa / Getty Images14."The feeling of déjà vu."—u/Hugh-Jass24If you're not familiar, déjà vu means "already seen" in French and is a phenomenon in which a person feels like they've already lived the situation they're currently in, even though they know they haven't.

Interscope Records15."That gravity impacts the flow of time." Randy Faris / Getty Images16."Wi-Fi. It's everywhere all of the time, and data is all over the place, but things don't get jumbled up. WTF? At any given time, there are about 10 devices using Wi-Fi in my house and probably every house on the street, and it all just works. My stuff isn't accidentally appearing elsewhere, but if I want to, I can make a bunch of different devices immediately start playing the same song at the same time." Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images17."The number of people in the world. You’re telling me there’s almost EIGHT BILLION people?? And they all have their own lives, names, birthdays, friends, feelings, language, looks, inside jokes, problems, victories, challenges, etc?? I have a hard time with realizing the person I see walking on the street has a life just as complex as mine, if not more so...now times that by eight billion??" Tomml / Getty Images/iStockphoto18."Death. I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that I will be gone forever one day." Peopleimages / Getty Images/iStockphoto19.And finally, "The fact that everything we've made today was always possible to make. The same rules of the universe have always applied, and we have the same materials as people before us did. Gets me wondering what's still possible with the stuff we have that we don't have the slightest idea about."Now it's your turn! Is there something you know for a fact is real/true but simply cannot make your brain comprehend? If so, tell us about it in the comments below!Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.

A polar bear in Svalbard, Norway. ‘As a polar bear, you have exposure to toxic man made chemicals, and stresses from a changing habitat.’ Photograph: Paul Souders/Getty Images

Alarming Levels of PFAS in Norwegian Arctic Ice Pose New Risk To Wildlife

Oxford University-led study detects 26 types of PFAS compounds in ice around Svalbard, threatening downstream ecosystems

— Tom Perkins | Saturday 11 February 2023

Norwegian Arctic Ice is contaminated with alarming levels of toxic PFAS, and the chemicals may represent a major environmental stressor to the region’s wildlife, new research finds.

The Oxford University-led study’s measurements of ice around Svalbard, Norway, detected 26 types of PFAS compounds, and found when ice melts, the chemicals can move from glaciers into downstream ecosystems like Arctic fjords and tundra.

‘Forever chemicals’: what are PFAS and what risk do they pose? They have useful properties, but some have been banned and toxicity of others is unknown. PFAS do not break down in the environment, meaning they find their way into our drinking water. Photograph: Julija Sapic/Alamy

The meltwater can contain a cocktail of contaminants that includes PFAS and affects the entire food web, including plankton, fish, seal and apex animals like polar bears, which have previously been found to have high PFAS levels in their blood.

“There’s a washout of contaminants that occurs seasonally … and some PFAS seem to be mobile during melts, which could be important to ecosystems downstream,” said Dr William Hartz, a lead author on the study who noted a “doubling up effect” on animals as climate changes and ice melts. The climate has been warming faster in Svalbard than the world’s average.

“As a polar bear, you have exposure to toxic manmade chemicals, and stresses from a changing habitat,” he added.

PFAS are a class of about 12,000 chemicals often used to make thousands of consumer products resist water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and they are linked to cancer, liver disease, kidney stress, fetal complications and other serious health problems.

Among PFAS compounds researchers found in ice at levels above US advisory drinking water limits were PFOS and PFOA, which are considered to be two of the most dangerous.

Bills to regulate toxic ‘forever chemicals’ died in Congress – with Republican help! Lobbying industry flexed muscle to ensure bills that aimed to set stricter standards on PFAS compounds went nowhere. The former Loring air force base in Limestone, Maine, investigated for PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam used on its runway. Photograph: David Sharp/AP

The study also found particularly high levels of TFA, a refrigeration byproduct. During the Montreal Protocol in 1987, many nations agreed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, a potent greenhouse gas used for refrigeration. Those were ultimately replaced with hydrofluoro-olefin, or HFOs.

Brighton, Michigan - A sign at Island Lake State Recreation Area warns anglers not to eat fish from the Huron River. High levels of PFAS chemicals hav<br>PT3WDM Brighton, Michigan - A sign at Island Lake State Recreation Area warns anglers not to eat fish from the Huron River. High levels of PFAS chemicals hav

Once in the environment, HFOs, which are also a greenhouse gas, can turn into TFA, and TFA levels are increasing in the Arctic, the study and results from previous measurements have found. TFA and other PFAS compounds are highly mobile and can move through the atmosphere to be deposited in the Arctic or elsewhere around the world.

Freshwater fish more contaminated with ‘forever chemicals’ than in oceans! Study also says eating one serving of fish with PFAS could be equivalent to drinking contaminated water every day for a month. A sign at island lake state recreation area warns anglers not to eat fish from the Huron River. Photograph: Jim West/Alamy

Though TFA is thought to be less toxic than many other PFAS, the chemical has not been thoroughly studied, so no one knows what damage the compounds may be doing.

“Limited knowledge about the safe levels of TFA in the environment needs addressing,” the authors stated.

William Goldwyn Nunn III (October 20, 1953 – September 24, 2016) was an actor known for his roles as Radio Raheem in Do the Right Thing, Robbie Robertson in the Souder-Man film trilogy, and Terrence "Pip" Phillips on The Job (2001–02). He was born in Pittsburgh, the son of Frances Nunn and William G. Nunn, Jr., a journalist, and editor at the Pittsburgh Courier and a National Football League scout. His paternal grandfather was the first African American football player at George Westinghouse High School. He was a graduate of Schenley High School and a graduate of Morehouse College. He attended college with Spike Lee and appeared in several of Lee's early feature films. He made his credited film debut in the 1988 Spike Lee film School Daze and is known as Nino Brown's bodyguard Duh Duh Duh Man in New Jack City. Some of his other film credits include Mo' Better Blues and He Got Game, as well as Regarding Henry, Sister Act, Canadian Bacon, The Last Seduction, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, Runaway Jury, Firehouse Dog, the television series The Job, Randy and The Mob, and the 2016 televised adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun. He performed on stage, in Fences, a Pittsburgh-based play. He was very involved in community outreach, and he formed his own Pittsburgh-area outreach project in 2008. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj7hSdYuIwd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck by William Souder https://amzn.to/3joMWBM

Ken Browar and Deborah Ory, “Night Journey”,

Laurel Daley Smith, Leslie Williams, So Young An, Anne O'Donnell, Anne Souder, Charlotte Landreau, Martha Graham Dance Company. 

Costumes by Martha Graham for "Night Journey"

IPA special themed photography competition One-Shot “MOVEMENT”.

Happy New Release Day! Here's what went on sale today.

Hey Sarah! What kind of genres of books and literature strikes your interests? Are there any special pieces that you hold near and dear in your heart, if so, do you mind sharing why? The reason why I'm asking is because I need new content to make social distancing little more bearable. ;) Im not picky, I 'll dip my toe when it comes to any genre. Sorry for the fleshed out asks. LOL . Safe keepings!

Thank you for asking! I haven't been reading a lot this year, but I've read a lot throughout my life! I'm interested in sci-fi horror, fantasy, and gothic fiction! I also read some nonfiction books relating to environmental studies.

My favorite gothic fiction are Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I also love Jane Austen although I know her literature is not considered gothic and is more just romance.

For sci-fi horror, I do very much love Lovecraft although recognize he was not a good person. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is also a favorite of mine in this genre. House of Leaves is a good mind-bending horror, and anything by Stephen King (his books have some really good suspense that isn't always captured in the movies).

For nonfiction, I always highly recommend Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. It was eye opening for me to learn how poorly the environment was treated (and still is) and the disregard industry has for peoples' health and safety. Other environmental nonfiction I love includes the Radium Girls by Kate Moore and Plague of Frogs by William Souder.

Kind of an unrelated book that is amazing (nonfiction) if you're interested in the history of medicine/surgery is The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris.

If you're interested in any of these I think they'd make great quarantine reads, have fun reading!

Over the course of a long writing life, Steinbeck had won many prizes, among them the Pulitzer and then, remarkably enough, the Nobel, but no matter how many hundreds of critics and millions of readers declared him a national treasure, he not only raged at those who refused to extend him the accolades he hungered for, he scorned those very accolades when they came his way. As his newest biographer, William Souder, tells us in Mad at the World, he hated his fame, he hated public appearances, but mostly he hated the fans who, like his critics, “praised his work but didn’t understand it.” Steinbeck’s was a soul profoundly ill at ease with itself: The ability to take praise as well as blame in his stride eluded him throughout the years. Angst was his middle name. Two of the most painful sentences in Souder’s biography tell us that “when he finished a book and knew it wasn’t good that wasn’t what bothered him. What bothered him was knowing that he couldn’t have made it better.” “Tormented” may be a better word than “bothered.” Very nearly a classic depressive, Steinbeck endured “a ceaseless struggle between contentment and despair that grew more pronounced as he got older,” driving him repeatedly to succumb to a black need to retreat from human connection “that would come to border on obsession.” In short: Steinbeck, in the flesh, was very much the opposite of Steinbeck on the page, where the narrator’s underlying plea, almost invariably, is that all human beings recognize themselves in one another. [...] Once, when John IV was around three, he let Steinbeck’s poorly trained sheep dog into the apartment. The dog shat on the floor. When Steinbeck discovered the mess, he grabbed the boy and rubbed his face in it.… John IV would later say that the great epiphany of his childhood was realizing that his father was an asshole.

“The anti-social novelist” from New Republic

In a new biography, “Mad at the World,” William Souder claims the “Of Mice and Men” author was motivated by anger toward injustice.

What Would Rachel Do?

Stay Focused

As I procrastinate on my next novel, I think back at how invested both financially and emotionally I've been to my writing life. I traveled everywhere to research the Durant Family Saga, and when I decided I wanted to turn it into a tv series, I took a course on screenwriting. I dedicated about a year to the effort, attending webinars, placing scripts in contests, paying for feedback, etc., etc. I'm pretty determined when I want to be. In fact, I've a few notebooks filled with ideas for new plots, novels, short stories and screenplays. I thrive on the creative work. But I never know what to expect from it. It's hard at times not to compare my experience with more successful authors. Rachel Carson grew up knowing the world expected something from her. In a college essay she claimed to be seeking a "fuller determination of her dreams." And she did it all without social media. She did it because she stayed focused. Although not one to pursue materialistic enterprises, her ambition did lead to financial freedom for her and her family.  She grew up in Springdale, Pennsylvania in a small home with no running water or electricity. Even though the family was broke, her parents (most of all her mother) believed she had something special to contribute to the world and encouraged her to attend college. Rachel's laser sharp focus on her studies may well have been due to the fact they were always scrambling to come up with the $300 tuition to the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University), at one point selling off their dish-ware. When selling the family goods didn't prove enough, her father agreed to put up parcels of land he owned as collateral to the school. By the time Rachel graduated in 1929 she owed the college $1500.00. Her father lost his land. She went on to attend graduate school and ended up caring for her ill father, mother, and sister who was twice divorced with two daughters. They all crammed into an apartment in Baltimore where she attended  Johns Hopkins University. To keep the family fed she took a job as a lab assistant in the medical school maintaining a colony of rats and fruit flies. It still wasn't enough. A friend visiting them at their cramped apartment found the family hovering over a bowl of fruit for dinner. Rachel pursued research at Woods Hole in Massachusetts where she discovered her passion for all things having to do with the Sea. She was always drawn to writing (she entered contests at an early age) and it was her ability to convey the wonders of the ocean to a lay audience that eventually propelled her to fame. But it took time. And Rachel didn't allow her family obligations to distract her from her goals. If anything, the financial turmoil she faced made her more determined than ever to make a living wage from her talents. ​Source: Souder, William. 2012. The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson. 

The First Black Women Filmmakers

Filmmaking has now been around for about 140 years and has since been an incredibly important medium for millions of people. Allowing others to see things from various perspectives, filmmaking has been a wonderful way to capture stories, experiences, and points of view from all kinds of walks of life. But in order to appreciate filmmaking as a whole, we must acknowledge its very beginnings, and recognize who contributed to this way of storytelling that helped grow the medium into what it is today.

Looking all the way back during the Silent Film Era, it can get a little spotty pinpointing specifics about the first Black Women to participate in this new and booming industry. People were still getting use to filmmaking and there weren’t as many keeping track of everyone joining the film community, but it has been considered and acknowledged by many experts, and the world of cinema as a whole, that the first two Black Women to become Filmmakers were Tressie Souders and Maria P. Williams.

Tressi Souders was born in Frankfort, Kansas after her parents emigrated from Kentucky to Kansas, most likely due to the mass migration of African Americans from the South to the American West as a result of the Exoduster movement. After her high school graduation, she was then employed as a maid in private homes, an occupation she would have for most of her working career. However, Souders eventually made her way into cinema after having some experience with theatrical production. Her film, titled A Woman’s Error, was released in 1922 and is the very first to be directed by a Woman of Color. Not just that, but it was also noted that Souders didn’t only direct the film, she also wrote the screenplay herself. Billboard Magazine, in their Jan. 28th edition of the same year, had even credited her film to be a “picture true to Negro life,” proudly exclaiming the film to be “the first of its kind.” Unfortunately, there are no found copies of the film itself, but even so, Tressi Souders has not been forgotten for the work she has done for the film industry, being the very first Black Woman in history to ever consider themselves a filmmaker and director.

Maria P. Williams also coincidentally found herself living in Kansas City, Kansas, becoming a schoolteacher after graduating and ultimately entering the political world in the 1890′s as a lecturer, giving speeches for political candidates. She then became the editor-and-chief of a Kansas City newspaper titled the “New Era,” then eventually edited and published a separate newspaper titled the "Women's Voice." The “Women’s Voice” was described as having "many pleasant things to say on a choice of timely topics." After involving herself in a number of civil activities, in 1916 she published a short pamphlet detailing her life and discussing her political and social views entitled "My Work and Public Sentiment."

Finally moving into the world of motion picture, she wrote, produced, distributed, and acted in her own film, a crime drama titled The Flames of Wrath in 1923. In order to distribute the film, Williams formed the Western Film Producing Company and Booking Exchange with the aid of her husband, Jesse L. Williams. The film was described on the first page of the Norfolk Journal and Guide on May 5th that same year as a mystery drama, “written, acted and produced entirely by colored people.” The film was praised and it cemented Maria P. Williams as the second Black Woman in history to consider themselves a filmmaker and producer.

It’s important to never forget these Women of Color in history, as their work helped establish the cinema industry and paved the way for African-American representation in the field. These two women took advantage of this powerful medium to help shape and mold what this method of storytelling could become and strengthened the reputation of Women of Color and what they can accomplish. They led the road that countless Women of Color soon followed in the film industry and if it weren’t for their efforts to shift the prevailing view of African Americans and African American Women in cinema, it wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today. Both women, Souders and Williams, shared the belief that the film was socially transformative and wanted to present a vision of the life of African Americans as authentic and genuine, and it’s needless to say that they both achieved just that.

Laurel Daley Smith, Leslie Williams, So Young An, Anne O'Donnell, Anne Souder, and Charlotte Landreau from the Martha Graham Dance Company. Costumes by Martha Graham Photography by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory - NYC Dance Project

From the text: 

Maria P. Williams, who, like Tressie Souders, also lived in Kansas City, Missouri, produced, distributed, and acted in her own film, The Flames of Wrath (1923). The Norfolk Journal and Guide, as quoted by Yvonne Welbon, thus lauded her: “Kansas City is claiming the honor of having the first colored woman film producer in the United States…” (40). Recall that Kansas City had made the same claim for Souders the year before. There is also, however, the question of the difference between “director” and “producer,” which makes an important distinction between the two since Souders is credited with directing, producing, and writing, and Williams with producing and writing, but not directing. “Producing,” it should be noted, is often used ambiguously in the silent era.