"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : FRANCES E. W. HARPER

Let’s talk about “DEEPFAKES” baby!!! Recently, I ran across a “NEW LAW” that was recently passed in Louisiana. It’s called the Deepfake Law. With it being football season and all, I thought they might be talking about something dealing with football. Well, come to find out, it’s legally known as “ACT 457.” According to this law, as of August 1, 2023, it is illegal to create and distribute “DEEPFAKES” depicting anyone engaging in sexual acts without their consent, especially minors. Also, the punishment upon conviction is quite harsh to say the least! With that said, “I thought to myself…was this law passed to protect the citizens of Louisiana, or to protect the politicians of Louisiana?” I’ll let you all decide on this one. Meanwhile, let’s get to this week’s Black Pioneer! FRANCES E. W. HARPER was born on September 24, 1825, in Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of three, Frances became an orphan, and went to live with her uncle and his wife. She even took on her uncle’s last name. Frances was educated at the Watkins Academy for Negro Youth, which her uncle had established in 1820. When she turned 13, Frances took a job as a seamstress and nursemaid for a white family that owned a bookshop. Times were difficult, so she quit school. However, she didn’t let this setback keep her from learning! In her spare time, Frances read some of the books from the bookshop, and worked on her writing skills as well. In 1850, she moved from Baltimore to teach domestic science at Union Seminary, which was an AME-Affiliated school for Negroes near Columbus, Ohio. Frances was the school’s first and only Black female teacher. Union Seminary closed in 1863 when the AME Church diverted its funds to purchase Wilberforce University, the first Black-owned and operated college. To her credit, Frances was one of the first Negroes to write a novel and have it published in America! From 1868 to 1888, Frances had three novels serialized in a Christian magazine: Minnie's Sacrifice, Sowing and Reaping, and Trial and Triumph. Additionally, Frances helped found The National Association of Colored Women and served as its Vice President. In 1870, Frances worked with the Freedmen’s Bureau encouraging many freedmen in Mobile Alabama, to "get land, everyone that can," so they could vote and act independently once Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment. From 1883 to 1890, she helped organize events and programs for the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Furthermore, Frances served as superintendent of the Colored Section of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Also, she was a strong and vocal supporter of abolitionism, and woman’s suffrage. Sadly, Frances E.W. Harper died on February 22, 1911, only nine years before women gained the right to vote.