[Note: the headline above needs some clarification: actually it’s liberal Quakers who aren’t likely to welcome Penn’s comeback; many others may cheer. More on that below.] May I have your attention, liberal Quakers? The effort among some of you to expunge William Penn from our Friendly pantheon because he owned slaves has in many ways … Continue reading William Penn Is Making a comeback — And Quakers Aren’t Going to Like It
Was William Penn Punished Enough? (Partial List) Jailed: Cork Ireland, Sept. 1668, for attending meeting. Tower of London, Nov or Dec-1668 – 8 months; accused (but not tried) of blasphemy, wrote No Cross, No Crown. Again in August 1670, for preaching, tried with Quaker William Mead in Mead-Bushell case: established the right of juries to … Continue reading Heads Up: Willian Penn Followup Coming Soon
Aftermath — Part 2 Amelia Boynton was my landlady in Selma, Alabama. She was also a prominent local civil fights activist, one of the handful of Black Selmians who had managed to badger her way onto the voting rolls despite segregation. When she was knocked out cold on Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge during the “Bloody … Continue reading Aftermath — Part 2: A Constant Struggle
New York Times – Opinion: Guest Essay Doug Mastriano and the Potential of Amish Voters in Pennsylvania By Bonnie Kristian — Nov. 4, 2022 Ms. Kristian is a journalist and a fellow at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank. Former President Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania in 2020 by just around 80,000 votes out of … Continue reading Amish & The Vote: Their buggies are cute; their clothes & dialect are quaint; their food is good (& fattening). Their politics? Well . . .
NOTE: Besides being a columnist for the New York Times, John McWhorter is also a professor of linguistics, and a survivor of some years in a Friends school. He also publishes an online “newsletter,” in which these observations appeared for thy edification. Why doesn’t English have a plural ‘you’? By John McWhorter Fish don’t know … Continue reading Why No Plural “You” in English? Blame It On Quakers?? John McWhorter Says No, Y’all . . .