February 17, 2421

Mardi Gras is 47 days before Easter, since Easter can be from March 22nd to April 25th , Mardi Grad can be from February 3rd to March 9th. 
Mardi Gras is February 25th in the year 2020. I ask you to make a journal of your day in New Orleans during mardi using photos from wherever you like to paruse  
Story 1 :  https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-eostre-art-or-text-craft-parade-good-news-blog/?do=findComment&comment=885  
Story 2 : https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-eostre-art-or-text-craft-parade-good-news-blog/?do=findComment&comment=886  
 
STORY 1
 
ba-bedee-debede-doo Bonjou Nouveau Orleans, I have returned. The morning is bright or magical, as I step from the shore into the city. The sound of horns audible even from this distance. I wonder if anyone will remember when I was here last. If anyone will remember what I did. Well, I have to step forward to find out. Just follow the sounds, as they get deeper. ba-bedee-debede-doo-boo-badoboop-ba Some people are celebrating, and I see a krewe coming like a grass from a storm. Suddenly a woman pops out.
She is on a mobile float like a little island, floating between the streets. A lovely glaze from her skin is given no interference from the sunlight, the latter choosing to shine away rather than muddy her complexion with its cloudy difference. I am in new orleans. I wonder if I can get to the old bar, I wonder if it will be there. I awe at the spirit bird going away on her magical island, like all the other men, and as the island turns, I turn back onto the road north, to the Treme, to the storyville, to my old grounds.  
I wonder about the families of my friends and I, what happened from then to now. Could our stories have ended? I see, a family dressed up.  
I Want to ask them their names, one looks familiar, but I see no men. It is ungentlemanly to speak to women unaccompanied. They may take great offense. so, I decide to keep it moving, let’s not get startled.
In my pocket is an old daguerreotype. I take it out and shed a tear.  
Suddenly the beautiful collage of horns is no longer interesting. All I can recall are the chants of yore, when instruments were too expensive, when the priestesses still roamed the noir streets of the city. Gens de magique femme . I am amazed it survived the passage through time but I hope it will not be a memory discontinued.  
It takes hours to get back to my home, ici le tempeste, no longer here, nowhere, I remember when a storm passed through the city. Everyone’s shanty was destroyed but mine, mine remained, mine survived the storm. But that is cause it was a storm itself, shaking uncontrollably absent proper supports, leaking wildly absent a proper roof, a collisions of sounds, made it an orchestra for any who lived in it for any time. It taught me more than any human ever could about sound. I see this small storefront where its porch stood and go to it. The cover over the window has a small gap and i see a woman dancing inside.
An angel, like the one on the floating island before, but this one is in a room of cotton, gently cushioning her every move. Her face… her face look like my fofo,  I love her most of all. I wish the ancestors allowed me to take her too. I need to speak to this woman. I go inside, the woman pays me no mind, entranced in her own routine. I ask her, can she tell me where to find the descendants of Madame Fofo, my fofo. She does a pirouette and stops facing me. She seems startled by my old-style clothes, the first in these future times, but tells me to go to a party at the beach, where her cousin is. She is the best historian she knows.
So, I travel back out and go back from whence I came, back to the waters about my city, back to the waters that can take you anywhere. And, a party existed where I stepped out of. People drinking, partying, listening to music. I recall the description of the cotton angel and look about, even get a free sausage from finely ground meat that is put in between a fluffy bread shaped similar. I imagine to myself, i may never find the historian but then I notice a woman from afar who may be her. I keep walking toward and I am certain she fit the description. I face the potential historian standing next to her friend I assume. The friend, like an Incan princess, notice me first and realize my stare. I approach and the historian turns to me.
I ask the historian her name and it matches what the cotton angel told me. I explain to her I am looking for Madame Fofo, my fofo. The historian looks to me in disbelief, and pulls a letter out of her pocket, telling me she found it in the archives and keep it for inspiration. She tells me, to read it.  
I read the letter and it says: Mon amour, mon corniste, mon Tontton, j'ai fait ce dont tu avais besoin. J'espère que vous trouverez notre avenir sûr. Je veux vous demander, vous dire, beaucoup de choses. Mais, je ne peux même pas savoir si vous lirez ceci. En l'état, je dirai ce que vous devez entendre. Où est ta corne? C'est là que nous nous sommes embrassés pour la première fois. la touche tape sur la perle blanche. La mélodie que nous avons faite ensemble.
I comprehend instantly, hand the letter back to the young lady and go to Bienville street, and to where we kissed for the first time. The lamp is still there and I see at the base the bumpy surface and a white bump exists. Then I tap on the it with my shoe. ba-bedee-debede-doo-boo-badoboop-ba-ba-badoboop-badoboop-bedee-debede-bedee-debede and a latch open. My horn! I play our melody on our horn and I can see it is all worth it, as the world reverse before my eyes, like an old movie, Bienville street is going to the way it was in the past.
Past I do not know, but past looking closer to my own. Now I know it is worth it, now I know I was right to risk this. The priestess said the Cardinal’s spell on our child needed someone to risk their life, where only love can succeed. I trusted in my Fofo and she trusted in me, and I am coming back. Better keep playing my horn. ba-bedee-debede-doo-boo-badoboop-ba-ba-badoboop-badoboop-bedee-debede-bedee-debede and on and on and on, I see her. STOP! It is the evening, and My Fofo run to me, and embrace me. But she isn’t alone, someone is in a carriage next to her. Someone who look a little like us both.  Ancestres!  
“Mon amour, voici notre fils. L'annee est” I kiss my wife. I do not need to know that. We have all the time in the world.
 
STORY 2
 
I am walking alone, far from bourbon street. Far from the sound of beads hitting bare breast, drunken stammers acapella through the krewes horns, just a man alone with the moonlight looking down upon me. I see a small shop, too small to have a sign, only the merchandise in the window provide any clue to the innards. Nothing particular I notice: masks/cloaks/old horns with stories to tell. But wait, a small figurine catch my eye. A simple figurine ready for Mardi Gras in an appropriate outfit.
I hear a sound in my ear as I look upon the figurine. But I cannot decipher it. "venez ici": I hear clear while subtely. I shake my head wondering why I am hearing french. "come here": I comprehend but I do not know from who. Again, the voice repeat and I notice my attention to the figurine. She is not moving, she does not seem mechanical, and yet I seem to know the voice is from here. I enter the shop. "Bonjour": is the shopkeeper courtesy. I am surprised he think I know a lick of french. I ask about the figurine in the window. He say, she is very old, made for a gens de colour libre woman. I ask him the price, a gentle fifteen dollars. I accept, and he gathers the figurine and place her in a box with bubble pop for cushion. I leave thinking, I have no wife or daughter and I am getting a cute figurine. Well, at least I can tell people she is old. "trouver ma peinture": I sense from the figurine but I keep on walking. "find my painting!": and I face the unchanged figurine, holding it high above my head, and ask a silly question: "where is your painting?" I wait but no reply. I continue to walk finally satisfied this nocturnal magic is finished with me. "North roman entre Beinville et Iberville" I recall the two streets, I think I know where she mean. I take out my map and recall I passed that location and I begin to walk there. My companion stay muted even as I approach the methodist church at the locale. I look down to the figurine and wonder if this is alright. A light is on, inside. I walk to the door and knock. A cleaning man open the door. "Why aren": he stop speaking and seem in a daze. I wave my hand in his face. No change. I decide to go inside foolishly, not knowing if the magic I did not use will come again if more strangers find a stranger in their church. But I look about the nave or the walls and see no painting. I look behind a column and see her.
Somehow I know the figurine is happy. But then a question occur to me. This painting is you. I thought you were given to a gens de colour libre girl, not that you are a gens de colour libre woman. The painting then wink at me. I look up and she speak. "Bon soir anglo, I... need your help": she speak simply. I ask her, what can I do to help you. "You need to face the woman who did this to me and then face me to her, i can do the rest": she speak surely. I have many doubts. "Whomever did this to you is way beyond me, I am no sorcerer": I say escapingly. "Y do not need to know how to wield the magic, just know I need your actions to aidez moi... and the woman in question is located in La Fourche, you will find here where three tree intertwine": and then the painting became still. I look at the figurine and nothing. I go to the door of the church and the cleaning man is still quiet, so I slip past him and close the door behind me. It can be unwise walking around new orleans or around cajun country at night, even during mardi gras but I figure the figurine will help. I buy a sandwich from a local deli and a pack of cigarettes. I eat while I walk, figurine safely in her box, and I keep walking. By the time I get to La fourche I am smoking cigarettes. A car with a confederate sign, fill to the rim with white men who are looking at me, drive but do not stop. I know I need to make this quick. I go by homes, some literally at the river edge, and look for the three entwined tree. I hear a scream. I see a man violently moving and decide to hide behind a bush. I creep near the window and see a dangerous sight.
I look down at the figurine and wonder if this little magic will not get me killed. "Sud, sud!": I hear in my head. Clearly my wavering got the attention to my master. I leave the scene, and hope I can find this tree before I end up in a horror movie. I walk south and finally I see the tree. But no one else is there. "Speak these words anglo...Je te donne mon cœur, tu me donnes un objectif, personne ne doit le savoir": the figurine speak hurriedly in my soul. I am hesitant but finally I decide, all well what the hell. And, after speaking the words, nothing. "PUT ME AWAY QUICK": the figurine speak, I can hear her ceramic heart beating, the black priestess soul underneath determined. Suddenly, a half of a mask appear on one side of the three twined tree. The eye behind one half of the mask seem to be a fluid blue. I hear a loud sniff. and, a woman appear from behind the tree. A forked tongue hiss whisper from the mask: "You are pretty fonce to be down here, anglo...now what is your goal, if your coeur is not heavy enough, I get the rest of the deal". I reply firmly: "alright ma'am, though I already gave my heart to another, though I cannot comprehend exactly why": and I pull out the figurine quickly, facing the masked woman straight away. A hiss is heard from all angles and I hear the figurine in my head:"Vous devez m'avoir oublié, imbécile. Joséphine vous l'a toujours dit, pour faire attention aux vieux sorts que vous lancez." The masked woman, writhing, spit out in french:"Anacaona, mais je connais le sang de ta famille, tu n'avais pas de descendants, pas de clan pour t'entendre." The figurine spoke again:"Imbecillia, vous avez oublié que le membre du clan peut avoir n'importe quelle distance, et l'esclavage de votre côté de notre famille a profité d'éclats faits dans mon clan il y a longtemps." And, a flash. Something knocked me down but someone not present helped me up. "LEve! anglo, leve!": said a woman, a black woman in the gown from the tree woman. Her hair pure white. She kneeled down and looked at a figurine on the ground.  Suddenly, I realized where is my fifteen-dollar figurine. I hear a giggle from the stranger masked woman:"it is me, the figurine" I am amazed. And then I realize the figurine on the ground is the woman formerly behind the mask. My figurine, pick up her nemesis, and say:"retourne, go back to new orleans, and thank you". My honesty perk up. I did not do anything. She smile and say:"This magic was not really of spells but circumstance, will a descendent of mine find me, me living in a porcelain figurine in a small shop in new orleans, but you found me, pure chance and that was the magic that tipped the scales, no spells, no incantations". I stand up and offer a hand, and I notice her hand has age. "aucun problem anglo, I have been dormir a while": she lift up and give me a hug and continue:" I will be alright, I think I know where I can help myself around here, and I thank you for that". Before I can speak, a sole horn player, standing aside a wall is playing, while the rest of bourbon is empty. It is very late. I think to go back to the three entwined tree, but I am tired, and I need to get rest. For some reason, I need to get rest, and I do. ... Back in New York City, I wonder if I had a dream induced by someone planting something in a drink or spraying me with something. I think on that for weeks. And then I get a postcard.
I turn to the back and I see Anacaona Liber's name attached to that old churches address. Her message is:" Figure I needed a new painting with a new style, I will wait for you to decide about listening to your heart"
I realize, what may have happened but hesitate to confirm and when I turn the postcard back around, the image wink at me.   ART https://aalbc.com/tc/events/event/655-black-history-month-mardi-gras-2026/   CELEBRATIONS   Salvador, Bahia, Carnival 2026 https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/12468-salvadaor-bahia-carnival-2026/

Event details

Marcus Garvey Birthday Jan 17th [ https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1780&type=status ] 
 

Happy Birthday to Marcus Garvey
Considering Marcus Garvey saw the caribbean or north america during his life as places that Black people needed to get away from, when you think of the struggles/challenges/unhappiness in Black Americans <Blacks or Negras 
 from Canada/USA/MExico/JAmaica/HAiti/Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico/Trinidad/Colombia/Venezuela/Brazil/Chile/Argentina or any other land in the American continent> in the American Continent, was MArcus Garvey proven right about the inefficacy of Black people living side Whites? Side the best efficacy of Blacks when they live mostly around Blacks? 

Event details

https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/DNB-heartoflove-1300244153

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DNB enjoy If you color do tell.
February contest: heart of love
from @Sarramedjj in @color-me-club
https://www.deviantart.com/sarramedjj/journal/February-contest-heart-of-love-1289384960
 
February contest: heart of love
Feb 1, 2026
❤️ MONTHLY CONTEST: FEBRUARY 2026 ❤️ 💖 HEART OF
Coloring pages Gallery
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/gallery/47013691/comic-coloring-pages
 
I can make a coloring page for you
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/commission/Single-Coloring-Page-1732448
 
#coloringpage #heartoflove #color-me-club #hddeviant #deviantart #richardmurray #aalbc #rmaalbc #Kobo #kwl #richardmurrayhumblr #tumblr
 
 
 
 

Event details

https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Black-History-Month-Mardi-Gras-2026-1300245780

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Black History Month Mardi Gras 2026
Let The Good Time Roll!
 
While honoring Black history, let's celebrate Mardi Gras. No where does Black history plus Mardi Gras blend more than New Orleans. The cultural element is the headwrap.
The first image is a coloring page of Poldinha , bold feminity, my original character, a black woman of New Orleans in a multitemporal dress representing fashions from different times in New Orleans, with a tignon shaped like the Adinkra BiNkaBi, or no one should bite the other. She has three flags representing Black history in the usa as part of her fashion. She is holding a cornucopia, a horn of plenty, for the feast before Lent. The little boy next to her is playing a vest frottoir/washboard while sanding.
The second image is a set of headwrap coloring images.
A little point
The tignon at one time was enforced by the governor into law in Louisiana as a mark on free women of color so that their status as free women while black was visible in opposition to white women, who filed complaints about the beauty of free women of color. The tignon as the referrals below prove show headwraps have a long history as dress wear for Black women, that was started before enslavement to whites, survived through enslavement to whites and exist today, whether through the intricate hats worn by black women in churches throughout the southern usa states or various ceremonies from the lavagem or baths to yemoja plus other orisha in salvador, bahia, brasil and quilombo communities in northern south America or anywhere in the Caribbean where it is synonymous with the marketplace.
 
Coloring pages gallery
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/gallery/47013691/comic-coloring-pages
Do you want a Coloring page made by me for your own use? Use the following link
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/commission/Single-Coloring-Page-1732448
Mardi Gras Die craft challenge in @CRArtisanCrafts
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/journal/Mardi-Gras-Die-1286556302
Mardi Gras Die
Feb 3, 2026
Laissez le bon temps rouler or Let the good
 
MArdi Gras 2026 Stamp
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Mardigras2026gif-1295641657
Mardi Gras Die craft page
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Mardi-Gras-Die-1294084920
Laissez le bon temps rouler
#poldinha #headwrap #tignon #louisiana #Neworleans #mardigras #2026 #blackhistory #coloringpage #adinkra #gele #hddeviant #deviantart #richardmurray #aalbc #rmaalbc #Kobo #kwl #richardmurrayhumblr #tumblr
 
INFORMATION REFERRALS
Tignon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tignon
art from page
A West Indian Flower Girl and Two other Free Women of Color c. 1769
Agostino Brunias (1728 - 1796) – Artist (Italian, active in Britain (1758-1770; 1777-1780s))
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Agostino_Brunias_-_A_West_Indian_Flower_Girl_and_Two_other_Free_Women_of_Color_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
 
more information
https://wams.nyhistory.org/colonies-and-revolution/spanish-and-french-colonies/fashionable-rebellion/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Signare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signare
art from page
Negress of quality from the Island of Saint Louis in Senegal, accompanied by her slave. 1788
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hommes_femmes_et_scènes_du_Sénégal-Jacques_Grasset_de_Saint_Sauveur_mg_8495.jpg
 
Negress of quality from the Island of Saint Louis in Senegal, accompanied by her slave. Illustration from Costumes civils actuels de tous les peuples connus, Paris, 1788, by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (1757-1810). Aquatint.
1890
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SignaresBal.jpg
 
Un bal de Signares (mulâtresses) à Saint-Louis (Sénégal) (illustrations de Côte occidentale d'Afrique du Colonel Frey - Pl. en dble page après p.11 [Cote : Réserve A 200 386]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Signare_de_Gorée_avec_ses_esclaves-Musée_de_la_Compagnie_des_Indes.jpg
 
Français : La Signare de Gorée avec ses esclaves, gravure polychrome d'Adolphe d'Hastrel. Musée de la Compagnie des Indes (Lorient)
Tignon Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tignon_law
art from page
Portrait of Betsy c. 1837
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Betsy.jpg
 
Portrait of a free woman of color (previously titled Portrait of Betsy) by François Fleischbein (1801/1803–1868), oil on canvas. This version is following restoration efforts in 2017.
more info
https://www.ceeceesclosetnyc.com/blogs/news/the-tignon-laws-how-black-women-in-louisiana-turned-oppression-into-fashion
Placage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaçage
art from page
c. 1867
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FashionableMarquisB.jpg
 
from Edouard Marquis - New Orleans, 1867. African American Creole woman in fashionable dress of the era and parasol, with another woman in working class clothing, possibly her servant.
Fashionable colored women c. 1867
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Creole_women_of_color_out_taking_the_air,_from_a_watercolor_series_by_Édouard_Marquis,_New_Orleans,_1867.jpg
 
from a series of watercolors by Edouard Marquis
Marchande
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchande
Zydeco music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zydeco
Vest Frottoir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vest_frottoir
Adinkra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adinkra_symbols
Gele
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gele_(head_tie)
image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IMG-20230221-WA0012.jpg
 
Flags
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-African_flag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth_flag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_American_Heritage_Flag
Mae Bernadette
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mãe_Bernadete
Bernadette is female of Bernard which means ber/bear nard/brave or brave as a bear
 

Event details

https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Black-History-Month-Chinese-New-Year-2026-1300249299

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Black History Month Chinese New Year 2026
While honoring Black history, let's celebrate the Lunar New Year, which originates from China.
For Lunar new year,
To your family, people you love whom love you, say
Xīnnián hǎo" (新年好) which means 'New Year Goodness' in a series the symbols mean: new year good
To strangers or those you do not love, say
"Xīnnián kuàilè" (新年快乐), which means 'New Year happiness' in a series the symbols mean: New Year Fast Joy
As it is the year of the horse, the symbol for horse is 马 transliterates to "ma" . Notice how similar it is to the symbol for question mark 吗 which is also pronounced "ma". The horse is a beloved creature in China , from the Manchurians to Mongols above them. China's capitol has been from its north most of its history where the people of the hills or steppe are one with the horse.
The phrase 你好吗 or Ni-Hao-Ma can be interpreted as "You Good?"
你 = ni 好-hao 吗-ma
If you know your Wu Xing (五行) , the five elements : wood/fire/earth/metal/water , then you know this is the year of a Fire Horse.
The Fire Horse
The Fire Horse is a significant element in the Chinese zodiac, representing a rare combination that occurs only once every 60 years. The Year of the Fire Horse begins on February 17, 2026, and is associated with qualities such as freedom, enthusiasm, intelligence, and a strong drive for movement and progress. People born under this sign are often described as social, adventurous, and self-directed, but they can also be prone to impatience or impulsive decisions. The fire element amplifies the horse's natural dynamism, making this zodiac sign particularly magnetic and high-energy.
The horse is known for : freedom, enthusiasm, intelligence, and a strong drive for movement and progress.
Fire enhances all signs with: visibility, passion, momentum, and transformation.
Firemares!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHWpi-5TjFQ
 
Now where does Black history and China blend?
From my own research , look at INFORMATION REFERRALS below, the earliest historical figure is an Empress Li Lingrong
, from the Jin dynasty [ 266–420 AD ] the earliest mythological figure I can discern that is Kunlun or Black is Mole , a negrito person enslaved, written in the Tang Dynasty [ 618–690, 705–907 ] now I found out that chinese historians had suggested the Kunlun were described at the time of the Tang from what in modernity is called Cambodia or Vietnam, which have Negritos in them. What you have to comprehend is that many from modern day India or China have migrated into southeast asia, leading to changes in the appearance of people in those regions as well as making new heritages. So with that I said, let's see Mimada in the Jin Dynasty, an assistant to the Empress Li Lingrong. Her shanqun has : a yellow/brown with spots/purple striped qun/skirt, a black weichang/apron like on the skirt, a champagne pink duijin/collar, a cherry blossom pink shan or ru/jacket or coat, a silver chanshan/shirt with Mimada in chinese symbols [pronounced Chu Tau]
 
Coloring pages gallery
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Mimada Gallery
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/gallery?q=mimada
Mimada elsewhere
https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/favourites?q=mimada
#mimada #lunarnewyear #chinesenewyear #kunlun #fire #horse #新年快乐 #2026 #coloringpage #blackhistory #hddeviant #deviantart #richardmurray #aalbc #rmaalbc #Kobo #kwl #richardmurrayhumblr #tumblr
 
INFORMATION REFERRALS
early story of an indigenous black Asian, commonly called negrito today
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunlun_Nu
It takes place during the Dali reign era (766-80) of Emperor Daizong of Tang and follows the tale of a young man named Cui who enlists the aid of Mole, his negrito slave, to help free his beloved who was forced to join a court official's harem. At midnight, Mole kills the guard dogs around the compound and carries Cui on his back while easily jumping to the tops of walls and bounding from roof to roof. With the lovers reunited, Mole leaps over ten tall walls with both of them on his back. Cui and his beloved are able to live happily together in peace because the official believes that she was kidnapped by youxia warriors and does not want to make trouble for himself by pursuing them. However, two years later, one of the official's attendants sees the girl in the city and reports this. The official arrests Cui and, once he hears the entire story, sends men to capture the negrito slave. But Mole escapes with his dagger (apparently his only possession) and flies over the city walls in order to escape apprehension. He is seen over ten years later selling medicine in the city Luoyang, not having aged a single day.
A study of Blacks in Africa
https://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp122_chinese_africa.pdf
excerpt
The lin shu "it. (History of the Jin) describes Empress Li, a concubine of
Emperor Xiao Wuwen (373-397): "...She was tall and her coloring was black. All the
people in the palace used to call her Kunlun." Was the term kunlun synonymous with
dark skin? This anecdote comes from a history of the Jin dynasty (265-420), before
African slaves had been imported into China and before the Chinese had made significant
contacts with Southeast Asian countries. So when and why did the term kunlun take on
this meaning?
excerpt
The meanings ofthe word kunlun expanded during the Tang to include the races,
countries, and languages of Southeast Asia. The Former Tang History describes the
homeland ofthe kunlun people: "The people living to the south of Linyi [present-day
Vietnam] have curly hair and black bodies and are commonly called Kunlun. The
description of the country of Zhenla (present-day Cambodia) also includes
information on the kunlun: ~'The country of Zhenla is northwest of Linyi. It was
originally a dependent of Funan. It is of the kunlun type. This appears to be the
earliest Chinese indication of the kunlun as a racial group with a specific homeland.
Referral
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunlun_Nu_people#Taiping_Guangji
Li Lingrong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Lingrong
Emperor Jianwen of Jin , husband of Li Lingrong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Jianwen_of_Jin
Emperor Xiao Wuwen (373-397) son of Li Longrong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Xiaowu_of_Jin
Tang fashion for women
https://totallyhistory.com/tang-dynasty-clothing/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_fashion_in_ancient_China
https://www.newhanfu.com/3116.html

Jin fashion
https://www.interactchina.com/blog/fashion-timeline-of-chinese-women-clothing-/
Batek People
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batek_people#
image
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batek_people#/media/File:Keluarga_suku_Bateq_167.jpg

Clothing elements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruqun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ru_(upper_garment)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qixiong_ruqun
 
02192026
 
Citation
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/1300249299/5267069631
SpaceScholar
 commented on Black History Month Chinese New Year 2026 .19 mins ago
Nice Jin Dynasty hanfu! Hanfu doesn't get enough attention in my opinion. The account of Empress Li was written in the Tang Dynasty, and the text contains many anachronisms and inaccuracies with no contemporary evidence for her {though if she did indeed exist, I do doubt she was 'African', an the surrounding context implies she was a local Chinese person}. However, I find it useful for another reason- during the Tang, the Kunlun- if you'll pardon the phrase- 'magical negrito' was a popular trope, and with the supernatural aspects attached to the account of Empress Li, it was a familiar thing to put in this historical account as it would've been familiar in the popular literature of the time. It's a fascinating reflection of the times!😉
HDdeviant
just now
Well, the long shirt , qibao , meets the modern fashion trends better than ensemble dresses like a shanqun. Yeah, the biggest issue is a lack of imagery. I tried to find an image of her son or grandson but I was unable, that would give at least some notion. And that is why I used her for Black history. Black doesn't equal African in the same way White doesn't equal European. African / Asian/ European / American are geographic designations. Each geography has black or white peoples. If you look at the eskimo they have a white skin. If you look at the arawak northern south america, they have a black skin. In the same way the Mongolian peoples are asian, but have a white skin. the BAtek , in modern vietnam have a black skin. Part of my purpose in this was publicizing my own personal views towards Black peoples. I am a Black person and I am of African descent. But, too many peoples, non blacks + blacks, miscomprehend Black equaling African. The Aborigine of modern australia, the indigenous sri lankans at the tip of the indian subcontinent, they are not africans, but they are black. And in asia + africa, when you look at the intersection of where northern peoples victorious in war interacted with southern peoples you see the mixed/arab/mulato/pardo/brown people. The wealthy people of Egypt/Sri Lanka/Indonesia/Malaysia/Morocco/Iraq are all whiter, the majority of the peoples,usually poor, are blacker. That proves my point. you see this in south africa, who are the coloreds? That is why I implied native black asian peoples, not black africans.
Yes, commonly accepted media interpretations, commonly called tropes/turns, exist. . No need to be pardoned. As a writer I don't create magical negritos to save the non negrito. In the same way Italians hate the mafioso trope. Blond haired white women hate the dumb blond trope. All peoples have negative tropes in literature. The key I argue is for any person who feels insulted by a trope not to buy into that trope in their own creations. I can't tell or demand someone else what to do but I can control my own art. But I also feel the trope of the vile white slaver, which was well known in the late 1800s in the usa is also allowable. Do you get my point?
She is interesting. It is too bad I couldn't find an illustration, I know china from its earliest times was illustrative so maybe somewhere is an illustration that can make the history clear to her identity. But I think even if the empress is false in being described as Kunlun, I can believe in the harem of the chinese emperor , who was able to get women from mongolia, india, japan, that a Kunlun woman from south of china was in there. and if not the emperor, there has to be Kunlun's in southern china simply by proximity. And as you say the popularity of the art form, proves Kunlun's were known. It is like Othello. Yes, the fiscally common person in england didn't see a black person on average. But all the wealthy people 100% knew Black people were real in seeing one or in illustrated books. ... Thanks for the dialog Happy to have it.
 
02202026
 
Citation
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/1300249299/5267135978
 
SpaceScholar
Yesterday
I see. Thanks for explaining your definition of 'black', as in skin tone, and it does make sense. My only critiques of it would be by what standard of white/black do you go by? How dark does a person have to be to be black or light to be white? My only other issue with it is these various 'black' peoples have no genetic, cultural or linguistic ties to each other so it seems to be a mere physical descriptor. As for the class divisions in various places like Sri Lanka, Egypt, southeast Asia and such, I personally wouldn't call these peoples 'white' for the same reason. Africans and their descendants overseas themselves have various shades of skin- so would that make some of them "whiter" than others? Perhaps white/black could be see as a spectrum rather than a hard line binary with degrees within individuals.
 
There's no nee to reply- I hope I didn't offend you. I was just curious and wanted to share my own thoughts on the matter. It's interesting either way.
HDdeviant
just now
My pleasure, black is a phenotypical designation, a phenotypical race. That is why it isn't cultural or linguistic. In the same way African, is many cultures or languages, they are not linked. Iran and Japan are all on the asiatic continental shelf yet are they culturally or linguistically alike? they are both asian from a geographic perspective.
 
So to answer the question underneath the ones you asked, the critiques/judgements you gave, my definitions of black or white or similar phenotypical groupings or races are not mandatory for any other to prescribe to though i know some other humans besides me do and some other humans don't. Viewing race isn't meant to be a science/something known. Race since the earliest humans who lived by traveling with the seasons, differed themselves by their mere groupings, are all perceptions/ways of groups of humans to organize as they see fit, for better or worse. They can be negatively or positively biased. Can be enforced as a heritage/something carried in the home or through the whip. Can be made as a culture/something grown in a similar way. Can be considerate to all humans. Trying to make any racial system outside genetic ones is always open to interpretation. I restate, outside genetic labels[human/male/female/child of/parent of], any other labeling: black/white/european/asian/old/young/christian/muslim/ and the many others are all defineable to each human in humanity , can be adhered to by many, millions, but it doesn't mean it has to be adhered to by all. It doesn't mean the lone person with another definition is wrong.
People who don't view Turks as Europeans. People who don't view fifty year olds as old. No need exist to convince either way. I have never been to china, don't speak chinese, don't have the most common appearance of a chinese male. but if I go to china and say I am chinese now. Many will say I am not, you will say I am not, and give various reasons, all based on a definition to being chinese that I do not fit, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is me. Maybe in ten years others you call chinese say I am chinese too. Does it mean those who say I am not chinese are wrong? no. The lesson is comprehend various racial schema, as you did to my and others definition of black. And whether you embrace a racial schema or not, that is your choice at any time, but all your choice. In india today, cause I know people personally from india, some humans believe that some other humans are of a race whose shadow can not be touched. Do I utilize said racial caste schema in india? no. Do my Indian friends? no. But I comprehend the racial schema.The people in india who believe that I am not going to try and regale from it. Nor do I think they need to change their mind. They will or will not change their mind when they are ready. What matters is I choose to not use said racial schema, while I accept others doing likewise or other.
 
I apologize if I seemed to suggest a hardline, black or white or other phenotypical labels like mixed or colored are phenotypical ranges.
 
All human beings have a genetic ties, ala genus and species, genetic races, which are also physical descriptors, more internal than external, not of appearance but of the cellular makeup. but genetic description is physical. not cultural or heritagewise or linguistic.
 
... Modern humanity has a problem, the technology of communication is so potent, all human beings know humanity is a racially complex species. But very few humans are used to living offline in a highly multiracial environment. I am from NYC, it is an ugly city in many ways, arguably most, but NYC has beauty as well, beauty in many ways, and one of the beautiful things about NYC is if you live in this city and engage in its street life, be amongst its people, who come from all over the world literally, you become accustomed to the other, the stranger. I didn't say befriend or hate or love or dislike, but become accustomed/gain the habit of living by. The problem for so much discourse online is offline, most humans come from small towns or monoracial communities where everyone fits into one racial category. and so they are not accustomed to the other, the stranger, the foreigner, the immigrant, the migrant, and online they express their discomfort with what they are not accustomed too, a negativity in various levels of intensity.
 
I am accustomed offline to talking about many topics, in a wide range , but civilly. I think we did well
Always be creating!
 
02202026
 
Citation
https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/1300249299/5267227904
SpaceScholar
6 hours ago
Thank you for elaborating! You made a good point about genetics being an internal physical descriptor. Still, I personally wouldn't describe dark skinned peoples as all 'black' or lighter peoples 'white'. But I really liked that you made clear that your definition of 'black' is your own, and not meant to be anyone elses. and you don't expect others to abide by it'. Civil discourse online is something lacking these days.
Badge Awards
HDdeviant
just now
my pleasure, I admit it is easy for me to be this way cause I was raised this way. I have seen offline many people who were not raised by their parents to speak distinctly between truth and opinion. A mistake too many parents make. ... to your last sentence, I wish to defend humanity ... I think the world offline is treated unevenly by many of us today, in circa 2026. It is 2026, but in the year 1926, what was humanity at that moment? Did it make the earth an environment of peace? no. Was it an example of family/loving ones en masse? no. Most in humanity in 1926 were controlled/enslaved/abused by one part of humanity, that part being people of white european descent who forced all others to speak a tongue of western europe, be christian, abide by books written by those of white european descent absent consideration to any other peoples. Those who were not forced were usually killed, ala the native american in the usa. I argue civil discourse , throughout all humanity, was far less present in 1926 than 2026. And leading to today, how many wars occurred in humanity? Not just the wars that get tons of movies like the commonly called in english World War two. But wars like the sino-indian war, [I don't know what it is called in china or india]between china and india over kashmir and tibet. No two may concur on the purpose or value of any war, but one thing everyone knows , wars are not civil discourse, and humanity spent the entirety of the 1900s in alot of wars. So the internet when it was started was confined to mostly the usa populace, and various fiscally wealthy or universities about humanity. but as the internet has expanded its reach, the larger truth of humanity's discourse offline has become reality online. I argue, discourse online is merely matching the discourse offline because the internet is able to reach more than in its earlier days. The good news is that the internet is so large today , anyone using it can find enclaves of civil discourse if they want it as you and I both show. The pertinent question is how can the majority in humanity offline + online have civil discourse? I don't know any guarantee to that destination.

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