Herstory Revisited

Yesterday I had the absolute privilege of co-hosting a Holocaust Memorial Day event at uni where we were blessed to hear from Holocaust survivor, Eve Kugler. Her story is inspiring and her excellent responses to the Q&A were truly thought provoking. She’s the third survivor I’ve had the privilege of speaking with personally in my time as a Holocaust Education Ambassador, and every time it really brings home just how recent the Holocaust actually was. And always, I am moved by their bravery, their compassion, and their enlightenment about the world. Eve’s story is remarkable and her book Shattered Crystals is available for free online here . However, I wanted to share her story in her own words, so that as many people as possible can benefit from hearing her first-hand. As Eve said yesterday, education is the most powerful weapon in our armoury against fascism and hatred ✨   “In New York in five years I lived in three different foster homes. I did not believe that I would ever...

I promised you guys some more local Edinburgh history and exactly 430 years go today, one of my favourite Edinburgh figures was put to death.  Agnes Sampson  (died 28 January 1591) was a  Scottish  healer a nd accused  witch . Also known as the " Wise Wife of Keith " and more commonly “Bald Agnes”, Sampson was involved in the  North Berwick witch trials  in the late sixteenth century. Sampson lived at Nether Keith, a part of the  Keith Marischal  barony,  East Lothian ,  Scotland . She was considered to have healing powers and acted as a  midwife . The indictment against her indicated that she was a widow, with children. But before we hear about her end, a little background on witchcraft in Scotland. James I & VI (1st of England, 6 th of Scotland) had a lifelong fear of the supernatural, especially witches. He had been raised by religious fanatics after his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in 15...

Breaking my "no living people" rule once more to mark this historic day. Seeing as I’ve already done a post about Kamala Harris, I thought I’d mark the US Inauguration by celebrating another history-making woman: Rachel Levine who will become the first ever openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Dr Rachel L. Levine  (born 1957) is an American  pediatrician  serving as the  Pennsylvania   Secretary of Health . She also serves as Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the  Penn State College of Medicine . She is one of only a handful of openly  transgender  government officials in the United States.   On January 19, 2021,  President-elect   Joe Biden  announced that he will  nominate  Levine to be  Assistant Secretary for Health , making her the first ever openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate. Levine was born in 1957 in Massachusetts. She is Jew...

“My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.”   Tomorrow marks 54 years since Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi , née  Nehru , ( 1917 – 1984) became the first (and only) female  prime minister  of  India , serving for three consecutive terms (1966–77) and a fourth term from 1980 until she was assassinated in 1984. As India is my main field of study, I thought I’d do post looking at this controversial and complex figure. Indira was born on 19 November 1917 in  Allahabad , to a Kashmiri Brahmin family. Her father,  Jawaharlal Nehru , was a leading figure in the  movement for independence  from  British rule , and became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent India. Her paternal grandfather Motilal Nehru was one of the pioneers of the independence movement and was a close associ...