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Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Burning of Nottoway Plantation
Firefighters from Baton Rouge battle a blaze as flames burst from the roof of the Nottoway Plantation in White Castle, La., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. Credit - Michael Johnson—The Advocate/AP Years ago, I was having a long lunch with a group of graduate school classmates at one of the most legendary restaurants in New Orleans' French Quarter. Memorabilia hung on the walls nearby and inside rooms. While I enjoyed my gumbo, I noticed my friends kept looking over my shoulder. The paintings, old menus, and other objects told the story of a mythical south where happily enslaved people worked at the beck and call of the kindly landed class. I had seen these images my whole life, so I was desensitized to them. But my friends who were from other countries like Canada and South Korea lost their appetites. Louisiana, like much of the rest of the South, is dotted with former plantations. But on May 15, 2025, the largest surviving plantation mansion of them all burned to the ground, reportedly due to an electrical fire. All that's left is a portion of the façade. All else is ashes. Nottoway, like many plantations, took on a second life as a location for weddings and portrait taking. As of this writing, the website labels Nottoway as a 'resort' with amenities such as a gym, pool, and tennis courts. The history tab of Nottoway's website provides a detailed listing of the diameters of certain oak trees—but nothing about the history of the plantation, how it was built, or what went on there. Many people, myself included, see the Nottoway Plantation as little more than a former slave labor camp. A place where crimes against humanity went unpunished and many affiliated with those crimes were treated as noble heroes. John C. Calhoun, Vice President under Andrew Jackson, often argued that slavery was good for America because it created prosperity for those who were meant to rule. Slavery was lucrative for people like Calhoun. By 1863, many of the wealthiest Americans were from the so-called 'planter class' i.e. plantation owners. Calhoun also had the audacity to say that slavery was good for the enslaved because it provided them with food and shelter, which they weren't able to provide for themselves. Movies like Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind brought this propaganda into the 20th century by showing plantations as sites of human flourishing where the best people lived the good life and the enslaved were beloved members of the family. In the later film, Scarlett O'Hara had pretty dresses, more suitors than she could handle, and an enslaved caretaker who gave her motherly advice. But these depictions, as we know, were fantasies. No classic Hollywood film tells the story of plantation life from the point of view of the enslaved—that would have dispelled the myth entirely. Such films did not show how enslaved families felt being forced to increase the wealth of others and as their family members were sold off to other slave labor camps. There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel. They were unpaid and unable to leave. They had no property rights, no rights to their own children, and no rights to their own bodies. Nor could they appeal to the legal system for justice even if they or a loved one had been assaulted, raped, or killed. The question at hand: how do we treat the physical locations of such heinous histories? In Amsterdam, a short walk from the Rijksmuseum and a park full of blossoming tulips, sits the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank, of course, was the young woman who hid with her family from Nazi's in the attic of this home. Eventually, she was captured and murdered. And there are the two 'Doors of No Return' along the western coast of Africa. These memorials in Senegal and Benin mark the locations where Africans were shipped away from their homelands into chattel slavery. In 2023, I visited the Doorway of No Return at the House of Slaves on Gorée Island in Senegal, where expert tour guides gave detailed lectures about the deprivation experienced by humans held in the building. (Some people were kept in the space under the stairwells, an area no larger than a doghouse.) With this context, it was impossible not to be moved at the end of the tour where the guide cleared the way for me to stand at the threshold of the doorway. There were no tennis courts or facials offered at the House of Slaves. Between 2017 and 2022, I visited Amsterdam three times on research trips. I tried to go to the Anne Frank House repeatedly, but each time I arrived, the line of people queued up to bear witness to what happened there was down the block and around the corner. By all accounts, seeing the interior of the home is a moving experience. Herein lies the problem with America's attitudes towards its former slave labor camps: they are divisive because they ignore their own histories. While there are some plantations that attempt to provide context for their past (the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana is an excellent example), there are far too many former plantations where the guides offer revisionist histories designed to make visitors feel unbothered by what happened there. This is especially damaging when many visitors believe they are taking an educational tour. Most people would not want to take glamour shots at the site of a human catastrophe. Most people would be appalled if someone threw a party in the place where their great great grandmother was imprisoned and abused. Any attempt to turn the World Trade Center site into a vacation resort would likely be met with widespread resistance from Americans. This is because the past must be contended with. Reconciliation cannot come before recognition and mourning. If Nottoway Plantation had been serving the community it was based in, I'd be the first one devastated by its loss. But as it stands, my face is completely dry. Contact us at letters@
Time Magazine
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
The Burning of Nottoway Plantation
Years ago, I was having a long lunch with a group of graduate school classmates at one of the most legendary restaurants in New Orleans' French Quarter. Memorabilia hung on the walls nearby and inside rooms. While I enjoyed my gumbo, I noticed my friends kept looking over my shoulder. The paintings, old menus, and other objects told the story of a mythical south where happily enslaved people worked at the beck and call of the kindly landed class. I had seen these images my whole life, so I was desensitized to them. But my friends who were from other countries like Canada and South Korea lost their appetites. Louisiana, like much of the rest of the South, is dotted with former plantations. But on May 15, 2025, the largest surviving plantation mansion of them all burned to the ground, reportedly due to an electrical fire. All that's left is a portion of the façade. All else is ashes. Nottoway, like many plantations, took on a second life as a location for weddings and portrait taking. As of this writing, the website labels Nottoway as a 'resort' with amenities such as a gym, pool, and tennis courts. The history tab of Nottoway's website provides a detailed listing of the diameters of certain oak trees—but nothing about the history of the plantation, how it was built, or what went on there. Many people, myself included, see the Nottoway Plantation as little more than a former slave labor camp. A place where crimes against humanity went unpunished and many affiliated with those crimes were treated as noble heroes. John C. Calhoun, Vice President under Andrew Jackson, often argued that slavery was good for America because it created prosperity for those who were meant to rule. Slavery was lucrative for people like Calhoun. By 1863, many of the wealthiest Americans were from the so-called ' planter class ' i.e. plantation owners. Calhoun also had the audacity to say that slavery was good for the enslaved because it provided them with food and shelter, which they weren't able to provide for themselves. Movies like Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind brought this propaganda into the 20 th century by showing plantations as sites of human flourishing where the best people lived the good life and the enslaved were beloved members of the family. In the later film, Scarlett O'Hara had pretty dresses, more suitors than she could handle, and an enslaved caretaker who gave her motherly advice. But these depictions, as we know, were fantasies. No classic Hollywood film tells the story of plantation life from the point of view of the enslaved—that would have dispelled the myth entirely. Such films did not show how enslaved families felt being forced to increase the wealth of others and as their family members were sold off to other slave labor camps. There is no question, the enslaved workers at the Nottoway Plantation during the antebellum era were human chattel. They were unpaid and unable to leave. They had no property rights, no rights to their own children, and no rights to their own bodies. Nor could they appeal to the legal system for justice even if they or a loved one had been assaulted, raped, or killed. The question at hand: how do we treat the physical locations of such heinous histories? In Amsterdam, a short walk from the Rijksmuseum and a park full of blossoming tulips, sits the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank, of course, was the young woman who hid with her family from Nazi's in the attic of this home. Eventually, she was captured and murdered. And there are the two 'Doors of No Return' along the western coast of Africa. These memorials in Senegal and Benin mark the locations where Africans were shipped away from their homelands into chattel slavery. In 2023, I visited the Doorway of No Return at the House of Slaves on Gorée Island in Senegal, where expert tour guides gave detailed lectures about the deprivation experienced by humans held in the building. (Some people were kept in the space under the stairwells, an area no larger than a doghouse.) With this context, it was impossible not to be moved at the end of the tour where the guide cleared the way for me to stand at the threshold of the doorway. There were no tennis courts or facials offered at the House of Slaves. Between 2017 and 2022, I visited Amsterdam three times on research trips. I tried to go to the Anne Frank House repeatedly, but each time I arrived, the line of people queued up to bear witness to what happened there was down the block and around the corner. By all accounts, seeing the interior of the home is a moving experience. Herein lies the problem with America's attitudes towards its former slave labor camps: they are divisive because they ignore their own histories. While there are some plantations that attempt to provide context for their past (the Whitney Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana is an excellent example), there are far too many former plantations where the guides offer revisionist histories designed to make visitors feel unbothered by what happened there. This is especially damaging when many visitors believe they are taking an educational tour. Most people would not want to take glamour shots at the site of a human catastrophe. Most people would be appalled if someone threw a party in the place where their great great grandmother was imprisoned and abused. Any attempt to turn the World Trade Center site into a vacation resort would likely be met with widespread resistance from Americans. This is because the past must be contended with. Reconciliation cannot come before recognition and mourning. If Nottoway Plantation had been serving the community it was based in, I'd be the first one devastated by its loss. But as it stands, my face is completely dry.
RTÉ News
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Five things to know about Scarlett Johansson
One of Hollywood's top-grossing stars, Scarlett Johansson has two films in this year's Cannes Film Festival: her directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, and Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme. Watch: The trailer for The Phoenician Scheme Here are five things to know about the teen star turned Hollywood A-Lister: Starlet Scarlett When baby Johansson was born in Manhattan in 1984, early signs suggested stardom was ahead. Her parents named her after Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, and at a young age she was drawn to tap dance and theatre. Barely into double digits, she made her screen debut, and soon after Robert Redford cast her in The Horse Whisperer for her first major role. Then, just shy of 20, she hit the big time with Sofia Coppola's art-house classic Lost in Translation. In the film, which unfolds in the alienating surroundings of a Tokyo hotel, Johansson manages to touch the heart of an ever-sardonic Bill Murray as well as charming spectators and critics worldwide. Cha-ching! Johansson has starred in a string of hits and top directors have queued up to cast her, from Wes Anderson and the Coen brothers to Jonathan Glazer and Christopher Nolan. Catapulting her into the movie stratosphere, she joined the Marvel universe as the indomitable Black Widow in 2010 and made eight films with the franchise. During this collaboration, she topped the Forbes list of highest-paid actresses and featured in hits including Avengers: Infinity War (2018), one of the top-10 highest-grossing films of all time according to IMDB Pro. Other missions But Johansson the box-office megastar has also missed out on, or sidestepped, plenty of big roles. There was a potential Mission: Impossible movie, but this was shelved, officially due to scheduling clashes. She did not land the lead in Les Misérables, which went to Anne Hathaway, who won an Oscar for it, nor did she get the role of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But she was plenty busy, often starring in lower-budget films that wowed critics and audiences. These included a stand-out performance as an alien in Jonathan Glazer's remarkable Under the Skin (2013), shot in wintery backstreets, abandoned houses, and seedy minivans. So far, she has not won an Oscar, but she was nominated for Best Actress and Supporting Actress in 2020 for her roles in the indie favourites Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, respectively. That voice It is unmistakable and Johansson has capitalised on it, though sometimes with unwanted repercussions. She brought her deep, distinctive vocals to the voice of Samantha in Her (2013) by Spike Jonze, about an artificial intelligence system Joaquin Phoenix falls for. But in May last year, Johansson accused tech firm OpenAI of using her voice in their own generative AI ChatGPT, which responded by modifying its tone. She can also be heard in hit animations including The Jungle Book and the two Sing films. Johansson has also released two albums, Anywhere I Lay My Head in 2008 and Break Up in 2009. They did not rock the music world, but reviewing the inaugural album, Pitchfork called it a "curio" while praising the "wide textural range" of Johansson's voice. Against the grain Never reluctant to speak her mind, Johansson has been outspoken on various social and film-related issues. She has supported victims of harassment, pushed for gender-equal pay, and spotlighted the impact of streaming on theatrical releases. She is also willing to take more controversial stances, not least in defending Woody Allen - who has cast her in three films - when much of Hollywood has shunned him over an alleged sexual assault scandal. "I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him any time," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. Johansson will next be seen on Irish cinema screens in The Phoenician Scheme, which opens this Friday, 23 May.
Hindustan Times
18-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Literary Rehab: How to balance Life with Lit
Dear Reader, This is my week of non-reading. I've been forced into literary rehab. As someone who spends all their free time between the pages of a book, this is pure torture. The only times I haven't read were when I was forbidden to —maybe there were exams, or maybe my mother decreed I was straining my eyes too much. Even then, there were always inventive ways around the ban: reading a Five Find-Outers mystery between my science textbooks or reading Gone with the Wind under the sheets. But now, even I know it's time to stop reading. I've returned to Mumbai to a house filled with cartons that need unpacking, a desk cluttered with unpaid invoices, and chaos in every corner. I have a week to fix it all before leaving again. The writing is on the wall: I need to stop reading—even my to-be-read list. Sonya, don't look at Audition by Katie Kitamura, never mind that your book club is reading it. Or How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie, by your bedside after your girls recommended it as riveting. Or Fasting—no, you can't call it 'health research.' and pretend that's not reading. Sonya, read the writing on the wall. Stop Reading. My friends say, 'You read so much!' like it's a virtue. (The truth? I've long disguised my escapist addiction as self-improvement. My notebooks are plastered with lofty quotes: 'Reading fiction allows us to explore the depths of our own emotions, question the world around us' 'Readers are leaders,' etc. All true—but did those wise souls mean for me to neglect life entirely?) I skim from story to story, drunk on make-believe. Monday: Chinese spies in The Hidden Hand by Stella Rimington. Tuesday: Shanghai murder mysteries. Wednesday: Nigerian sci-fi in Death of the Author. Friday: House of Huawei. And on the weekend, real life scams in Empire of Pain and The Everything War. Sounds perfectly bookish I know. Except that at this point, between you and me, and strictly off the record - it's time to stop. My binge-reading has left me mired in a mountainous mess. And it's just a week of not reading—how bad could it be? Plus I've done it once before. Six years ago, following Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way program, I was forced to quit all reading as part of the course. For a whole week ! The first days were hell—what to do in queues, waiting rooms or winding down before bed? But slowly, I re-learned to play the piano, sketched, even tidied drawers. Shockingly, not reading had unexpected perks. Also Read | Book Box | Reading without rules Now on Day 1 of literary detox, I clear my desk, my cupboard and my hard drive. Afterwards, I slump onto my reading spot (red cushion, propped pillows) with no soothing prospect of a book before me. Instead I stare into space, at my walls full of bookshelves, and wonder: Did I always read this much? At 21, studying at IIM Calcutta, I barely touched novels—just MBA notes. Work life weekends in Mumbai revived my habit. Motherhood pared reading down to Saki and Maugham short stories, read in bits between baby cries. Now, with grown kids, I read 100+ books a year, and binge on book clubs. This week is different. With no books to gobble my attention, I discover life beyond the pages. I sit about more, I day dream. The girls and I go buy flowers, we go hunting for light fixtures. I make mango ice cream, egg sandwiches and homemade mustard. I write more. I start writing a screenplay. I also end up irritating my family ! Suddenly I am noticing all their little misdeeds and their messes. Go back to your murder mysteries, they beg me. As the week draws to a close, I am strangely content. This literary detox feels like a palate cleanser, like breathing in the scent of coffee beans between glasses of wine. I am more intentional and more mindful about my reading life. I shift away from the latest bestsellers and decide to begin a long planned project - re-reading old classics, beginning with The Brothers Karamazov. It feels like this break - even from a good habit - has sparked creativity in me, and given me more focus. Going back to reading is amazing - for reading is magic—it deepens our empathy, stretches our imagination, and connects us to lives we'll never live. But I realise there's another kind of magic too: unhurried conversations, homemade mustard, swimming with your daughters, noticing the shape of your day. The best stories aren't just the ones you read—they are also the ones you pause long enough to live. (Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya's Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at sonyasbookbox@ The views expressed are personal.)
IOL News
17-05-2025
- IOL News
Why all the bedlam in Verulam?
If you head north on the N3, past Umhlanga, you would literally end up in what could be called a large hamlet. A town which was founded in 1850 by a group of 400 Methodist settlers from St. Albans, United Kingdom, under the patronage of Earl Verulam, led by Thomas Champeon. They established a settlement in Natal and named it Verulam after the English town of Verulamium. If you recall the classic Robert Redford-directed movie, 'A River runs Through it' starring Brad Pitt, Verulam could very well be eligible to qualify for that title. The uMdloti River has basically the banks on which the town lies. Here's another mind-blowing fact: Verulam is the only place in the world where the main street (Wick Street) ends in a river. Go and visit it. It is a splendid piece of serendipity. However, be alert and ever-cautious. Social media these days, especially the crime-alert groups are replete, daily, with criminal activity occurring in the little town. My colleague on this newspaper, journalist Yoshini Perumal wrote a well-researched and thorough analysis of the town and its crime in last week's edition. I will get back to that aspect later in this piece. To me, it was very sad, as Verulam had a huge part and effect on me in my formative years. On Sundays, we had religious meetings in the august Town Hall. It was diagonally opposite to the landmark Green Cat complex, which had been a popular cinema house back in the day. My brother and I spent many school holidays in the town accompanied by my dear grandmom, spending quality time with friends and relatives. The constant allure up to this day, is the sweetest and my favourite fruit of all time. The lychee or litchi, is a small sweet fruit believed to have originated in China. During the annual litchi season, vendors, the length and breadth of KZN, sell the product on the roadside. The magic words that make it irresistible to the public is on the sign displayed: 'Sweet Verulam litchis'. Even as a grown up, I visited the town regularly. Param Singh, son of renown Himalaya Road panel beater Mr Mothi Singh, was in high school with me and we were close buddies. Sadly, the buddy died in a car accident years ago. In the foothills of the magnificent steel bridge over the river was a palatial abode, which belonged to Anglo-American tycoon Mr Harry Oppenheimer. It resembled very much the country estates depicted in Hollywood movies of the old Deep South of the USA. The residence was administered and run by his employee and nurse, Agnes, who was a family friend. The abode had a wrap-around veranda, where if you lounged, it felt like you were in the movie 'Gone with the Wind'. I also had a wonderful gentleman and his family who lived in the town and were huge supporters of my radio show. Every month we were invited to their home in Mount View. The staple menu was my favourite Fresh fowl curry expertly cooked by his gracious wife, Savy. Sadly, Roy passed on a few years ago but he was responsible for magnificent, indelible memories in my life. I am still in contact with his daughter, Saroshni, which I feel is a vital link for me and nostalgia. Now, unfortunately for the negative side of this once resplendent town! My colleague Yoshini's afore-mentioned article was entitled 'Verulam residents live in fear as crime escalates in the CBD'. As she writes: the residents 'are increasingly fearful as crime rates soar, with reports of thefts, stabbings, and armed robberies becoming common place, leaving shoppers and business owners on edge.' My friend, Prem Balram, head of Reaction Unit of South Africa (RUSA), said that 'crime was escalating because of the market for stolen goods. The challenging part is that the same people who complain about crime are the very ones purchasing the stolen goods.' I offer no solution to this problem as I know that RUSA has the situation firmly in their radar. According to car guards in the CBD, dozens of attacks on citizens occur daily. The criminals carry on their nefarious deeds with impunity. Rumours are that official police officers witness many of these incidents but refuse to alight from the comfort of their official vehicles. Here is where RUSA has stepped into the breach. Arresting criminals is par for the course for these courageous law enforcement officers. Crime aside, they are known to willingly respond to callouts for animals stuck in awkward places, animal cruelty and more recently, numerous calls to remove deadly black mambas visiting the residents. Intrepid men of action for justice is putting it mildly, I think. I mean it can't be pleasant to try and buy a kilo of Deena's spicy sausages and get pickpocketed. He is a legend and is located in central town.
