Latest / Two Tools, No Clue / M3 Mahala Ashley Dickerson
Transcript
- Jey & Anna: Hey everyone. Welcome to the two tools, no clue podcast. I'm Anna and I'm Jeidan and on today's minisode ⁓ mini but great. have no clue about homesteader. Mahala Ashley Dickerson. Who's she? What did she do? ⁓ Where did go? Because my, she went a few places. Where is she? my goodness. ⁓ She's missing. But first, what's going on around the homestead? Well, I made a promise to Anna that this garden season will not destroy us, but we will conquer it. Yes. So we have been taking the March rainy days that have now cleared all the snow away. to try to prepare the garden as much as we can. ⁓ We cannot really dig in our property because about two inches in it is all rock. It's compact clay. Yes. A bunch of rock. Yes. So we need raised beds. We are doing raised beds. So I already started to kind of lay out all the cardboard and I gathered all the debris and leftovers from last garden year. And I set up two, I want to say they're like 12 foot by four and a half feet, but beds. So we have two of those going. then, you ⁓ ⁓ our Patreon, you have seen our pre-launch episodes ⁓ we have discussed some of the horrible things that have happened on the homestead. ⁓ One of them being our first greenhouse that we got when we purchased our house. I decided to put it up way too early and it... we got a full year out of it and you just never took it down. That's true. Okay, I forgot to take it down and over the snowy season I did my best to take care of it and then by the by this time actually it was still snowing. around this time that year and the last sleet and ice storm got us and it got the green house. a big one. And you were like, you either forgot or you were like, I'll just do it in the morning. And unfortunately, when we went out in the morning, the greenhouse had collapsed. It was really bad. So we still had the frame. they were trying to salvage it, trying to figure out what we can do with these mangled metals. We were convinced we could fix it. Honestly, we couldn't. ⁓ And then Anna had a really good idea like, let's make kind of a walk in raised garden bed area. So now we're going to have two very long, 20 foot by about two and a half foot garden beds on either side. We're going to kind of keep a walkway entrance in to make it very whimsical. ⁓ We have plenty. of cow fencing. So we're going to put that up to kind of have some bean action ⁓ you walk in. Yeah. So it's really going to add to the garden, not only in bed space. ⁓ excited because I think the carrots ⁓ the onions will actually do really well in those spaces because there'll be a lot deeper than the garden beds that we've that we've been able to kind of build up the way. Yeah. So yeah. ⁓ It's already looking a lot better. You just clipping those. end pieces off really helped make the yard look. Like almost put together. Yeah. So I. Because they were kind of all like, like Anna said, they were all mangled. They were like hanging out. It's also been a year of it looking like a pile of trash. So I went out there, took the circular saw once we knew what we were doing, that it wasn't going to be a save it project. I cut it all down and now it's just left what we kind of have. to make the base structure. went to Home Depot today and I got a bunch of the wood supplies that we need to kind of make it an actual frame. I did order raised beds on Amazon because we want it to last. I don't want it to fall apart. And if I were to go to Home Depot and get all the wood supplies for that, that would be like at least $300 worth of wood. Yeah. Compared to, uh, two 10 foot by three foot beds on Amazon for $55. We were going to try to do it with the pallets. But you have to look out for that special code to make sure it hasn't been treated with any sort of chemicals that you wouldn't want in your garden bed. And it takes a while to save them up. I don't want to purchase pallets. It defeats the purpose. And finding them on the roadside is fun because it like ticks that scavenging part in my brain. But at the same time, it's like dime a dozen. And we always find my job puts them out sometimes. So I'm always texting Jey like I see the maintenance guys putting them out. they are really handy to have around the farm, ⁓ honestly, in our garden. But it's something that it does take a while to, you know, collect them all before you can do your project. And like I said, I promised Anna that we're going to have a successful garden this year. So for that to be the case, it needs to be ready. So I am excited. So yeah, that's what's been going on around the homestead. I'm excited to have more things to share. Oh, wait, there's something else. Hold on. We started our starters. Oh, yeah. And some of them are popping up already. I'm not going to show them all to you because there's like At least a dozen that we started and it's going to get overwhelming quickly. Listeners pop on over to our YouTube to see our little sprouts. Yeah, I'll show you the tomato tomato guys those are the weakest looking ones. Small fries. Small fries. So here we go. cute little babies. Yeah, and as you can see we don't do anything too crazy when we start our starters. Those are just black takeout tubs. For our listeners who are not popping over to YouTube, yeah, we just have little takeout black takeout tubs in their lids and we sprinkle them in and just kind of sprinkle soil over top and put the lid on. It produces like this white I'm quite sure if that's good or bad. Yeah, I don't know what that's about, but as you spray water it goes away. I think you just have to keep it hydrated. I think it's like that peat moss or something. Yeah, I don't know what that's all about. If you know, let us know. We want to be in the know. Zero clue. So yeah, Mahala Ashley Dickerson. She was born October 12th, 1912. Wow. So we're back there again. What was the other lady? year? 1860s. Oh, wow. So we jumped ahead a little bit. Homesteader and a civil rights activist. Hell yeah. She died February 19th, 2007 at ninety five years old in Alaska. In Alaska? Good for her. So like I said, she's for being first black homesteader in Alaska, a prominent lawyer and a civil rights advocate. Yeah, get it girl. ⁓ Mahalo was born in Montgomery County in Alabama. If you live in America, you know Montgomery, Alabama strictly from history civil rights movement. A lot of people from that area were large civil rights advocates. And Mahala Ashley Dickerson was one of them. And she's one of them that I have not heard of before. But she did a lot of cool things. So ⁓ as a child, she attended Miss White's School, a private school in Montgomery. Wow. ⁓ I had never heard of the school before. So I Googled it. ⁓ what's the tea? and I Googled it because of its location, because it's Montgomery. They had a lot of ⁓ segregation things. That's that's where There's a lot of a lot of stuff happen. ⁓ I won't get into. I'm not going to get sidetracked this episode. So this quote comes from the Alabama Encyclopedia. It's all about Alabama. Interesting. It was pretty wild. I can only imagine. It was very diverse. Ironically. The Montgomery Industrial School for Girls was a private K through eight school for African American girls established in 1886 in Montgomery County. The school was founded by Alice White and H. Margaret Beard. Two white Christian education reformers from the Northeast whose aim was to provide an education as well as a sense of pride to their students during a time of racial segregation and to produce teachers who would go on to inspire others. Some of the became influential in the civil rights movement including Rosa Parks attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. I was wincing there. I was real nervous what you were about to say. Yeah. I almost, I almost gave it away when I was like famous and you know, especially miss white private school. sounds terrible. ⁓ so while at school, she did meet Rosa Parks. were long life friends. They attended school together and they stayed in touch until passed. my God. Besties. she then attended the Fisk University and graduated in 1935. After graduating, in 1938, she married, gave birth to triplets. Whoa. Just right off the bat. Like right off the bat. That's crazy. And then she divorced all in a year. Whoa. Single mom life. By 1945, she graduated from Howard University Law School. Holy shit. So that didn't stop her. Yeah. And it's just like we complain about the smallest things nowadays. And it's just like, look at her. I think of having one child and I'm like, not for me. Three. And then you're getting your degrees order. Yeah, still goes doesn't matter. She returned to Alabama and became the first black woman to be admitted to the bar in Alabama. Get it. Those are my snaps. She remarried. Take two. And relocated to Indiana. And there she became the second black woman to be admitted to the bar in Indiana. Wow. I'm almost glad she wasn't the first, you know, like we need more representation. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Indiana. Yeah. You go to Indiana. ⁓ So then divorce number two happens. ⁓ man can hold this woman down is what it seems like. Like a good for her. Yeah. Especially, you know, in that time. Yeah, they're probably not settling. They're probably expecting a hot dinner as soon as they get home. And she's like, bitch, please. I'm a scholar, please. Yeah. Make your own damn dinner I'm fighting law and and watch the kids while you're at it. Yeah. Do the dishes. Because you know what? I'm the breadwinner. Exactly. So in 1958, she makes her big move to Alaska. Why? like, why? She went on a vacation and she just loved it there. She's like, wow, Alaska is beautiful. I think it probably is similar to that time we went to Colorado and then we were like, sell all of our things. We are moving to Colorado and then COVID happened. Like that's what it reminds me of. But she did go back to Alaska. It's just crazy to me because like people are vacationing. to Alaska in the early 1900s. Yeah. It's like uncharted territory now. can't imagine a black woman in America is taking a vacation to that is kind of crazy, but good for her. That's amazing. The ceiling. What about it? Yeah. What ceiling? Yeah. What ceiling? Sky's the limit. ⁓ So I wonder what her parents had been like I don't know. should have. They badass individuals. They were like, you can do anything. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Like it had to be the story. So she decided she wanted to homestead in Alaska. So that's what she did. She got 160 acres in Alaska. Wow. I don't know what it is with that number, but like that must have just been like, if you want to homestead, this is what you get. Right. I don't know. But so it's like a default. Maybe yeah, the land was in Matanuska, Sustina Valley near Wasila, Alaska Becoming the first ⁓ black Alaskan homesteader. Hey, hey, hey She then passed the Alaskan becoming the first black Alaskan lawyer. Good for you, Mahala. This woman is incredible. Yeah, she opened up a firm in Anchorage. She served as the Alaskan people for I think it was like 50 years. She was a voice for minorities in the impoverished for over 50 years. She practiced law in Alaska until she was 91 years old. My God. This is a quote from an article about her. article can be found on FM.KUAC.org. And it says, in perhaps her most notable trial, Dickerson argued in one of precedent setting equal pay case for female faculty members at the University of Alaska. my goodness. So that was pretty cool. ⁓ She had really big dreams for her land. ⁓ She ⁓ a Quaker. Interesting. I would not have put that on her. Yeah. She had a big dream to create her own Quaker center where people could come and gather and just have conversation and talk about peace. Cause that's kind of what it is all about. I don't know a lot about the Quakers. She had gone to a Quaker. Institute called Pendle Hill Study Center. It's in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. And when she went there, ⁓ like Alaska, she was like, ⁓ my god, this place is incredible. So she wanted to make her own. So she started to connect with people across Alaska. And over time, like they would all gather kind of like at first it was like all over the place. And then ⁓ She decided that she wanted to make her own peace center. And on 11 acres of her land, she donated it to like the cause. Okay. I started building this center. By 1981, the center was completed. Around that time, Dickerson wrote one of my greatest sources of happiness in Alaska. has been attending the very small silent meetings held at various places in Anchorage, Wasila, Fairbanks, and Palmer. To watch a meeting house being humbly built from the ground up with no fanfare and everyone putting in at least one nail was an inspiring sight. It stands unfinished, but love built it. And somehow I feel that love will finish it. ⁓ Cute. All that And then another quote that I'll share later was found on friendsjournal.org ⁓ an called She had a dream and I just she did more than that dream Yeah, you know, she brought her kids up there. Like they, they all grew up there and obviously they inspired her. And, ⁓ I thought it was cool because like they had an indoor swimming pool at her house as black woman, as a kid, she was denied access to those things just because of the color of her skin. So sad, so like one of the first things she did was make an indoor pool. at her house. She's like, fuck you guys. her kids. when they would have me and my family. Yeah. And when they would have the meetings, would let them all come over because like there would be kids and stuff there too. They would have like a camp kind of thing set up. ⁓ wow. And they would come over and everyone would get to like swim at her house. I don't know. I just thought it was, that was really cool. she's like this lawyer lady, but she's like, come play in my pool. Yeah. That's so cute. so obviously in that time and even now in America, people face racism. ⁓ That was always a big part of what she did as just a human, like personally, but also ⁓ her career, that was a big part of what she stood for. She was always on the right side. Obviously always beating chest about something. and she unfortunately had to base it even within her own group. And it kind of put like, the Quakers. Yeah. I kind of put a sting on things for a little bit. Yeah. Look at all I'm gonna, what have you done? I don't want to, yeah. And I don't want to take from it because it's important because like I'm a white person. I'm, you know, it's her story. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna read the closure that she had from this experience ⁓ from that same article. So this close linking of the meeting house and Dickerson's house came to an end during annual sessions in 1995. Which is crazy to think about because I was like five years old. That's when I moved to America. Wow. So obviously it's 2026 now. It's a very long time ago, but not that long ago. You're not that old. Yeah. When Dickerson overheard two men in her home making disparaging remarks about her picture being on a calendar that hung on the wall. According to Dickerson, one of the men said, ⁓ Mahala got some black organization to put her picture on a calendar. When she confronted them, the response was, ⁓ I thought you were outside. Excuse me. I'm not. The calendar was actually produced by the Business and Professional Women's Foundation. This incident took place not long after Dickerson had received the prestigious Margaret Brent Award from the American Bar Association, whose other recipients have included Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, Anita Hill, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Dickerson wrote that after that event, Quakers were no longer in my home, but restricted to the meeting house area. Good for her. I never felt the same as the lack of sensitivity obvious to me by this racist interchange, though it did not matter to the other members. That is so tragic. Yeah. While local friends. That's her community. Exactly. And just like hear her story, even if you don't understand it. Like if someone feels a certain way, they feel ⁓ You can't take that from them. You can't change their mind. And as soon as people wrap their head around that and their ego is when they can start to have conversations with people that actually matter. Because even in just regular life, in y'know, at my job, if that's how they feel, that's how they feel. ⁓ You change that. You can have a conversation. You can apologize that they feel that way and explain or try to understand. but you. That's their reality. That's their reality. anyway, so local friends heard about this incident directly from Dickerson, others did not learn about it until the following year when friends gathered for annual sessions and discovered that Dickerson's house was off limits. ⁓ and friends felt lack of Dickerson's presence in the meeting house, so she didn't even go. Good for her. Yeah, she's like, you'll feel the lack of my presence. This uncomfortable situation continued for seven years. Throughout those years during annual sessions, Alaskan friends minus Dickerson sat in worship, seeking guidance about how to reconcile and heal the riff. So like they didn't give up at least, you know, but like those people. I feel like those people weren't the problem. to begin with, so that wasn't the solution, like how she felt about it, you know, until she got an apology, which I can understand. get an apology? You'll find out. oh no. Traveling ministers listened and tried to help. Clerks wrote messages to Dickerson saying that she was missed and asked and asking that she rejoin worship. Oh, her presence was missed. Yeah. Individual friends visited with her, but the relationship with the body was still broken. When Dickerson's book came out in 1998, the two- man? Yeah. Who's this man who ruined it for everyone? It was two guys. Per usual. When her book came out in 1998, the two men involved in the incident were surprised and offended that the incident was called racist. One of them. Yeah. What? Asshole. being white people. Yeah, we need to be better guys. Amen. I'm sorry. I can't take that. That's terrible. Yeah. One of them recalls that he unfairly chart 1998. I was two. Yeah, I was two years old. And these men are like, what? Man act like we're any better right now. One of them recalls that he felt unfairly charged as he had not said anything, either positive or negative when the other man made the offending comment. In a recent conversation with me, he said, I didn't have anything to apologize for. I was offended by the statement about the calendar. I didn't say anything to counter it. In hindsight, I might have. In 2002, if I knew I was gonna not be able to come to the pool party, then I would have said, hey, that's not very nice. Yeah, sir. In 2002. Silence. What is what is the saying? I don't know what you're trying to say. It's like silences acceptance or like silences. Silence is agreeing with what is happening. Yeah, you're not outwardly disagreeing. is acceptance. I can't. Dang. Somebody tell me what that quote is. Someone's probably screaming it. Yeah. Damn it, Anna. In 2002, two remarkable things happened. One is that Alaskan Friends hosted a spirit camp, an exchange between youth from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and from Alaska Friends Conference. which began during annual sessions. Dickerson, who was always open to young people and cared about their learning, agreed to meet these young friends in her living room. She was delighted that this spirit camp was taking place and was happy to share her story with them. Perhaps she saw this as the beginning of realizing her dream of using the space as a learning center. The second thing happened the next morning. Traveling friend Jan Hoffman was present. intending to lead a worship on developing an Alaskan faith and practice. ⁓ worship, a friend offered a message about longing to heal the rift with Dickerson and asking what it would take. Friend Jan the given words, must I restore what I have not stolen? Those words reached the ear and heart of the man who made a hurtful comment, but had not acknowledged the racism. He quietly slipped out of the meeting and went to Dickerson's house and offered his apology. At lunchtime, he returned accompanied by friend Mahala. It had taken seven years. Wow. But it felt like spring returning after a long, cold winter. Reconciliation had begun. My goodness. I am proud of her for standing her ground. Especially in a time in a community where, of course, she's a minority. But I am also very proud of that man. What was said that made him change his mind again? It was a script. was a piece of a scripture. and the last words were, ⁓ must restore what I have not stolen? ⁓ I thought she said that. No, he was listening to it. also like it's not her job to educate you on why what you said was offensive to her. Yeah. I think, know, I'm sure I've said a lot of crazy things that have offended people just because you don't know. So shut up. know what I mean? So yeah, I definitely learned a lot of interesting things about her. it's always interesting reading about someone who was very much of their faith because When I grew up, yeah, I grew up going to church every weekend, but I'm not a person of faith. know, like that's not... I've never been to church. Wow. I've never been to any sort of service or anything. It's very interesting. Looking back on it, like I didn't mind that I had to go. I gave my mom a hard time. It just seems so boring. I learned a lot. I like the stories. Yeah, but as a kid, I can see why you wouldn't want to go. It was as I got older, I was pretending my alarm didn't go off and then I hadn't taken a shower and she'd be like, OK, you're just going to go unshowered. Then that thing. Damn, So close So yeah, I learned a lot of cool things. But yeah, like I said, she passed in 2007. That's incredible. lived to be 95 years old. She left her homestead to one of her sons. He held on to it for quite some time. And then he started to kind of like parcel it off. The Quakers. still let them use it for quite some time. Like he let them use that part. ⁓ then when he passed away, they purchased 23 acres ⁓ the homestead land, including the center and the home. OK. ⁓ ⁓ right now they still use it as a meeting place. The Quakers do. ⁓ ⁓ hope they honor her greatly. Yeah, he passed away in 2019. There's a picture of her in their great hall. I'm sure there is. They're very proud of her. I'm proud of her. Yeah, that that article came from their like, organizational website. Friends are Quakers. Oh, each other friends. Gotcha. I should have said that. kept saying friends. I'm they're too. So yeah, that's a little bit about Mahala. What a wonderful lady. Yeah. I wish I could do a fraction of the things she did. Yeah. I just want to go to Alaska. Seriously, can we just go on a vacation to Alaska? I we should. would be a check. Yeah, I think we should. Let alone all the other. I've heard it's beautiful. More successful things that she did. And we just got to watch out for the bears. Yeah. Because black bears around here are cute. Grizzly bears are no joke. I see a grizzly bear. I'm like genuinely scared. I see a black bear. I'm like, I'll stay inside. My friend in college went to Alaska during the summertime and when they were doing the hiking trail, they had a tour guide with them and he had a pot and a pan on the back of his backpack. And they asked him why and he said it was his bear deterrent because like he would like bang it. So he'd be like black bears banging this pot and pan and running in zigzags like a crazy person. Or for grizzly bears, grizzly bears, I don't know if that deters grizzly bears. It's just for a second. It just it startles them. I feel like this ranger in Alaska kind of knew what he was talking about. Yeah, perhaps. Maybe just carry some bear spray. Yeah. But so I doubt even that would save you. Yeah, we should definitely take a trip to Alaska. On to the farmer's almanac. Yeah. So today is April 2nd. Future Jey is running around all over Hell and Creation. Oh, because Kitty... Why did you remind me? Our kitty that we were talking about in one of our first episodes, the stray cat that we caught around Christmas, we found her a home about... Couple weeks ago. Yeah, two weeks ago. ⁓ one of my really good friends, Ryan and his wife reached out to us because Anna has been, had been doing a really good job, you know, promoting Miss Kitty on Facebook, trying to find her a home. Yeah. ⁓ and so he reached out and we're really happy that they were able to take her. She's so cute. ⁓ but yeah, if you guys are listening to this, Today I'm running around like a crazy person because I accidentally booked myself. Triple booked. ⁓ booked myself. So I'll be starting my day early to drop Miss Kitty off to get her spay appointment. And then I'll be coming back home ⁓ picking Miss Stevie up to then bring her to the vet. And then we'll come home for a little bit. And then I get to go to the doctor myself all the way in Keene. And then I'll pick Ryan up to go pick up Miss Kitty after all that. And then bring him home. So and then come home. Good luck. Future Jeidan can listen to this episode while you do all that. So today, April 2nd is Maundy Thursday. I don't know if that's how you say that. Like I said, it's not Maundy. It's Thursday. Sorry. I didn't get it at first. Yeah, like I said, I've never been to church, so I don't know what any of these religious things that the I been to church means. I have been to church and I don't know what that is. Well, it's a Thursday before Easter. I looked it up. So happy Easter, everyone. Happy Easter, everybody. It's almost my birthday, too. Yeah. My last week of being 35 is happening right now. Yikes. And look at what you're doing. Running around like a crazy person. I also had to pull out a white hair from my beard the other day. looking forward to that. Well, it's a myth that if you pull it out, they come, there's like seven more to come in its place. That's a myth. That's good. The Velcro patent expired today in 1978. And today is the best day to paint and get married. Wow. So you married today, congratulations. The farmer's almanac says it's the best day to do that. So you pick very well. If you're painting today, you missed a spot. You can follow us Facebook Instagram YouTube and threads why not let's throw that in there this week Yeah, go for it @twotoolsnocluepodcast ⁓ head on over to tik-tok subscribe to our patreon at /twotoolsnoclue email us all your suggestions, funny stories, ⁓ ⁓ we're two tools that have no clue. Really anything like what that quote is. Say hi. Yeah. What quote is Anna trying to quote? We don't know at twotoolsnocluepodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening. We'll see you all soon. Next week. Well, you guys will see us. Bye bye. Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye