The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison. The novel takes place in Lorain, Ohio (Morrison's hometown), and tells the story of a young African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following the Great Depression. Set in 1941, the story is about how she is consistently regarded as "ugly" due to her mannerisms and dark skin. As a result, she develops an inferiority complex, which fuels her desire for the blue eyes she equates with "whiteness".

The novel is told from Claudia MacTeer's point of view. She is the daughter of Pecola's foster parents. In addition, there is an omniscient third-person narrative that includes inset narratives in the first person. The book's controversial topics of racism, incest, and child molestation have led to numerous attempts to ban the novel from schools and libraries in the United States.

Plot summary
In Lorain, Ohio, nine-year-old Claudia MacTeer and her ten-year-old sister Frieda live with their parents, a tenant named Mr. Henry, and Pecola Breedlove, a temporary foster child whose house was burned down by her unstable, alcoholic, and sexually abusive father. Pecola is a quiet, passive young girl who grows up with little money and whose parents are constantly fighting, both verbally and physically. Pecola is continually reminded of what an "ugly" girl she is by members of her neighborhood and school community. In an attempt to beautify herself, Pecola wishes for blue eyes. Additionally, most chapters' titles are extracts from the Dick and Jane paragraph in the novel's prologue, presenting a white family that may be contrasted with Pecola's. The chapter titles contain sudden repetition of words or phrases, many cut-off words, and no interword separations.

The novel, through flashbacks, explores the younger years of both of Pecola's parents, Cholly and Pauline, and their struggles as African Americans in a largely White Anglo-Saxon Protestant community. Pauline now works as a servant for a wealthier white family. One day in the novel's present time, while Pecola is doing dishes, drunk Cholly rapes her. His motives are largely confusing, seemingly a combination of both love and hate. After raping her a second time, he flees, leaving her pregnant.

Claudia and Frieda are the only two in the community who hope for Pecola's child to survive in the coming months. Consequently, they give up the money they had been saving to buy a bicycle, instead planting marigold seeds with the superstitious belief that if the flowers bloom, Pecola's baby will survive. The marigolds never bloom, and Pecola's child, who is born prematurely, dies. In the aftermath, a dialogue is presented between two sides of Pecola's deluded imagination, in which she indicates conflicting feelings about her rape by her father. In this internal conversation, Pecola speaks as though her wish for blue eyes has been granted, and believes that the changed behavior of those around her is due to her new eyes, rather than the news of her rape or her increasingly strange behavior.

Claudia, as narrator a final time, describes the recent phenomenon of Pecola's insanity and suggests that Cholly (who has since died) may have shown Pecola the only love he could by raping her. Claudia laments her belief that the whole community, herself included, has used Pecola as a scapegoat to make themselves feel prettier and happier.

Characters
 Pecola Breedlove: Her insanity at the end of the novel is her only way to escape the world where she cannot be beautiful and happy due to her family situation and the beauty and social standards of that time. She believes that having blue eyes would make her more accepted.
 Claudia MacTeer: Narrates the majority of the novel and is also a young black girl. She is the child of Pecola's foster parents and is Frieda's sister. She is not only Pecola's fostering sister but she is also considered to be her friend. She is an independent, mature, and passionate nine-year-old. Despite her relative naivete, she is one of few, if any, characters that feel sympathy for Pecola. Claudia is the polar opposite of Pecola. In the first chapter, she destroys her white dolls out of hatred of white people. By contrast, Pecola consistently acts on her desire to achieve white beauty standards. Claudia is raised in a stable home, always assured of her self-worth and surrounded by a strong network of family.
 Frieda MacTeer: Claudia's 10-year-old sister. Frieda is more enlightened to the world in comparison to her younger sister and Pecola. Frieda is courageous and unwavering. She is seen to defend both Claudia and Pecola within the novel. Frieda can be classified as determined, independent, and stubborn at times.
 Cholly Breedlove: Cholly is Pecola's father. Abusive and an alcoholic, Cholly's violent and aggressive behavior reflects his troublesome upbringing. In addition to being rejected by his father and discarded by his mother as a four-day-old baby, Cholly's first sexual encounter is ruined when it is interrupted by two white men, who force Cholly to continue while they watch and sneer. Traumatic events like these influence Cholly to become a violent husband and father who beats his wife and eventually rapes his daughter. These gestures of madness are said to be mingled with affection, as they are his way of showing love.
 Pauline "Polly" Breedlove: Pecola's mother, Mrs. Breedlove, is married to Cholly and lives the self-righteous life of a martyr, enduring her drunk husband and raising her two awkward children as well as she can. Mrs. Breedlove is a bit of an outcast herself with her shriveled foot and Southern background. She lives the life of a lonely and isolated character who escapes into a world of dreams, hopes, and fantasy that turns into the movies she enjoys viewing. However, after a traumatic event with a foul tooth, she relinquishes those dreams and escapes into her life as a housekeeper for a rich white family who gives her the beloved nickname "Polly".
 Sam Breedlove: Pecola's older brother. Sammy, as he is more often referred to in the novel, is Cholly and Mrs. Breedlove's only son. Sam's part in this novel is minimal. Like his sister Pecola, he is affected by the disharmony in their home and deals with his anger by running away.
 Auntie Jimmy: Cholly's great aunt, takes him in to raise him after his parents abandon him. She is friends with Miss Alice and is briefly ill, tended to by the medicine woman whom the locals call "M'Dear". Aunt Jimmy dies suddenly when Cholly is still a young boy during a meal of peach cobbler that was made by a friend, Esse Foster.
 Samson Fuller: Cholly Breedlove's father who abandoned Cholly before he was born. After Aunt Jimmy dies, Cholly runs off in search of Samson in Macon, Georgia, where he is left distraught and disappointed with his discovery.
 The Fishers: The rich, white couple who employ Pauline as their servant and as the caretaker of their young daughter.
 Geraldine: A socially conscious upper-class black woman in the community who exaggerates the fact that she is above traditional black stereotypes and is more "civilized" than other black families in Lorain, Ohio. When she feels that her husband isn't fulfilling her need for love, she finds a cat and pours her affection into it. Her lack of attention to anything but the cat causes unintended hatred for the cat from her son, whom she often neglects.
 Louis Junior: Geraldine's son, who bullies Pecola and blames her for accidentally killing his mother's beloved cat.
 Maginot Line (Marie): A prostitute who lives with two other prostitutes named China and Poland in an apartment above the one Pecola lives in. These ladies are ostracized by society, but teach Pecola a lot about being a social outcast, and offer her the support that few others do.
 Rosemary Villanucci: The MacTeers' next-door neighbor who constantly tries to get Claudia and Frieda in trouble.
 Mr. Yacobowski: The discriminatory white immigrant, owner of the grocery store where Pecola goes to buy Mary Janes.
 Maureen Peal: A light-skinned, green-eyed multiracial African-American girl Pecola's age who is described in the book as a "high yellow dream child" with long brown hair and green eyes. Maureen considers herself to be above dark-skinned African-American people. Frieda and Claudia mock Maureen, calling her "Meringue Pie".
 Soaphead Church: Born Elihue Whitcomb, he received his nickname, "Soaphead Church", for his hair and profession, and has proclaimed himself to be "Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams". He is a "light-skinned" West Indian failed preacher who hates all kinds of human touch. He considers himself to be a "misanthrope". He refuses to confront his homosexuality and therefore, the touch of little girls whom he views as innocent and "seductive" is the cleanest form of human touch that he pursues. He is also a religious hypocrite as a past preacher. Although someone who hates humans, as a "Reader, Adviser, and Interpreter of Dreams", he takes on the trouble of others, and works closely with them to help solve their problems. When Pecola approaches him asking for blue eyes, he tells her to give meat to his landlord's dog, and that her wish will be granted if the dog reacts. However, he secretly poisons the meat, and the dog dies, contributing to Pecola's delusions that she has blue eyes.

Author's intentions
When asked about her motivations for writing The Bluest Eye in an interview, Morrison stated that she wanted to remind readers "how hurtful racism is" and that people are "apologetic about the fact that their skin [is] so dark". Reminiscing about her own experience, she recalled: "When I was a kid, we called each other names but we didn't think it was serious, that you could take it in." Expanding on this point of self-esteem, Morrison elaborated that she "wanted to speak on behalf of those who didn't catch that [they were beautiful] right away. [She] was deeply concerned about the feelings of ugliness." As seen throughout The Bluest Eye, this idea of "ugliness" is conveyed through a variety of characters. For example, Pecola, the main character, wishes for blue eyes as a way to escape the oppression that results from her having dark skin. Through Pecola's characterization, Morrison seeks to demonstrate the negative impact racism can have on one's self-confidence and worth. As she concluded in her interview, she "wanted people to understand what it was like to be treated that way".

Morrison commented on her motivations to write the novel, saying, "I felt compelled to write this mostly because in the 1960s, black male authors published powerful, aggressive, revolutionary fiction or nonfiction, and they had positive racially uplifting rhetoric with them that were stimulating and I thought they would skip over something and thought no one would remember that it wasn't always beautiful."

Analysis

Black girlhood

Morrison's writing of the book began because she was "interested in talking about black girlhood". Jan Furman, professor of English at the University of Michigan, notes that the book allows the reader to analyze the "imprinting" factors that shape the identity of the self during the process of maturing in young black girls. She references parts in the book where the main characters are taught to feel less than human, specifically when the shopkeeper avoids touching Pecola's hand when giving her candy.

Susmita Roye, an associate professor of English at Delaware State University, notes that the novel emphasizes that living in a world defined by Euro-centric beauty standards creates a longing for whiteness, such as Pecola's desire for blue eyes, which attacks young black girls' confidence and perceived beauty. References to Shirley Temple and Dick and Jane serve similarly.

White lifestyle standards
The "Dick and Jane" book series was popular in the mid-20th century, and Morrison includes references to them in The Bluest Eye. They promoted the importance of the nuclear family and helped to foster literacy in young children as well. Morrison presents a more critical view of the novel's family standards. Morrison's graphic storytelling within The Bluest Eye challenged existing attitudes about keeping children's literature free of sex and violence. The lifestyle standards found in Dick and Jane were not achievable for many children who shared backgrounds similar to Pecola.

Debra Werrlein, professor at George Mason University, contends that the excerpts of "Dick and Jane" throughout the book project an image of an ideal family that contrasts with the family structures of the main characters. She argues that because the novel takes place in a time of post-World War II social sentiments, the "Dick and Jane" primer emphasizes the importance of raising children a certain way to mold the future of the United States. However, as Werrlein points out, the whiteness of these characters stood to represent the ideal American family. In addition, the string of letters describing Dick and Jane's perfect parents as strong and kind are used to contrast with Pecola's parents in the novel. Pecola's father is thus emasculated, Werrlein argues, because his behavior deviates from this standard for American family life. Finally, Werrlein claims that the black parents have experienced oppression throughout their lives, and that same oppression has negatively influenced their familial structure. Thus, racism is a prevalent factor in their broken homes.

Author Phillip Page focuses on the importance of duality in The Bluest Eye. He claims that Morrison presents an "inverted world", entirely opposite from the Dick and Jane story that is at the beginning of the novel. The idea of breaks and splitting is common, as seen in the context of the war occurring in the time period of the story, the split nature of Pecola's family, and the watermelon that Cholly observes break open during a flashback. Page argues that breaks symbolize the challenges of African-American life, as seen in the rip in the Breedloves' couch that symbolizes poverty, or the break in Pauline's tooth that ruins her marriage and family. He goes on to identify how each of the characters are broken personally, since Cholly's former and present life is described as chaotic and jumbled, and Pauline both is responsible for her biological family as well as the white family she works for. The epitome of this, Page argues, is seen in Pecola at the end of the novel. The events of her life, having broken parents in a broken family, have resulted in a totally fractured personality which drives Pecola into madness.

Internalized racism
In the article "Racism and Appearance in The Bluest Eye: A Template for an Ethical Emotive Criticism", Jerome Bump explains how the novel suggests that physical beauty is a virtue embedded in society. Bump asserts that the novel reveals the belief that the outside of people ultimately reflects their character and personality. This belief compromises people's judgement and they act upon internal bias. These biases are displayed throughout the novel, especially through the mistreatment of Pecola by family, friends and community.

Literary critic Lynn Scott argues that the constant images of whiteness in The Bluest Eye serve to represent society's perception of beauty, which ultimately proves to have destructive consequences for many of the characters in the novel. Scott explains that in the novel, superiority, power, and virtue are associated with beauty, which is inherent in whiteness. She further asserts that white beauty standards are perpetuated by visual images in the media as well as the attitude of Pecola's family. When Pauline first arrives in Lorain, she feels pressure to conform and begins to develop a construct of femininity based on the actresses such as Jean Harlow. Pecola is also surrounded by constant images that perpetuate white beauty standards, including references to Shirley Temple and an image of Mary Jane that appears on her candy wrappers. Scott believes that Pecola attempts to seek the power associated with whiteness, and in her attempt to conform, she develops a destructive desire for blue eyes.

Harihar Kulkarni, an author of a book on African-American feminist fiction literature, recognizes that these Euro-centric ideals of family and beauty present in The Bluest Eye are shown to be transferred generationally, often between female relationships. In addition to living in a white-dominant society, this intergenerational oppression manifests itself into shame and self-hatred as demonstrated through Pecola's character development.

In the article "Probing Racial Dilemmas in the Bluest Eye with the Spyglass of Psychology", Anna Zebialowicz and Marek Palasinski discuss the racial climate of the society set forth in the novel. Zebialowicz and Palasinski explain how Pecola struggles with her identity as a black girl: "Ethnic identity and gender dilemmas are still both anecdotally and empirically linked to a decrease in self-esteem, adaptiveness and well-being". Pecola's race and gender both work against her to create a complex form of oppression. Morrison's novel confronts self-hatred and destructive behaviors black women participate in to fit into the hegemonic image of beauty and whiteness.

Religion

Critic Allen Alexander argues that religion is an important theme in The Bluest Eye, since Morrison's work possesses a "fourth face" outside of the Christian Trinity, which represents "the existence of evil, the suffering of the innocent". Alexander claims Pecola's suffering stems from her attempts to rationalize her misfortune with the notion of an omnipotent God. He further argues that much of Pecola's story suggests the insufficiency of Christian beliefs for minorities who exist in a predominantly white society. This ideology damages Pecola and her mother, Pauline, who fully accepts Christianity and spends her time caring for a white family as opposed to her own. Alexander suggests that the image of a more human God represents a traditional African view of deities, better suiting the lives of the African-American characters.

Media and culture
In the essays "Disconnections from the Motherline: Gender Hegemonies and the Loss of the Ancient Properties; The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby" and "Maternal Interventions: Resistance and Power; The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby, Beloved, Paradise", Andrea O'Reilly, a women's studies professor, proclaims that African-American women pass on cultural knowledge to successive generations through the process of motherline: "the ancestral memory and ancient properties of traditional black culture". O'Reilly claims that The Bluest Eye portrays how attempting to assimilate to white American ideologies effectively undermines the motherline process for African-American women.

Jane Kuenz shows that Pecola conforms to what white society expects of her, as her affinity for Shirley Temple and other manifestations of whiteness illustrates the influence of the power of mass media.  Kuenz insists that The Bluest Eye demonstrates the impact of mass-produced images in a hegemonic society.

Violence
In the article "Treatment of Violence: A Study of Morrison's the Bluest Eye and Beloved", Shubhanku Kochar, a professor of English in India, argues that the theme of violence in the Bluest Eye is not discussed enough. Kochar asserts that the powerful white characters psychologically abuse people of non-white cultures and races, which results in a dominant theme of violence in the novel. She adds that psychoanalytical study focuses on these race-based tensions that consistently cause emotional harm. The Marxist frame targets class relations, while the feminist lens centers on violence perpetrated against women. Kochar argues that to comprehend the complex violence inflicted on Pecola, one must analyze the novel through the Marxist and Feminist lens in addition to the psychoanalytical lens.

Shame
J. Brooks Bouson, an English professor at Loyola University Chicago, claims that The Bluest Eye is a "shame drama and trauma narrative", that uses Pecola and its other characters to examine how people respond to shame. Bouson argues that some characters, like Claudia, show how people can respond violently to shame: Claudia does this by rejecting the racist system she lives in and destroying the white dolls she is given. However, most characters in the novel pass on their shame to someone below them on the social and racial ladder. For example, Soaphead Church comes from a family obsessed with lightening their skin tone, and passes on the shame of his African-American heritage by molesting young girls. Bouson suggests that all of the African-American characters in The Bluest Eye exhibit shame, and eventually much of this shame is passed onto Pecola, who is at the bottom of the racial and social ladder.

Genre/Style

Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye breaks the long tradition of narratives that discuss the hardships of war and depression in the 1940s, and according to University of Oxford professor Tessa Roynon, who studies African-American literature, she brings forth a unique and untold point of view in American historical fiction. Roynon argues that Morrison purposefully writes stories that defy the "American mainstream ideology" by focusing in on the realities of African-American life at the time. Critics like Abdellatif Khayati, professor at the Moroccan Cultural Studies Center, and librarian Sandra Hughes-Hassel argue that The Bluest Eye serves as a counter-narrative, a method of the telling the accounts of people whose stories are rarely told and deliberately hidden. In an interview, Morrison stated: "my job becomes how to rip that veil drawn over proceedings too terrible to relate. The exercise is also critical for any person who is black, or who belongs to any marginalized category, for, historically, we were seldom invited to participate in the discourse even when we were its topic." In this novel, Morrison depicts a protagonist, Pecola, a young black girl who is a victim of this perpetual racism and denial that Morrison discusses.

As the Civil Rights Movement began to decline in favor of conservative ideals and white power, American culture soon fostered a national identity that excluded anyone who was not white, according to English professor Catherine Romagnolo. One example of this is that historically racist ideologies influence the character Soaphead Church in the novel, as University of Oxford professor Tessa Roynon, who studies African-American literature, explains:  "the racial theories of Hume, Kant, Jefferson, and others, derived from innovations in classificatory systems by scientists such as Linnaeus, have been collected in useful readers such as Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze's anthology Race and the Enlightenment (1997). The well-read, race-obsessed Soaphead Church in The Bluest Eye is the inevitable product of these theories." As Khayati explains, these perpetual racist beliefs shape Pecola's self destructiveness, and she is suspicious of even her own blackness, and desires the characteristics of a white person, like those in the Dick and Jane primers. Khayati says The Bluest Eye shows how the historic white narrative creates an "epistemic violence of the Other [which] operates through the internalization of the self-as-other. Pecola exists only in the image reflected by the Other." Romagnolo argues that just as Pecola's rape is concealed throughout the story, the novel exposes a history of failed pursuits of hiding the racist and sexist establishments that directly provoke each character's hardships.

While Morrison was a notable female writer, she was quick to deny her works being categorized as "feminist", as she believed the title denies the specific necessities of black women. Rather than depict strong female protagonists, Morrison created characters who are actually defeated by the racism and sexism of the historic time period. Anne Salvatore, a professor of English at Rider University, interprets this failure of the "anti heroine" as a stark contrast to the typical bildungsroman, where a male character defeats obstacles and grows from experience. Instead, in The Bluest Eye, Pecola fails to develop an individual identity in the face of an oppressive society, and her self-hatred forces her to retreat from reality completely.

The points of view in the novel reveal a multi-perspectival post-1945 style. According to Roynon, Morrison combines three narrators: two revealing Claudia MacTeer—one is a child narrator and one is an adult narrator looking back on  childhood—and one omniscient third-person narrator who connects the many tragedies of the characters. By the end of the novel, the jumbled words of the Dick and Jane primer, as well as the increasingly confusing chapters, hint at Pecola's descent into madness.  Roynon suggests this breakdown in the novel's structure represents a destruction of the harmful ideologies which Morrison's stories seeks to reject.

Reception
The novel received minimal critical attention when first published; however, it was placed on many university reading lists in black-studies departments, which promoted further recognition. Morrison was praised for her handling of difficult themes: critic Haskel Frankel said, "Given a scene that demands a writer's best, Morrison responds with control and talent." The first major sign that the book would succeed was an extremely positive review in The New York Times in November 1970. Morrison was also positively reviewed for her break from the status quo of usual novels from the time period, writing to a wider audience and focusing on black subculture in the 1940s, rather than the military culture of the time. African-American critic Ruby Dee wrote, "Toni Morrison has not written a story really, but a series of painfully accurate impressions." Morrison was additionally praised for her wide coverage of emotion in the novel, extending from Pecola Breedlove's quiet descent into madness, to Cholly Breedlove's skewed mindsets.

Critics picked up on Morrison's shortcomings as a first time published author. A common critique of her writing included her language in the novel, as it was often viewed as being made too simple for the reader. Early critics were also ambivalent about Morrison's portrayal of the black woman as an object in society rather than a person, only ever going so far as to bring this fact to light and rarely commenting past it. The most in-depth analysis of the novel began with feminist critique. There were also notable differences between African-American critics (who often identified more with the characters of the novel) and Euro-American critics (who often only focused on the actual writing of the novel).

Within classrooms across the country, educators also disagreed over whether or not the novel was appropriate for children. One African-American educator, founder of the IFE Academy of Teaching & Technology Shekema Silveri, has stated: "Teaching novels like The Bluest Eye helps us break down barriers with students. After reading the book, I had a student who said that she is the product of incest. And I've had a student who said that she was molested by her uncle. Books allow us to help them heal in ways that we as educators couldn't help them heal on our own." In an interview, American Library Association (ALA) editor Robert P. Doyle also recognized the potential of novels like The Bluest Eye to effect positive change within schools, stating that, "The book community realized that [they] have not only an opportunity, but a responsibility to engage the American public in a conversation about the First Amendment as it relates to books and literature." The Bluest Eye is one of many novels on the ALA's lists of challenged books, appearing as 15th out of 100 of the most challenged novels in the most recent decade.

As time passed, more reviews and analyses were written in praise of Morrison's writing of the "colonization of the mind", her critique of white versus black beauty standards, and even began to analyze her use of simplistic language, calling it a stylistic choice rather than a pitfall of the novel. Despite initial controversies surrounding the subject matter of The Bluest Eye, Morrison was eventually recognized for her contributions to literature when she received the Nobel Prize in 1993, over 20 years following the original publication of the novel.

Book-banning controversies
The Bluest Eye has frequently landed on American Library Association's (ALA) list of most challenged books because it contains offensive language, sexually explicit material, and controversial issues, as well as depicting child sexual abuse and being unsuited for the age group. The ALA placed it on the Top Ten Most Challenged Books Lists for 2006 (5), 2014 (4), 2013 (2), 2020 (9), and 2022 (3). Ultimately, it became the 34th-most banned book in the United States 1990–1999, the 15th-most banned book 2000–2009, and the 10th-most banned book 2010–2019.

Montgomery County, Maryland
The Bluest Eye was legally challenged on February 10, 1998, by a mother from Montgomery County, Maryland, named Christine Schwalm. She brought The Bluest Eye and four other books to the attention of the Montgomery County school board, describing The Bluest Eye and others as "lewd, adult books". Ms. Schwalm argued for the removal of the book from the syllabus because she deemed them to be "at odds with the character education programme" promoted within the schools. In court, Ms Schwalm read a passage specifically from The Bluest Eye in order to demonstrate the inappropriate nature of the content within the novel. The passage in question featured Soaphead Church and presented pedophelia and child molestation, leading to Schwalm's objections to its presence in schools. The book, however, was not removed from the curriculum as Schwalm's objections were not upheld in court.

Baker City, Oregon
In March 1999, The Bluest Eye was successfully banned from Baker High School language arts program in Baker City, Oregon, after multiple complaints from parents about the content of the book. The original source of contention for this novel was the rape scene between Cholly and Pecola. Later, the book was banned for being "sexually explicit", "unsuited for age group", and containing "controversial issues". The decision was made by Baker City schools superintendent Arnold Coe, and was supported by the school board.

Claremont, New Hampshire
In 1999, parents of students at Stevens High School in Claremont, New Hampshire, objected to the book's being assigned to lower grade levels. The case started when parents complained to the school that they thought the book contained content that was sexually inappropriate for children. As a result, the school decided to remove the book from freshmen and sophomore reading lists, and deemed that the novel was only "suitable" for juniors and seniors. In addition, the school also ruled that teachers must send reading lists to parents early on in the year to get their approval as to which books their children could read and discuss in class. While some parents would have preferred heavier restrictions against the book at Stevens High School, they were glad that action was taken, as they viewed The Bluest Eye to be an "adult book".

Littleton, Colorado
In August 2005 in Littleton, Colorado, the Littleton school board voted to ban The Bluest Eye from reading lists, where it was listed as optional, and remove it from the libraries of the Heritage and Arapahoe high schools, despite the recommendation of a committee that the book be restricted to juniors and seniors. The ban was enacted in response to a complaint received by a parent of a ninth-grader student who was on the board and who took issue with the novel's sexual content, specifically the scene of Pecola's rape. Students protested the ban by reading passages from the book in their school libraries. In response to the ban, Camille Okoren, a student attending the sit-in acknowledged "students hear about rape and incest in the news media. It's better to learn about those subjects from a Nobel Prize winner ... and to discuss it with a teacher in class." Ultimately, the book was reinstated after English teacher Judy Vlasin filed an application to the board explaining why it should not be banned.

Howell, Michigan
In February 2007, a group called LOVE (the Livingston Organization for Values in Education) challenged four books in the Howell High School curriculum, including The Bluest Eye, Black Boy by Richard Wright, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and The Freedom Writers Diary. The National Coalition Against Censorship published a letter in response to the criticism, claiming that the scenes which involve sex "represent small but essential parts of the novels, consistent with the kind of material that high school students frequently read." Their letter also argued that the books in question "are widely recognized as works of significant literary and artistic merit", and "are widely taught in high schools and colleges around the country".

Despite controversy, the curriculum was in fact approved in a 5-to-2 decision by the Howell School Board. In response to the legal concerns raised by LOVE, Livingston Prosecutor David Morse, the Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, and the U.S. Attorney confirmed that no laws, state or federal, had been broken by including the selected books in the curriculum. Since the case, the books have been included in 11th grade advanced English curriculum.

Adams County, Colorado
In 2013, a group of parents challenged The Bluest Eyes inclusion in Legacy High School's AP English curriculum due to the book's sexual content and "subject matter" of a girl getting raped by her father. In their petition launched through Change.org, the parents argued that they "did not want developmentally inappropriate and graphic books used for classroom instruction". In a formal petition submitted to the superintendent, parent Janela Karlson claimed the introduction of sexually graphic material including rape and incest could be developmentally harmful to minors as supported by scientific research.

In response to the challenge, Legacy High School student Bailey Cross created a petition to maintain the book in the curriculum, and expressed the importance of retaining the book because "Banning and censoring this tells students that ... racism, incest, rape, abuse, are taboo subjects that should not be mentioned." Numerous teachers also spoke out against the ban, stating that the book was used to analyze Morrison's writing style and that banning it could set a precedent for censorship in the district. Ultimately, the Adams County School Board voted to retain the Superintendent's original ruling of the 2010 challenge, which not only restricted the book to AP curriculum but also required teachers to notify parents before their child read the book.

Ohio
In September, 2013, The Bluest Eye was challenged by the Ohio Board of Education President Debe Terhar. This book was listed as recommended reading in the state's Common Core standards, but was challenged at the state's Board of Education, with teachers pushing to ban it from the classroom due to its explicit content. Terhar took particular issue when it came to the scene regarding Pecola being raped by her father. Although not seen commenting on previous challenges to her books, Morrison specifically commented on this particular incident: "I mean if it's Texas or North Carolina as it has been in all sorts of states. But to be a girl from Ohio, writing about Ohio having been born in Lorain, Ohio. And actually relating as an Ohio person, to have the Ohio, what—Board of Education?—is ironic at the least".

Debe Terhar, State Board of Education President and Cincinnati Republican, called the novel "pornographic", and suggested the book be removed from the state's teaching guidelines. Mark Smith, Ohio Christian University president, said, "I see an underlying socialist-communist agenda ... that is anti what this nation is about." The American Civil Liberties Union wrote a letter to Ms. Terhar, explaining the book was "a bold, unflinching look at the pain and damage that internalized racism can inflict on a young girl and her community". Despite the publicity, The Bluest Eye remained on the recommended reading list.

Wake County, North Carolina

In July, 2014, East Wake High School in North Carolina removed The Bluest Eye from their reading lists due to what was deemed inappropriate content. In particular, the school highlighted the fact that the book contains "a description of a father raping his daughter". Furthermore, East Wake High assigned an alternative book to their reading list, The Color Purple. The Bluest Eye, however, was still left available within their libraries for students to read if they wish at their own discretion, as the school wished to make clear that they were not "denying students access to that level of literature".

Northville, Michigan
In 2016, The Bluest Eye was challenged in the Northville, Michigan, school district after a parent filed a complaint petitioning for the removal of the book from the AP Literature and Composition curriculum, stating the book's portrayal of sexual assault was not age-appropriate. A committee, consisting of a school administrator and other educators, evaluated the book and recommended that the board vote to maintain the book in the AP curriculum and allow students the option to choose an alternative book. The committee announced their decision explaining that removing the book "would eliminate the opportunity for deep study by our student[s] on critical themes in our society". Despite some support for the ban, many parents and students objected to it, with one student stating, "The purpose of AP literature as a class is to expand our understanding and enlarge our world, not make us more comfortable inside boxes of ignorance." Parents and students opposed to the ban were also supported by national organizations including the National Council of Teachers of English, NCAC, and ALA. After voting, the board ultimately sided with the evaluation of the committee and retained the book in the AP curriculum.

Buncombe County, North Carolina

In September 2017, The Bluest Eye was challenged at North Buncombe High School in Buncombe County, North Carolina, by a parent, Tim Coley. Tim Coley, a self-described "Christian single dad", took notice of the book for its sexual content and formed a committee concerning the removal of the book in the English honors academics. Coley told WLOS-13 "It's astounding really that somebody thinks it's OK for kids to be reading this in school." Eric Grant, the English coordinator, defended the book by making the committee aware that the school offered an alternative assignment for those who were not comfortable with the book. He also mentioned that the book was in the syllabus that was handed out at the beginning of the year. The committee was given time to read the book and determine if there was academic value offered from the book.

Wentzville, Missouri
In January 2022, the Wentzville, Missouri, school board voted 4–3 to ban The Bluest Eye, going against the review committee's 8–1 vote to retain the book in the district's libraries. The ban included three other books, as well: George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, and Kiese Laymon's Heavy.

Wasilla, Alaska

In September, 2023, The Bluest Eye was challenged, along with 56 other books, by a newly created District Wide Library Committee, in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Alaska. This advisory committee was created and individual members selected by current Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District School Board members, in a change from the district's standard operating procedures. The committee was tasked with seeking out specific titles on a list, as well as finding additional book titles for banning. The committee incorrectly identified Toni Morrison's prize-winning book, along with others, as violating a state statute for distributing "indecent material" that is "harmful to minors" age 16 and under. The School Board will consider recommendations from the advisory committee at a time and in a process as yet undetermined. In the meantime, The Bluest Eye and all other 56 challenged books are unavailable to students in all schools in the district.

Adaptations
An adaptation of The Bluest Eye by Lydia R. Diamond was first performed in Chicago, Illinois in 2005, before seeing further adaptations around the United States.
 The Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois commissioned Lydia R. Diamond to adapt the novel into a full-length stage production. This play was developed through the Steppenwolf for Young Adults and the New Plays Initiative, where it received its world premiere in February 2005. The play was reprised in Chicago at the Steppenwolf Theatre in October 2006. The Bluest Eye received its off-Broadway premiere at the New Victory Theater in New York in November, 2006.
 In 2010, Phantom Projects Educational Theatre Group presented the Lydia R. Diamond adaptation at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, California.
 Rapper Talib Kweli used the book as an inspiration for his song "Thieves in the Night" with Mos Def on the Blackstar album.
 In 2017, the Guthrie Theatre presented a production of The Bluest Eye, produced and adapted by Lydia R. Diamond, and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. This production is said to give the book "a poetic staging", staging the entire play in one act. The adapted script presents the abuse in a stylized form. The production was critically appraised, with the role of Pecola being particularly celebrated.

Bibliography
 Enright, Anne. "Eyes that Bite" London Review of Books Vol.45 No.1 January 2023. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n01/anne-enright/eyes-that-bite
 "Censorship Dateline: Schools". Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom 62.5 (2013): 184–85. https://journals.ala.org/index.php/nif/issue/viewIssue/254/12.
 "English in the News". The English Journal, vol. 89, no. 4, 2000, pp. 113–117. https://www.jstor.org/stable/821994.
 Foerstel, Herbert N. Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Westport, US: Greenwood Press, 2002. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED472702.
 "In Broomfield, CO 'Bluest Eye' Is Removed Without Being 'Banned'". National Coalition Against Censorship. August 23, 2013. https://ncac.org/update/in-broomfield-co-bluest-eye-is-removed-without-being-banned
 Kochar, Shubhanku. "Treatment Of Violence: A Study Of Morrison's The Bluest Eye And Beloved". Language In India 13.1 (2013): 532–622. Master's Degree Dissertation.http://www.languageinindia.com/jan2013/shubhankumphildissertation2.pdf.
 Mcdowell, Margaret B. "Morrison, Toni". Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature, edited by Steven Serafin and Alfred Bendixen, Continuum, 2005.
 Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Knopf, 2000.
 Morrison, Toni. "Toni Morrison Talks About Her Motivation For Writing". via YouTube. National Visionary Leadership Project, 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8Zgu2hrs2k.
 "Toni Morrison - Biographical". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1993/morrison-bio.html.
 "Schools Limit Readership Of Book By Nobel Winner". Orlando Sentinel. June 18, 1999. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1999-06-18/news/9906180152_1_bluest-eye-toni-morrison-stevens-high.
 Werrlein, Debra T. "Not so Fast, Dick and Jane: Reimagining Childhood and Nation in the Bluest Eye". MELUS 30.4 (2005): 53–72. via JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/30029634.
 Bump, Jeromo. "Family Systems Therapy and Narrative" in Womack, Kenneth and Knapp, John Newark (eds), Reading the Family Dance: Family Systems Therapy and Literature Study. Newark: UP, 2003. pp. 151–70
 Lucky, Crystal J. "Ancestral Wisdom in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye". Proteus: A Journal of Ideas 21.2 (2004): 21–26.
 Waxman, Barbara Frey. "Girls Into Women: Culture, Nature, and Self-Loathing" in Fisher, Jerilyn and Silbert, Ellen S. (eds), Women in Literature: Reading Through the Lens of Gender, Westport: Greenwood, 2003. pp. 47–49.

See also
Doll experiments

References

Novels by Toni Morrison
African-American novels
Novels about racism
Novels about rape
Novels set in Ohio
Censored books
Book censorship in the United States
American novels adapted into plays
Holt, Rinehart and Winston books
1970 American novels
1970 debut novels

The Bluest Eye


Frederick Stone (February 7, 1820 – October 17, 1899) was a lawyer who served two terms as a U.S. Congressman from the fifth district of Maryland from 1867 to 1871.

Education and career
Stone was born in Leonardtown, Maryland, and graduated from St. John's College of Annapolis, Maryland in 1839.  He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841, beginning practice in Port Tobacco, Maryland.  He was appointed by the legislature in 1852 as one of the commissioners to revise the rules of pleading and practice in the State courts.

Stone was the grandson of Michael J. Stone, the younger brother of Thomas Stone, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. During the Abraham Lincoln assassination trial in May & June 1865, Frederick Stone and Thomas Ewing, Jr. appeared as defense counsels for Dr. Samuel Mudd and David Herold. Their defense is generally credited with helping Dr. Mudd avoid the death penalty.

Stone was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1864 and 1865, and was elected as a Democrat to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses (serving March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1871).  He was a member of the Constitutional convention of 1867 for Charles County and unsuccessfully sought reelection in 1870. He later aligned himself with the Republican Party sometime after 1880 and served as an associate judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1881 to 1890. He died at Idaho, his country home near La Plata, Maryland in 1899, and is interred in Mount Rest Cemetery of La Plata.

Personal life
Frederick Stone married Maria Louisa Stonestreet on June 10, 1852. The couple had four daughters: Annie, Elizabeth Ellen, Jennie, and Maria Louisa. Maria died in November 1867, and he married her sister, Jennie Stonestreet Ferguson, on June 15, 1870.

Stone died October 17, 1899.

Notes

References

External links

1820 births
1899 deaths
Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals
Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates
St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland
Stone family
19th-century American politicians
19th-century American judges
19th-century American Episcopalians

Frederick Stone


Pan Mikołaj Powała z Taczewa (Sir Mikołaj Powała of Taczew) of Ogończyk coat of arms was a Polish knight in the Middle Ages. He took part in the Battle of Grunwald of 1410. He was also one of the Polish knights to represent the king at the tournament at Buda held to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Lubowla.

While not as famous nor as symbolic as Zawisza Czarny, in the 20th century he was made a protagonist of several films, among them the 1970 Pierścień księżnej Anny (Ring of Duchess Anna).

There is a hill (mound) named after him outside Taczew. However his Castle is now in ruins. Descendants of Pan Mikołaj Powała z Taczewa also fought in the battles for Vienna in Austria. Their family coat of arms is engraved in the Cathedral of Vienna.

Polish knights

Powała of Taczew


The Khasi Hills () are a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in the Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connect with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. The Khasi Hills, and the whole Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range, are in the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion.

The Khasi Hills, and the entire Meghalaya state, was administratively part of Assam before 1970. In older sources in particular, the alternative transcription Khasia Hills is seen.

The region is inhabited mainly by tribal Khasi dwellers, which are traditionally in various chieftainships, states known as the Khasi Hill States. One of its capitals, Sohra, is considered one of the wettest places in the world.
The majority of Khasis are Presbyterians followed by Catholics and Anglicans.

The region came under the Khasi Hills district, which was divided into the West Khasi Hills and East Khasi Hills districts on 28 October 1976.

The highest peak is Lum Shyllong which is  high. It is situated a few kilometers south of Shillong town.

Administration

Administratively, the Khasi Hills used to be a part of the Khasi Hills district. The district was divided into East Khasi Hills district and West Khasi Hills district on 28 October 1976. On 4 June 1992, the Ri-Bhoi District was carved out of the East Khasi Hills District.

Demographics
The population of the region according to the 2011 Census is 1,468,223.

Religion

A vast majority of 1,128,769 people in Khasi Hills follow Christianity of various denominations, mostly Presbyterian and Catholic. Hinduism is mainly followed by 182,353 people, mainly non-tribals (Bengalis, Nepalis, Biharis, Marwaris etc.) living in the region. A small segment of Khasi tribe members numbering around 127,735 still follow their own indigenous tribal Religion called "Ka Niam Khasi", Islam is a tiny minority with around 17,471 people following it. 0.81 percent follow other religions.

Language

Khasi is spoken by 1,149,178 people as their mother tongue, Garo is spoken by 88,533. While Bengali and Nepali come in at 3rd and 4th position, spoken by 56,086 and 48,010 people respectively. A vast number of non-tribals can be found in the multi-diverse East Khasi Hills district.

See also
Garo Hills
Khasi and Jaintia Hills
Patkai

References

Further reading

Hills of Meghalaya
Tourism in Northeast India

Khasi Hills


MIL-STD-1553 is communication that happens between the parts of most US military aircraft, but is also present on other platforms. The cabling allows the parts to be connected to the network so that removing one part doesn't impact the network. Here are some of the roles of the parts on the network:
 Bus Controllers : The "boss" of the bus. The Bus Controller decides when traffic flows on the network. There is usually only one Bus Controller but there can be many in some usages, this depends on which notice the organization follows
 Remote Terminals: The "doers" of the bus. Remote terminals receive and respond to the bus controller. They perform some function for the platform.
 Bus Monitors: The "listeners" of the bus. These devices usually do not respond until something specific causes them to respond. A Bus Monitor is a non-addressable Remote Terminal. This means that the Bus Controller cannot directly communicate with it. Usually when there needs to be a backup Bus Controller, a Bus Monitor can "know" when the Bus Controller has had a problem, and take over quickly so that communication can keep flowing.

How many devices
The network of devices arranged above are usually distributed throughout the plane where designers need the "doers" to perform their function. Bus Controllers are usually somewhat centrally located towards the middle, but this isn't always the case. There needs to be one Bus Controller and there really needs to be one Remote Terminal, otherwise there is no need for the network. The maximum number of remote terminals is 30. There is no limit to the number of Bus Monitors because they do not need to be talked to directly by the Bus Controller

How does it work
The Bus Controller initiates a conversation. Sometimes it talks to one part, sometimes two parts, sometimes all of the parts. The application inside the Bus Controller sends data to the part of the device that controls communication. This device changes that data into a Manchester Encoded signal and puts that data on the physical cable. All Remote Terminals can listen to that signal at more or less the same time and decide for themselves if they would like to "take action." Some actions include "turning off" or "tell me how you are doing" (this is known as reporting the results of a built in test). Only one device on the network can talk at a time, or no device can understand what's trying to be communicated on the network, this is called a collision.

Quick Facts
 The bus is capable of sending 1 million bits a second.
 The communication is broken up into things most organizations call messages. When the Bus Controller talks to one Remote Terminal, and that Remote Terminal responds, that's a message. When the Bus Controller talks to all Remote Terminals at the same time, that's a different kind of message. There are 10 types of messages in total.
 Messages are broken up into words. There are three types of word. The Command word, used by the Bus Controller at the start of a message; the Status word, used by a Remote Terminal responding to the Bus Controller; The Data word, used by both Bus Controllers and Remote Terminals to send data.
 Each word takes 20 micro seconds to transmit on the bus. The first 3 microseconds are used to tell the device "What kind of word is this." The next 16 microseconds are used to send data. The last microsecond is used to send the parity bit, which can indicate if something happened on the bus and the word became garbled.

What else do I need to know
The protocol spec doesn't tell people that use it how to use it, only what it can do. This is like giving a child lego blocks but with no instructions on what to build. Lots of different organizations have used those lego blocks to build things that don't work together or work very differently than other networks.

Computer buses
Computer protocols
Military of the United States
Standards

MIL-STD-1553


An intergenerational contract is an agreement between different generations. It assumes that future generations will honor the contract and provide a service to a generation that has done the same service for an older generation.

The most common use of the term is in social security and refers to the consensus  to provide pensions for the retired generations through payments made by the working generations.

The use of the word contract is not entirely accurate as the next generation enters the agreement without consent.

Society

Intergenerational contract


The Seed of Evil is the second science fiction collection by Barrington J. Bayley. The book collects thirteen short stories published between 1962 and 1979, several of which are original to this volume.

Contents
 "Sporting with the Chid" (1979)
 "The God Gun" (1979)
 "The Ship That Sailed the Ocean of Space" (1974, variant of "Fishing Trip" (1962))
 "The Radius Riders" (1962)
 "Man in Transit" (1972)
 "Wizard Wazo's Revenge" (1979)
 "The Infinite Searchlight" (1979)
 "Integrity" (1964)
 "Perfect Love" (1979)
 "The Countenance" (1964)
 "Life Trap" (1979)
 "Farewell, Dear Brother" (1964)
 "The Seed of Evil" (1973)

Literary significance and reception
In a survey of Bayley's work, Rhys Hughes assessed several stories in the collection along with the collection as a whole. He reviewed "Integrity", a darkly comic satire about a libertarian who frees the cells of his body, as among Bayley's best work while the Ballardian "Man in Transit" was "less clever and more accessible". He thought that The Seed of Evil, being a retrospective of Bayley's early work, is weaker than The Knights of the Limits "but even these dazzle and delight". He cites "Farewell, Dear Brother" as being part of a body of work that contributed as much to the success of New Worlds as the more famous stories of Brian Aldiss and Thomas M. Disch.

Brian Stableford described "Sporting with the Chid" as "marvellously gruesome" and compared "The Seed of Evil" with Melmoth the Wanderer. However, he felt that few of the other stories matched those two, singling out "The Radius Riders," "The God Gun" and "The Infinite Searchlight". Stableford concluded that the best of the collection was the "simple but elegant" "Man in Transit". While admitting that The Seed of Evil was inferior to The Knight of the Limits, Stableford's verdict was that "[a] second-rate Bayley collection has as much to offer as most collections in this day and age."

In a blog post about Bayley, Alastair Reynolds commented that, in particular, "Sporting with the Chid" was "the product of a truly lunatic and unfettered mind," adding: "[s]how that one to the next person who says SF is undeserving of literary respectability..."

References

Science fiction short story collections
1979 short story collections
Allison and Busby books

The Seed of Evil


Songo Lock is the last surviving lock of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal, a 19th-century canal in southern Maine, United States.  The lock is located on the Songo River, just above its confluence with the Crooked River at the northern end of Sebago Lake State Park in the town of Naples.  The lock, built in 1830, is now used primarily during the summer months by pleasure craft.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated as a Maine Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the  American Society of Civil Engineers in 2001.

Description and history
The Cumberland and Oxford Canal was conceived in the early 19th century as a means to transports raw materials and goods between the harbor of Portland, Maine and the upland interior as far north as Bridgton and Harrison on Long Lake.  The canal was completed in 1830, the year Songo Lock was finished, and operated as a commercial transport enterprise until 1870.  Songo Lock was one of the 28 locks built for the canal, and provides a major transit point between Sebago Lake and Brandy Pond, the southernmost portion of Long Lake.  The lock underwent enlargement and some modernization in 1911 by the Sebago Lake Improvement Company, which was developing the area as a summer resort destination.  It is now maintained by the state as part of Sebago Lake State Park.

When built in 1830, the lock was  long and  wide, and was built to one side of an artificial rubblestone island, part of a scheme to divert the slow-flowing river around the construction site.  The sides of the lock are granite, and its original control gates were wooden.  When the lock was rebuilt in 1911, it was enlarged to be  long and  wide, it was given iron gates, and the walls were faced in concrete.

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Cumberland County, Maine

References

Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Locks on the National Register of Historic Places
Buildings and structures completed in 1830
Transportation buildings and structures in Cumberland County, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland County, Maine
Historic district contributing properties in Maine

Songo Lock


All Saints Church in Palmerston North, New Zealand, is an Anglican heritage-registered church designed by eminent architect Frederick de Jersey Clere. The church has been closed since 2013 over concerns about earthquake resistance but there are plans to strengthen the structure.

Location
Bishop Octavius Hadfield purchased the land for the church in 1875. The section is located just off the Square in Church Street. The Grand Hotel, also a category I listed building, is located directly opposite on the north side of Church Street.

History
The foundation stone for the first church on the site was laid by Louisa Snelson, the wife of Palmerston North's founding father, George Snelson, on 29 September 1875. Saint George was chosen as the patron saint. The first building soon ran out of room and in 1881–82, a larger church was erected, with the original building becoming the transept. This building was soon after enlarged by adding a southern aisle.

In 1883, Clere became the architect for the Anglican Diocese of Wellington and during his career, he designed over 100 churches for them. Clere was commissioned in 1905 by Archdeacon Charles Coleridge Harper to prepare plans for a new church; this was to have been the third church built on the land. His first design was rejected but the need for a new church remained and in 1910, the existing timber church was moved to the rear of the site to make room for a new building. In 1913, Clere was once more commissioned to prepare an architectural design.

Clere designed the church in an English Gothic architectural style emphasising bricks as the construction material; he used the English bond pattern. The church provides seating for 950 people. John Henry Meyer was the builder and he commenced work in mid-February 1913. The laying of the foundation stone on 7 November 1913 by Bishop Sprott was marred by very bad weather. The construction of the brick church was supervised by Herbert Clere, the architect's son, from his Palmerston North office. The opening ceremony was held by Bishop Sprott from Wellington on Wednesday, 6 May 1914. Bishop Sprott consecrated the altar as part of the opening ceremony, but the church itself was not consecrated due to a rule by the diocese that churches will only be consecrated once they have become free of debt. Consecration of the church was initially expected to happen on All Saints' Day (1 November) of that year, but the NZ£1,500 of remaining debt of the NZ£7,800 completion cost could not be raised in time. The consecration was undertaken on Sunday, 29 October 1916, by Bishop Sprott.

Interior features
The first stained glass window was installed soon after the church opened. It is installed in the east wall of the side chapel, and commemorates early parishioners James Skerman and his wife. The second stained glass window was installed just before the building's consecration to commemorate Henry Scott McKellar, one of the founders of the Anglican Church in New Zealand. The Great East Window was installed in 1924 as a memorial to soldiers who died in World War I. The Scout and Guide Corner holds a memorial lamp to victims of the Tangiwai disaster on Christmas Eve of 1953. Frank Guernsey carved the altar from Oamaru stone in 1939, and the reredos (an altarpiece) from kauri in 1944. The organ was installed in 1929.

Heritage registration
All Saints Church was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now known as Heritage New Zealand as a category I heritage building on 16 November 1989 with registration number 191.

Closure
Following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, territorial authorities throughout the country commissioned structural assessments of buildings used by the public. Palmerston North City Council found that All Saints Church achieved just 3% of the strength required by the New Zealand building code, and the parish administration thus announced in November 2012 that the church would be closed on 1 April 2013 after that year's Easter service. Only a few months later, the July 2013 Seddon earthquake caused some cracking in the brickwork. The church suffered some minor damage in the 2014 Eketahuna earthquake; mortar and some more bricks cracked, and a stone figure fell off the altar and broke. In April 2014, it was reported that earthquake strengthening would cost circa NZ$4 million, but that efforts were underway to fund-raise that amount. The parish formally resolved in October 2015 that the church be strengthened.

List of vicars

The following vicars have served since the first church was built on the site:

 Rev J. A. Newth (1878–1880)
 Rev J. Lloyd Keating (1880–1882)
 Rev W. A. Leech (1883–1884)
 Rev H. E. Copinger (1884–1887)
 Rev H. B. Harvey (1887–1895)
 Rev H. F. Hunt (1895–1900)
 Venerable Archdeacon Harper (1900–1910)
 Rev H. G. Rosher (1911–1915)
 Rev H. G. Blackburne (1915–1924)
 Rev Canon William Fancourt (1924–1929)
 Rev Canon George Young Woodward (1929–?)
 Rev Brian Carrell
 Rev  John Wilson
 John Marquet (2007–2016)
 Nigel Dixon

Further reading

References

External links

Buildings and structures in Palmerston North
20th-century Anglican church buildings in New Zealand
Churches completed in 1914
1914 establishments in New Zealand
Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Manawatū-Whanganui
Listed churches in New Zealand
1910s architecture in New Zealand

All Saints Church, Palmerston North


UN-Oceans is an inter-agency mechanism that seeks to enhance the coordination, coherence and effectiveness of competent organizations of the United Nations system and the International Seabed Authority, within existing resources, in conformity with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the respective competences of each of its participating organizations and the mandates and priorities approved by their respective governing bodies.

UN-Oceans is to:

(a) Strengthen and promote coordination and coherence of United Nations system activities related to ocean and coastal areas;

(b) Regularly share ongoing and planned activities of participating organizations within the framework of relevant United Nations and other mandates with a view to identifying possible areas for collaboration and synergy;

(c) Facilitate, as appropriate, inputs by its participating organizations to the annual reports of the Secretary-General on oceans and the law of the sea and on sustainable fisheries to be submitted to the Secretariat;

(d) Facilitate inter-agency information exchange, including sharing of experiences, best practices, tools and methodologies and lessons learned in ocean-related matters.

The United Nations Legal Counsel/Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea is the focal point of UN-Oceans.

History
Following the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on June 13, 1992, 178 United Nations member states came to a consensus on Agenda 21, an action plan designed to promote sustainable living in the 21st century. As a pivotal part of this sustainability initiative, various United Nations agencies responsible for ocean and coastal affairs formed the Sub-Committee on Oceans and Coastal Issues (SOCA) under the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC). This formation aligns with Chapter 17 of Agenda 21, which centers on safeguarding Earth's oceans and responsibly managing their resources in the 21st century.

In 2001, the ACC (now known as the United Nations System Chief Executive Board) conducted a comprehensive review of its subsidiary committees, including SOCA, and declared that these committees should be dissolved by the end of 2001. Instead, they recommended that task-oriented arrangements, especially those concerning the world's oceans, and any inter-agency support requirements should be overseen by a designated lead agency. After extensive discussions among UN programs, agencies, and organizations responsible for coordinating oceanic and coastal matters, it became evident that there was a need for a new inter-agency coordination mechanism. The United Nations High-Level Committee on Programs sanctioned the establishment of the United Nations-Oceans in 2003 as the fresh interagency network within the UN system.

In Resolution 57/141, the General Assembly called upon the Secretary-General to create an efficient, transparent, and regular inter-agency coordination system for ocean and coastal issues within the United Nations system. On October 31, 2003, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) endorsed the decision made by the High-Level Committee on Programs (HLCP) to establish a network focused on ocean and coastal areas, originally named OCAN and later rebranded as UN-Oceans.

In 2013, the General Assembly, as outlined in Resolution 68/70, acknowledged the achievements of UN-Oceans to date, approved updated terms of reference for the organization, complete with an amended mandate (as included in the resolution's annex), and committed to reviewing these terms of reference during its seventy-second session, considering the progress made by UN-Oceans.

UN Atlas of the Oceans
The UN Atlas of the Oceans was created under the authority of the UN-Oceans as an information system designed for policy-makers and scientists to help them to know more about the oceans such as its biology, geology, research and exploration; issues of concern such as sustainable development and food security; and the uses of the ocean such as human settlement and extraction.

External links
 United Nations-Oceans
 UN Atlas of the Oceans

Organizations established by the United Nations
Marine conservation

United Nations-Oceans


American rapper Flo Rida has released four studio albums, four extended plays, 41 singles as a lead artist (28 of which comprise featured appearances), twelve promotional singles, and 24 music videos. Growing up in Florida, the state from which his name was derived, he was involved in a hip hop group in his teenage years. A solo demo recording initially met rejection from several label companies, but was eventually accepted by Poe Boy Entertainment, with whom Flo Rida signed in 2006.

His debut single "Low" featuring T-Pain was released in 2007 and reached number one in many countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. "Low" was featured on the track listing of the soundtrack to Step Up 2: The Streets, and stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, going on to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song was included on his debut album Mail on Sunday which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 following its release in 2008. Following singles "Elevator" featuring Timbaland, and "In the Ayer" featuring will.i.am both peaked within the top twenty in the five aforementioned countries. In the same year, a collaboration with Jessica Mauboy on "Running Back" reached number three in Australia, and was certified double platinum there.

In 2009, Flo Rida released his second studio album R.O.O.T.S.; its lead single "Right Round" topped the national charts of Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, in addition to the American one, where it remained for six consecutive weeks. The single, which features Kesha, was eventually certified 4× platinum in the US, and triple platinum in Australia, and Canada. Four additional singles were released from the album: "Shone", "Sugar" featuring Wynter, "Jump" featuring Nelly Furtado, and "Be on You" featuring Ne-Yo; "Sugar" and "Be on You" peaked in the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100. R.O.O.T.S. peaked at number 8 in the US and number 5 in the UK. In 2009, Flo Rida also appeared on The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's "Bad Boys", a number-one single in both Ireland, and the UK. The following year, a featured appearance on The Saturdays' "Higher" managed to reach number 10 in the UK.

Flo Rida's next two studio albums were announced in 2010 as a two-part oeuvre. Only One Flo (Part 1), which was released in November 2010 to showcase melodic talent, contains the David Guetta-assisted "Club Can't Handle Me", a number one single in Ireland, and the UK. The album's second single "Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" has reached the top 40 in Australia, and New Zealand, and third single "Who Dat Girl" featuring Akon has charted in several countries, including the top 30 in the US and the top 10 in Australia. Follow-up album Wild Ones (originally titled Only One Rida (Part 2)) was released in July 2012. It is Flo Rida's most successful studio album, with a string of global top 5 hits, including "Good Feeling", "Wild Ones", "Whistle" and "I Cry".

In 2015, Flo Rida's 2014 single "G.D.F.R." peaked at number 8 on the Billboard' Hot 100 and was later certified triple platinum by the RIAA. In 2016, Flo Rida's 2015 single "My House" peaked at number 4 on the Hot 100 making it his eleventh top 10 single.

Albums

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

Music videos

As lead artist

As featured artist

Notes

References

External links

Discographies of American artists
Hip hop discographies
Pop music discographies

Flo Rida discography


"Stylin'" is the first single from the Afro-Trinidadian American female hip-hop artist Foxy Brown's unreleased studio album Ill Na Na 2: The Fever.

Single information
"Stylin'" was officially released to radio in summer 2002, starting on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. The song was in rotation in some urban markets, but only managed to peak at 71 on the U.S. Billboard Hip Hop and R&B charts and missing the Billboard Hot 100 completely. A remix with Birdman, N.O.R.E., Loon and Foxy Brown's older brother Young Gavin was later released in fall 2002 to promote the expected release of Foxy's Ill Na Na 2: The Fever album, which was cancelled. The song was commercially released on Red Star Sounds Volume 2: B-Sides and The Source Hip Hop Hits; Vol. 6.

Music video
In a radio interview with the DJ and radio personality Tim Westwood in 2002, Foxy Brown's brother Gavin said a video for the song was scheduled to be made in New York City, but because the song celebrates the Burberry clothing, he and Foxy were going to shoot the video in London, England, with Tim Westwood. The video was never recorded or released, though an MTV promotional commercial for The Real World was shot with the song.

References

2002 singles
Foxy Brown (rapper) songs
2002 songs
Bad Boy Records singles
Def Jam Recordings singles
Songs written by Foxy Brown (rapper)

Stylin'


The 1926 U.S. National Championships (now known as the US Open) was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills in New York City, United States. The women's tournament was held from August 16 until August 23 while the men's tournament ran from September 13 until September 18. It was the 46th staging of the U.S. National Championships and the fourth Grand Slam tennis event of the year.

Champions

Men's singles

 René Lacoste defeated  Jean Borotra  6–4, 6–0, 6–4

Women's singles

 Molla Bjurstedt Mallory defeated  Elizabeth Ryan  4–6, 6–4, 9–7

Men's doubles
 Richard Norris Williams /  Vincent Richards defeated  Bill Tilden /  Alfred Chapin 6–4, 6–8, 11–9, 6–3

Women's doubles
 Elizabeth Ryan /  Eleanor Goss defeated  Mary K. Browne /  Charlotte Chapin 3–6, 6–4, 12–10

Mixed doubles
 Elizabeth Ryan /  Jean Borotra defeated  Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman /  René Lacoste 6–4, 7–5

References

External links
Official US Open website

U.S. National Championships
U.S. National Championships (tennis) by year
U.S. National Championships
U.S. National Championships
U.S. National Championships
U.S. National Championships

1926 U.S. National Championships (tennis)


L'Inde française or "L'Inde française ou Collection de dessins lithographiés représentant les divinités, temples, costumes, physionomies, meubles, armes, et ustensiles, des peuples Hindous qui habitent les possessions françaises de l'Inde, et en général la côte de Cormandel et le Malabar" () was a collection of 144 lithographed plates issued in 25 parts between 1827 and 1835 by J.-J. Chabrelie, and the first important French book on India. L'Inde française was about the French possessions in India, which were colonial possessions rather than mere trading posts. They included Pondichéry, Karikal and Yanaon on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast, and Chandernagor in Bengal.

It was published in Paris in two folio volumes, the first of 90 plates, the second of 54, and the first edition dedicated to Paul Demidoff. The text was written by Eugène Burnouf (1801-1852), a philologist and professor at the Collège de France, and an authority on the Indian subcontinent - he was also considered the father of modern Buddhist studies and produced many translations from Sanskrit. In the preface to L'Inde française, he laments the lack of interest in India shown by his countrymen. The numerous deities of the Hindu pantheon are depicted, as are ceremonies and religious festivals, some notable civil and religious personalities, crafts and costumes sorted by caste, craftsmen, artists and scientists, barber, school teacher, astronomer, writer, doctor, merchant, water carrier, weaver, priest, gardener, launderer, stonemason, singer, dancer and hunter.

The images were painted by A. Géringer, Louis Thomas Bardel, Feuchère, Midy, Weber, Beau, Jacques François Gauderique Llanta, Chénal, Jean-Pierre Thénot, Jean Francois Victor Dollet and Félix-Achille Saint-Aulaire. Mainly, they were worked on by  (1785–1836), a foremost lithographic printer of the time.

Gallery

References

19th-century Indian books
Fine illustrated books

L'Inde française


6 Lyncis b (abbreviated 6 Lyn b) is an extrasolar planet orbiting the K-type subgiant star 6 Lyncis which is approximately 182 light years away in the Lynx constellation. The planet has a minimum mass . The orbital period for this planet is 899 days, or 2.46 years. The orbital radius for this planet is 2.2 AU, periastron 1.9 AU, and apastron 2.5 AU, corresponding to the orbital eccentricity of 0.134. This planet was discovered on July 3, 2008 by Sato et al., who used Doppler spectroscopy to find variations of the line of sight motion of the star caused by the planet's gravity during its orbit.

See also
 14 Andromedae b
 41 Lyncis b
 81 Ceti b

References

External links

Lynx (constellation)
Giant planets
Exoplanets discovered in 2008
Exoplanets detected by radial velocity

6 Lyncis b