Postscript: Meghan Markle and Motherhood

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Notes

1 The choir performed “O Happy Day,” a spiritual popularized most recently by the Whoopi Goldberg star vehicle “Sister Act.”

2 Emily Dickinson’s poem no. 314 has this title. See https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314. Also of interest for this postscript and its engagement with revisionist fantasies is the recent release of the Apple TV series Dickinson, which fleshes out imagined exploits of the young poet and a group of contemporaries, contradicting the dominant strain of meek, passive representations of the poet. Interesting.

3 In order of appearance: Dr. Crenshaw is the originator of the #SayHerName campaign against the erasure of Black women from the plague of police violence; Ms. Gebru is the ethicist fired by Google for, well, doing her job in pointing out the company’s ethical lapses; Beyoncé and Serena have both written about the ways the medical system pathologizes and endangers Black mothers, regardless of wealth; and Megan Thee Stallion was candid about how she survived a physical assault only to be attacked and mocked online.

4 Slate’s headline about the interview alleges that the royal family is “terrified” at the release of this interview. They fear many loads of dirty laundry will be aired, liters of spilled tea will flow.