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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Barkcloth or bark cloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the family Moraceae, including Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus tamaran, and Ficus natalensis. It is made by beating sodden strips of the fibrous inner bark of these trees into sheets, which are then finished into a variety of items. Many texts that mention "paper clothing" are actually referring to barkcloth.
Some modern cotton-based fabrics are also named "barkcloth" for their resemblance to these traditional fabrics.
While woven, traditional Ainu bark cloth is produced similarly before spinning to other barkcloths. It is produced largely from fibers of the lobed elm.[1]
Before the development of woven textiles, barkcloth made from trees belonging to the mulberry family (Moraceae) were an important aspect of the pre-Austronesian and Austronesian material culture during the Neolithic period. Stone barkcloth beaters, in particular, are considered part of the "Austronesian toolkit." They have been found in abundance in the Pearl River basin in Southern China, which is considered to be part of the homelands of the Austronesian peoples before they started migrating into islands during the Austronesian expansion (c.3000 to 1500 BC). The oldest example, found in the Dingmo Site in Guangxi, has been dated back to ~5900 BC. They were spread along with Austronesian voyagers into Island Southeast Asia, Oceania (with the notable exception of Micronesia), and Madagascar. Genetic studies on the paper mulberry populations in the Pacific have all confirmed close genealogical ties to populations in Taiwan and Southern China.[2][3][4][5][6]
Though they exist in abundance in archaeological sites in Island Southeast Asia, barkcloth have largely disappeared in the region as they were replaced by woven textiles. But they survived until around the 19th century in the outlying regions of the Austronesian expansion, particularly in Island Melanesia and Polynesia, as well as the interior highlands of Borneo.[6] Some communities in Southeast Asia are reviving this practice. At Monbang traditional village on Alor Island, Indonesia, tourists can see members of the Kabola ethnic group wear barkcloth and dance traditional dances.[7]
In addition to Sulawesi tapa cloth, daluang is produced in Java from paper mulberry bark, also called "kulit kayu", for sarongs, tunics, headgear, and other items.[8] Daluang features prominently in wayang performance, particularly wayang beber.
Barkcloth in Sulawesi, Indonesia is called "fuya", and has been used for major rites such as puberty, marriage, death, for at least 4000 years. Its manufacture is nearly extinct in Indonesia. The Weltmuseum collection in Vienna holds hundreds of barkcloth coverings, which claims that its use declined over time due to Christianization, Islamicization, modernization, and the prevalence of washable woven textiles.[9]
Barkcloth has been manufactured in Buganda, Uganda, for centuries[10] and is Uganda's sole representative on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.[11]
In Uganda, the Barkcloth is made from the bark of the ficus natalensis tree. Barkcloth was the main cloth worn by people in Buganda, Bunyoro, etc until the introduction of cotton and silk cloth by Arab traders in the early 1840s around the time of Kabaka Ssuuna II.
The production of barkcloth may have originated in Southeastern China, in a region adjacent to Vietnam.[12] South East China was the origins to the ancestors of many people, including those who migrated to Vietnam.[13] Throughout ancient Vietnam, the bark-cloth was widely made; this practice of producing barkcloth has survived in modern times in a few rural areas in Vietnam.[12]
Today, what is commonly called barkcloth is a soft, thick, slightly textured fabric, so named because it has a rough surface like that of tree bark. This barkcloth is usually made of densely woven cotton fibers. Historically, the fabric has been used in home furnishings, such as curtains, drapery, upholstery, and slipcovers. It is often associated with 1940s through 1960s home fashions, particularly in tropical, abstract, "atomic" and "boomerang" prints, the last two themes being expressed by images of atoms with electrons whirling, and by the boomerang shape which was very popular in mid-century cocktail tables and fabrics and influenced by the Las Vegas "Atomic City" era. Waverly, a famed design house for textiles and wall coverings between 1923 and 2007, called their version of this fabric rhino cloth, possibly for the rough, nubbly surface.[14] American barkcloth shot through with gold Lurex threads was called Las Vegas cloth, and contained as much as 65% rayon as well, making it a softer, more flowing fabric than the stiffer all-cotton rhino cloth or standard cotton barkcloth.[15]
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Barkcloth or bark cloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the family Moraceae, including Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, Artocarpus tamaran, and Ficus natalensis. It is made by beating sodden strips of the fibrous inner bark of these trees into sheets, which are then finished into a variety of items. Many texts that mention "paper clothing" are actually referring to barkcloth. Some modern cotton-based fabrics are also named "barkcloth" for their resemblance to these traditional fabrics.
Tapa cloth (or simply tapa) is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, Sulawesi, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Hawaii (where it is called kapa). In French Polynesia it has nearly disappeared, except for some villages in the Marquesas. In Melville's Typee, the ship Dolly enters the harbor of Nukuheva where it is met by "swimming nymphs ... their adornments were completed by passing a few loose folds of white tappa, in a modest cincture, around the waist."
The paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera, syn. Morus papyrifera L.) is a species of flowering tree in the family Moraceae. It is native to East and Southeast Asia, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar and Taiwan. It is widely cultivated elsewhere as an introduced species in New Zealand, parts of Europe, the United States, and Africa. The tree is valued for its versatile uses. Its inner bark is traditionally processed into barkcloth and is also an important raw material in papermaking. Other common names include aute and tapa cloth tree. The specific Latin epithet papyrifera describes the use of its barks for papermaking.
Bahag is a general term for the loincloth that was commonly used by men throughout the pre-colonial Philippines. It is worn purely shirtless without any undergarments ensuring that the upper part of the body is fully shown. Vest are also part, but the abdomen (tiyan) should always be visible and never covered.Originally and properly, the bahag is worn without underwear, but today, it can be modified by wearing skin tone briefs, ensuring the buttocks is purely visible. They were either made from barkcloth or from hand-woven textiles. Before the colonial period, bahag were a common garment for commoners and the serf class (the alipin caste). Bahag survives in some indigenous tribes of the Philippines today - most notably the Cordillerans in Northern Luzon.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968.
