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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
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Frashokereti (Avestan: 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬴𐬋⸱𐬐𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬌 frašō.kərəti) is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Middle Persian 𐭯𐭫𐭱(𐭠)𐭪𐭥𐭲 fraš(a)gird <plškrt>) for the Zoroastrian doctrine of a final renovation of the universe, when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will be then in perfect unity with God (Ahura Mazda).
The doctrinal premises are (1) good will eventually prevail over evil; (2) creation was initially perfectly good, but was subsequently corrupted by evil; (3) the world will ultimately be restored to the perfection it had at the time of creation; (4) the "salvation for the individual depended on the sum of [that person's] thoughts, words and deeds, and there could be no intervention, whether compassionate or capricious, by any divine being to alter this." Thus, each human bears the responsibility for the fate of his own soul, and simultaneously shares in the responsibility for the fate of the world.[1]
The name suggests "making wonderful, excellent".[n 1] D. N. MacKenzie in A Concise Dictionary of Pahlavi gives the meaning as "the Restoration (at the end of time)".[2] Considering this meaning, the first part could indicate "early, first, initial", related to fra prefix, cognate with pro in Greek and Latin. Then the overall meaning being "making into initial state", hence "restoration".
The eschatological ideas are only alluded to in the surviving texts of the Avesta, and are known of in detail only from the texts of Zoroastrian tradition, in particular in the ca. 9th-century Bundahishn. The accompanying story, as it appears in the Bundahishn (GBd 30.1ff), runs as follows:[1] At the end of the "third time" (the first being the age of creation, the second of mixture, and the third of separation), there will be a great battle between the forces of good (the yazatas) and those of evil (the daevas) in which the good will triumph. On earth, the Saoshyant will bring about a resurrection of the dead in the bodies they had before they died. This is followed by a last judgment through ordeal. The yazatas Airyaman and Atar will melt the metal in the hills and mountains, and the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river. All mankind—both the living and the resurrected dead—will be required to wade through that river, but for the righteous (ashavan) it will seem to be a river of warm milk, while the wicked will be burned. The river will then flow down to hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu and the last vestiges of wickedness in the universe. In later Zoroastrian texts, it is written that the molten metal will purify the wicked.[3]
The narrative continues with a projection of Ahura Mazda and the six Amesha Spentas solemnizing a final act of worship (yasna), and the preparation of parahaoma from "white haoma". The righteous will partake of the parahaoma, which will confer immortality upon them. Thereafter, humankind will become like the Amesha Spentas, living without food, without hunger or thirst, and without weapons (or possibility of bodily injury). The material substance of the bodies will be so light as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single language and belong to a single nation without borders. All will share a single purpose and goal, joining with the divine for a perpetual exaltation of God's glory.[4]
Although frashokereti is a restoration of the time of creation, there is no return to the uniqueness of the primordial plant, animal and human; while in the beginning there was one plant, one animal and one human, the variety that had since issued would remain forever.[1] Similarly, the host of divinities brought into existence by Mazda continue to have distinct existences, "and there is no prophecy of their re-absorption into the Godhead."[1]
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Frashokereti (Avestan: 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬴𐬋⸱𐬐𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬙𐬌 frašō.kərəti) is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Middle Persian 𐭯𐭫𐭱(𐭠)𐭪𐭥𐭲 fraš(a)gird ) for the Zoroastrian doctrine of a final renovation of the universe, when evil will be destroyed, and everything else will be then in perfect unity with God (Ahura Mazda). The doctrinal premises are (1) good will eventually prevail over evil; (2) creation was initially perfectly good, but was subsequently corrupted by evil; (3) the world will ultimately be restored to the perfection it had at the time of creation; (4) the "salvation for the individual depended on the sum of [that person's] thoughts, words and deeds, and there could be no intervention, whether compassionate or capricious, by any divine being to alter this." Thus, each human bears the responsibility for the fate of his own soul, and simultaneously shares in the responsibility for the fate of the world.
Zoroastrianism, also called Mazdayasna and Behdin, is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster (Ancient Greek: Ζωροάστρις, romanized: Zōroastris). Among the world's oldest organized faiths, its adherents exalt an uncreated, benevolent, and all-wise deity known as Ahura Mazda (Avestan: 𐬀𐬵𐬎𐬭𐬀⸱ 𐬨𐬀𐬰𐬛𐬁, lit. 'Lord of Wisdom'), who is hailed as the supreme being of the universe. In the foundational hymns of Zoroastrianism, the Gathas, the primary dualism is ethical and psychological rather than cosmic, centred on the choice between Asha (truth, order, and cosmic progress) and Druj (chaos, distortion, and the lie). Within this early theological framework, Ahura Mazda is the supreme, transcendent Creator who stands above the conflict. The direct opposition exists between the Twin Mentalities (Mainyu): Spenta Mainyu (the progressive, constructive spirit) and Angra Mainyu (the destructive, regressive spirit), both of whom exercised free will at the beginning of creation. The concept of a strict, symmetrical cosmic dualism—wherein Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) is elevated to a co-equal, primordial adversary of Ahura Mazda himself—is a later development prominent in non-canonical Middle Persian (Pahlavi) texts like the 9th-century Bundahishn. Furthermore, rather than predicting a passive apocalypse where God single-handedly destroys evil, the Gathas emphasize Frashokereti (the "making fresh" or renovation of the world), a collaborative, evolutionary process achieved through the progressive thoughts, words, and actions of humanity. Opinions vary among scholars as to whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, or a combination of all three. Prominent modern Iranologists and linguists heavily reject the flat imposition of 'monotheism' on early Zoroastrianism. Prods Oktor Skjærvø explicitly excludes monotheism, admitting both ethical dualism and polytheism into the Gathic framework. Furthermore, Almut Hintze and Jean Kellens have documented how using Judeo-Christian parameters to label the faith creates a false, inadequate binary, masking the reality of a multi-divinity henotheistic system where other Gods (Yazatas) are naturally revered alongside the supreme Creator. Originating from Zoroaster's reforms of the ancient Iranian religion, Zoroastrianism began during the Avestan period (possibly as early as the 2nd millennium BCE), but was first recorded in the mid-6th century BCE. For the following millennium, it was the official religion of successive Iranian polities, beginning with the Achaemenid Empire, which formalized and institutionalized many of its tenets and rituals, and ending with the Sasanian Empire, which revitalized the faith and standardized its teachings. In the 7th century CE, the rise of Islam and the ensuing Muslim conquest of Persia marked the beginning of the decline of Zoroastrianism. The persecution of Zoroastrians by the early Muslims in the nascent Rashidun Caliphate prompted much of the community to migrate to the Indian subcontinent, where they were granted asylum and became the progenitors of today's Parsis. Once numbering in the millions, the world's total Zoroastrian population is estimated to comprise between 110,000 and 120,000 people, with most of them residing either in India (50,000–60,000), in Iran (15,000–25,000), or in North America (22,000). Peer-reviewed research has estimated that there are between 145,000 and 2.6 million Zoroastrians globally. Not including self-identification and converts, there are an estimated 130,000 to 140,000 Zoroastrians. The religion is thought to be declining because of restrictions on conversion, strict endogamy, casteism, and low birth rates. The low birth rates are present both among Iranian Zoroastrians and the Parsis. The central beliefs and practices of Zoroastrianism are contained in the Avesta, a compendium of sacred texts assembled over several centuries. Its oldest and most central component is the Gathas, purported to be the direct teachings of Zoroaster and his account of conversations with Ahura Mazda. These writings are part of a major section of the Avesta called the Yasna, which forms the core of Zoroastrian liturgy. Zoroaster's religious philosophy divided the early Iranian gods of Proto-Indo-Iranian paganism into emanations of the natural world—the ahura and the daeva; the former class consisting of divinities to be revered and the latter class consisting of divinities to be rejected and condemned. Zoroaster proclaimed that Ahura Mazda was the supreme creator and sustaining force of the universe, working in gētīg (the visible material realm) and mēnōg (the invisible spiritual and mental realm) through the Amesha Spenta, a class of seven divine entities that represent various aspects of the universe and the highest moral good. Emanating from Ahura Mazda is Spenta Mainyu (the Holy or Bountiful Spirit), the source of life and goodness, which is opposed by Angra Mainyu (the Destructive or Opposing Spirit), who is born from Aka Manah (evil thought). Angra Mainyu was further developed by Middle Persian literature into Ahriman (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭧𐭫𐭬𐭭𐭩), Ahura Mazda's direct adversary. The two terms are synonymous. Zoroastrian doctrine holds that, within this cosmic dichotomy, human beings have the choice between Asha ('truth', 'cosmic order'), the principle of righteousness or "rightness" that is promoted and embodied by Ahura Mazda, and Druj ('falsehood', 'deceit'), the essential nature of Angra Mainyu that expresses itself as greed, wrath, and envy. Thus, the central moral precepts of the religion are good thoughts (humata), good words (hukhta), and good deeds (huvarshta), which are recited in many prayers and ceremonies. Many of the practices and beliefs of ancient Iranian religion can still be seen in Zoroastrianism, such as reverence for nature and its elements, such as water (aban). Fire (atar) is held by Zoroastrians to be particularly sacred as a symbol of Ahura Mazda himself, serving as a focal point of many ceremonies and rituals, and serving as the basis for Zoroastrian places of worship, which are known as fire temples.
Damnation (from Latin damnatio) is the concept of divine punishment after death for sins, or good actions not done, on Earth. In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, it was believed that citizens would recite the 42 negative confessions of Maat as their heart was weighed against the feather of truth. If the citizen's heart was heavier than the feather, it was said that it would be devoured by Ammit. Zoroastrianism developed an eschatological concept of a Last Judgment called Frashokereti where the dead will be raised and the righteous wade through a river of milk while the wicked will be burned in a river of molten metal and fire. Abrahamic religions such as Christianity have similar concepts of humans facing judgement after death to determine if they will spend eternity in heaven or not. A damned human "in damnation" is said to be either in oblivion, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor. Following the religious meaning, the words damn and goddamn are a common form of religious profanity, in modern times often semantically weakened to the status of interjections.
Soshiant (Avestan: 𐬯𐬀𐬊𐬳𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬧𐬝 saoš́iiaṇt̰) is an Avestan-language term that literally means "one who brings benefit", and which is used in several different ways in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition. In particular, the expression is the proper name of the Soshiant, an eschatological saviour figure who brings about Frashokereti, the final renovation of the world in which evil is finally destroyed. The term was contracted to Soshans in Zoroastrian tradition and came to apply to three saviour figures that were prophesied to progressively bring about the final renovation.
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.
