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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
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
Lighthouse Reef is an atoll in the Caribbean Sea, the easternmost part of the Belize Barrier Reef and one of its three atolls, the other two being Turneffe Atoll and Glover's Reef. Lighthouse Reef is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southeast of Belize City.[1][2] The atoll is of oblong shape, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) long from north to south, and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide. It forms a shallow sandy lagoon with an area of 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi) and a depth between 2 and 6 metres (6 ft 7 in and 19 ft 8 in) deep.[3]
The reef is one of the best developed and healthiest reefs in the Caribbean, "with an emergent fringing reef, a sloping fore reef with a coral rimmed shelf edge, vertical coral walls, and numerous patch reefs in the shallow central lagoon."[4]
There are several islands, listed here from north to south:[1]
Lighthouse Reef is known as a snorkelling and diving destination, considered one of the best dive sites in Belize and the whole Caribbean. Notable diving locations are Half Moon Caye Wall, Long Caye Aquarium ("The Aquarium"), Silver Caves, Tres Cocos, and West Point. In addition to these coral reefs, it is also home to the Great Blue Hole.[2]
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The flora on the reef islands is mostly coconut trees. On the western half of Half Moon Caye there is a rare surviving example of an atoll siricote (Cordia sebestena) forest, while there is natural vegetation on Sandbore Cay. Half Moon Caye is home to a rookery of magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), as well as a nesting colony of some 4000 red-footed booby (Sula sula). A colony of white-crowned pigeons (Columba leucocephala) formerly nested on Long Cay but has been wiped out by overhunting.[3]
The most dominant fish species at the reef are creole wrasse (Clepticus parrae) and blue chromis (Chromis cyanea).[5]: 106 Other prevalent species are (in descending order of prevalence) blackcap basslet (Gramma melacara), bicolor damselfish (Pomacentrus partitus), brown chromis (Chromis multilineata), yellowtail snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus), bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum), royal gramma (Gramma loreto), masked goby (Coryphopterus personatus), and sunshine chromis (Chromis insolata).[5]: 109
Endangered and threatened animal species include the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), three species of sea turtles (hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), and green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)), the Belize endemic leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus insularis), and the Allison's anole (Anolis allisoni).[4]
The reef has only partial environmental protection. The Great Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye have been designated as Natural Monuments and are UNESCO World Heritage Sites (as part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System) since 1996.[6] The protected areas are 4.14 square kilometres (1.60 sq mi) and 39.25 square kilometres (15.15 sq mi) in size respectively. Additionally, 3 more areas are National Protected Areas: Northern Two Cayes (a 3.75 square kilometres (1.45 sq mi) Nassau Grouper & Species Protection site), Sandbore (a 5.18 square kilometres (2.00 sq mi) Spawning Aggregation Site Reserve), and South Point (another 5.44 square kilometres (2.10 sq mi) Spawning Aggregation Site Reserve).[7] Despite the protection, the atoll suffers from human impact in the form of uncontrolled fishing and tourism.[3]
Media related to Lighthouse Reef at Wikimedia CommonsSource: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Lighthouse Reef is an atoll in the Caribbean Sea, the easternmost part of the Belize Barrier Reef and one of its three atolls, the other two being Turneffe Atoll and Glover's Reef. Lighthouse Reef is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southeast of Belize City. The atoll is of oblong shape, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) long from north to south, and about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide. It forms a shallow sandy lagoon with an area of 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi) and a depth between 2 and 6 metres (6 ft 7 in and 19 ft 8 in) deep. The reef is one of the best developed and healthiest reefs in the Caribbean, "with an emergent fringing reef, a sloping fore reef with a coral rimmed shelf edge, vertical coral walls, and numerous patch reefs in the shallow central lagoon." There are several islands, listed here from north to south: Sandbore Caye Northern Caye Half Moon Caye Saddle Caye Long Caye Hat Caye Lighthouse Reef is known as a snorkelling and diving destination, considered one of the best dive sites in Belize and the whole Caribbean. Notable diving locations are Half Moon Caye Wall, Long Caye Aquarium ("The Aquarium"), Silver Caves, Tres Cocos, and West Point. In addition to these coral reefs, it is also home to the Great Blue Hole.
Great Basses Reef Lighthouse is an offshore lighthouse in the south of Sri Lanka, operated and maintained by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. It is located on a reef 13 km off the coast of Yala National Park, near Little Basses Reef Lighthouse. It is accessible only by boat. The two Basses lighthouses, 'Great' and 'Little', are among the most famous offshore lighthouses of Asia.
Elbow Reef Lighthouse is one of the last operational kerosene-fueled lighthouses in the world. This lighthouse on Elbow Cay in The Bahamas was built in 1862 opened September 1, 1863 it is striped horizontally red and white. Its light can be seen from 23 nmi (43 km) away. The Elbow Reef Lighthouse is one of only three manual lighthouses left in the world. It has a weight mechanism that has to be hand cranked every few hours to maintain the sequence of five white flashes every 15 seconds. The lamp burns kerosene oil with a wick and mantle, at the rate of one gallon per night. The light is then focused as it passes through the optics of a first order Fresnel lens which floats on a bed of mercury. The Elbow Reef Lighthouse Society, (a Bahamian non-profit) is responsible for keeping the site true to its historical past as a fully-working, non-automated, aid to navigation. Entrusted by the Ministry of Transportation and Local Government, (responsible for the Port Department and Maritime Affairs), The ERLS is the Elbow Reef Lightstation's infrastructural custodian, tasked with the oversight and ongoing preservation and restoration of the lighthouse and lightstation itself which comprises the lighthouse tower, two lighthouse keeper's quarters, six outbuildings, one gift shop and the wharf/dock.
The Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse is a dilapidated lighthouse in Lake Erie between New York State and Canada near Buffalo, New York and at the head of the Niagara River, which empties Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. The United Kingdom ceded one acre of territory surrounding Horseshoe Reef, an underwater hazard, to the United States on December 9, 1850. As such, the lighthouse played a minor role in the territorial evolution of the United States, as it was an enclave on the Canadian side of the water border. On March 3, 1851 the US Congress allocated funding to build a lighthouse there, a contingency agreed upon for the transfer of the land. Construction was problematic but first light was finally achieved on September 1, 1856 using a Fresnel lens. Operation ceased on August 1, 1919 or in 1920 and the lighthouse has been so far simply left to the elements and most of the house has rotted away. A 1908 treaty shifted the border in Lake Erie slightly to place the lighthouse on the U.S. side. The lighthouse is on the "Doomsday List" of the Lighthouse Digest magazine. At present, the remains of the lighthouse serve as a habitat for cormorants.
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 →The Greenwood District.
