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Loving - The Movie. A beautiful portrayal of a forgotten civil rights story

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Ruth Negga (2 nd from right) stars as Mildred and Joel Edgerton (right) stars as Richard in Jeff Nichols LOVING, a Focus Features release. Credit : Ben Rothstein / Focus Features   Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up in the rural unincorporated town of Central Point, Virginia. They met in high school, spent time together, and eventually, when Mildred became pregnant, decided to marry. But this was the 1950’s and Mildred was African American and Richard was white. Virginia had anti-miscegenation laws which made their marriage illegal. How did these two young people get beyond Jim Crow and fall in love? Well that had a lot to with Central Point VA. Central Point was and is still a very rural area. At a distance of about 90 miles south east from Washington DC it was community with a history of poor farmers, black and white, ignoring the rules of segregation, living together. According to a 2012 article in the Washington Post , Central Point and Caroline Count...
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History and Art in Valletta, Malta

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Clock Tower in the Grand Master's Palace   The country of Malta has a long history of art, architecture and politics. When you visit, there are many great ways to explore that history. In the city of Valletta, two of the places to definitely see are The Grand Master’s Palace and MUŻA - The National Community Art Museum . The Grand Master’s Palace The Grand Master's Palace and St. George's Square   The Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, known as the Knights Hospitaller , rose to prominence in the 12th century CE, during the last Christian Crusade,. They were tasked with the “care and defense of the Holy Land” and were based in Jerusalem until 1291, when Islamic forces reconquered the city.  In 1533, Pope Clement VII and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, reached an agreement to cede the island of Malta to  the Knights Hospitaller. In return, Charles V received a Maltese falcon every year. Banners of the Langua of the Knights Hospitaller In the middle of th...
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Location: Valletta, Malta
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Seeing Caravaggio at the Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta

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  Due to its position in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Malta has always played a key role in the military and trade history of the region. Over its history it has been an outpost of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Ottoman Empire. In 1533, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, ceded control of Malta to the Knights of St. John the Baptist, also known as the Knights Hospitaller.   In 1572, following the Great Siege of 1565, the Knights commissioned the building of a church dedicated to their patron saint, in the newly rising city of Valletta. The church remained the primary church of the Knights until they were expelled from Malta in 1798 by Napoleon. After the French were removed power in Malta by the British, Valletta became the home of the British colonial government, and the church grew in prominence. In 1820 the archbishop of Malta, based in Mdina, agreed to designate Valletta’s church as a “co-cathedral” with the Cathedral of St. John in Mdina. Monument of Grand...
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Location: Triq San Gwann, Il-Belt Valletta, Malta
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