I liked this vivid statue in Merida but I mostly took the photograph to showcase the colorful buildings behind. It was only when I zoomed in on the image that I realized that this was Andrès Quintana Roo for whom the state is named. He was born in Merida in 1787 and died in Mexico City in 1851. Not only did he draft the Mexican Declaration of Independence but he was a liberal forward thinking politician whose roles included Secretary of State.
He had a Romeo and Juliet romance with his wife Leona. Her family were Royalists so they ran away to get married. Andrès’ father was part of a group called the Sanjuanistas who fought against native slavery and oppressive taxes to the Catholic Church. Go Sanjuanistas!! We sometimes forget that the USA is not the only country who participated in slavery. There are many African Americans in Texas who have my Scottish last name and I have no doubt that there will be many native Mexicans who are called Ortega, my maiden name. For all I know some of my native DNA might be Maya or from the Mexican region although I doubt it.
We recently had a false rumor around Houston that a statue of Sam Houston was going to be removed because he was a slave owner. Enough already! We don’t need statues of dictators such as Hitler but even George Washington owned slaves because it was the unacceptable norm of the day. My great-great grandfather was a Confederate medic but I doubt he had much choice about his fate. He used the experience to become a renowned doctor in Arkansas. History is rarely sunshine and butterflies but we learn something from our mistakes. I have a long line of ancestors named Sam and/or Houston because he (Sam Houston) was admired so much my family who have native heritage. My father’s middle name is Houston. I was meant to be here…
Back to Quintana Roo –in this state you can clearly see native heritage in the faces of residents. Less Spanish, more Maya. On one side of Andres’ statue was the church of Santa Ana. The yellow towers made the red brick stand out. Look at those flame trees!
In another neighborhood, I was taken by the contrast of this yellow column against the red umbrellas. Yellow seems to be a favorite color in Merida – so sunny and vibrant!
I like the history and the vivid colors of the buildings
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Thank you, Joseph. He seemed like an all round good guy.
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Appreciate the history and the pics. Thanks.
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You are most welcome, Peggy! 😁
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Wow lovely photos here 😉
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Thank you so much!
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You’re very welcome!
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Fabulous pictures, K! I enjoyed the history too but mostly I enjoyed your take on the nonsense of Political Correctness going bonkers and trying to photoshop history. Slavery was a dreadful thing. No arguments. My family had slaves in Guyana in the 18th Century. There is nothing I can do to re-write that. But it was the accepted norm of the day and what we should be doing is singing Hallelujah that it is entirely unacceptable as a concept now. Taking down statues, renaming streets and towns will not right the wrong that was done. What will right it is to remember and ensure it is never repeated. Sorry … slightly ranty …. but I did love this post! X
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It is not ranty at all, Osyth. I completely agree. Remember how appalled we were when the Taliban destroyed the magnificent Buddha because they believe their is only one true God? Houston has a magnificent Holocaust museum – that is the way to learn from history.
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Love this post, Kerry! The pics are wonderful, and I love learning new things especially about history! You are so right about history not being about butterflies and sunshine and it’s so important to remember the bad times in order to prevent similar things to happen.
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Thank you so much, Sarah. History would be boring if it were too pleasant…
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great blog Kerry. Photos too
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Thank you, Liben!!
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I always enjoy your blog, both the written words and pictures. However I am sure you may have mistaken Lincoln as a slave owner with the fact his wife came from a wealthy slave owning family. Lincoln never owned a slave and was in fact always against slavery.
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You are quite right and I may have read something about his wife’s family. Thank you for pointing this out and I will change the reference to George Washington.
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