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A Shocked Adrian Changes Course (Chapter 14 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Nov 10, 20221 min read

A Shocked Adrian Changes Course (Chapter 14 of "Pirating Slavery")

Adrian, Trevor and Edward shouldered their way to the front of the mourners. They stood to the right of the bodies individually wrapped...

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Portugal: Elevated Walkways Open in Serra da Estrela

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Nov 7, 20224 min read

Portugal: Elevated Walkways Open in Serra da Estrela

“The interior of Portugal is a treasure of landscapes to discover and rediscover," said Ana Abrunhosa, Minister of Territorial Cohesion,...

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Saved Africans . . . Banished (Chapter 13 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Nov 7, 20221 min read

Saved Africans . . . Banished (Chapter 13 of "Pirating Slavery")

The two men were wrapped in a final embrace, their swollen faces barely recognizable and dripping in bright, red blood. Passers-by had...

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Two Unique “Libraries” at Penacova, Portugal

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Nov 5, 20221 min read

Two Unique “Libraries” at Penacova, Portugal

High quartzite beds appear vertically as if they were books on a shelf in what could be the world’s oldest bookstore or library between...

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Adrian's Guilt (Chapter 12 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Nov 3, 20221 min read

Adrian's Guilt (Chapter 12 of "Pirating Slavery")

"The captain sulked. He did not seek out anyone for conversation. He avoided meeting the stares of his friends. He kept his head tilted...

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Shooting Stars Fall (Chapter 11 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 31, 20221 min read

Shooting Stars Fall (Chapter 11 of "Pirating Slavery")

"The captain wore a freshly washed blousy shirt and tight, blue pants. He had primped for this visit much like a beau does for a call on...

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Ukraine's Horrors on Exhibit in Coimbra, Portugal

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 30, 20222 min read

Ukraine's Horrors on Exhibit in Coimbra, Portugal

“A retired teacher, known as Auntie Lyuda, short for Lyudmyla, was shot midmorning on March 5 as she opened her front door on a small...

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Inciting Mutiny (Chapter 10 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 27, 20221 min read

Inciting Mutiny (Chapter 10 of "Pirating Slavery")

Port Royal, Jamaica, founded in 1494 by the Spanish, was the largest city in the Caribbean when the crew of the Good Hope visited it in...

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Egypt's "Godmother": Artist Gazbia Sirry

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 26, 202212 min read

Egypt's "Godmother": Artist Gazbia Sirry

"On my passport it says that I am an artist painter, not a professor or any other title. I prefer to be a free woman." ...

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Edward's Plan Backfires (Chapter 9 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 24, 20221 min read

Edward's Plan Backfires (Chapter 9 of "Pirating Slavery")

"All they knew was that, in Port Royal, the ground did not roll under their feet, and there would be new faces. They forsook evening...

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Fear, Shame and Forgiveness (Chapter 8 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 20, 20221 min read

Fear, Shame and Forgiveness (Chapter 8 of "Pirating Slavery")

"Sarah had enjoyed humiliating Adrian because she had been humiliated in a society, which had locked her out. When Adrian escaped, she...

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Portuguese: Pioneer Woman Photographer in U.S.

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 20, 20227 min read

Portuguese: Pioneer Woman Photographer in U.S.

July 18, 1944: Photographers and reporters at the site of the Port Chicago munitions explosion. Virginia de Carvalho is in the foreground....

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Mysterious Vanishing Slave Ships (Chapter 7 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 17, 20221 min read

Mysterious Vanishing Slave Ships (Chapter 7 of "Pirating Slavery")

The shipper wondered whether the sailors’ superstitions he had debunked held some truth. Perhaps the African Star had been sucked down...

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Portugal: 5-Year Fire Anniversary Offers Hope

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 15, 20225 min read

Portugal: 5-Year Fire Anniversary Offers Hope

Photo by Ricardo Graça/EPA I entered the office of my parish, Ervedal da Beira, in Oliveira do Hospital, with excitement, trepidation and...

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The Survivor's Secret (Chapter 6 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 13, 20221 min read

The Survivor's Secret (Chapter 6 of "Pirating Slavery")

"No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living until each has shared one thousand pounds. If any man should lose a limb or become...

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"Imagination Will Save You" (Chapter 5 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 10, 20221 min read

"Imagination Will Save You" (Chapter 5 of "Pirating Slavery")

"Not knowing who I am is like being locked behind a closed door. My adoptive parents understood my obsession to open the door and get to...

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Portugal's Beatriz Ângelo: 1st Woman Voter, 1911

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 9, 20227 min read

Portugal's Beatriz Ângelo: 1st Woman Voter, 1911

“I would like to thank the board and the assembly for their sympathy, and I will send word to our suffragette sisters abroad, who...

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"Purifying the Ship of Evil" (Chapter 4 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 6, 20221 min read

"Purifying the Ship of Evil" (Chapter 4 of "Pirating Slavery")

Slavers bringing captives on board their ship on Africa’s west coast (19th-century print) Pirating Slavery, my novel about...

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Jealousy (Chapter 3 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 5, 20221 min read

Jealousy (Chapter 3 of "Pirating Slavery")

"Why do you keep pushing me away with your jealousy and anger?" (Jealousy and Flirtation, oil painting by Haynes King , 1831-1904)...

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"I Won't Worship Monarchs" (Chapter 2 of "Pirating Slavery")

@ Cynthia Adina Kirkwood

Oct 4, 20221 min read

"I Won't Worship Monarchs" (Chapter 2 of "Pirating Slavery")

"In the whirl of the tragedy, Adrian had pinned down an obsession. For him, the stranger’s life symbolized freedom and his death, a...

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CYNTHIA ADINA KIRKWOOD