Gabriel, who often for the sake of convenience is mistakenly referred to as Prosser, was the leader of an unsuccessful slave revolt in Richmond, Virginia in 1800. Born into slavery around 1775, Gabriel was the chattel of Thomas H. Prosser of Henrico County, Virginia. Little is known of his life before the revolt that catapulted him into notoriety. Gabriel’s two brothers, Solomon and Martin and his wife, Nanny, were all owned by Thomas Prosser, and all participated in the insurrection.

At the time of the insurrection, Gabriel was twenty-four years old, six feet two inches tall, literate, and a blacksmith by trade. He was described by a contemporary as “a fellow of courage and intellect above his rank in life.” With the help of other slaves including Jack Bowler and George Smith, he devised a plan to seize control of Richmond by killing all of the whites (except the Methodists, Quakers and Frenchmen) and then establishing a Kingdom of Virginia with himself as monarch.

Gabriel and the other revolt leaders were probably influenced by the American Revolution and more recently the French and Haitian Revolutions with their rhetoric of freedom, equality and brotherhood. In the months prior to the revolt, he recruited hundreds of supporters and organized them into military units. Although Virginia authorities never determined the extent of the revolt, they estimated that several thousand planned to participate including many who were to be armed with swords and pikes made from farm tools by slave blacksmiths.

Gabriel planned to initiate the insurrection on the night of August 30, 1800. However, earlier in the day two slaves who wanted to protect their masters betrayed the plot to Virginia authorities. Governor James Monroe alerted the militia. A rainstorm prevented the army from assembling outside Richmond thereby delaying the uprising by 24 hours and giving the militia crucial time to prepare a defense of the city. Realizing their plan had been discovered, Gabriel and his co-conspirators dispersed into the countryside. About 35 leaders were captured and executed but Gabriel was able to escape to Norfolk where he was betrayed by other enslaved people for the reward. He was captured on September 25 and returned to Richmond where he was tried and found guilty on October 6 for his role in the abortive uprising. He was executed on October 7, 1800.

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    • loaExMachina [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      I’ve not personally dealt with this addictions, but in wait of better answer, here’s what I do when I try to drop a bad/addictive habit: 1- Make it less convenient, so I don’t do it without thinking. Like, to reduce my use of some social media I deleted the apps. It doesn’t keep me from opening them up in a browser, but it means doing so will always be a conscious action, and not automatic wandering of my fingers when I’m bored with a phone in my hands. In your case, it could mean uninstalling the games.

      2- Have an alternative close at hand. Maybe if there’s something else you don’t dislike doing that wouldn’t be as bad? Like, maybe put a shortcut for a creative program you’ve wanted to learn how to use where the shortcut for your favourite game used to be, or put a book you’ve wanted to read right below your computer screen, so next time you find yourself looking for your game, you’ll find these things more convenient than reinstalling it.

      3- Spend more time outside. Ideally with other people, but if that’s not an option, at least get familiar with welcoming public places such as libraries around your home, and try not to go immediately home from work or studies and maybe go there to do whatever you can do there rather than in your home, like read, study or some types of work you might do on a laptop.

      • regularassbitch [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
        6·
        1 year ago

        i actually have a story related to that. so today i went to therapy, and i told my therapist my embarrassing issues that i’m having with my life. basically he told me that i need to change, verbatim he said “life is not a video game so stop playing and open up your eyes”.

        i don’t really like his advice but honestly i’m just trying to keep from dying so i might give it a shot

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
          7·
          1 year ago

          That’s not advice, that’s just judgement. Advice would be like “Hey, so, you’re coping with a lack of stimulation in your environment by playing games, so why don’t we try to mix that up by getting you some books you could go to a park and read. That would expand your “safe” area, give you another kind of stimulation that could open up your interests and move you away from relying on video games, create space for low-risk social engagements (saying hello to passersbye). Traveling too and from the park would give you opportunities for stimulation - seeing new people and things. Plus there are probably dogs in the park. If that doesn’t work we could try something more approachable like sitting on your front porch/stoop to read. another option would be trying out music. If you have the right kind of concentration musical practice can offer something to focus on where you can build mastery over time. Some instruments like recorder, mouth harp, harmonica, or some kinds of percussion are relatively inexpensive and relatively easy to get started with. Alternately, you could pursue some form of artistic expression - drawing, sketching, watercolors, knitting, something relatively portable. The goal, here, is not to stop playing video games, but rather to introduce new options that offer you different ways to enjoy your time, while also expanding the physical space where you feel comfortable existing with the goal of opening up possibilities for social interaction either with people you meet incidentally, or with people who share your interests. Rather than cutting away your interest in video games, we want to expand on the interests you have. You can even take video games as your inspiration; You could read works that inspired the designers of games you enjoy or develop artistic skills to draw or paint characters and places from the games. you don’t have to abandon your interests and sever that part of yourself, you can use it as a foundation to expand your interests and capabilities and grow as a person”.