Did You Know?

The personal story that Dr. House Soremekum, author of Lessons from Down Under, tells is very close to home for me.  I was raised in a small town also in Alabama and it was similar to the size of Lanett where she was raised. Though she grew up during the time of the civil rights era, my experiences with schooling and having a formal education were the same concepts as hers. The high school I attended was predominantly white and I was, for the most part, the only Black in my honors classes. Many times, just as Dr. House Soremekum had, my White counterparts would say, “You are the smartest Black girl at this school”. At the time I thought nothing of it but by my senior year of high school I did find this “compliment” very problematic. See, I knew a lot of my Black peers were more than able to accomplish the same goals as I had. But a lot of them were seen as trouble makers or they did not obtain some of the same opportunities as I had because of family issues. By saying this, I was really just a regular student who was put on a pedestal because of the color of my skin.  

Another point Dr. House Soremekum addressed, was about formal literacy. While I was growing up, formal literacy was always a stipend in my everyday life. My great-grandparents, especially my great- grandfather, took the initiative to insure their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren received an education. My great-grandfather was an ex-military man and a pastor. He traveled a lot while he pastured and sometimes I was able to go. Most of my formal upbringing was through the church. I was never allowed to address an elder by his/her first name. I had to be well mannered and dressed in order to attend church with my great- grandparents. If I was to step out of line I would get punished for doing so. Today, I do not believe most children receive the same formal literacy training as before. Formal literacy was very important to be able to communicate and function with others in society. The media is taking part in this “backward” swing of formal literacy because a lot of people are not valuing their educational rights that those before them fought so hard to obtain.

That's Not My Mom, That's My Teacher!

In today’s world of schooling, many teachers believe they are only supposed to parrot a bunch of information to their students to fulfill the job of teaching. However, according to Sunny-Marie Birney, African-American female professors possess characteristics that make their teaching style not only intellectually engaging but also motherly.

In Voices of Our Foremothers: Celebrating the Legacy of African-American Women Educators, Birney explains why her Black women professors in college filled the void of the Black mother she never had in her life. She says that they, “cared not only about [her] academic work and the adjustments [she] was making at the collegiate level, but they were concerned overall with [her] mind, body, and spirit, past, present, and future” (Birney 50). Where did this motherly aspect of Black female educators derive from? It comes from the many years that Black women have had to be the primary caregivers of their families and communities. During slavery and post-slavery days, African-American women were the backbones who were responsible for looking out for the well being of everybody under their wings. That same attitude has been passed down from generation to generation and is embedded in the African-American women educators of today.

Some may question the idea of a teacher teaching a student as if that student were there own child. Shouldn’t a teacher just teach the student what is required for them to learn and leave it at that? People may argue the affirmative to that question. On the other hand, I believe a student can benefit more from a motherly teacher. When a teacher shows they truly care about a student’s success inside and outside of the classroom, I feel it pushes a student to want to do the best they can do. It’s even been proven by Jacqueline Johnson Irvine in a study she did for an article she wrote. The compassionate methods Black women teachers use to educate their students may be very foreign to some, but it can inspire students and even increase their success in school. 

Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats..

     Most, if not all, "poor" people are on government assistance. They are provided EBT (Food Stamps), which provides food, Section 8, which provides housing, and Medicaid, which provides health insurance. All three things of which one needs to survive. There are many other programs also, but these are the main three. A lot of the people supported economically through these programs. While there are people who need help or assistance temporarily, others abuse the system and use it for a lifetime.

     Welfare brats is a term used to describe the first generation of people who received welfare benefits. Their characteristics are those of a selfish person. They do not believe that one should work to eat. They believe life should not be hard work and that they deserve these benefits without doing anything. They are envious of the honest people that have nice homes, cars, and jobs, which they have worked diligently for, and therefore have come to the naive conclusion that they should own these nice things too, but without the effort, time, and patience it took to obtain a comfortable lifestyle.

    The pimps of the entire system is the government itself. They came up with this dysfunctional system on the belief that no one should be poor. The plan was to redistribute the wealth and eliminate poverty, but how? Higher taxes for working class citizens, which is unfair. Working class people can barely make ends meet but must still pay taxes to help support those lazy individuals who refuse to work and that find it more comfortable to live for free. 

   There are families that need help financially because of unexpected situations or tragedies, however most of the welfare recipients lie on applications and really do not need the help. They could obtain a job as any other individual. What about the people who are incapable of working and do not qualify to receive social security benefits? They are burdens on those people who have to care for them physically and financially because the government can not support them because they have given away all of the benefits to those who don't need them.
   It is not okay to lay idle all day doing nothing and collecting a check every week or month. The law should prohibit this behavior! Working and or going to school not only builds your muscles up physically and intellectually, but also economically.  You would actually be helping your community and setting positive examples for the youth to follow, besides who else do they have to look up to? That is why the cycle of unemployment and illiteracy are ongoing because it has been passed from generation to generation and has been accepted, but it is not right and we have to fix it.
  

 

Breaking the Trend

Apparently, the welfare system has counteracted with literacy and has corrupted literacy in the system. The problem is that the system is very discriminative toward those who need the assistance. My belief is that a lot of the discrimination comes from the flawed system itself. The welfare system was put in place to help those who are in temporary need. But, in our society people take advantage of the system abusing the resources. Therefore, it is harder for those who need the resources given by the welfare system to gain respect and help necessary for them to receive benefits. Black women, especially, are hit hard by the stereotypes just as writer Sandra Golden was in her essay Black and on Welfare: What You Don’t Know About Single Parent Women. Her personal experiences in a welfare office was filled with attitude and insensitivity. She also stated that many caseworkers believe the welfare recipient is uneducated, unskilled, and unmotivated to name a few. Meaning the caseworker felt the literacy of the recipients was very low therefore, the caseworker does not ask the background education of the recipient.

A huge part of women needing to receive the welfare assistance is because most jobs they obtain do not have benefits. This need for benefits is very important for them to support their families. The welfare system does not recognize the special interest of its recipients. Without knowing the academic background of their recipients, these women are placed in work training programs. There are many other literacy’s valuable to the work system that welfare is so anxious to put welfare recipients in. The common literacy’s are community, home, and workplace. These are common literacy’s to the Black woman who takes part in her community, who has children of her own, and who has held a job position before. Literacy is a common ground for people to advance in society therefore, it is very important for them to gain as much experience as possible to ensure they do not have to rely on welfare.

Traditional Literacy vs. Academic Literacy

Literacy can be acquired in so many different ways. It can be obtained in one’s household, school, or in the community in which one resides. However, there have been notions that two specific types of acquired literacy can work antagonistically towards each other.

In the reading Dysfunctional Literacies of Exclusion: An Exploration of the Burdens of Literacy in Tsitsi Dangaremba’s Nervous Conditions, by Mandi Chikombero, the effects of traditional and academic/colonial literacy are discussed. According to Chikombero, traditional literacy is acquired through one’s culture, values, and morals in the place where they are raised. I believe this type of literacy gives a person a sense of self-identity and knowledge of how to carry themselves in different settings. On the other hand, academic/colonial literacy is obtained in schools and other types of academic institutions. This type of literacy gives people knowledge of basic subjects like reading and writing as well as skills to succeed in their current society.

How do these types of literacy counteract each other? Traditional literacy is great for teaching a person, especially black women, lessons that increase their awareness of self and common sense. However, are those lessons enough for a person to survive in the world? Those lessons may not be enough for one to survive in society where money and power rule. Academic/colonial literacy can provide people with those skills necessary for success. The problem is that it has been argued that this type of literacy separates a person from the important things they learned through traditional literacy.

With the pros and cons of each type of literacy, it’s difficult to say which one is more essential to success and consciousness. Which one would you prefer?

Going Against the Grain

How do you convey yourself in your writing? Do you depict yourself as an ambitious intellect? Maybe you tell the world that you’re a nurturing person stricken by a past of hardships. There are hundreds of ways one can create themselves in their writing, but being of a certain race could cause one to define who they are in a specific way.

In the book, Traces of a Stream, the chapter titled Going Against the Grain discusses different aspects of literacy amongst African-American females. One topic discussed is called the formation of ethos. Following the acquisition of literacy, writers face the need to form an ethos, which “permits the writer to create and present to the world a dynamic speaking and writing self” (Royster 168). This means that a writer begins to work towards making their identity apparent through their writing. In the case of African-American females, we feel we have to form an ethos that contradicts cultural expectations and stereotypes. Why, you ask? As a minority group that gets very little recognition, respect, and that has suffered years of exploitation, we feel an urgency to tell the world that we’re not what they think we are. Once more African-American females acquired a high level of literacy, they took advantage of their skills as writers to dispute the misconceptions that society pinned on black women.

Though it is unfortunate that many African-American writers have felt a need to constantly prove themselves through their writing, I do believe it’s had a positive impact on the black youth. It gives young black children an opportunity read about people that don’t fit the description of how society depicts a black person. As the influence continues, it will become a norm to read about African-Americans making a positive impacts in the world as opposed to ending up in jail cells. 

Black Women in Videography

Low class, welfare, baby daddy drama. All of these images are portrayed by black women in the feature films today, has been since the beginning of the twentieth century. One will rarely, if ever, see a movie where the black woman plays the role of a genius who has broken some new mathematical code or who plays the physician who has found the cure to AIDS. We need more positive and factual story-lines based upon the lives of African American women, not those exaggerated or completely invented. One reason this is so is because the movies made in America are also seen by foreigners and the events that occur in the movie are believed to be real, when in actuality they are not. 

All black women are not from the ghetto. Are teen-aged mothers. Drop out of high school. Are on government assistance. Speak Ebonics/slang. Some of them are actually doctors, physicians and politicians; many of them work for the government. Why aren't these women seen in movies, or at least the movies that get acknowledged? Is it set up this way purposely?? Hmmm..Is it possible that the creator of a black movie, that makes it big in Hollywood, wants the audience to see the black woman struggling, with lots of kids, in a tiny house, and with no father? Or is the message something different? Something such as, portraying a black women that is strong and also able to multitask? Majority of Blacks believe that is how it is set up and they want to change this problem that occurs so often.

There are exceptional actresses, those who get a chance to play other roles, such as Halle' Berry and Whoopi Goldberg. They both have played roles of successful women in the white world. Halle' Berry was the first African American woman to receive an Oscar. 

In conclusion, there are many actresses who all have similar roles, and then you have the few exceptions. There should definitely be more positive and actual events that occur daily, or over a period of time, in the black womans' experiences, and how these events can develop intelligence and character.

 

Literacy and the Black Woman

 Throughout history, the Black woman was not given the exact education as her white counterparts. Her educational values were seen as different. The only means of retaining knowledge for Black women, by historical reference, was by passing things down orally. It was hard to obtain educational rights because there were laws that forbade slaves from learning. There were also other reasons women could not get educated. Either they lived too far away from schools or they were poor.

There were schools that eventually opened for Black women but they were not on the same level as schools for white women. Black women were subjected to belittling education that was designed to demean their status as inferior to others. The few Black women who did continue education to the college level, after graduating, they would become teachers. This occupation would lead to them getting married and having children rather than a career to build on. Another issue was those Black women who did not want to bother with education. They would rather be servants of whites, conforming to their society. At the time after the Civil War, there were some white women who helped Black women gain education. The Black women who took advantage of this idea were seen as the carriers of the Black race. This idea was seen as the Black woman sacrificing her wellbeing for that of the entire race. Thus, the defining of the strong Black woman is born. But now the tables have turned because the Black woman is seen as the symbol of the one needing the support.

As the Black woman today realizes her needs are not being met, she loses interest in her educational values and focuses on other ideas. This is one reason why there are so many teen pregnancies in the Black community of women. Perhaps one day, the Black woman will be equally seen as a person of literacy and a change in her educational needs will be met.

Knowing Who You Are

The Black woman has always been known to carry her experiences through storytelling. By telling these stories, Black women were illuminating the challenges and struggles Black women faced throughout their lives. “The Color Purple” was an example of the story Celie was telling about her life struggles and challenges she faced from childhood to adulthood. A very important concept from the book was that the woman’s knowing is systemic to her very own knowledge. Literacy for Celie, as a child, starts of great because she has the ambition to learn. As she gets older, her education is pushed aside for the realities of her life. Her life is moralized as a “silent” life because she begins to depend on another authority over her. Her being raped by her stepfather and her arranged marriage both silenced her wellbeing because she does not know how to survive through –symbolically- fighting for herself.

It seemed the older Celie got the more aware she was about who she was. She began to listen to others and rely on others to enhance her confidence in her knowledge. But she does eventually, doubt herself; an example is when Shug encourages her to sew pants. Though Celie is doing well she does not believe it will last and she wants to stop the trade. Celie’s life has always left her behind in the dark of discovering who she truly is. She listens to her song “Miss Celie’s Song” and decides to start finding herself and stop asking others for affirmation about who she is. Celie is now able to be conscious about herself and uses her past to build on her future. Ultimately, Celie is able to use her words of literacy to strengthen herself and learn how to survive and fight.

Going Against the Grain..

Since the journey to America, Blacks, especially the black women, have been oppressed and purposely restrained from their rights as humans. Europeans did not want us to learn how to read the bible, to interact with one another happily, or to be looked upon as their equal. We could not vote or own property. Through all of these struggles, the black woman still has the will to fight against these evils. She knows who she is, although her peoples' history has been "forgotten". She is the center of the family, of the entire community.

As it was then, it still is now. Everyone knew slavery was morally wrong, along with racism. Many of the government officials, presidents, and mayors in the late 1800's spoke out against slavery, stating that it was unconstitutional to force someone to work for free, to beat or to even kill them, but none of which did anything to fix the problem, not either of them.

The article, "Going Against the Grain", covers a wide range of subjects, from slavery, to black women, to white presidents, but mostly centers around the struggle for the equality of black women. It summarizes all the the efforts that were put into motion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for blacks as a whole and for black women in the "white world".

How Well Do You Know Your Students?

Do your homework. Study for the test. Don’t be late for class. Does this sound familiar? For many students, this seems to be something that they often hear from teachers and peer counselors. Some students don’t need any other kind of direction to succeed in school. However, there are many students that need and possibly even crave more direction and attention to thrive.

In the essay, Transformative College Literacy of Literate Black Women Peer Counselors, by Robin Wisniewski, she discusses the literary transformations of two black peer counselors. In the beginning of their journey as peer counselors, Lauryn and Vania were under the impression that their job was to master every subject so that they could help their students. In the end, they came to realize that they didn’t need to know everything about every subject to help their students succeed. They learned that understanding their students on a deeper level is sometimes the extra step it takes to really help them improve.

As I read about the transformations of Lauryn and Vania, I began to think about today’s school system and the teachers in it. A few questions instantly popped into my head? Are teachers really interested in knowing their students on a deeper level? How many teachers have I encountered during my years of schooling that have put forth extra work to know what kind of student I am? Would an increase in a teacher’s knowledge of their students increase the success rate in schools? As a student, I get motivation from knowing that my teacher really wants to know who I am so they can cater to my needs as a unique student. I don’t get any inspiration from a teacher that just wants to teach material to me and then give me grades. If more teachers realized what Lauryn and Vania realized, who knows what would happen to the success rate in schools around the globe.

Going Against the Grain

A Black woman’s identity is a very important aspect to who she is and where she came from. Black women had to endure hardships during slavery which at times stripped them of their personal identity to their home. But soon the Black woman would be able to rise again as the backbone of what they would later define as “community” in the Black race. They would soon be resilient against every odd that stood in their way by the use of psychic and spiritual strength (113).

One odd that the Black woman faced was her challenge of being deemed human. A common right that we take for granted today was not seen as possible for hundreds of years. Black people were slaves, owned to work for others. Gaining literate consciousness was very difficult at that time. Some religious slave holders did read to slaves. There were ways for Blacks to gain “human” status but it was only through those in charge. Presidents of the United States were such source to adhere to for this freedom admired by slaves. There were those presidents who did not agree with slavery but failed to do anything, and those who acted against slavery such as Benjamin Franklin. But of course none of these actions were felt in the Black defense.

Eventually, all struggles for the Black woman would lead to the desire of becoming equal. Black women have would begin to understand how important their role is in defining and empowering justice within the political aspect of race. It is not just land that is rightfully theirs but also the literacy that they were denied as slaves. The religious aspect would return as a foundation of literate movement. Maybe religion is one reason most schools began in churches. It is great to say that Black women have defined/received the well deserved title as being human and finally rightful owned.

Dealing with Alienation and Racism in America

More than fourteen decades after the abolition of slavery, racism still exists. 

   It can not be tamed. 

People who are misinformed, closed-minded, and filled with self hatred will NEVER let it die. 

   How can "the hated" learn to cope with this reality?

Interaction. 

   One of the most respected African Americans in our history, such as Marcus Garvey, would disagree, but this only proves his method of separatism was not a successful one. 

People from all backgrounds SHOULD learn to get alone!

   None of us are going anywhere, so why not? 

Most of all, who determined the two different groups, the superior and the inferior, and who justified it? 

   No one, regardless of race, religion beliefs, or cultural background is better than any other person in the world.

It is so easy to judge others from appearance, but are we not all the same?

 

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." - M.L.K

  Find a person that you can cut that doesn't bleed or someone who does not grieve when their closest friend dies, or someone who doesn't have to eat to breath, then we would be different.

Black Women/ Black Literature

Why is Ebonics or the "Black language" considered inappropriate in a social contrast when we use it everyday talking with our friends and family? Well, school has taught us a Black people to speak "proper" English is the only way to be considered literate in society. Sometimes, I just want to talk normal (slang) without having to confine to expectations of others. 


Christina McVay is a professor who teaches oral and written discourses, about  "Black Language". Can you believe that shes white?? She actually embraces the "Black Language". In her class, she allowed her students to create a slang dictionary, defining the slang terms or phrases in correlation to the "proper" ones. It was amazing because it's rare, for an English professor to accept encourage slang terminology.

Be YoSelf

Epiphany => It is perfectly fine to speak a different way other than those around you. Everyone doesn't look alike, so why should we all speak alike?



(P.S. Just because Ebonics is appropriate for us does not mean it is ready to be used in the "everyday" classrooms.)

Don't Shut Me Up!

The Black portrayal of society is greatly challenged, especially in the education field. The thing is, Black women learn differently than their white counterparts. The Black woman’s experience is significantly different from those of other races; therefore, the way she learns has to be relevant to her life.

Our cultural vernacular is an important aspect to the way we perceive others and the way we understand ourselves. This is the reason why most Black people do not take the time to understand English as stated in Black Women/Black Literature. It is hard for us to relate to what society has deemed the correct way to speak and write. What if we as a culture accepted our vernacular as a poetic gesture or a way to express our creativity? There is an urban dictionary filled with words created by the Black culture. These WORDS express our demeanor, politics, and everyday experiences. This is one way to construct how we feel as a Black culture without someone coming in and taking what we have to say away from us.

Having writing skills is very important especially when communicating with others. In Black women literature, as stated in Black Women/ Black Literature, there are lessons to learn such as learning right from wrong and how to treat people. This is probably so because the Black woman has experienced many hardships and understands how others want to be treated. The Black woman has not always been recognized for her literature and works. Black Women/Black Literature spoke of two Black women who expressed themselves, one through writing and the other through film. There are no more excuses for the Black woman to silence herself from creatively expressing her thoughts or feelings. It is so great to say, especially today, no one shut this Black woman up.

It's Story Time!

“Every story that we tell or hear has a purpose and helps keep our lives knitted together” (Franklin and Dowdy 122). The history and culture of the African-American community is one that extends over centuries and centuries. The use of storytelling was a soution for the Black race to continue to keep traditions and customs alive for so long. The old art form allows Black people to stay connected through sharing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. As a young African-American female, I grew up around storytelling. I can still remember many stories my grandparents told me about their childhood in Mississippi and Louisiana. Not only did their stories give me a greater understanding of history, they also helped shape and mold me into the literate young woman I am today.

One of the most important elements involved in storytelling is culture. There is something unique about people of African descent. There are so many different aspects of how we live our lives that only we can relate to. The way we walk, the way we talk, and the way we love. It’s all a part of our culture as Black people. Storytelling keeps these unique aspects alive from generation to generation. Without storytelling, my generation and a few generations before mine would be deprived of so many things that make our race so special. As old as storytelling may be, it still plays a significant role in the African-American community. 

The Distorted Images of Black Women

Stripper. Porn star. Video vixen. These are the words associated with Black women in the media. As derogatory as these words may be, they are often used to describe the Black woman in the media.

In today's media, Black women are portrayed as sexual objects and not as literate persons. Elaine Richardson talks about the different social constructs that influence the literacy of an African American female. One of those constucts being the early "knowledge of the self as racially and sexually marked objects" (Richardson 675). There is a perception that young Black women construct from viewing the media. There are Black women who engage in promiscuous acts because of the attention gained or for money. However, not all women are in it for the pleasure of gaining social acceptance. There are women who seek these influences to benefit their family needs or to pay for their education. No one can assume a woman’s intention behind her activities just because her activities are not accepted in society.

Richardson also discusses a common thought that all Black women are strong/ superwomen. Black women throughout history have always been the backbone for their families and they were never able to do for themselves. This is why younger Black women are having children early because society views Black women as homemakers and child bearers. The theory of the superwoman is then played through the way the Black woman handles everyday life. She may feel the need to approach her job, raising her children, her education, and marriage with the thought of achieving perfection. No matter what is on a Black woman’s plate, she will complete her priorities by any means necessary.

People throw out distorted images of Black women; however, the truth is these perceptions play a huge role in the molding of the Black woman.