I learned from my "Other-mother"

In "Voices of Our Foremothers," author Sunny-Marie Birney tells us of her personal literacy journey.

       Birney begins to tell us, the reader of how her love and appreciation for education had grown to be.  Adopted at the age of 2 by parents she called Euro-Americans, Binery just felt as if she never completely fitted in.  It wouldn't be until her college years that she would begin her "journey home," and acknowledge the many women who have indeed helped her, both directly and indirectly.

       It was with the help of 4 distinctive professors at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, that allowed Binery to fully understand her own purpose for her life; of becoming an educator.  It was through these four nurturing, African-American, women professors that Binery received the proper care and teachings she, as a lost young black African-American needed.

 

                 "[T]hey were concerned overall with my mind,
                  body, and spirit, past present and future.
                  These women teachers cared about me and
                  held the same expectations for me as they had
                  for their own children... [they] 
             understood the power of caring"

       It is through the women educators commitments and cultural uplifting that we as young African-Americans should be inspired, as Sunny-Marie Binery had been.

~ A. Foster

Voices of Our Foremothers

Sunny-Marie Birney was adoped at the age of 2 by two Euro-Americnas. They provieded her with a good life and prevent her from being a "motherless child" any longer. She felt as if she was a long way from home until she attended College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. There she had black proffesors that that helped her become in touch with her African-American roots and had a major impact on her life. Her proffesors inspired her to become a teacher. Now there are more and more black teachers who are inspiring those who feel they don't belong anywhere else. Birney also made a point, that is the job of every generation to do its part and pass it on, so that the next generation can do great things.

Lessons From Down Under

In Lessons From Down Under: Reflections on Meanings of Literacy and Knowledge From an African-American Female Growing Up in Rural Alabama by Bessie House-Soremekun is about growing up in Alabama during the civil rights movement. House-Soremekun starts by talking about slaves and developing their literacy. She then goes on to describe her upbringing, which consisted of a large extended family. The family was strongly centered around gaining education as well as religion. As I got deeper into the reading I started to realize how much this sounded like my fathers upbringing. My dad was born in Alabama in 1950's and he also faced some similar experiences. House-Soremekun talked about the formal and informal literacies that were displayed during this time. The stories her great-grandmother told was one of the ways that many African-Americans learned due to the terrible education system. There was also a section about the race rules that were institutionalize. The institutionalization of "separate but equal" was a major part of her life. 
Growing up during the 1960's and 1970's was not easy. Being treated as second class citizens and receiving terrible treatment form not only the people in your community but the government as well is not right. In today's society we often take many things for granted. Some people have everything handed to them and never work for  anything and don't realize what it is like to experience this. Having a father that grew up during this time and being constantly reminded about what he went through has mad me appreciate everything I have.

-Takiyah Thomas

My Life As A Welfare Brat

Welfare is by far one of the most controversial issues among the American people, dealing with its government. I believe welfare is a needed benefit for some who actually need it. But what sets the standards of how bad or if some even need welfare check from the government? For those who need it; going through significant hard times, unemployment, health in jeopardy for children and themselves, then yes welfare should be provided. But how Larstella describes the abuse of welfare, and how some take it as a right to be given to them, is simply wrong. However, I do enjoy the journey and story that she shares about how she grew up and how she become somewhat a superstar of welfare. As i first began to read the blog, I was appalled at how Larstella approached these women, and held back nothing. She told of her opinion, and whatever excuse they could give of them being on welfare, she had a reason of how this wrong. When it tells the biography of her life, I can really respect how she came on to these women it getting them to realize the seriousness of what they were doing. It was amazing to me to learn of how some people abuse the welfare and government system. I can not say, welfare needs to be stopped, because I believe it is unfair to punish the whole for a few people's mistakes; however, some efficient plan has to began to stop the abuse of welfare.

- Socoya Douglas

Intersectionality of welfare

The welfare system simply isn't working. Sure, it provides money to families that are struggling with one or more parent unemployed and makes a very feeble attempt at helping these people acquire jobs but what does the welfare system really do? More specifically what does welfare mean to Black women? According to Golden, racism and sexism are built into the very core of the governmental institution. If you are Black, a woman, unemployed, and single, the system is not built for you. There is a stereotype that has been endorsed since the establishment of the welfare system in 1935; if you receive welfare then you are uneducated and unmotivated...basically you are a "mooch" that will never go anywhere or do anything productive. Instead of taking the time to find out what people's work backgrounds are and what their career goals are, the welfare system focuses only on getting a job fast. Granted having some sort of job is better than no job at all, the buck shouldn't stop there. People that receive welfare are people too and if the program truly seeks to get people off of welfare then it needs to pay attention to and validate people's literacies. Assuming that there are no ambitions or goals is wrong and needs to change. If the focus of the system was more "individual-oriented" then people would be able to get jobs that were sustainable and reliable and get off of welfare, hopefully, for good. It only takes one positive experience to set someone up for success for the rest of their lives and that experience could be in a guidance session/job training/GED program that the self-sufficiency coaches orchestrate. If the training of those individuals (SSCs) changed to exclude the biases (especially towards Black, single, female parents) and focus on helping the individual achieve their highest level of success (or at least develop goals) the system would have no choice but to change. 

"Nature's Muted Majesty"

In this week's reading we learn that practically anything and everyone is capable of teaching you something new. Although writer, Lille Gayle Smith, does not like to look back in her past and into her childhood, because of the constant reminders of how and where she worked, in the cotton field, she writes, and expresses how those exact times have shaped and molded her, and about her new found appreciation for them, in "Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven Lessons I learned in a Cotton Field."  Smith tells us of the "memories of [the] repetitive, back-breaking work" that was her summer job, and how before she had taken a "Black Women's Literacy" class, she had only referred to it to inform others on how far she had come and what she overcame (Smith 38).  She tells us of how this class brings her to the realization that it was indeed that same "drudgery," she had despised, formed something unique in not only her, but in Black women as a whole.


                   "[D]ue to interrelationships of race, gender
                    and identity, Black women have not been
                   expected to adhere to the dominant culture's
                   stereotype of femininity, and... because slave
                  women were exploited, they [have] developed
                   greater independence and self-reliance than
                   their nonslave counterparts." (Smith 41).


As Smith continues to reflect on a past that she once condemned, she comes to realize that, that experience has "had a positive and profound impact" on her life, the lives of others, and they way she sees the world. 

~ A. Foster

What is Hidden

In reading Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven Lessons I Learned in a Cotton Field by Lillie Gayle Smith I noticed how working in the cotton field was tied into an everyday encounter. In the beginning it is very evident that Smith did not like talking about her experiences in the field. 



Smith then begins to talk about professors and the sexist attitude displayed. She gives the example that then a man would answer a question and it would be considered "gospel and complimented"for its "accuracy," while when a woman answered a question it was constantly rebutted and a male student would be asked to "confirm it." This caused some of the women  to drop the class which made Smith raise the question, "Why don't they resist this behavior?" Then it came to her that they did resist in their own way. Instead of sitting around and being told their answers weren't good enough they could go where their opinions would be respected. Smith then equates this to working in the fields. Picking cotton was something that both men and women could do and not raise an issue (Smith 39).


To me I view it as a women is able to work just as hard if not harder to but yet her opinion is not valuable. Of all the lessons that were taught to Smith during her time in the field this one struct me the most. How can you work along side someone and not even consider their opinion. This injustice is not acceptable.

-T Thomas

Lights, Camera, Action!

     If you really think about it, how many times do you see a financially stable, literate, and/or successful Black woman in movies? There probably aren’t many instances coming to mind. Dowdy makes a great point about the fact that Black woman are so often depicted as “the bottom of the heap” in every aspect of literacy in movies. In the feature film “Losing Isaiah”, Halle Berry’s character is illiterate, drug-addicted, single parent. Even in current movies, like Tyler Perry pictures, Black woman are portrayed through characters that are struggling and not particularly successful in life. These images of Black woman as seen in the media are the things that create and mold a stereotype. A large portion of popular culture involves visual imagery in the 21^st century with all the new advances and technologies, such as 3D viewing. Young Black girls are seeing these movies and subconsciously being fed the line that “this” (what the film depicts them as) is what, and all, you have to look forward to; nothing. Now, not all movies are “bad” or “stereotypical”. There’s Things We Lost In The Fire with Halle Berry as a widowed (but stable) woman, The Secret Life of Bees with Queen Latifah and Alicia Keys as sisters that have a variety of different literacies, and there’s many more. The point trying to be made in this section of reading is that there simply aren’t enough positive messages about Black women being represented in the film world and it’s important to change that for the sake of the future generations.
-Olivia LaFlamme

Exploring Literacy

“(…)African American women have built a tradition of literacy and action and have established a place for themselves as users of the word, as “dark spinners of word magic”-Royster

Being a black person made being literate difficult but then adding the word “woman” to that confounded the degree of difficulty by a lot. Whether you became literate or not had a lot to do with what circumstances you were coming from. The wealthier you were, the higher the chances were that you learned to read and write. African American people made up the lower class and therefore were most frequently the ones considered “illiterate” simply because they did not have access. The reason for the literate’s ability to read and write came from schooling through the church. The story of Maria Stewart, the first African American woman to have written essays, helps illustrate this point. The man that she was indentured to for years was a clergyman and she learned to read and write from Sabbath schools. Her story is one of empowerment and inspiration. Although Stewart grew up without the access to schooling, she knew that it was important to acquire the skills in order to make her voice heard. She knew that she would need to be literate. The time period was one of newly-opened minds and mouths and she had access to that, being married into the "middle class". Black people had their own newspapers, like Freedom's Journal, and people could write and have their material published and seen by the multitudes for the first time ever. As Freedom of Speech was being asserted, so was literacy and Stewart made sure she was a part of that. I see this as a lesson in courage. Although she had the odds stacked against her from the beginning, Stewart jumped onto the literary scene and made the voice of the Black woman heard. If we want to see change in our environments, then we must EFFECT change.
-Olivia LaFlamme

"Turning the Tide"

          Post Civil War, there were many efforts to advance the literacy of African Americans.  In reading, Charlotte Forten's personal literacy journey, and the journey of some distinguished Spelmanites, we learn that acquiring literacy among African American women was actually more important than what most history books give credit.  For they (African American women) knew that it was their responsibility to lay down the "foundation for universal literacy" within their communities, so that they may further the advancement of their culture.

          Charlotte Forten's story is that of how she was, and how she sought to educate others.  At the tender age of nineteen after her father had given her the okay to continue her education, Forten made a personal commitment to herself, her entire race, and any persons held captive, that she would "live for the good that [she] could do [her] oppressed and suffering fellow creatures" (147).  She would carry out these duties on St. Helena  along with some other women (whom where white), as teachers for the Port Royal Experiment.

          Much like Forten, Royster tells the story of some distinctive Spelman alumnae.  She takes us back to how and why Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles, under the direction of Father Frank Quarles, they had created the seminary for the girls of the community, such as Clara Howard class of 1887 (Spelman's first graduating class), and Selena Sloan class of 1888.

Ultimately, this passage goes on to tell us how missionaries, both northern whites and African Americans and southern African Americans, worked together to expunge illiteracies.

~A. Foster

Dare To Be Different

Going against the grain to me means daring to be different. There were so many literary opportunities available for white mean and very few for African American men. There were so many restrictions put on the slaves that they had to sneak around learn. They learned some things from the slave masters and by eavesdropping at school doors. Women were viewed as second class citizens; therefore there was no need to educate them. But in this particular piece you come to understand how it gets its title. In the section that I read I learned how women in the 1800's created their own schools. Most people would not believe that slaves were even remotely literate but they were. In one section Fox-Genovese states that "elite white women became themselves through reading", which leads me to ask do African American women become who they are through slavery. I don't believe that this is an accurate statement but some might see the struggle of educating yourself while being oppressed as the making of a black woman. It amazes me that even though our ancestors were not literal in the typical sense of the word they still saw the importance in educating the future generations to come. Would they be proud of the generation we have become is something we would never know. 

-Takiyah Thomas

Going Against The Grain

" First of all, they were required to define themselves as human beings, rather than as animals, in order to
 
establish a place for themselves under the law as rightful holders of the entitlement of citizenship, including
 
opportunities for literacy and learning." (Royster 109).


To be African American during these times was a hard enough task that was faced within this race itself.

However, adding the gender as female changed everything as we would see for the worse. Just as we have

recently wrote our literacy narrtaives, Royster clearly shows that African American females upheld a

substantial amount of literacy in their own unique ways, whether it be cultural, professional etc.. How I have

recently discovered through the arts, literacy can be obtained to a new knowledge. The “white man” and society

wanted to degrade their worth, but in households and in life, you could not stop their worth. Smarter than

anyone could possibly imagine, to be able to manipulate the court system and come on top, it is obvious that they could

not be animalistic and worth nothing as it was seemed to be. The first pages really exutes forth the true

nature of African American females, going against everything, it behooves us, the generation today to

continue “Going Against the Grain,” and make strides for a better future. Royster touches on if we slip up,

then the finger will be pointed once again. Would we really want to be held accountable for the downfall of

such great women before us?

-Socoya Douglas

Black Women/Black Literature

          Dowdy's interview with college professor Christina McVay on black people, literature, and their intersection was very intriguing and inspirational to me.  McVay filled Dowdy in on how she, a white instructor, "fell" into the field of what she refers to as "Black English," in the Pan-African Studies Department at Kent State University in Ohio.  McVay goes on to speak about the courses she teach, including The Legacy of Slavery in Literature, Pan-African Women's Literature, and African-American Masterpieces to name a few. 

          McVay tells of her students and one specific assignment that she asks them to do, which allows them to deconstruct their man-made hatred for language.  McVay ask her students to write a slang dictionary, with a word or term they would use in their everyday speech and define it in so-called "proper" English.  This allows her students to reevaluate their opinions about language, and also allows them to become comfortable, making them "forget that [she is] an English teacher, because that  makes them self-conscious."  She tells and encourages her students that Black English is not bad, a "fact" that not only their preceding teachers, but even their parents and family might have told them.  McVay in complete opposition as those who may have agreed to this, declares Black English as a legitimate language.

         I love how McVay as an instructor does not contain herself to just that; meaning she also learns from her students, she calls them "co-teacher[s]."   Yet the fact that McVay is not of African descent and openly exalts black oral and written literature is still what baffles me and even some of her students.  Yet at the same time, it makes me realize that not all members of other races, white people to be more specific, look down and talk bad about African Americans, their culture, struggles, and ultimately what makes them stand apart. 

~Althreasa Foster

The Alienated

"Education, we are told, is the key that opens the imaginary door to success,"

(183) starts Leonie C.R. Smith's essay To Be Black, Female, and Literate: A Personal Journey in Education and Alienation.From the island of Antigua to America, Smith's transition was not an easy one. After taking a test that she was not conditioned to take she was labeled a illiterate. Not letting that deter her goals, she preceded to be accepted into the Gateway program in high school and graduated in the 1% of her class. Smiths struggles where not over as she failed to achieve social status. Attending an all-white college and receiving no respect on her track team causes her to realize what she calls the "cancer of racism". This story as sad as it is inspirational made me think about what blacks who were not born in America go through. Since I was born here I really never thought anything of it. I mean yes I struggle because i'm African American, but when your are from another part of the world literacy standards are different. If not anything I've learned from this essay that no matter the negative stigma that is placed on you.....YOU CAN OVERCOME.

-Takiyah Thomas

"To Protect and Serve": African American Female Literacies; By: Elaine Richardson

“Through the drudgery of domestic work, the enslaved female was ‘essential to the survival of the community’ (Davis 116)” (Richardson 5). Beginning this work, a confound feeling was all that I could result to. The quote above was the only sanity that kept me in tuned to reading; standing as a positive concept toward African American females. Continuously, I felt as though the reading contradicts itself, praising black women, then soon after, tearing them down. At one moment, it seemed to me as though the finger was pointed and what black women were doing, was not good enough. For example, when reading how the various stereotypes were brought about: heartless Nigger bitch, Jezebel, and wrench only fueled the fire on my behalf. Although, one may not have the ability to control what one says or does to them, they can change their future and how they are referenced in the future. In particular, when African American women finally were "free," they went to the "white man" for the assistance they needed to be successful. So I pose the question; if black people in general, through slavery, have somewhat seen whites be successful, then for African Americans to go to them is more of their benefit, and substantial help, than a put down for the race and people. Overall, the experience that was endured did nothing but strengthen African American women for the better.
Ultimately, "To Protect and Serve": African American Female Literacies affects me positively; more so when the uplifting of African American females is encouraged. While reading the different subtext overviewing teaching, encouraging, and education advocated me to strive for the better and never settle for less. Not being of the African American race subjects me differently to continue to fight for what is right; make my mark in the world, and stand up for what I believe in. It is by choice that one is subdued to the way of the "white man," and proves wrong what other cultures and races have stereotyped them as. All in all, it is up to each and every one of us and individual human beings, no matter race, to make positive outcomes on ourselves and others.
-Socoya Douglas