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