Thank You Foremothers!

"Students said they liked school and performed their best when they thought that teachers cared about them...Students said teachers cared when they laughed with them, trusted and respected them (pg. 50).

 Ever since I could remember, I have always had a special connection with all of my teachers. Based on the quote above, I truly agree with her statement. School is so much better when you have a relationship with your teacher. I can truly say I may not have a very close relationship with my college professors, but I have no problem with communicating and socializing with them on a academic or personal level.  Being at Spelman College, I appreciate & LOVE seeing strong, Black women as my professors. Seeing them give me inspiration and confidence. I know I can be just like them one day!

In, "Voices of our Foremothers", Birney explained that her Black female college professors became her "mothers". She and myself have the privilege to say that our professors have helped us connect our academic knowledge to a broader world and understand the dynamics of our ever-changing place within the world.

While reading the excerpt, I came across a name who of someone I look up to as an influential role-model during her time on Earth, Mary McLeod Bethune. Education was so important to our foremothers. She stood for sisterhood, mentorship, and friendship. Because she worked so hard for education, we now have the prestigious Historic Black College, Betthune-Cookman University.

I am so thankful for the women who came before me. They made is easier for women like me to get a decent education. Because of them, I will only strive for excellence. Thank You Foremothers!

Unearthing Hidden Literacy

In the story Unearthing Hidden Literacy by Lillie Gayle Smith, she expresses her personal journey to comprehending the black woman’s literacy. The author points out many of her view points on life and brings up many of her experiences such as picking cotton in Alabama and that she felt she should never tell anyone about the experience because it was not something that she was proud of. The author also brings up the example of a class that she took and tells how she experienced a great amount of sexism within the class because professor tended to congratulate the men when they would speak up in class but disregard the women. When the women did speak up in class the professor turned to a man within the class to confirm what the female has just implied. This was a obvious case of sexism that I personally find disturbing because the by the professor’s actions he obviously felt that the men in the class were more capable of making decisions than women were in life. This opinion has never been proven to be true as there are many women who are smarter than men and the professor of that class failed to let those women shine and show their true abilities. I also appealed to the idea of these women leaving the class after they realized what was happening They felt that they did not have to stand nor pay for education that was biased in any way and turned to a class that could cater to more of their interest and ability as women which was the black women’s literacy class. This class was a great choice for those group of women because they were better able to understand themselves and the great deal of good a black literate women has done to the world, which implies that any woman who was intelligent enough to take a stand has many good consequences and not always seen in a negative light or had to be reaffirmed by a male.

The Impact of Literacy

Racial tensions from slavery and during segregation created a line that made people of color unequal to Whites. Blacks were not given the same rights as White people in America. The South has written and unwritten laws that separated the races from each other. The culture in the South included being knowledgeable about the history of the relationships between Blacks and Whites in the rural South. “Lessons From Down Under: Reflections on Meanings of Literacy and Knowledge From an African-American Female Growing up in Rural Alabama” discusses how the level of literacy impacts how groups develop educationally.

The Reading starts with going into detail about strategies used by slave owners to discourage slaves from obtaining reading and writing skills. It describes how the enslaved used modes of communication and transmitting traditions orally. The oral traditions preserved the history and memories of African-American peoples.

The Civil Rights Movement, born in Alabama in the 1950’s consisted of boycotts and marches. It discusses the role of Black Churches and the role of religious leaders. Leaders helped the Black community understand the rules of the South, both written and unwritten. Speeches focused on trying to change America and the Negroes’ struggle for equality. African Americans fought to change the suffrage laws that prevented Blacks from being able to vote. This change came under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

House-Soremekun talks about the changes her school went through during integration. The African American teachers were good, but the materials were inferior to those of white schools. However, the integration caused her to learn less about African American history. She felt as if her voice was never heard and she was invisible. She goes into detail about how the storytelling was important to her family. The stories she heard from her grandmother enhanced her literacy development. The stories shaped her worldview and encouraged her to pursue a degree in education.

African American literacy came in an oral form. From the era of slavery to the Civil Rights Movement, storytelling was fundamental to the lives of African Americans. The South’s rules had an impact on the lives of Blacks and Whites, impacting the thought process of both racial groups. 

Leaving Dependency

My Life as a Welfare Brat focuses on how people take advantage of the welfare system and become dependent on a government check every month. The reader travels through time with a woman who played and cheated the system. The writer takes us on her journey of redemption and self-discovery. To get to this point in her life she goes through many challenges and trials.

Star Parker is a woman who went through three abortions, years of drug abuse and her strongest dependence a welfare check. Parker came from a family that was not well off, but worked hard and did not accept any handouts. At an early stage in Parker’s life, she felt independent and old enough to be on her own in the streets of Los Angeles. Los Angeles introduced her to the dangerous nightlife. She began to get trapped in a lifestyle consumed with late nights, angel dust and numerous men. After many encounters with men and three abortions, Parker decided that she wanted be a mother and gave birth to a baby girl who she named Angel. This was the first step in Star Parker becoming a different person. By having a child, she saw it as a step in a new direction.

Parker was an avid welfare dependent who learned how to make side money off of the system. The life that she lived gives light to some of the reasons taxpayers criticize the Welfare system. Taxpayers are afraid that their hard earned money is being used and given to people who are lazy and do not want to work. Her story shows how easy it is to manipulate the government and a life of complacency with receiving a check.

Doing research on Star Parker, I found that after having all of these revelations and changing her life, she is now a part of the Republican Party. Rush Limbaugh wrote her introduction to her autobiography and she is totally against the Welfare system.  While I agree that the Welfare system promotes dependency, I think that Star Parker is looking at the system from her own perspective. Not every single person is manipulating the system; there are some who actually need it. Parker is a person who has made it to where she wants to be in life, but has turned her back on the community that she use to look to for help. 

College Transformation

Robin Wisiniewski in Transformative College Literacy of Literate Black Women Peer Counselors describes the college literacy peer-based program and the conditions that she has experienced while working with the program. She also discusses her transformation as a leader of the peer-counseling program. She tells her perspective of the program though two counselors, Lauryn and Vania. They relate the experiences they had with the program with their individual identity. Both female peer counselors go into about how they changed individually and their counseling techniques.

Wisiniewski uses a quote from bell hooks to explain what she wanted out of college literacy. “Making the classroom a democratic setting where everyone feels responsibility to contribute is the central goal of transformative pedagogy.” This quote reminds me of what Spelman College asks of its students everyday. Spelman College teaches us that every time we step into a classroom, it is our role as scholars to question, comment and give an opinion on what we have learned. The professor in the classroom does not feel as if he or she has accomplished their job, unless they students are responsive to the lecture. I believe that a student should be able to offer their opinion, even if the professor disagrees with theory. One component of being a scholar is being able to see both sides of an argument. Wisiniewski is more than likely an efficient educator if she expects her student’s transformation in college to include contributing educated responses in the classroom. Lauryn and Vania both discussed how they motivated their students when it came to reading. Both females showed a transition “from learning from text to learning with text and using strategies to become empowered through knowledge construction” (Wisiniewski 79).

Transformative College Literacy of Literate Black Women Peer Counselors was a reading that went into depth about the techniques and strategies of learning. It also showed how college students transform while learning. Their literacy levels enhance and students are more prone to instead of just reading, they actually comprehend the text. College students learn how to apply themes from one text to other text and real life aspects. 

Dehumanization

In Sandra Golden's Black and on Welfare: What You Don't Know About Single

Parent Women, we see her primary argument about how the women feeling dehumanized after leaving the welfare office. She supports her position by arguing that many young Black females carry the assumed burden of being uneducated, unskilled, and unmotivated because they receive public assistance. The assumption leads to breeds of racial and discrimination towards them. I strongly agree with her argument because in today's society, media women on welfare are labeled as the ignorant, ghetto women in the hood. Being on welfare is actually labeled as a joke in today's comedy.

While reflecting on todays and past Black movies, I began to wonder how many Black women are portrayed in movies and sitcoms labeled as being on welfare. The following: Precious, American Violet, Losing Isaiah, Blue Chips, Meet the Browns, and Notorious. I can surely go on and on.

I have always wondered, “Why is it such a hot topic for Black women to be on welfare in box office movies”? Why did actress/comedian Mo’Nique have to be a ghetto, abusive, poor mother in order to win an Oscar? On the other hand of what Golden has stated, Yes, I understand many young Black women may be illiterate and need government assistance, but do we have to bring the negative reality to the movie screens to represent Black women? Many women do, “Sit back and wait for the check” or “Have government cheese”, but I just hate seeing that side of a Black women being portrayed in movies.

The number one movie that sticks out in all of our heads is, “Precious”. If you did not understand or could not vision what life on welfare was like, that movie was an excellent example. From the financial assistance to the free baby’s formula, you saw it all. I just hope one day, I can see a Black woman win an Oscar for being a successful, independent, and smart woman that she is!  

Dysfunctional Literacies of Exclusion

“This business of womanhood is a heavy burden…And these days it is worse, with the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other” (p. 16)

       This is a quote instilled in the passage by the author Mandi Chikombero who analyzes a book Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. This book exemplifies many issues that were facing African-American woman during the time period post slavery. Not only did woman face battles of race outside their homes, they also face the burden of facing gender inequalities inside the home. This information brought me to light to the struggles of women that not only include race. Women during this time period always came second before the man; they were expected to cook, clean, give birth, all while taking care of the household. In some situations women had jobs which added difficulty to their many responsibilities. Men within the household saw the women as second place which gave them reason to fight for their rights and become equal as men.

    

     Chikombero brings up the topic of literacy and the roles it place within society. The author explains two types of illiteracies which include colonial literacy and traditional literacy. The motivations behind the two are the same but they each have a different purpose. Colonial literacy is based on Christianity and therefore if you are colonial literate then you are fully Christian.  Colonial literacy saw no place for colonized Africans as it was only for white colonist. Traditional literacy involves knowing the music and traditions that are entailed within a culture. This type of literacy is important within the community because it provides the roles and duties of a woman during the time period and it provides the foundation for other types literacy to be formed. The different types of literacy are significant because they give insight into how the people of the time period were living and the thought process they used to explain many of their actions.

Works Cited

Chikombero, Mandi. Dysfunctional Literacies of Exclusion. New jersey: Hampton Press, 2005. 147-161. Print.

Dangaremba, T. (1982). Nervous conditions. Washington:Seal Press.Dangaremba, T. (1982). Nervous conditions. Washington:Seal Press.