The Pursuit of Literacy

Leonie. C. R. Smith’s, “To be black, Female, and Literate: A Personal Journey in Education and Alienation” is based on the importance of literacy and education. Smith talks about her own experiences with relocating from the Caribbean to the United States. She takes the reader on her journey of struggling financially to overcoming different obstacles of life. She struggled with the difference between the Caribbean educational system versus that of the United States. She had never experienced the “American” way of learning. In the reading she stated, “I was removed from an already average class and placed into a class of even lower academic standing. I had never seen a multiple-choice test before, and many of the topics were unfamiliar to me” (Smith 187). Also, she had a very difficult time getting adjusted to being, “Black in America”, and having to deal with racial and classification discrimination.

Leonie C. R. Smith talks about her experiences at a private predominantly White upper class college. She discusses being faced with racial prejudice in many situations of life at college. This made us realize the opportunities we are afforded by attending Spelman College. Speaking with some of the girls at our school, it seems that some of us have been to predominantly white schools also. We have noticed the transformations we have made within ourselves by coming to Spelman College. Different classes and discussions that students have at Spelman prepare us for racial prejudice that remains outside of our gates.

By reading Leonie C.R. Smith’s narrative based on her life, we learned that it is important to be aware of the different cultures and traditions of African descendants around the world. Her narrative is an example of the types of struggles that many immigrants encounter when migrating to the United States. It showed us that by coming to Spelman College we can be comfortable with who we are while understanding that there is discrimination around the world.

Works Cited

Smith, Leonie. To be black, Female, and Literate: A Personal Journey in Education and Alienation. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2005. 183-200. Print.

The Importance of Oral History

Within the African American culture, storytelling is an important component in comprehending African American history. It can be used to discuss the traditions and history of our people. Writers of collected stories are needed to inform African American students and researchers about African American legacy. Storytelling helped descendants of Africa who were dispersed throughout the world to sustain hope and continue a legacy of literacy throughout their families. It aids African American communities in understanding the struggle of enslaved peoples and learning about various traditions. Storytelling is a form of oral history that continues to be vital in the present.

Tales of Struggle
    The various tales of African ancestor struggles have provided us with a deeper connection with our own past because we learn through the experiences of others. The story of our struggle as Black people affects our religion. The bible helped our ancestors believe and have faith as they were mistreated and tortured because of their skin. We receive knowledge by our ancestors’ storytelling that may not be in the textbook. Much of our history is known from oral storytelling. Therefore, it is important to now realize the struggle of our ancestors and how it has affected our future.

Stories of and by Black Women
    Throughout history, storytelling has had more male characters than female. Storytelling has been consistent with the African American tradition of showing male dominance. The role of women is one that has been connected with maintaining the household. Black women writers do not write many slave narratives, nor do they write stories of pity. Stories written by black women show failure turned into triumph and show them fighting and show them fighting for social changes. Black women authors would rather show women as independent and strong-willed.

Works Cited

Franklin, Wanda, and Joanne Dowdy. Storytelling. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2005. 119-138. Print.

A Woman's Worth

“In music videos, television talk shows, news shows, newspapers, and tabloids show us one-sided and oft times disfigured representations of African American females: pulsating genitals, hood rats, “successful” professional sisters alienated in corporate America for the academy, low-income single mothers, and falling stars (Richardson, 677).

        We as a group strongly agree with the author’s position on the view of black women. We feel as if black women are perceived terribly wrong in the media. As Spelman women, we know for a fact that we are more than our hips and thighs. However, throughout history literature has stereotyped black women as being promiscuous and uneducated.

          To confirm research, we went to various search engines to confirm the results on “black women”. We found that the first page was filled with sexual websites exploiting black women’s bodies. We also compared the search results of “white women” “black men” and “white men”. While we found that white women were exploited as well as black women, the total opposite was shown for white and black men. Search results for white men displayed professionals, intellectuals, and politicians. While on the other hand, black men were not exploited sexually, they did contain negative connotations.

        In literature such as the book, “Push” by Sapphire, the main character grows up in a low-income and uneducated household. She is faced with so many adversities and obstacles that she must overcome. Novels similar to Push, should be respected, however, they should be counteracted with different perspectives. This can also be said with music lyrics and videos. As we watch our favorite music artist’s video, women are constantly objectified and degraded. While authors like Elaine Richardson disagree and try to give an opposite view on black women, some authors and average black women perpetuate these negative stereotypes.

        While we agree on Elaine Richardson’s point of view of the state of black women in media, it’s going to take more than just her article to change a worldly view on the black woman. Many novels portraying black women as uneducated should be acknowledged, but not used to generalize all black females.

Works Cited

Richardson, Elaine. To Protect and Serve:African American Female Literacies. 4. 53. National Council of teachers of English: 2002. 675-704. Print.