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.