"Voices of Our Foremothers" by Sunny-Marie Birney

               In “Voices of Our Foremother,” the author discusses how she always felt like a motherless child because she was adopted at the age of two by some European American parents. She felt distant from her culture and left out of the black community until she went to college. Once in college, she states, “I began my journey home.” (Birney 49) She began to learn about African American culture and history and she was able to learn about her people, from her own people’s perspective, or from their perspective. “The fact that black women were teaching… from a black woman’s perspective touched me.” (Birney 50) She felt connected to what she was learning.

` Another point that she discussed was how her teachers cared about her. She says, “they were concerned with my mind, body and spirit, past, present and future.” She describes these African American teachers as “other mothers”, who know that raising a child is a community effort; one which they willingly embrace.

One thing that I really appreciate about the atmosphere here at Spelman is all of the African American teachers. Because they are caring and nurturing, there is that sense of a mother away from home; someone whom is genuinely concerned about you and your well being and your grades and your health. I appreciate that because in a certain aspect, because of that relation I tend to learn more and listen more and take heed of what I’m being told because the familiarity of the relationship. I also appreciate that our teachers are allowed to teach from they own individual perspectives as African American women. So not only do I gain knowledge, but I gain perspective as well; not only perspective, but the peculiar, unknown, seemingly unheard of perspective of the minority,  something that is thought to be myth, but indeed does exist.

Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats

            In Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats the author discussed how the government and African Americans both have contributed to the corruption of the welfare system and the African American community. Throughout the text the author shared her point of view on the welfare system and how it came to be.

            In this text the author called the government the pimps, the black leaders the whores, and the recipients of welfare the welfare brats. She accused the government of being the pimps because she feels as though the government is pimping out lower class African Americans through the use of government aid. The author then goes on to explain that we as African Americans encourage this type of behavior by either promoting government aid or by abusing the system. “Plenty of black leaders, inspired by everything from a desire for change to retribution, were more than happy to join in as foot soldiers” (27).

            Although, I think that the author was a little harsh throughout the text, I did agree with her on some issues. For example, when she talked about the welfare brats and their attitudes towards the system, I agreed with her. I felt that the statement she made about the welfare brats was very valid, because I know individuals who feel like the government owes them money and being on welfare is how they feel that they are being done justice. Personally, I feel that if you are not in dire need of government assistance then you should not be on welfare, because it is bringing the African American community down. It is bringing our community down because when we get on welfare we are as the author states not, “sticking by the principles of hard work and self-reliance that brought black Americans up from slavery…” (128).This essay left me with one question. When will we as African Americans stop abusing the system?

           

Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven Lessons I Learned in a Cotton Field by Lillie Gayle Smith

In “Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven Lessons I Learned in a Cotton Field” by Lillie Gayle Smith, Smith recalled that “it took over 40 years before [she] discovered and began to value the lessons [she] learned from the inglorious job of picking cotton during the summers of [her] childhood”. Smith was one of the many people who cringed at the thought of such memories of the past. At an earlier point in Smith’s life, the constant reminder of the time she’d spent picking cotton in the field, reminded her of her family’s ancient history. Knowing that her family members who came before her were slaves, did not sit well with Smith. It wasn’t until the fall of 2003 when Smith took a graduate class called “Black Women’s Literacy”, that she came to accept and even appreciate the time she’d spent in the cotton field. The class introduced Smith to different definitions, theories and constructs of literacy. This in turn led to Smith’s realization that the cotton field in Alabama’s Black Belt was responsible for “how [she] had come to know and apply certain truths about life”. In example, Smith was able to understand and even compare the act of resistance by her female classmates, after feelings of discrimination. At first, Smith believed the women were giving up on the male professor, but she quickly came to realize that the act of no longer participating in the class, was the women’s’ way of resisting.

This particular story reminded me of my childhood memories. I can still remember getting in trouble for doing something I thought was perfectly fine, but in my parents’ eyes, was completely unacceptable.  Each and every time I would get in trouble I would be in the worst mood and think of how unfair and mean my parents were. At the time, I was completely unaware of my actions. I never understood why my parents chastised me, until now. Since I am older and more mature, I understand that my parents were only trying to raise a wonderful young lady. Now, I am grateful for the disciplinary action that my parents took. As a result, I am more aware and knowledgeable of my actions as well as others. 

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

            In “Lessons From Down Under: Reflections on Meanings of Literacy and Knowledge Form an African-American Female Growing Up in Rural Alabama” by Bessie House-Soremekun, the author discussed the importance of both formal and informal literacy. The author begins the essay by giving a historical perspective on the acquisition of knowledge and then continues to give a personal account of how she acquired her literacy skills.

            House-Soremekun discussed how African Americans have heavily depended on various oral traditions of literacy throughout history (starting from slavery to present day).  For instance, she mentioned how she and her grandmother discussed numerous topics that she was not able to learn from her textbooks. “My grandmother and I discussed many topics, including religion, philosophy, the nature of human existence, politics, health issues, and economics” (pg.62).

This quote reminded me of how I have been able to learn about topics that I was not taught about through my formal education from my family members. I, like the author, came from a middle class family who placed a great amount of value on obtaining my education. While my parents wanted to make sure that I obtained a formal education, they also knew that there were some things about life and how to understand the world that I live in that the textbooks would not be able to teach me. My parents taught me about such things through the use of several techniques such as storytelling and old phrases. These techniques helped me to acquire my informal literacy. This essay left me with two questions.

While I agreed with her argument that oral traditions have been used to help African Americans to become literate, I disagreed with the statement that argument that she made about the lack of written texts about and by African Americans affecting black people’s self- esteem. I disagreed with this statement because I feel that it was too general. How does she know that every African American’s self- esteem was affected by the lack of written texts about and by black people.

My Life as a Welfare Brat by Parker

In the essay “My Life as a Welfare Brat”, by Parker, the author introduces the piece with her experience on the Oprah show. There are two mothers on there that feel entitled to welfare as if the government owes them this money. The author talks about how she used to do the same thing and how the welfare system is a crutch and it discourages and enables people from finding jobs and supporting themselves. Parker then goes on to discuss her own experiences on welfare. She talks about how she lived a reckless life have casual sex and got pregnant three times in one year. She also talked about how she quit her job and was supported on welfare and how others as well as she sold Medi-cal stickers.

This part was the most interesting o me because I have never heard of anyone using their welfare benefits by selling them to others and actually being able to live off of this illegal activity. I didn’t even know that that was possible. And the idea that there are clinics that don’t even ask for id and that will let you use someone else Medi-cal sticker is unheard of. This is what’s wrong with the welfare system and the government. How can you allow this illegal activity to be going on, this abuse of the system, while there are all these people who need these benefits but can’t get them? Can you not clearly decipher between who needs welfare and who doesn’t? Is it that hard? And if so, can you not find people who are capable of doing this job? These are serious questions that I have. I know when my mom was a case workers she would actually do her job and research to see who was lying on their application, this is what all government employees need to be doing.

Black and on Welfare: What You Don’t Know About Single-Parent Women by Sandra Golden

            In “Black and on Welfare: What You Don’t Know About Single-Parent Women”, Sarah Golden makes the argument that "women on welfare [are] affected by discriminatory practices." I agree with this statement because in some ways I feel that this is true. For instance, Golden states that, "Dominating system such as welfare do not recognize Black women's social literacy skills." I believe that this is a form of discrimination, because a system that ignores part of its population's abilities is cheating itself. Black women on welfare have a lot to offer the economy and society, but as long as the government continues to discriminate against Black women's "social literacy skills" then the good that they have to offer will go unheard.

While I agree with Golden's argument that "women on welfare [are] affected by discriminatory practices within the welfare system" (28), I also disagree with this statement. This is because I feel that her argument is to general. How does she know that every "women on welfare [is] affected by discriminatory practices within the welfare system" (28)? For instance, she holds a focus group of twelve women who are on welfare. A focus group made up of only twelve women out of the total amount of women on welfare, is one that in my opinion is to general and not a good representation of the whole group. Also, I feel that Golden's argument is a little bias, because she used to be on welfare. "Even today, over 20 years after my encounter with the welfare system, many young Black females carry the assumed burdened of being uneducated or undereducated, unskilled, and unmotivated because they receive public assistance" (28).

Literacies and the World

In Dysfunctional Literacies of Exclusion: An Exploration of the Burdens of Literacy in Tisiti Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions by Mandi Chikombero, Chikombero analyses Dangarembga’s novel and its literary references. The novel, which is about “black people’s struggle for resolution among the challenges presented by the conflicting literacies”, the different types of literacies bring about burdens and “Dangarembga offers counsel regarding the need to find the middle ground, which becomes a path to inclusion of all literacies”. Chikombero notes the fact that “the book makes significant contributions to the understanding of Black women’s literacy”. Also, according to Chikombero “classroom literacy is but one kind of literacy, but it is not the only literacy”. She breaks down Dagarembga’s novel to explain that traditional literacy and colonial/modern literacy is included within the text. Also, Dagarembga notes that both forms of literacy are dysfunctional in that they have the same goal; to exclude.

When Chikombero spoke about the different types of literacy in her essay, it reminded me of my own personal life. Upon enrolling in this English Composition course, I was unaware that one’s literate abilities are sometimes a result of their home lives. I have always believed that the only type of literacy was the literacy that came from schools, books and teachers. However, I have learned that literacy has many different definitions as it also results from many different factors. For example, one’s culture, values and beliefs, may determine their literate capabilities.  Personally, I believe that my literacy stems from educational institutions as well as family factors. My teachers and their lessons have taught me educational fundamentals while my family has taught me the fundamentals of the world. On a broader spectrum, my family has taught me the ways of the world and most importantly, how to survive and excel in the world.