“Literacy and the Black Woman”

by Sharon M. Darlings

              The essay entitled “Literacy and the Black Woman”, by Sharon M. Darlings, spoke of the well-known gap between Black women and literacy. In her essay Darlings was sure to note the fact that this “vicious cycle of illiteracy” has been around as early as the period of slavery and is as current now as it was then. According to Darlings, illiterate women outnumber illiterate men [on account of] reproduction issues, social position, and inadequate formal schooling (Lim, 1966; Safman, 1986)” (pg. 19). In addition, Darlings noted that “Lim (1996) reported that 25% of the world’s population is illiterate. Women compromise 60% of this group, and Black women compromise 44% of all illiterate women (Safman, 1986). Illiteracy, therefore, is a woman’s issue” (pg. 19).

While reading this article I thought a lot about my mother, my grandmothers and my great-grandmothers. My mother and the rest of the women in my life have always had influential roles in my life. I have always known them to be very strong and intelligent women. However, I have also known them to be misfortunate women. My mother and my grandmothers have only had the chance to acquire a limited education. None of these women attended college because of their teenage pregnancies. As a result, I have watched them suffer at times. In accordance, I have watched others, such as the white mothers and fathers of my high school peers, live with the upper hand. My peers came from mothers and fathers who have long had social and economic advantages. Based on my experiences as a first generation college student, I was able to understand Darlings’ ideas and opinions on literacy and the Black woman. Personally, I feel that it is very important for the Black woman to attain literacy. Black woman are already at a disadvantage, as we are the subordinate race as well as the subordinate gender. Without literacy, a Black woman will become lost in the world, over looked and stepped on, by those that surround her.