"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.