Black Women/ Black Literature

For years, the language of African Americans has been viewed as wrong. Young children are told from the very beginning not to talk like black people because it is a sign of ignorance or being “ghetto”. So when a child who has not been taught these same beliefs encounters a child who has, the child that talks more proper is said to talk “white”. In this interview conducted by Joanna Kilgour Dowdy, Christina McVay,a white woman, talks about her experiences teaching English to a class with all African American students. She talks about how her success comes from making the students feel comfortable around her and allowing them to open up to her. Her style of teaching is very different from many other white teachers. First off, she wanted to teach at a school where the majority of students were Black. Most schools that are majority white will not really talk about African American history. If they do, it is because of black history month. She also allows her students to express themselves and gives them the opportunity to write in the language they were so often told is wrong. By allowing the students to do various assignments using ‘slang’, she is teaching them that there is nothing wrong with it and the appropriate times to use it.

I enjoyed this interview because I have never had or heard of a teacher, specifically a white teacher, that was willing to teach a group of African American students a way to embrace their culture. Most will shy away because of the way we speak or because we don’t like English. I respected the fact that she did not act like she knew everything about our culture and was open to learning new things from the students. This made the classroom instantly become one of dialogue and interactions. If the school systems had more diverse teachers like this, I do not think most black students would dislike English as much as they do.

To Be Black, Female, and Literate: A Personal Journey in Education and Alienation

Leonie C. R Smith’s Autobiography entitled To be Black, Female, and Literate tells the story of Smith’s educational journey and the trials and obstacles that she faced while acquiring an education. Her journey to become a multilingual literate Black woman began on the island of Antigua, where she worked hard to become an academically successful black woman. Impelled by her desire not to suffer under the victimization of those more literate, like her grandmother, Smith worked hard at a young age to overcome every obstacle she faced. Obstacles such as losing her mother at a young age, her birth home burning down, and her father after years of depression leading up to her mother’s death, leaving his children and remarrying again in the states.

Smith seemed to have a determination that couldn’t be killed no matter her circumstances. Principles imparted on her by her parents who laid the foundation to continue despite present circumstances. This foundation helped her reach her goals and excel at an early age. An example of such excellence was displayed after Smith explained that “The classes were divided into As and Bs in primary school, from infant 1 (kindergarten) to Junior 5 (6th or 7th grade). The A classes were for the students who were considered to be academically gifted, and the B classes were for those students who did not fare as well academically. I remember always being in the A classes, and I always came in first, second, or third place within the class.” (Smith, 187).

So why exactly is this quote so important to this literary essay? This is because despite Smith's early success in life and determination to let nothing distract her, she became a successful, literate, black woman. It was not until her matriculation through secondary school and college that for the first time in her life faced the brunt of discrimination and the ridicule in which it bought. Smith was unprepared for the struggles in which she now faced and unfortunately because of this, her grades suffered. For the first time in Smith’s life she not only failed her courses, but she also learned an important life lesson. Smith had learned that no matter the time and energy she dedicated to excelling at school, her race couldn’t be avoided she was an African American and now had to prove herself as a black, literate female.

In addition, Smith’s constant desire to compare herself to “Tee," the main character of Merle Hodge’s (1970) Crick Crack Money narrative shows Smith’s desire to pacify herself and show that although things were difficult they could have been worse. Smith's pursuit to be literate could have been similar to "Tee's" and the racial discrimination she faced. Sadly, Smith is caught off guard due to her present circumstances and the “experiences of involvement or alienation can directly or indirectly affect the performance and success not only of students, but faculty as well (Smith 1991).”

In conclusion, Smith reveals that her matriculation through secondary school and college helped her to not only become a multilingual, literate Black woman, but through these trials and struggles she became a strong, intelligent, black women who was not only aware of herself but also the world around her.

Being a Black Literate Female

For years women have been seen as incapable. They were never given the amount of credit men were given and often times were degraded. African American women had it worse. At one point in time, African Americans weren’t even allowed to learn how to read. This is where the stereotype that all ‘black’ people are illiterate comes from. What does it mean to be a literate being? The dictionary defines literate as someone who is able to read and write. Contrary to past beliefs about black females, there are many literate African American women in the world who have such high paying jobs as writers, actresses, doctors, lawyers. In the article “To Protect and to Serve” by Elaine Richardson, she discusses the many images of black females over the years and how it is a lifelong journey trying to prove to society that we are not all the same. “Young black females often struggle to invent themselves against the distorted images of “money hungry heartless b*tch,” “Jezebel,” and good “ole Mammy” among others, many of which was created during slavery.” (Richardson 676). What I thought was the most interesting part in this essay was the part when she talked about the black girl image vsersus the white girl image. I found it stimulating that when I typed young black girl in the Google search engine and found that all of the results were pornographic sites. This goes to show that no matter how many black women succeed in life, there is always going to be that ‘ghetto girl’ stereotype.

The Art of Storytelling

Storytelling is an ancient, but unique concept that has laid the foundation for African-American culture.  It is more than just an easy way to put children to sleep at night.  Storytelling is used to pass down memories and customs, inspire others, encourage laughter, or as a tool for healing.  Also, storytelling is a uniting force that can bring people together culturally or spiritually.  

The religious aspect of storytelling was perhaps the most interesting portion of this article to me.  I never thought of the impact that the stories of the bible have on African-Americans.  The article describes how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would utilize storytelling in his sermons.  These stories always start with an everyday problem and end by giving the audience the best way to go about that situation.  It gives individuals good advice to carry them through the week.  Dr. King used the story of the Good Samaritan from the bible and made it so that everyone could relate to it.  This reminded me of the minister at my church.  He always adds a humorous story to his sermon.  It was not until I read this section of this article that I realized that this is a common approach among African-American preachers.  Why is that?  

This is probably true because “Many older African-Americans identified with the suffering of Christ, the stories of Moses and the Israelites, and other biblical characters” (Franklin & Dowdy 127).  That was the one aspect of life that was easily relatable for most Blacks.  Also, religion has always played a big part in the lifestyle of African-Americans, so combining an everyday problem with a biblical solution is very logical.  These beliefs and traditions are still alive today, thus these practices are still implemented by Black preachers.