Literacy and the Black Woman

The media's image of Black women is not a good one. We are either seen as objects of lust and desire, video vixens or modern day Jezebel’s, or the single mother trying to raise her children on paycheck made for a single person, modern day Mammies. My question is, where are the average Black women? The ones who have a college education, a well-paying job, a husband, and children. Where is she? Why are all the images that see of Black women negative or something unattainable like being the next Beyonce or Rihanna? I am not saying that being a singer is unattainable career, I am just saying not everyone can sign a 40 million dollar contract. I feel that as Black women and children, we should aspire to be more than what we see on television. We should look past the Beyonce’s and the Rihanna’s and the Jennifer Hudson’s and find other successful Black women. We should dream about discovering the next star as an astronomer rather than trying to be the next “star” discovered. There are so many opportunities out there for us, we just need to find them. With that said, the only way we can find these opportunities is if we become literate. We as a people are so strong that I know we can do this. We have sat by and let our men deteriorate and become an “endangered species (Richardson, 8)," we cannot have this for ourselves. We must become literate and reach our full potential.
　
“The idea that the Black woman had to sacrifice herself for the greater good of the race has had both positive and negative ramifications. Even black men began to accept prevailing beliefs that Black women should sacrifice for and nurture the race. Women were to leave the hard stuff to the men. We continue to see this opinion in effect today, and society’s consistent subordination of women’s own ideals has left a particularly negative impact on the Black woman. (Darling, 18)"

“The Black woman represents strength and endurance, yet she also represents what we consider to be at risk and poverty. Oxymoronic as these concepts are, she represents them all. She occupies a tier of society that binds us all, yet she is the most ignored within the structure of society. Because she represents aspects of our being that many wish ignore, she is then overlooked. (Darling, 15)" We as Black women have to make an effort to change these views, so that they will not be all that we stand for.

The Black Voice

The school system convinces Blacks that they hate English, through the way it is presented to them. It is not until they reach the collegiate level that Blacks realize that they actually enjoy reading. (pg 89) Is this the main reason for such a high rate of high school dropouts, especially among Blacks?

It is important to be supportive of Black men in their times of tribulation, rather than give up on them. Many people, especially males of African decent, have a “double conscious.”  Double conscious is concept created by the Black scholar W.E.B. DuBois.  With double consciousness people do not see the world through their eyes. (pg 91) Instead, they see the world through the eyes that others see them through. As a result, they do not put forth as much effort as they should, because everyone is already expecting them to fail and no one is there when they really need them.  On the other hand, Black women who do not fall under the negative stereotypes such as jezebels, and mammies that go on attend college find that consensus English, also known as “proper English,” is not as bad as the school system made it out to be.

African Americans inherit a God-given gift of creativity when it comes to language. Take into consideration the tribulations of our ancestors. The only problem is being open with it. (pg 89) After all, the distinctive goal of literary works is to share emotions and influence others, but how can you influence others if you do not share?

Thanks Mom♥

From a young age, my mother always told me that I could do anything I wanted to in life. She preached the importance of having great versus good grades, as well as the importance of taking my education seriously. She wanted me to have all the opportunities she either missed out on or could not obtain. Like Ms. Smith’s parents, my mother also is an intelligent individual and financial issues prevented her from attending college. Throughout my entire my life, my mother has been both my biggest critic and supporter, because she wants the best for me. She believed in me even when I was too blind too believe in my own self. She is one of the main reasons that I am at Spelman today.

My mother encouraged me to dream big. She has always supported my career aspirations, nothing was ever too big, too small, or expensive. She was my biggest advocate for Spelman. I initially did not want to attend because I thought that it was going to be a financial burden, but she told me that if I wanted to go that she would find a way to pay for it.

In her essay, Ms. Smith said “I was never discouraged from pursuing an education as a child. I was never told that there were limitations to what I could achieve. I was free to dream and in my dreams I could become anything I wanted to be. (Smith, 186)" When I read this, I immediately thought about my mother and all of her sacrifices for me. There were times when I thought what she was doing was wrong, unfair and sometimes cruel, but now I see why and understand her logic. She wanted me to able to do more in life than the average person, because she knew that her baby girl was beyond average.

Positive or Negative Storytelling

The purpose of a story is to describe how people make sense of the events of their lives, experiences, and actions (pg 122). With that being said, the most important rule in most African American households is to not be an example of a negative stereotype that is imposed upon Blacks by Whites. (pg 133) Is this the result of positive or negative actions?

 In some cases, one will bring up a story as a result of another story that is being shared. These numerous stories can be shared together for ages, because they now hold a collective meaning. Even if they are not always being told together, those that heard them will be influenced and will go on to use its morals in their daily rountines. Regardless if the story holds negative information, it could still have a positive influence upon its audience.

As a result of her research, Banks-Wallace said, “to understand the stories of African American women it is important to accept the values and experience that contribute to the composition of each story. (pg 132) Most Black women were stereotyped as “Jezebels” or “Mammies,” whereas the men found it necessary to be seen as cool, so when the men became that stereotype it left the women at home to bare both parental responsibilities. The unimportance of a man began to be embedded upon future generations, which is why their stories have gone from those of distress to those of independence.

Banks-Wallace’s findings illustrate that the six functions of stories have not changed over generations. (pg 132) Although this is true, I am inclined to conclude that the emphasis of the functions have changed over time. And those who actually listen to the stories versus contradicting them can learn something.

"To Protect And Serve"

“To Protect and Serve” by Elaine Richardson was a excellent essay that discussed the histories of black women‘s literacy. I enjoyed reading the essay, because it grabbed my attention and made me curious as to what the other readings would discuss. While reading this essay, many points that Richardson discussed stood out to me. The one that impacted me the most was when she brought up Yahoo search engines and typing in black women. I witnessed the the adult websites that popped up. The first link that popped up when you type in black women is indeed for an adult website. I was truly disappointed. I was glad though that the second link was for “Black Girls Rock,” which was Black Entertainment Television (BET)’s awards show dedicated to outstanding black women. After that however, the adult websites continued. It was very insulting and degrading to see this and it also made me enraged. I feel that these derogatory images of black women should not be the first thing one sees when trying to research black women. The question that popped into my head about this was, what if a young black girl tries to research black women and she types that into the search engine, what she think of herself if all she saw were those degrading images?  We need a better and much more positive media role for our young girls, because if all they see are us as adult movie stars and "video vixens," they will aspire to be nothing more than modern day "Jezebels."  We need to be able to show them that they are more than that and that they can be anything that they want to be and are not limited to what they see.