Literacy and History are effectively woven together in Going Against the Grain: The Acquisition and Use of Literacy. This passage discusses they ways in African Americans have obtained literacy with a focus on African American Women. African American women have always been centralized in the community; they continue to uplift the race despite the constant oppression. They have found strength regardless of being beaten down. Essentially African American women are the conscious of their communities. They have always been visionaries and some of their stories are told throughout this passage. Women like Frances Ellen Harper and Terry Prince have made an impact on the lives of African Americans through their activism. Literacy has been a vital cause in the oppression that has been placed on the African American community. The means to obtain literacy was not easy to come by. Most slave holders, along with other white Americans opposed the idea of African Americans gaining literacy. In the beginning of the 19th century, during many revolutions, whites did not want slaves to gain literacy due to the fear of uprisings. The image of African Americans during the slave era was tainted to African Americans being seen as mere property, which was used as justification of treating Blacks like animals. African American women like Miss Deveaus, Miss L, and Millia Granson produced literacy opportunities for their community. African American women continued to demonstrate their endless strength when some started their own private schools through the visions like that of Catherine William Ferguson. African American women have constantly demonstrated their commitment to the empowerment of their communities along with their unconscious will to uplift their communities.
-Janella Thomas
ABout that thing you were saying about being treated like animals. I was reading the chapter and i cant exactly remember who but some man saw it fitting to treat African American in an animalistic manner because he saw that they were lacking some of the assests that white people had, like the ability to read. I found that to be relatively interesting mainly because if you never teach one to read and prevent them from reading how do you expect them to learn? Thankfully another man ( whose name i also dont remember) pointed out how ignorant the previous man was and showed him that African Americans, despite their differences, are human beings who deserve to be treated like people.
ReplyDelete-Jheanelle Miller
I agree that black women are the glue of the community. They hold everything together. MY grandmother, for instance, takes care of our whole neighborhood. Anytime there is a shooting or killing, my grandmother is the first one on the scene.(She's there even before the cops.) A black woman is everyone's strength, but I wonder who is her's?
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ReplyDeleteThere were so many women that contributed to our literacy today. They went through a stuggle to get us through and yet like you said they still stayed strong. The fact that the whites still tried to hold us back was more like a competition for us to win, and we over came it. Literacy was no longer an oppression for us. We stil struggle with racism today more than we do anything else.
ReplyDelete-J'Nae Smith