Monday, November 2, 2009

Teachers Make the World



Sunny-Marie Birney was adopted at the tender age of 2 by White people. All her life she felt as though something was missing something, a piece of that black culture that her adopted parents could not quite offer, since they knew nothing about it. The saying "college changes everything" has never been more applicable and true.
Four women; it is amazing the impact people can have on your life. Four women changed the life of Sunny-Marie Birney in ways she never imagined, and in a sense I can completely relate to her. Coming to Spelman College is a decision that impacts how I, young black woman, will look at life from here on out. I have never been in a community where everyone around me is so talented and educated yet everyone is all different. And I totally understand where she is coming from when she states that "The fact that they were Black women teaching literature, psychology, contemporary issues from a Black woman's perspective touched me." (Birney 50) It is one thing for it to be your peers, it is a completely different ball game when the women teaching you are Black women. It gives you hope - you begin to think if they can do it, then maybe I can do. That is the first step to effecting change in the world; hope.
From her teachers Birney feels a sense of community, like they care about not only her studies but also her well-being. Which is one of the factors that helps her decide she wants to be a teacher - the service mentality. Someone helped her construct her path, it is only honorable to do the same for others.
In closing, Birney is talking about that sense of community in the black community and how four women impacted her life and her journey. this quote puts it best. "The foremothers were concerned with the mind,body, and spirit; thus, the education they constructed with their students emphasized multiple literacies"(Birney 54) The education process shouldn't be only centered on bookwork because one literacy will only get you but so far in this life, hence why she and I appreciated/ appreciate the Black women teachers/ professors in our lives.
-Jheanelle Miller

2 comments:

  1. Great job Jheanelle! Reading this chapter touched me. It made me think about how growing up, I never had a black female teacher care so much about me and the other students. I only wish I experienced what Mrs. Birney experienced when she was growing up. Again..good job.

    Maeghan Leonard

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  2. I can relate to you and Birney as well. I feel that this article completely allude to our lives as, we are here to get an eduation and when we think about it..majority of our teachers are African American. We have the African Diaspora Department where there is Billinglea, Mekerta, Stanley, DeSouza, and Wright. Thayey are all African American women and since the first days of classes I feel they have internalized the nuturing manner that Birney discusses. They have stepped out the boundaries of merely being our teachers and have come to nuture us. They teach us from the Paulo Friere view of things and they challenge us to expand our horizons.

    -Jacquelyn D. Patterson

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