Celebrating The Legacy

Birney was motherless at the age of two years of age. She felt as id she was out of place, and without a value. She was mentally abused. It was not until she went to college that she recieved a cultural, and spiritual awakening. This opened up her point of view to have a passion for education, her mind, body, spirt, past and present, and future. Attending college, and having the most influential professors, she also recieved a cultural uplifting that she stillo celebrates despite all the negativity and downsizement we recieved as African American women. Overall, I had a connection, because it was not until I came to Spelman until I found my purpose. Spelman gave me a cultural, economical, and networking awakening. Spelman College gave me the opportunity to become more open with people of my background. Even though we all come from different angles of the world, we each serve a different purpose. Economically, Spelman influenced me that education is very important, and even though I am not financially stable, that SCHOLARSHIPS are very important. Networking became a big thing to me because this is a very big campus. In the long run, you never know who you might run into, and might need a favor.

Lessons From Down Under: Reflections on Meanings of Literacy and Knowledge From an African American Female Growing Up in Rural Alabama

This chapter by Bessie House-Soremekun was split into four different sections, Historical and Political Context, Knowledge and Knowing, Formal and Informal Literacy, and Explicating the Race Rules. The Historical and Political Context section begins mentioning the Montgomery Bus Boycotts and how it was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. “Through written and oral modes of communication,” African Americans were able to make fundamental changes that occurred under the umbrella of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, resulting in Affirmative Action, which evened the playing field in American society.

In the section, Knowledge and Knowing, House-Soremekun talks about growing up in a small southern town in Alabama. She grew up with part of her literacy being religious. She learned to read and understand the Bible, and also learned to understand issues regarding morality. Education was an important aspect because her mother, grandmother, uncle, and father had gone to college. The three latter were all teachers.

The section, Formal and Informal Literacy, explains that obviously, formal literacy was important to her family even though it was “problematic” for African Americans during the time of segregation and outright racism. Lack of written texts by and about African Americans left the race with low self-esteem. However, informal literacy was a strong part of the African American community. Her Grandma Bessie passed down stories and information from her life and her family’s history. This oral tradition was a form of literacy that many African American people inherited.

The section, Explicating the Race Rules, explains how Jim Crow laws institutionalized “separate but equal.” These laws kept Blacks and Whites separate in schools, restrooms, restaurants, buses, etc. House-Soremekun reflects on how she resented how her grandmother was treated by whites; and how it upset her that they refused to address her in a respectable manner by calling her Mrs. Fannings. She explains that this is how whites were able to elevate themselves. She also resented being racially categorized instead of being looked at as a person who was a credit to the human race. She also mentions that in many ways literacy took the backseat to a person’s race and did not help their chances of becoming an equal. By reaching her goals and being a literate woman who teaches and writes published works, Bessie House-Soremekun has been able to positively impact the lives of many.

~Alaina Walton

Hidden Literacies In ACotton Field

Throughout the chapter, the author, Lillie Gayle Smith, talks about her memories working in the cotton fields as a minor even though it was not in the 18th and 19th century. She valued lessons from cotton picking during her childhood. Her lessons in the cotton field taught her how to "unearth" her true understanding of life, and how it is a privelage to stand where we are today. I feel like the over all message she gives in the chapter explains that there are literacies that can be taught better outside of the classroom. However, I related two of my past life stories in the chapter. There was a quote in the chapter that stated, "Marganilized and stigmated through the triple realities of race, class and gender." Even though we are not working in the cotton field, us, as African American women, are still being dehumanized in our communities, society, and even in public places. I can relate a personal life story to this quote to prove that it still goes on even in the 21st century. My senior year, as I was working in a clothes store in the mall, a mid - age black woman asked if she could used the restroom. I politely told her that our store does not provide restrooms for customers and there nearest one was in the food court. As I saw her circle the store, I could see that she was trying to find another sales associate, or maybe even a manager. When she found another sales associate, near me, she explained how she really needed to go to the restroom. As I looked down at her legs, I could see that she was menstrating, and then I glanced at her stomach. I begin to think if she was having a miscarrage because she was pregnant. As I went to get the store manager, I begin to explain to her what was going on, and how an abulance needed to be called. Without no hassle, she ran to the back, and grabbed brown paper napkins, and asked the lady may she politely wipe up the blood from the floor. What if it was another race? My second connection with the author is how her mother taught her how to value a dollar bill. Without spendong money unwisely, my mother always taught me that everytime somebody gave me some money, I should not want to just spend it so fast, and rather budget my money. I should be able to put some away for savings, and an emergency stash. She also taught me that any size amount that I did recieve, I HAD to put 10% in church. She explained and broke it down to me that in order to recievce you have to give.
-Sa'Myra Bradford