In Transformative College Literacy of Literate Black Women, I was definitely moved by the passage where Vania talks about how she could care less about being considered a black woman, she wants everyone to look at her and see a follower and seeker of God. I want to carry that same concept with me. The experiment conducted as part of the scholars program was a revelation. As a high school student, I went to two very different high schools, a diverse well known one in the north and a less diverse more African American one in the south. It never occurred to me to think that some people do not use racial judgment just more of foreign judgment, as if I am not; sure, how you will react therefore I shall not speak to you in a manner that might make you upset or anger you. I now see the way people approach others in a different light. This experiment was well thought of and I never seen life through a peer counselors eyes. I was in a situation where I was usually the only black female person in general, and I could not' accept it. It is not that I did not like the whites, I just felt like I could not relate to them, and I was afraid of how they would approach me. This transformative literacy also caught my eye when it spoke about direct reflection. We of course look at ourselves in a "mirror" and reflect on different parts that are needed to change, I just did not recognize how important it was to look at that first and realize self-literacy and reflection

Voices of Our Foremothers

Sunny-Marie Birney's Voices of our Foremothers related a lot to my life. It takes a village to raise a child is what many West Indian families discipline their children by. Growing up I had many mothers and fathers outside of my biological ones that were not afraid to set me straight when I went wrong. I always had someone to turn to when I needed aid, whether it is the school crossing guard, teacher, principal or neighbor. My mother set relationships with everyone so that no matter where I went there would always be someone there looking out for me.
As I got older, I realized the relationships that my mother formed were not petty but beneficial. As Sunny-Marie Birney stated that, she decided to make a commitment to educate the African American Community. I have also made the decision to become an educator off the experiences I had being nurtured in the classroom by teachers who viewed me as more than just a student but one of their own children. I can understand how the teachers that Ms. Birney encountered made such an impact in her life that she carried with her into adulthood. Reading Voices of our Foremothers made me reflect a lot on my life and how it paralleled Ms. Birney’s .I want to make that impact on my students as Ms. Birney’s teachers and herself did.

-Nehemie Villarceau

When reading Elaine Richardson’s She was Workin like Foreal I was alarmed at how nonchalant some of the girl’s responses were towards the video Tip Drill. It was also very disappointing given that I seen the video personally and was disgusted by it. The vulgar dance moves and lyrics made me feel personally disrespected. Even though I know, I do not fit into the category of a Tip Drill and vow never to do so, I know people who watched the video probably would not feel the same. The image portrayed by the gyrating Black women that allowed the St. Lunatics to do obscene things to them reflects horribly on the rest of the African American female race. People who are disconnected from the world learn about other cultures from what they read and view on television. If this image is what they see, you almost cannot blame them for believing that this image stands for the entire race. Personally, I do not blame the St. Lunatics who are the artist to the song for filming the video I blame the “models" who agreed to participate in this activity. The women did not come into the video blinded, they knew very well what the job entailed and knowingly participated in it. Videos like Tip Drill should not be produced any longer but for that to happen women need to stop allowing themselves to be degraded in these videos.

-Nehemie Villarceau

Protect and Serve

When I read the title of the article “To Protect and to Serve” I thought about our past readings and how our government does not always protect and serve everybody. I felt that black people are always faced with low standards. They always expect the low class people to be the ones to cause the issues in our society such as stealing, when professional people steal and take away from our government in scandalous ways. Black woman played a vital role in our society. Elaine Richardson claims that, “Woman is the child’s first teacher, who protects it even in her womb and begins to socialize it”. I agree with this quote to a certain extent because even before you go to school your mother is there teaching you little melodies and lullabies. From the little kicks and growing physically and emotionally while experiencing motherhood both the mother and child become connected as one. Then I think about the irresponsible mothers who are not able to help their child when they are struggling in school, and don’t even try to get help for themselves. Black women should be recognized as brilliant and resilient. It was black women who take care of their masters children and balanced the roles of the white mothers so that their maters would be satisfied. The only way that we can change what society is to reform what is continuously breaking apart our society, and everyone of us should be willing to protect and serve in our country.

Welfare Brat

“My Life as a Welfare Brat” is an amazing story about woman on welfare. It shows how people can change their lives around. This was an adventurous transformation of a former welfare queen who portrays black women’s literacy. It illustrates how many black women weren’t born into ghettos where black people could read and write. They were forced to learn how to survive and hustle for their selves based on what they could get from their society. In the beginning of the chapter “My Life as a Welfare Brat”, there were the two women on the on the Oprah Winfrey show talking about how proud they were to be on Welfare. They were taking for granted the checks they were receiving from the government, food stamps, and Medical Assistance. Linda had been collecting money from welfare for an entire decade. She believed that welfare was not a privilege because she felt like they owed her for being a single parent mother. Linda felt that the only way she would benefit from welfare and food stamps was to take away everything from the program, even if it meant abusing the system. If that meant selling food stamps that was okay because the money was given to her and it “belonged” to Linda. She chose to live her life off of taxpayers so that she could stay at home and provide for her child. As you continue reading the Linda analyzed problems behind the Food Stamp Program through her room mates. Leona and Brenda used to have problems with Brenda’s social worker because welfare didn’t like Brenda living with another family member. They feared Leona might be supporting her younger sister and that Brenda might share some of her food stamp benefits with Leona. The sisters even had to keep their food separated in the refrigerator in case of an impromptu visit by the social worker. This book is relative to the Black Women's Literacy because we have to learn to follow the rules and especially the laws. Sp much people are going to jail because of breaking laws that they never even knew about. You have to learn to ask questions and avoid caous.

I typed in black girls and young black girls in Google and was astonished to see what Elaine Richardson said was true. I scrolled down and went through pages trying find something positive about black girls, and I found nothing; the pornographic websites littered the page. It made me wonder of how many people typed the same thing in Google and though that black girls were whores and had no class. When I typed young white girls or white girls, porn did not show up. The heavy contrast was extremely disturbing.
Elaine Richardson’s To Protect and To Serve states “music videos, television talk shows, new shows, newspapers and, tabloids show us one sided and often times disfigure the representation of African American females” (Richardson 677). I think this is very true but I also think that African American women have the duty and power to break the mold. I find that some African American prefer to settle for what is given to them instead of striving to become better than the ghetto project girl that society expect them to be. Reading the excerpt in To Protect and To Serve made me appreciate attending Spelman College even more. I know that not every female here was born with a silver spoon but we are all here striving to buy our own spoon. The decision to attend Spelman makes the statement that as an African American female you choose to be educated and not settle for anything but the best.
- Nehemie Villarceau

Lessons From Down Under
-Nehemie Villarceau
In Lessons From Down Under Bessie House-Soremekum reflects on her childhood in rural Alabama. Growing up in Alabama in the 1960s and 1970s, she experienced Jim Crow laws and racial tension from whites. She recalls not having the best school materials to learn from as her white counterparts did. Her upbringing reminds me a lot of my childhood since I typically excelled in school. Education is stressed in my family especially since I am a first generation American. We both at a young age didn’t understand the significance of education being stressed so much but as we aged we realized the hardships our parents went through and felt obligated to stand up for a change.
House-Soremekum grandmothers’ story struck me the most in her writing. Living for 104 years and never receiving any type of respect was remarkable to me. Even elderly and retired whites still referred to her my her first name “Bessie” while she addressed them as Mr. and Mrs. That bothered me since I was raised to give respect to my elders. The situation House-Soremekum corrected a white teenager that addressed her grandmother as Bessie. She stood up and told the young woman to address her as Mrs.Fannings. I especially like the fact that House-Soremekum choose to honor her grandmother and the way other blacks were treated in the south, by using her title Mrs. and Dr.

Black Money

Before I read this passage, I am sad to say that I succumbed to the welfare stereotype of single young mothers who had an unplanned pregnancy. I did not know that grown people with families could be on welfare as well. Nor did I realize that women who may have been victim to a recession or legitimate loss can fall into the hands of welfare as well. Another major thing I didn't realize even more was that many of the women on welfare have some type of education.
I have a newfound respect for people on welfare. Many of the underserved people who are economically disadvantage use welfare as a step stool into the world. Many run to welfare as a recovery sect. And some who have no guilt will exploit welfare.
I think the society we reside in has more corruption and ignorance than seen on the outer shell. To degrade a human being in such a way due to the fact that it appears that they are poor or not as prosperous as another is in no way justice. Welfare leaves many women feeling dehumanized and disrespected. Even when a black woman is going against the grain and make something of herself and continue to empower themselves, those who have predetermined who they were as far as existence continue to attempt to hold them down. People on welfare are the same as everyday people. I have really come to realize that, especially after seeing how whole families can be on welfare who seem to have no financial problems looking on the outside in.

Going Against the Grain

- Nehemie Villarceau
Reading Going Against the Grain one thing that struck me was the perseverance of the black woman. The adversities she faced such as slavery and the fight for freedom is great in itself. Yet the black women also wanted to be educated and a well-rounded mother, wife and daughter. Going Against the Grain also reminds me of Literacy and the Black Women by Sharon M. Darling. The different forms of literacy such as functional and maternal literacy are shown throughout the reading.
According to the reading Going Against the Grain, black women “were interpreters and reinterpreters of what was going on. They were transmitters of culture as mothers actual and fictive, as teachers and social activists.” Simply said the women were the thread that held the community quilts together. As in many modern day communities, the women are often the mother and father in a household and are forced to mold and care for a family on her own. They teach their sons how to tie a tie, ride a bike and their daughter to cook, and be a stand out woman. These mothers often were a product of a woman who did the same for them.
“They sought to learn to better themselves, to change their world.” This quote struck me as interesting because it describes the Spelman women today. During orientation week administration stressed to us that the choice to attend Spelman is the choice to change the world. A few of my Spelman sisters come from a family as describe in the previous paragraph. The women at Spelman realize that education is the key to success and strive to be better through education. It goes to show you that as Black women we will push to go against the grain no matter what hard balls are thrown at us.

Learning to Be Literate

In her essay, “To Be Black, Female, and Literate: A Personal Journey in Education and Alienation”, Leonie C. R. Smith touches on her own experiences and how her own literacies have helped her to reach her destiny of becoming an educated woman. In her Literacy Narrative, Smith broke it up into two separate sections. In the first section, she tells how she grew up in Antigua and how she was raised through literacy and in the second section, she speaks of her trials and tribulations she faced in trying to further her literacies.
Growing up in Antigua, education and knowledge were instilled in Smith at an early age. She was introduced to literacy by both of her parents; especially her father seeing that his own mother was “schemed” out of her own property by an obeah woman that was more literate. Smith realized that becoming educated was necessary to succeed in life. Although various tragedies occurred to her and her family, she never let any of that interrupt her schoolwork and she continued to get an education. In her primary school education, Leonie C. R. Smith was taught British English, but in her home, with her friends and family, she spoke patois. It wasn’t a problem for her to change between the two, nor was it a problem for her to recognize the proper times to use each. She learned what she needed to learn in order to continue in her literacy. Leonie C. R. Smith said, “Looking at my family’s past, I realize that I came from a family of survivors, and the resilience that permeated throughout our family would prepare me for the life battles to come.”
Smith immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in 1987, where she soon began the 7th grade. She hoped that by moving to New York, that she could get past the obstacles she faced in Antigua and use it as an opportunity to reach farther. It ended up being that New York was a different place than she thought it would be. After scoring poorly on a literacy test, Smith was demoted from an already average class to an even lower one. “The difference in learning styles and the context of my literacy education were never taken into account. It never occurred to this assistant principal that someone like me, raised in the Caribbean and educated under a different system, would respond differently to the U.S. testing methods.” As she continues onto college, her problems continued as well. Smith decides to attend Hamilton College, thinking that she could only receive the best opportunities at a predominantly White institution. She admits to being naïve entering college and that she was completely unprepared for the “racism and ignorance” that witnessed. Smith was faced with adversity and isolation from not only the students, but the professors as well. Smith was strong-minded and nothing was going to get in the way of her getting her education.
Despite all that she went through, Leonie C. R. Smith prevailed and recognized that by dealing with racism, it not only made her a stronger woman, but also helped her to realize that she can stand up for others dealing with it as well. Throughout her narrative, she relates her story to that of Tee’s in the novel “Crick Crack Monkey” by Merle Hodge. Much like Tee, Smith was very excited to attend college and by doing so she furthered her education and accomplished things that many can not because they are classified as illiterate.

“Education, we are told, is the key that opens the imaginary door to success.”
-Leonie C. R. Smith.

Learning to Be Literate

In her essay, “To Be Black, Female, and Literate: A Personal Journey in Education and Alienation”, Leonie C. R. Smith touches on her own experiences and how her own literacies have helped her to reach her destiny of becoming an educated woman. In her Literacy Narrative, Smith broke it up into two separate sections. In the first section, she tells how she grew up in Antigua and how she was raised through literacy and in the second section, she speaks of her trials and tribulations she faced in trying to further her literacies.
Growing up in Antigua, education and knowledge were instilled in Smith at an early age. She was introduced to literacy by both of her parents; especially her father seeing that his own mother was “schemed” out of her own property by an obeah woman that was more literate. Smith realized that becoming educated was necessary to succeed in life. Although various tragedies occurred to her and her family, she never let any of that interrupt her schoolwork and she continued to get an education. In her primary school education, Leonie C. R. Smith was taught British English, but in her home, with her friends and family, she spoke patois. It wasn’t a problem for her to change between the two, nor was it a problem for her to recognize the proper times to use each. She learned what she needed to learn in order to continue in her literacy. Leonie C. R. Smith said, “Looking at my family’s past, I realize that I came from a family of survivors, and the resilience that permeated throughout our family would prepare me for the life battles to come.”
Smith immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in 1987, where she soon began the 7th grade. She hoped that by moving to New York, that she could get past the obstacles she faced in Antigua and use it as an opportunity to reach farther. It ended up being that New York was a different place than she thought it would be. After scoring poorly on a literacy test, Smith was demoted from an already average class to an even lower one. “The difference in learning styles and the context of my literacy education were never taken into account. It never occurred to this assistant principal that someone like me, raised in the Caribbean and educated under a different system, would respond differently to the U.S. testing methods.” As she continues onto college, her problems continued as well. Smith decides to attend Hamilton College, thinking that she could only receive the best opportunities at a predominantly White institution. She admits to being naïve entering college and that she was completely unprepared for the “racism and ignorance” that witnessed. Smith was faced with adversity and isolation from not only the students, but the professors as well. Smith was strong-minded and nothing was going to get in the way of her getting her education.
Despite all that she went through, Leonie C. R. Smith prevailed and recognized that by dealing with racism, it not only made her a stronger woman, but also helped her to realize that she can stand up for others dealing with it as well. Throughout her narrative, she relates her story to that of Tee’s in the novel “Crick Crack Monkey” by Merle Hodge. Much like Tee, Smith was very excited to attend college and by doing so she furthered her education and accomplished things that many can not because they are classified as illiterate.

“Education, we are told, is the key that opens the imaginary door to success.”
-Leonie C. R. Smith.

Black Women/Black Literature

Dowdy’s interview with educator Christina McVay is a fresh perspective on the teaching of Black women in Pan-African Studies. What strikes me as unique is that the study of Black women and Black literature is discussed in this piece through the eyes of a White professor, one who praises Black oral and written language despite her ethnic background or previous formal education.
One of the ideas that McVay presented is that of mistrust. Black students enter the Pan-African Department disliking language and English because of the way earlier school systems have presented the two. Why must we look at language as a fixed thing with rules we must follow? Although McVay understands the Black community to possess the greatest oral dexterity with a flow and creativity unlike others, I believe that the Whites who constructed our English programs dismissed this truth only to reduce Black language to an inadequate subject of study. To untangle her students of this untruth, McVay works hard to create assignments that make her students more comfortable with their language ability.McVay mentions one of her students’ assignments to create a slang dictionary. To do the assignment, one must simulate an actual dictionary by including the part of speech and definition. Another option to this project is to write dialogue in slang with an accompanying translation in what McVay calls “consensus English”. Both tasks are designed to help her students relax and apply a part of themselves to the class. As we tried the assignment ourselves on Monday of this week, I actually gained another insight other than the one that McVay tries to convey. I understand that Black slang is actually another language, a derivative of American English with its own tradition and background.

Literacy and the Black Woman

Black, Poor, and Illiterate

-Nehemie Villarceau

Literacy and the Black Woman explored the different motives and results of a black women being illiterate. The author Sharon M Darling begins her piece by describing what a black woman represents. Her definition is not the cookie cutter image that authors sometimes want to portray, “The black woman represents strength and endurance, yet she also represents what we consider to be at risk and poverty.” The Black women though strong and resilient she still faced many challenges in life one of which is illiteracy.

Sharon M Darling introduces many aspects as to why black women are still suffering. Teen pregnancies and the drastic difference between the educations of white women versus black women are the result of illiteracy black women. Looking back to slavery black people were illegally seeking education. Education was as an outlet to slavery with hopes of one day overcoming their oppressors. The Black woman stayed resilient wanting to educate their babies. Overtime that illiterate girl would soon become an illiterate women and mother thus creating a cycle of destruction.

Another culprit is teen pregnancy. Improvised teen mothers are sometimes forced to drop out of school and get a job or become a stay at home mom. The cycle of dead end jobs begins from that point forward. With no High School Diploma or GED, that young woman is stuck receiving minimum wage. I witnessed this first hand in my community where many of the girls I grew up with are now teen moms and High School dropouts’ .Already poverty-stricken they result to working dead end jobs to support their baby. Moreover, with no programs available to help the struggling teen mother many are often stuck in the predicament. In order to help black women we have to address their needs. By creating programs, we will be able to assist and educate black women. These programs educate both mother and child under the same roof. Not only do these programs aid the mother but puts a roadblock in the cycle of illiteracy and the black woman.