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.