...As I reflect on various ways to construct Sweet Home Chicago into more of an ethnographic work, I draw on several different methodologies and recommendations from my fellow class mate as well as my own introspective analysis in conjunction with the class readings. First, one of the key shifts is to unpack for the reader the internal language that I use as a geographer. For example, I reference the significance of “spatial lineage” to engage with the various time-spaces that my family has traveled through that have contributed to my identity as a third-generation Black Chicagoan. Although ethnography is largely an academic practice, the strength that it possesses as a methodology is to invite readers from diverse backgrounds to engage with the culture, spaces, people and...
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...start reading a story it is easy to get caught up in the tale being told. The descriptive nature of the works makes it easy to relate to them. Throughout my readings thus far in the class I have noticed some common themes that reoccur in many of the stories and poems. Of course slavery was a very common topic but there were others such as inequality between the races and sexes, injustice and resentment, the black identity, and a strong faith and religion. Even though the words can be separated in the end they all come back together. There were many narratives written by fugitive slaves before the Civil War and by former slaves in the postbellum era. These narratives document slave life from the perspective of first-hand experience. The stories they tell are dark and ugly. The authors like Douglas and Jacobs reveal the struggles, sorrows, aspirations, and triumphs of slaves in absorbingly personal story-telling. Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was the first autobiography by a formerly enslaved African American woman. In it she describes her experience of the sexual exploitation that made slavery especially oppressive for black women. She also recounts her life in slavery in the context of family relationships with her escape and her struggle to free her children. Fredrick Douglas who wrote Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas, an American Slave, Written by Himself depicts the grim life of slavery as well. He vividly describes the brutality that...
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...The writing of the long song “How can I be proud of my Jamaican roots, when my ancestors had been slaves”? This question asked by a woman with Jamaican roots followed British novelist Andrea Levy for a long time. She wondered how anyone could be ashamed of his or her legacy and thus the foundation of her book, The Long Song, was laid. However, writing the book was a more difficult task than presumed. Levy considered many things at the preliminary stage of the book as she knew that she didn’t want to write yet another historical novel about slavery. This is the reason why she chose to write the “behind the scenes”-essay, The Writing of The Long Song. Herein she elaborates and discusses the process of writing her book and raises important questions that deal with extremely relevant themes such as family pride and the filtering of history. Levy opens her essay with a flashback to the conference she attended several years earlier in London where the main theme was the legacy of slavery. She remembers a woman asking the panel how she could be proud of her Jamaican roots when her ancestors had been slaves (p. 7, ll. 5-7). Levy doesn’t remember the panel’s answer to the woman but the question stayed with her for a long time and it ended up being her motivation for writing the book The Long Song. Levy is of Jamaican heritage herself and in contrary to the young woman, she proudly acknowledges her slave ancestry: “If our ancestors survived the slave ships they were strong. If they...
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...Early Detroit Experiences of Blacks Blacks were brought into the Detroit area initially as slaves during the 1700’s, a fact that has been rarely discussed and mostly documented in scholarly articles and books (Boyd 17-22; Farley and Danziger 15; Katzman 5; Martelle 35-36; McGraw qtd. in Stone 13-22). As blacks began to migrate into the city from being the overwhelming dominant inhabitants of the south, racists attitudes were persistent, and reminiscent of the bigotry they experienced from their original homelands. Segregation, which was the law in the south, was openly and tacitly enforced in northern cities, including Detroit. Civil disturbances in the 1800’s are examples of the climate of racial distress in Detroit in its early days of existence...
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...Personal Theory Exploration Sarah Haeck Bowling Green State University Growing Awareness “Knowledge is power.” -Sir Francis Bacon Knowledge is indeed powerful. It allows one to see things in more comprehensive ways. Knowledge doesn’t let one settle. It molds and evolves within someone. Knowledge pushes one to betterment. It can come from outside sources but always is processed and implemented within. As a counselor, knowledge is vital to the wellness and development of the client. Knowing who we are, where we come from, what influences us, and what makes us who we are, these are just some of the questions that help us discover ourselves. I have spent a great deal of time and effort understanding who I am and what goes into that. As well as how the situations and people around me have made impressions on my life. Then beginning to dealing with the issues that have come up because of these things. At the end of the day, I believe a few things to be true: relationships mold our existence, our spiritual lives affect us, and a holistic view and self-awareness are keys to growth. As I have traced the steps of several theories, one sticks out as primary to who I am – Existential-Humanistic Theory. Taking the essence of this theory and combining it with aspects of Developmental Counseling Theory and Family Therapy, I hope to have a comprehensive fit to my personality as a budding counselor. Adaptable and Practical Being highly spiritual makes Existential-Humanistic...
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...memory of black slavery and freedom among white and African American Midwesterners of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using an innovative approach that probes public celebrations, autobiography and memoir, family history and obituaries of the formerly enslaved, this paper challenges several key conclusions about African American relationships to the slave past that have been drawn by scholars in both literary and African American studies. Rather than...
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...Lawrence Henderson Response to Willis Personal Narratives Photography – Prof. Boddie Spring 1 2015 / April 2, 2015 Essay Response to Deborah Willis – Picturing Us Deborah Willis’ essay, Picturing Us, tackles the issues of self-representation of African-Americans in pictures. In 1955 when Debra Willis first saw the photographs in the book, The Sweetfly Paper of Life, it left an “indelible mark” on her youthful mind. (Pg. 3). It was her first time seeing “colored” people that she could relate to. Through the narratives of the photos Willis was reminded of her family and the universal pride of other African-American families. From that point onward her sense of self was positively awaken, which promoted her to pursued books and photographs that honestly depicted stories of Black people through the eyes of other Black people. Year prior to Willis’ revelation, in 1882, Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm wanted to tell stories of Black people through Black people’s eyes and decided to start the First African-American newspaper, the Freedom's Journal. Russworm said “We were truly invisible unless we committed a crime.” Thus, in its inaugural issue, the paper clearly stated “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” With the start of this newspaper, and many newspapers following, Black people developed a sense of self. Their images were positive and commonplace, a far cry from being displayed...
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...Classism and Racism A Narrative Analysis of Paul Haggis’s Film: Crash By: Alexis Couillard Introduction: In 2004, Paul Haggis directed the Oscar winning film crash, a drama about race and class and its effects on those residing in Los Angeles, California. This film paints a vivid picture of the harsh reality that classism has and will always exist and it is intertwined with racism in this film and in our realities. This film promotes racial awareness which is a topic not typically seen on the big screen and it demands a close inspection. Haggis wanted us to understand each character and to see them as real flesh bleeding humans that make mistakes and aren’t perfect. We see different races involved in the film such as African American, Persian, Hispanic, white and several Asians. Each scene intertwines with the next and we find out that all the characters are connected in some way or another. This technique of the characters being connected keeps the viewers on their toes. The audience is not stuck on one story or scene for too long. An idea or event is presented from the perspective of one person or family, and then the same event is expanded on by another characters connection to that particular event. Different ethnic stereotypes and racial prejudices are presented within the film such as the so called “gangbanger” who has tattoos and is Hispanic, and the black man who steals cars Anthony aka “Ludacris”. The director delivers and promotes this awareness but...
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...for her painting, quilting, and activism. Ringgold’s artistic journey is intertwined deeply with her experiences as a black woman in America. Some of Ringgold’s most influential pieces are her narrative quilts. The designs, colors, and fabric are all woven together to represent the personal and historical stories from the African American perspective. Through her quilts, Ringgold brings attention to overlooked histories and celebrates the resilience of her community. Her artwork explores themes like race and gender, which challenge societal norms and advocates for equality. Born in Harlem, New York in 1930, Faith Ringgold was brought up in a community that embraced creativity. The Harlem Renaissance exposed her to many African-American artists, such as Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes. Additionally, art was very intertwined with her own family, particularly fiber arts. Her mother was a fashion designer who taught Faith how to sew and create patterns with fabric at a young age (Seiferle). Ringgold’s great-great-great-grandmother made quilts as...
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...happened last night, the fresh news in the morning and recording the feelings at this moment. Siapera given an umbrella term for social media that social media is an integrate technology, social interaction and user-generated content. And he also identify three main characteristics of social media which are allowing users to create, downloading and sharing content, to publish their profile and personal information, and to connect with others. (Siapera,2012). The rapidly development of social media have both advantages and shortcomings, there is no doubt that social media makes people communicate more convenient and can make more friends in this way and also keep a close connected with old friends. However, the weakness is the face-to-face communication will be reducing and excessive delay on the social media will influence the normal daily life. In this week, I recognized several overviews of the social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn… and understood how to use designated computer software and the basic principles of web page design. And I tried to start to publish my own blog site using the theories that learnt in class. Apply knowledge of the social, political and cultural impacts of digital communication to real world situations. Moreover, I know how to demonstrate integrated creative, technical, and computer skills by developing publications at a professional standard for an online environment. In...
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...........................................................3 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY GUIDE............................................................................3 MEETING COMMON CORE STANDARDS.............................................................3 THE SLAVE NARRATIVE GENRE...............................................................................3 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................4 DURING READING.....................................................................................................................6 SYNTHESIZING DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.......................................................................9 ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES.......................................................................................................9 ACTIVITIES FOR USING THE FILM ADAPTATION........................................................ 11 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES................................................................................................... 13 ABOUT THE AUTHORS OF THIS GUIDE.......................................................................... 13 Also available in a black-spine Penguin Classics edition Copyright © 2014 by Penguin Group (USA) For additional teacher’s manuals, catalogs, or descriptive brochures, please email academic@penguin.com or write to: PENGUIN GROUP (USA) Academic Marketing Department 375...
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...attain growth, maturation and emotional development. During this transition individuals may encounter obstacles, but also gain personal rewards resulting in growth and maturity. The prescribed text, novel ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ written by JC Burke and two related texts, film ‘The Black Balloon’ produced by Tristram Miall and ‘The Road Not Taken’ written by Robert Frost, clearly display these misadventures and the rewards achieved once overcoming them. In difficult times individuals have must leave behind their old life and the safety it once provided in order to fully accept and enjoy their new life. In the novel ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, Tom’s family is forced to leave the comfort of their hometown Mumbilli and move to Coghill due the selfish actions of his brother Daniel. Symbolism throughout this novel highlights the suffering of Tom and his family. “My father closed the door…for the last time”, this symbolic act and the secrecy in the way the Brennan family leave Mumbilli reveals the families remorse about the situation, they are not only closing the door of their old home, but the respectable life they once had, ruined by Daniel. “The silhouettes of houses slipped past before I could catch them and remember the people we were leaving behind”; Darkness or black is also used throughout the novel to represent the family’s state of despair. The Family fled Mumbilli close to dawn when only the silhouettes of the...
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...married in 19th century Cuba both romantically and strategically. I argue that there needs to be further research around Afro-Chinese marriages in Cuba and a recentering on women. I had originally planned to center this paper around African slave women who married Chinese men in Cuba in the 19th century but was not able to because of the lack of literature available. However, I aim to focus on a reading against the grain for indications of women’s agency and voice in this set of literature. My personal stakes in this topic are two-fold. First, my mother’s side of my family lived in Cuba for a few decades from the late 1920s to 1960 as a part of an entrepreneurial endeavor and as refuge from persecution from the Communist Party of China. Because of my personal tie to Chinese in Cuba, I seek to uncover untold stories and hidden transcripts. Second, this paper is a part of a larger project on Chinese in Cuba in the 20th century, specifically looking at race and the transition to socialism. My specific interventions in this topic is a rereading of the secondary sources written about Afro-Chinese marriages for resistance and erasures with a feminist and diaspora lens. For this paper, I will not be using the term “Coolie” or “Coolieism” as a form of resistance to the violence...
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...Men In Nervous Conditions: An Ignored Matter The men of Zimbabwe struggled to assert the independence of their people against political, cultural and religious colonial pressure (Vembe), but reduced women to silent supporters (Stone 113). This dynamic still holds true on the literary front, where male writers of Zimbabwe, and Africa in general, present to the west male-centered, idealized pictures of traditional women and culture. Women, however, uncertain that men will revalue them, concern themselves with the pressures within the culture (McLeod). For this reason, the men of Africa generally discourage female authors from revealing their gritty perspectives. Further, E. Kim Stone writes, “Under colonialism, female storytellers were excluded from the few powerful positions the British system of colonization allowed in Rhodesia,” suggesting the traditional place of women as storytellers, somewhat ironically, was also suppressed by the colonizers. Only women are interested in revealing the internal pressures of postcolonial Zimbabwe. But these hidden pressures are just the ones that cause the “nervous conditions” in the book titled as such. A female character narrates this text about women, bearing to light women's struggles to be themselves within a constraining environment. But even as critics revel in this rare, realistic portrayal of Zimbabwean women, they seldom explore the significance of Tsitsi Dangarembga's representation of men, too often passing them off as flat characters...
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...alternative filmsMainstream films can best be defined as commercial films that are made by major entertainment studios or companies that are owned by international media conglomerates. Because of better financing, these films can afford more expensive actors, wide releases, and are sold at popular retail stores. This has become known as the studio system. Films made by major studios or companies that are not owned by a media conglomerate but are distributed by a company owned by a media conglomerate (see Lucasfilm) are also considered to be mainstream and are often referred to as mainstream independent films. Companies that are completely independent, such as Lionsgate, also produce mainstream films, from a cultural standpoint, but independent of the studio system. The alternative to mainstream films are sub genre films that appeal to a certain audience, such as African American films. Low budget films, art films, and experimental films are often the starting point for entertainers who wish to enter into the mainstream circuit or a sub genre circuit. Mainstream films are targeted for all cultures and audiences, with the dominating culture and audience being the primary marketing focus, while sub genre films are marketed towards only one specific culture and audience. Mainstream films often recruit talent from all film genres and backgrounds. Alternative media are media (newspapers, radio, television, magazines, movies, Internet, etc.) which provide alternative information to the...
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