The whole idea of homosexuality is something that stands out to me. By reading the books and stories we have read this semester, the conflicts, characters, the dilemmas, thematic ideas, and the messages from the authors were revealing.
The thematic issues and ideas that were constantly present in Black Like Us and Giovanni’s Room was the issue of belonging, the need to “fit in” or conform. This really stood out to me because fitting in is something we all want to do. We don’t want others to judge us or make fun of us so we kowtow with what others are doing. If we are different we don’t want others to know for fear of rejection. This theme was present in the anthology Black Like Us but one story in particular was “Blessed Assurance.” John wants his son Delly to start acting like a man just like every manly man do. He prefers his to be normal. John wants his son to fit in and be like every man out there.
The messages that the authors sent out to us were very significant. James Baldwin, the author of Giovanni’s Room gave us an important point in his novel, to love and accept ourselves for who we are because it could cause conflicts with ourselves and others as well. For example a writer named David falls in loves with a barman named Giovanni but doesn’t want to accept it or in fact believe it. He struggles with his feelings for Giovanni and Hella, whom David believes he loves. The fact of the matter is that this message be sent to everyone no matter what race, age, or gender, just love yourself and accept who you are because that’s what will truly make you happy in life.
I personally thought that everything in this course stood out to me as a reader. I have never such provocative and detailed stories that have caused controversy. I’m really glad I got the opportunity to read such great books and stories because it opened my mind to new ideas and ways of thinking.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Maggie
In the book Big Mama Stories by Shay Youngblood we read a short narrative called “Maggie Agatha Christmas St. Clair.” In this story we read about the narrator’s awareness of those they call flim-flammers, who they are and what they do, but also about a strange woman named Maggie, who lives with Big Mama and the narrator for a while. The narrator learns about Maggie’s life, who she is, and what she has been through. Although the time/era of this story is not exactly specified we know that at the beginning the story takes place at Kin Folks Corner, a row of shops in the black part of downtown from where the narrator lives, and soon after transitions back to the narrator’s house. The main conflict that is presented in this story is that of an external conflict between people such as the flim-flammers and the people they steal from like Otis and many others. Besides this type of conflict you can also say that another would be an inner conflict, which involves Maggie and the struggles with her lifestyle. She is who she is, what she had done in the past will always follow and haunt her for the rest of her life.
As the story starts to unfold the narrator becomes close with Maggie just like sisters. Through a conversation that the narrator has with Maggie we discover that the narrator’s mom is up North and has been a while since she’s seen her. I believe there are two main characters in this story, the narrator and Maggie Agatha Christmas St. Clair. Maggie is woman who Big Mama brings home one day after she tried to beat Big Mama out of her money. We find out that Maggie was an orphan child who was abandoned on a Christmas morning and soon became a prostitute, later a flim-flammer. She had two babies and were somewhere out there in the world. The antagonist is the flim-flam person(s). These people would rob someone without having to use a gun and were only motivated by greed and had no scruples. At the beginning of the story we read about Mr. Rogers, who according to the narrator was “a big plum-black, bald headed man with a gold tooth that had a real diamond stuck in it” and happened to be sitting next to her and warns her about the flim-flammer(s). Next we read about Otis, a good hearted man, who was coned out of his money by two flim-flammers. At the end of the story we read a little about Deacon Perry, the youngest deacon at the church where the narrator, Big Mama, and Maggie attended. He was a thirty year old man who looked like a boy and still lived with his mom. As the narrative comes to an end we read that Maggie runs off with him but a few weeks later Deacon Perry comes back broke and without any signs of Maggie.
Two growing up themes/issues were presented in this story. The first theme is experiencing the loss of innocence or childlike perspectives and this is clearly manifested in the narrator as she learns about the flim-flammers and realizes there are cruel and malicious people who would do anything to get money. She also experiences this through learning about Maggie’s personal life and what she had been through. The second theme presented ties in with the first theme, experiencing life-changing turning points, and this occurs the moment the narrator meets Maggie because meeting her is something that changed her life. She is someone who taught the narrator secret things, girl things, in a sense she became her older sister and someone she will never forget and will surely miss.
The lessons that the narrator learns are many. First, to be very careful of those they call flim-flammers because they are full of greed and malice. They would do anything to take or ploy you out of your money. Through Maggie’s experience she learns that people can make mistakes and it is from those errors that one gains knowledge and grows in life to become a better person. Most importantly the narrator’s major lesson learned was that one is capable of change and sometimes all one can do is try and fix the mistakes one has made, just like Maggie realized her life wasn’t going in the right direction and decides to fix her mistakes in life by looking for her babies and give them the love she never had from her own mother. There is always a first step in doing what’s right and Maggie took that step in her life to make it better.
As the story starts to unfold the narrator becomes close with Maggie just like sisters. Through a conversation that the narrator has with Maggie we discover that the narrator’s mom is up North and has been a while since she’s seen her. I believe there are two main characters in this story, the narrator and Maggie Agatha Christmas St. Clair. Maggie is woman who Big Mama brings home one day after she tried to beat Big Mama out of her money. We find out that Maggie was an orphan child who was abandoned on a Christmas morning and soon became a prostitute, later a flim-flammer. She had two babies and were somewhere out there in the world. The antagonist is the flim-flam person(s). These people would rob someone without having to use a gun and were only motivated by greed and had no scruples. At the beginning of the story we read about Mr. Rogers, who according to the narrator was “a big plum-black, bald headed man with a gold tooth that had a real diamond stuck in it” and happened to be sitting next to her and warns her about the flim-flammer(s). Next we read about Otis, a good hearted man, who was coned out of his money by two flim-flammers. At the end of the story we read a little about Deacon Perry, the youngest deacon at the church where the narrator, Big Mama, and Maggie attended. He was a thirty year old man who looked like a boy and still lived with his mom. As the narrative comes to an end we read that Maggie runs off with him but a few weeks later Deacon Perry comes back broke and without any signs of Maggie.
Two growing up themes/issues were presented in this story. The first theme is experiencing the loss of innocence or childlike perspectives and this is clearly manifested in the narrator as she learns about the flim-flammers and realizes there are cruel and malicious people who would do anything to get money. She also experiences this through learning about Maggie’s personal life and what she had been through. The second theme presented ties in with the first theme, experiencing life-changing turning points, and this occurs the moment the narrator meets Maggie because meeting her is something that changed her life. She is someone who taught the narrator secret things, girl things, in a sense she became her older sister and someone she will never forget and will surely miss.
The lessons that the narrator learns are many. First, to be very careful of those they call flim-flammers because they are full of greed and malice. They would do anything to take or ploy you out of your money. Through Maggie’s experience she learns that people can make mistakes and it is from those errors that one gains knowledge and grows in life to become a better person. Most importantly the narrator’s major lesson learned was that one is capable of change and sometimes all one can do is try and fix the mistakes one has made, just like Maggie realized her life wasn’t going in the right direction and decides to fix her mistakes in life by looking for her babies and give them the love she never had from her own mother. There is always a first step in doing what’s right and Maggie took that step in her life to make it better.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Independent Woman
In reading this story "Indepemdent Woman," one of the short stories from The Big Mama Stories by Shay Youngblood I learned that independence is an important value. These black women in the story set a perfect example to the narrator and to the readers as well. I learned that one has to look out for oneself. We can't always depend on others especially on a man. My mom always taught me to be strong and independent and to lookout for myself. She encourages me to do well so I can succeed in life and never have to depend on anyone just like Aunt Mae told the narrtor. I have to be self suffiecient or else who am I going to rely on in life.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The Ant Story
Talk That Talk is an anthology of African American Storytelling written by several authors. In this anthology, we come across a short story called “The Ant Story” written by Constance Garcia-Barrio. The main character, Ant, finds a huge piece of crumb and decides to take it back to the anthill for the others to eat as well, but he realizes that it will be a tough task to accomplish. Ant faces his biggest opposing character yet, himself. He believes he doesn’t have the strength to drag the huge crumb alone, therefore asks for help, but neither the bee nor the beetle were able to help him. Then he runs into a spider, who had been watching the whole time, and offers to help. She says “I’m going to wrap this crumb up and take it home to my children.” Angry, the ant grabs the crumb and starts pushing and pulling and before he knows it he’s reached the anthill.
As I read this story, three values came to mind: challenge, hard work, and determination. The challenge was the ant’s struggle to reach the anthill. It was an act or statement of defiance, a call to confrontation. He was confronted with this dilemma of trying to drag the large crumb to the anthill. Ant was challenged by the spider who told him she would take the crumb so the ant with all his might went for home. Ant put hard work and determination into reaching for the anthill. He didn’t want the spider to take his crumb so he was determined to get home no matter what and he did it, he reached the anthill. We can say that the values of hard work and determination come hand in hand. It is universally agreed that hard work and determination are two key components to success in life and work. Without them we can’t succeed.
When I come across a difficult situation I often find myself whining and moaning saying to myself that I can’t, just hoping to catch a break, when in reality I know I have what it takes to overcome any tough situation presented in my life and continue with my task at hand. Sometimes all I need is that little extra push to accomplish whatever it is that I want in life. Sometimes life gives us hard lessons which give us the chance to grow as a person and learn from these experiences. In reading this story, I learned that we shouldn’t underestimate ourselves, no matter how small or weak one can be, everyone can accomplish their goals in life even with the huge obstacles ahead. Like the spider tells the ant at the end “You can do a lot more than you think you can.” Each and everyone one of us can push and pull that crumb with hard work and determination to the anthill.
As I read this story, three values came to mind: challenge, hard work, and determination. The challenge was the ant’s struggle to reach the anthill. It was an act or statement of defiance, a call to confrontation. He was confronted with this dilemma of trying to drag the large crumb to the anthill. Ant was challenged by the spider who told him she would take the crumb so the ant with all his might went for home. Ant put hard work and determination into reaching for the anthill. He didn’t want the spider to take his crumb so he was determined to get home no matter what and he did it, he reached the anthill. We can say that the values of hard work and determination come hand in hand. It is universally agreed that hard work and determination are two key components to success in life and work. Without them we can’t succeed.
When I come across a difficult situation I often find myself whining and moaning saying to myself that I can’t, just hoping to catch a break, when in reality I know I have what it takes to overcome any tough situation presented in my life and continue with my task at hand. Sometimes all I need is that little extra push to accomplish whatever it is that I want in life. Sometimes life gives us hard lessons which give us the chance to grow as a person and learn from these experiences. In reading this story, I learned that we shouldn’t underestimate ourselves, no matter how small or weak one can be, everyone can accomplish their goals in life even with the huge obstacles ahead. Like the spider tells the ant at the end “You can do a lot more than you think you can.” Each and everyone one of us can push and pull that crumb with hard work and determination to the anthill.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tribes
In the book The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life by Frankie Lennon we read about the author’s life experiences and memoirs. In this book we come across a short story called “Tribes.” This story deals with the author’s transition to the big city of Los Angeles. We read about her learning the ropes and behaviors of the people in L.A.
This story takes places in the year 1987 in the city of L.A. We find the protagonist / main character, Frankie Lennon in what the she calls a Black Gay Bar. The antagonist that the author has to deal with is that of a internal force, which is between herself. It is the force of accepting yourself the way one is. She is not used to seeing girl with girl or guy with guy couples kissing, hugging, and dancing together. She is appalled at the idea of people being able to come out and just do as they please not caring what others think. This force she fights is that of adjusting to the different ways and behaviors of the people in L.A. In the story there was a man, Reverend Carl Bean who happened to come out of the closet and announce that he was gay and Frankie was just shocked. She was barely getting used to the ways and behaviors of others. Like the author states, “she was still new on the block so she wasn’t quite sure how to take things or respond to what was going on.” Things were so different back in Evansville than in L.A. that it was a whole different world for Frankie. And like she tells us, she was still learning her ABCs.
Near the end of the narrative on pg. 173 in the second paragraph, the author writes that she thought about Stacey, together in secret, adrift, without a tribe to give them aid and comfort. They had no one to go to for advice and no way to learn how to be who they were without shame. Frankie is actually saying that if maybe she wasn’t deprived or denied of what straight people took advantage of then maybe she would still be with Stacey. I think the purpose for why the author wrote this narrative is to let us know maybe deep inside of her she wished that she could’ve had the same freedom of expression back in her home town in Evansville and be free to be with the love for her life Stacey and not only that but the ability to be who she is without be scared.
What made this story very interesting to me was the character of Henry, the bartender. I liked that Henry got along well with Frankie. What I found interesting about Henry was that he didn’t hide who he was, and like the author describes him, “glorious personae as a queen.” I really enjoyed his sense of humor, for example when Frankie heard there was a church where gay people could attend, she wanted to know more details about this place so Henry say, “I don’t know. Let me check with the girls down there.” He was referring to the three black guys sitting down across the corner from Frankie, which I thought was funny because these men were talking about the gay preacher, sounding like women gossiping.
I personally enjoyed reading this story. I thought it was a well written piece full of description and vividness. It had humor and drama. I would definitely recommend it to everyone who doesn’t mind reading about this issue of being gay.
This story takes places in the year 1987 in the city of L.A. We find the protagonist / main character, Frankie Lennon in what the she calls a Black Gay Bar. The antagonist that the author has to deal with is that of a internal force, which is between herself. It is the force of accepting yourself the way one is. She is not used to seeing girl with girl or guy with guy couples kissing, hugging, and dancing together. She is appalled at the idea of people being able to come out and just do as they please not caring what others think. This force she fights is that of adjusting to the different ways and behaviors of the people in L.A. In the story there was a man, Reverend Carl Bean who happened to come out of the closet and announce that he was gay and Frankie was just shocked. She was barely getting used to the ways and behaviors of others. Like the author states, “she was still new on the block so she wasn’t quite sure how to take things or respond to what was going on.” Things were so different back in Evansville than in L.A. that it was a whole different world for Frankie. And like she tells us, she was still learning her ABCs.
Near the end of the narrative on pg. 173 in the second paragraph, the author writes that she thought about Stacey, together in secret, adrift, without a tribe to give them aid and comfort. They had no one to go to for advice and no way to learn how to be who they were without shame. Frankie is actually saying that if maybe she wasn’t deprived or denied of what straight people took advantage of then maybe she would still be with Stacey. I think the purpose for why the author wrote this narrative is to let us know maybe deep inside of her she wished that she could’ve had the same freedom of expression back in her home town in Evansville and be free to be with the love for her life Stacey and not only that but the ability to be who she is without be scared.
What made this story very interesting to me was the character of Henry, the bartender. I liked that Henry got along well with Frankie. What I found interesting about Henry was that he didn’t hide who he was, and like the author describes him, “glorious personae as a queen.” I really enjoyed his sense of humor, for example when Frankie heard there was a church where gay people could attend, she wanted to know more details about this place so Henry say, “I don’t know. Let me check with the girls down there.” He was referring to the three black guys sitting down across the corner from Frankie, which I thought was funny because these men were talking about the gay preacher, sounding like women gossiping.
I personally enjoyed reading this story. I thought it was a well written piece full of description and vividness. It had humor and drama. I would definitely recommend it to everyone who doesn’t mind reading about this issue of being gay.
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Journey of Life
In Frankie Lennon’s memoir, The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life we read about the author’s life journey (quest). This life questbrings one to difficult tests which are part of life in order to learn and grow from them. This journey can be broken down into stages. In the introduction of the book which is a memory we can see this first stage of the Home and in in another story we can see the author getting into one of the last stages, Final Ordeal.
In the first story “Memory:Mee Street and beyond” the author talks about her memories of when she was a child growing up. Clearly the Home stage can be exemplified in this particular story. The Home- the known, familiar, safe haven of the everyday world of the Journeyer before the “story” begins. In reading this story I realized that the author Frankie was in the known. She writes about how things used to be and what we remember from childhood we remember forever. For example the author writes that summers are a memory: The delight of getting to go barefoot everyday and wiggle my toes in warm grass; racing Pudgy to the corner grocery store. These kinds of memories are happy ones that make the author feel at home just remembering those good times that she lived in her childhood.
In the story “Baptism” we can see this stage of the Final Ordeal. Final Ordeal – Central trial/ life/death crisis; The Journey teeters on the brink of failure. The Journeyer faces her/his biggest fear, confronts the most difficult challenge and experiences symbolic “death.” Only through the "dying" of her/his old self can the Journeyer be reborn. “Rebirth” or change/transformation grants The Journeyer greater insight, wisdom, and “power” to see the Journey to the end. I think that “Baptism” is the perfect example for this stage. In this story the author talks about how the sixties was a time when the order of the universe began to crumble. “This decade of crisis and drama would take them into water to be baptized: In fire and in ice. “ Frankie dies symbolically and is baptized into the real world where “innocence was no more.” She was confronted with the real world now and reborn into this world of chaos.
The narrator’s life journey leads to her struggles and challenges, her battles and hardships. This quest can have good and bad moments and Frankie was presented with both during her journey. These moments in life helped her shape the person she is today.
In the first story “Memory:Mee Street and beyond” the author talks about her memories of when she was a child growing up. Clearly the Home stage can be exemplified in this particular story. The Home- the known, familiar, safe haven of the everyday world of the Journeyer before the “story” begins. In reading this story I realized that the author Frankie was in the known. She writes about how things used to be and what we remember from childhood we remember forever. For example the author writes that summers are a memory: The delight of getting to go barefoot everyday and wiggle my toes in warm grass; racing Pudgy to the corner grocery store. These kinds of memories are happy ones that make the author feel at home just remembering those good times that she lived in her childhood.
In the story “Baptism” we can see this stage of the Final Ordeal. Final Ordeal – Central trial/ life/death crisis; The Journey teeters on the brink of failure. The Journeyer faces her/his biggest fear, confronts the most difficult challenge and experiences symbolic “death.” Only through the "dying" of her/his old self can the Journeyer be reborn. “Rebirth” or change/transformation grants The Journeyer greater insight, wisdom, and “power” to see the Journey to the end. I think that “Baptism” is the perfect example for this stage. In this story the author talks about how the sixties was a time when the order of the universe began to crumble. “This decade of crisis and drama would take them into water to be baptized: In fire and in ice. “ Frankie dies symbolically and is baptized into the real world where “innocence was no more.” She was confronted with the real world now and reborn into this world of chaos.
The narrator’s life journey leads to her struggles and challenges, her battles and hardships. This quest can have good and bad moments and Frankie was presented with both during her journey. These moments in life helped her shape the person she is today.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Cindy Ellie
"Cindy Ellie" by Mary Carter Smith is about a young girl named Ellie. At the beginning of the story we know that she had a father named Sam Johnson and a mother named Lula who had died. One day Ellie’s father remarries and this woman whom he marries brings her two daughters from South Carolina. They treated her as their servant and started calling her Cindy Ellie. Her father, Sam new how her wife and two stepdaughters were treating poor Ellie but never said a word. One day the whole family was invited to the mayor’s inauguration ball. Cindy Ellie wanted to go but she had to stay home and work but with the help of her godma she was able to go. The mayor’s son, Toussaint was instantly amazed by Cindy Ellie’s beauty. He searches for her everywhere until he finds her. Cindy Ellie forgave her stepsisters and even found them husbands. So Cindy Ellie marred Toussaint and they lived happily ever after.
I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked it because it is similar to the story of Cinderella only that this is of the African American culture. I liked the end of the narrative because like all fairytales it had a happy ending.
Two new vocabulary words that I learned were kenete and Ghana. Kente is a colorful fabric of Ghanaian origin: often worn as a symbol of African-American pride. Ghana is Kingdom of, a medieval W African empire extending from near the Atlantic coast almost to Timbuktu; flourished from about the 9th to 12th centuries.
I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked it because it is similar to the story of Cinderella only that this is of the African American culture. I liked the end of the narrative because like all fairytales it had a happy ending.
Two new vocabulary words that I learned were kenete and Ghana. Kente is a colorful fabric of Ghanaian origin: often worn as a symbol of African-American pride. Ghana is Kingdom of, a medieval W African empire extending from near the Atlantic coast almost to Timbuktu; flourished from about the 9th to 12th centuries.
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