Black And On Welfare by Sandra Bolden

              There are many people in our society today that need financial help.  However, when a single black mother comes into the building to be out on welfare, she is immediately stereotyped and looked down upon. “Unfortunately, our perception are that Black women on welfare have no interest in working and prefer staying at home rather than obtaining employment and providing for their families” (28).  The various women that have to go through the process to be on welfare have a difficult time.  They are belittled by those in charge and in some cases treated with little to no respect.   Even though some of the women that come through do not have much of an education, some do.  When they are not asked about previous schooling or important information that the authority should know, they feel disrespected because a lot of their background is only assumed and not known.  The women have to be placed in programs to enhance their skills to aid them in obtaining a job, yet many feel that most of these organizations are not very beneficial.  The opportunities that the programs prepare them for and are low-income jobs that barely provide for the participant and their family.            

Welfare has become another way of oppression for Black women. Society has its way of hindering its members, rather than pushing them to be more self-sufficient. Even in the times of funded training programs attempting to provide jobs, women were primarily given jobs that had no growth potential. Academic background has much to do with employment, and because of the assumption that the women lack such education; they were given the worse types of jobs. Golden encouraged individuals to go on and get the next education level to be accepted for better treatment. What society fails to realize it that these women have literacies of other things, such as family, home, and community literacy. Many of these women had special skills from taking care of their children and family members. Black women have also been influence to be literate in the community. Being in church and other social groups has helped Black women to gain leadership skills and a sense of belonging. These influence of the community, family, and home help women to improve academic skills. Therefore, caseworkers should not assume that there is a lack of skill or knowledge in that area. Gold feels that the act of assuming is a mere act of oppression and ignorance. Instead social workers and other parties involved should undergo a series of tests to determine the literacy of  the Black women. 

Golden, Sandra. "Black and on Welfare: What You Don't Know About Single-Parent Women." Readers of the        Quilt. ED. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton P., Inc., 2005. Print. 

Unearthing Hidden Literacy

        Lillie Gayle Smith grew up picking cotton in Alabama's Black Belt. The field, owned by her aunt, once belonged to a Confederate captian. When Smith would pick, there would be "10 to 12 people [picking] cotton in [her] aunt's field, varying between six to eight adults and four to six children" (Smith, 42).  In 2003, Smith began taking Black Women's Literacy for her graduate degree. Through the various readings and assignments, she realized how her early days as a cotton-picker, shaped who she is today.   Throughout her adulthod, Smith reminised how her days as a child picking cotton, and the memory furied her. The thought reminded her of slavery and the "bitter legacy" that was passed down from generation to generation of African-American people.

       In Smith's Black Women's Literacy course, she discovered the positives that came out of the negative, of cotton picking. One being that it led "to a deeper appreciation and understanding of past experiences and present perspectives" (Smith, 46). Also, her professors in school contributed to her acceptance of her past. Instead of being an authoritative figure, her teachers were advocates in her education. They gave her the space, time, and patience to give birth to her own ideas and articulte in her best ability. Smith declares that she would not have a "fully understanding of significant life experiences without the assistance of her classmates and professors.

     Through her classmates Smith recognized how a student, especially a female, can acknowledge oppression from the teacher.  Sometimes this awareness causes the student to "resist" the "practices" of the professor whether it is done "consciously" or not.  The example provided was when an instructor at a particular institution seemed to favor his male students more than the females.  He wouldn't accept their answers as "accurate" and would ask a male student to verify the female's response.  This was degrading to the female population in the class and many took action by not paricipating anymore, and some even left the course (Smith 39).

       Literature also played apart in Smith's education. From Crick Crack Monkey (Merle Hodge, 1970), Nervous Conditions (Dangaremba, 1988), Women's Ways of Knowing (Belenky, 1997), and All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (Fulghum, 1988). She analyzed and connected the readings to her own experiences. She discovered that what happened to her as a child was not a burdern or curse but reality of the current situation her people, African Americans, were in.  "In short, what i rediscovered in the cotton field of my youth is yet another testimony to the power of literacies learned beyond the  classroom"(Smith 46).



Works Cited

Smith, Gayle Lillie. "Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven Lessons I Learned in a Cotton Field." Readers of the Quilt. ED. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton P., Inc., 2005. Print.

Reel Women: Black Women and Literacy in Feature Films

Dowdy expresses that it is imperative for people in our society today to be knowledgeable about critical films in order to survive in the media world. Because the history of Black people hasn’t changed much over the last century, it is also imperative to have Black students knowledgeable about the Black character in critical films. This type of knowledge will allow students to connect themselves with their cultures and society. This understanding of Black films will give us an appreciation and respect for the things we take for granted as African American citizens. For example, many popular movies and books portray the lives of Black women and how they interacted with White societies.

 In many of the cases analyzed in this reading we see that many of the Black female roles have little to no educational background.  If they have had the privilege of finishing school they are still trumped by the whites and their political power.  The ending results of the films are almost always positive, yet by seeing them through film literacy and focusing on the black female, we notice that the messages they are representing are not always progressive.  In the movie “Eve’ Bayou”, none of the black women have jobs outside of the household.  This portrays the belief that women may not be capable of obtaining a job outside the house.  Also, in “Wit” the only black female actress in this movie does not even know the meaning of a simple word, yet she is a nurse.  This is an example of us getting a job outside the house, but we as black women, don’t seem knowledgeable enough to seem fit for that part.  It is pivotal for the audience to be capable to acknowledge these unspoken messages the characters depict so we can change them in the future and showcase our women in a more educated and successful light.

Educators find this as an avenue to build student/teacher relationships as they analyze details and evidence together. Because students view these movies so often, it is an easy way to learn Black Woman literacy. Looking at literacy through a lens, many professions in the media field require people to function in mainstream society, have verbal and communication skills, and able to read.  Students believe that literacy include many aspects of the media and connecting it to navigating through life.  “We can say that our pedagogy has moved beyond being critical to making constructive changes in the way that Black women are represented in movies and the way that critical analysts use such symbols to enhance their worldview”( Dowdy 179-180).  

Works Cited

Dowdy, Joanne. "Reel Women: Black Women and Literacy in Feature Films." Readers of the Quilt. ED. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton P., Inc., 2005. Print.