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).
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.
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