Readings for Oct. 29

I really enjoyed reading The Best of the Brownies' Book. It was really interesting reading the Jury with writings from the children as well as The Grown Ups' Corner by the parents of children. It was interesting seeing the views of the children as well as the parents specifically in how they explain certain things to their children. I found it quite sad when the child said, "Well that's just stories. Didn't they ever do anything in a book?". Unfotunately the mother couldnt give her an answer. Meanwhile, there were many African American people who did great things. The pictures of the kids were so cute...called "little friends" which showed the importance of these children in the Brownie Book.
I really enjoyed the story "The Heritage". The ending was very inspirational especially when Mother Mason said "No, it aint all over" and continued to explain how young kids dont really appreciate what their parents had done and what opportunities they have. I really liked the response from Julie and realized that she had something to work for.
The Dolly story was also nice to read. I liked how she appreciated who she was and what she has. She didn't have to have the bright blue eyes and blonde hair to be loved; she had her family and friends who had loved her just the way she was.
I really like how they have the Little People of the Month thing which is always nice for children when they are rewarded for good deeds. It gives them a sense of worth I guess you can say.

So far, I really enjoy reading the Brownie Book! I like that it is segmented with different stories but I also like how it focuses alot on the kids which gives us a different view of African American rather than adult males and females.

Passing

I really enjoy reading Passing so far. It's nice to take a break and read another novel; to me they're alot easier to read. Clare is an interesting character. She somewhat annoys me at times. I can definitely see that maybe she's ashamed of who she really is and passes as white all the time. Her husband seems like a jerk and he doesn't even know she has any black in her at all. I wasn't a fan of him at all. The novel is very interesting so far. The whole thing with Irene and Clare is somewhat interesting, you can see how "bossy" I guess Clare is. I thought it was really interesting that while they were all together...Clare, Irene, and Clare's husband, he was talking about the blacks. I guess because that is how Clare chose to live her life...but I feel that she should not have put Irene in that position. It was also interesting how Irene had to not say anything about the truth for both her and Clare.

Ethic Notions Film

I feel as soon as the film started, African Americans were portrayed as dumb and poor and nothing else. A lady stated in the film that the African American figurines were placed in white American's homes as "amusement and to make us laugh". I just thought it was quite weird. Honestly, I was bothered by how the African Americans were portrayed throughout the film, both as cartoons and figurines as well as in life. They had to blacken their face even more to be in the plays...the whites started plays based on African American figures. They were imitated and in a way made fun of for their dances and other things. I felt the way they were portrayed was very devastating...people who had never seen an African American bought the crazy hair, bulged eyes, large lips as a real African American person.
It's odd how Jim Crow was a lighthearted figure was something that became a huge part of the African American history. This ended up being a major part of the African Americans and their lives based on their rights as American citizens...based on a lighthearted figure.
The worst part for me was that the African Americans were portrated as "happy" slaves. The old plantation was shown as paradise. The African American slaves were happy doing things for their white masters. The "mammy" was a larger woman who loved the white masters of the household as well as entertaining the whites' children. The general public actually thought slavery was OK when in reality these people were being seperated from their families and were beaten as well as many other horrific things.

I enjoyed watching the film in class, it was a nice change of pace. I liked being able to actually see how things were rather than just reading it. Overall, it was a good film and it's just interesting to see all the things in the film.