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.

Crisis & Mary Elizabeth...

I didn't realize that Crisis and Mary Elizabeth were both written by the same person until after I read Mary Elizabeth and started reading the Crisis writings. The articles seemed to be written by two very different writing. Both of them were written in very different styles. The Mary Elizabeth reading was very simple and just an easy read story. When I started reading the Crisis article, however, I thought the complete opposite. Maybe it's because poems are not my best and I have to read them multiple times to break them down to find a meaning for them. The Mary Elizabeth reading was a cute story and how it ended was obviously in a good way, but it was kind of weird. It was funny how Mary Elizabeth married a Mr. Gale and Mr. Gales...I was just as confused at first at least until I read a little more into it. The story about when Mary Elizabeth was younger was very interesting. It was a very interesting turnout how the husband came back expecting Maggie to come back with her and she was remarried yet he had remarried four other times! I dont know, that was just weird to me. I did like the turnout though and how they ended up back together. I'm not sure if we're going into a different direction or what we were supposed to get out of the story; meaning and theme wise.
Ok. So the Crisis reading...I've read it over a few times and like I said poems just are not my best. I've got a few ideas but I'm not completely sure what they are exactly about, if they're all related or have to do with her family...I'm not completely sure!

CANE

These, like McKays poems, were not the easiest to understand for me. They were a little easier than McKays poems, however, I did end up reading them a few times to try to get a meaning for them. While reading them I tried to read them like we do our readings in class by breaking them down and thinking about them, I was able to come up with some basic ideas of their meanings.
After reading Karintha, I had the same thought about it as we discussed in class. As I mentioned in class as well, it was like she was growing up too soon. This young girl was desired by everyone and was not really able to be a child. While reading Reapers I tried to focus mostly on the imagery. The very first two words stuck out to me as African American workers as well as the Black horses. I was completely unsure of the Becky writing. I had a basic idea but once we talked about it, it became more clear. My confusion was where they were excluding her but at the same time helping her with prayers and food. Now that we've discussed it as a class, I understand the writing more clearly.
After talking about them in class and breaking them down they were a little easier to read and understand. The readings were not as difficult as the McKay poems but like I said I have to break them down myself like we do in class to gain a better understanding of the stories in Cane.

Autobiography Ending

The ending to the Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man was really interesting and it pulled all of us in many ways. The decision he made to "pass" could be seen as a good decision or one that offends someone who would choose otherwise. As we sat and discussed the ending to the story, I was still just as torn with his decision as I was when I read it, especially after hearing everyone else's feelings.
His decision should not be a surprise. Alot of students were saying they would make the same kind of choice. For him, the type of lifestyle that was lived in the south was something he had never witnessed before. Even reading it was extremely graphic and in a way scary so I can understand his decision. However, if we were to look at it as a person of pride and who have a huge respect for themselves, we could see them taking a different route. I definitely sympathize with the narrator as I'm sure I would make the same choice. I'm sure he felt a little regret as he let everything he fought for and his dream he had always wanted get away from him. His decision has definitely left a "what would I have done" question that I just can't stop asking. Like I said before, I would probably make the same decision, I'd be extremely scared! However, I would definitely take my pride of self and self-respect into consideration because what he was doing was definitely admirable.


I really enjoyed this book alot! It was an easy read as well as very interesting.

September 10 reading

First of all, I hope I'm doing this right!

I really do enjoy reading Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. It is a very interesting novel, not only because it isn't actually an autobiography but it's just so detailed and his story is a very interesting one.

The section we were supposed to read for this post was interesting as well. The part I mainly focused on was his fascination with the clubs. This was the first time he had heard ragtime music and it was just something new for him. He really enjoyed this because music has always been a huge part of his life. The part with the clubs and gambling just shows what it was like at the time and definitely illustrates the Harlem Renaissance. The music, art, dance, and the social aspect was portrayed alot in this section of the reading.