Trina Tiemann
26 November 2002

One World Shared by Diverse Cultures

            In the two novels, Baby of the Family, by Tina McElroy Ansa, and Black Girl Lost, by Donald Goines, there are extremely strong senses of African American culture represented.  Although both of these stories portray some traditional, as well as modern culture, they each have their own type of culture that stands out above the other.  In Baby of the Family, the type of culture that is exhibited most of all is a traditional culture.  There are many instances in this book that lead the reader to believe that traditions and customs are important to the characters.  On the contrary, in Black Girl Lost, the most prevalent type of culture that is shown is a more modern type.  In this book, the reader is opened up to almost a whole new world with modern and non-traditional aspects.  The main characters in the two novels are both double minorities, black women, who are growing up in two very different lifestyles.

            Culture encompasses learned human traits that are passed on, not biologically, but socially and mentally.  It includes things from the kind of food people eat to theories of the spirit world (Barfield 98-99).  The word tradition refers to a cultural form that is transmitted through time, has value, and directs certain acts and beliefs (Winthrop 300).  It refers to the past and is very likely to be encouraged to persist.  Tradition, at one time, was thought of as a synonym for culture, but we now know that there are different types of culture (Barfield 470).  Traditions can include religious beliefs, types of food eaten, superstitions, and death beliefs.  These have a link to the past that imprint the future.  In Baby of the Family, there are many of these examples that can be seen as elements of a traditional culture.

            Lena lived with her mother and father, who were actually more modern, and her grandmother, who was very traditional.  She was born with a caul over her head, which linked her to the past, because it was an old belief that a child born with a caul over his or her head could communicate with spirits.  She was considered very special and God-sent, and all of the nurses believed that she would do nothing but good in her life (Ansa 16).  Tina McElroy Ansa believes that traditions and customs are very important to hold on to.  “And to just throw these things over our shoulders, to discard them like so much trash, as Lena’s mother did with her child’s caul, is suicidal” (Voice 1).

            The life that Lena was living in was one that was mostly traditional in a more modern world.  Although the times have changed, they still go back to the old ways and beliefs.  Another example of traditional culture in this book was when Lena was asking her dad why her mother was not called the boss of The Place.  Lena’s mom did just as much hard work as her father, yet he would not recognize it.  He just said that he guessed Nellie did a good job helping him out (Ansa 118).  He saw her under him, because it was traditionally thought that a woman could not fill a role that was customarily a man’s.

            Traditions also include many beliefs and superstitions, like the caul, that influence one’s culture.  In Baby of the Family, Lena saw an owl flying around the house, and she let her Grandmama know.  Grandmama explained that whenever there was a bird in the house, it meant that someone was going to die, and Grandmama ended up dying (Ansa 243).  It was an old superstition that she had carried on with her, and passed it on to Lena.  This also connected Lena to her past, and it imprinted her future, as well. 

            Another incident that related Lena to the past was when she met Rachel on the beach.  She was a spirit that had died from the sufferings of slavery.  She took Lena back to that time, and she explained to her that she did not have a voice or choice.  Earlier that day, Lena’s grandmother had refused to go to the beach, because she believed black people did not belong at the beach.  When Rachel was talking to Lena, she said, “Don’t you believe that, Lena.  Black folk belong here.  You belong here.  Don’t believe black folks don’t belong on the beach.  Don’t never believe black folks don’t belong nowhere.  Don’t be afraid, Lena.  Claim what is yours.  I died to be here on this beach, Lena.  Don’t never forgit that.  You belong anywhere on this earth you want to” (Ansa 168).  Rachel was helping Lena to find herself, and this was an example of traditional culture.  She linked Lena to her past, as well as offered encouragement for the future.

            Although the world today is becoming overwhelmingly modern, there are many people who have extremely traditional superstitions and beliefs.  Some of these include: Sending an egg down the river will get rid of your problems; applying peach leaves and vinegar to your body will get rid of hives and reduce a fever; babies that are born with a caul can talk with spirits; to cure hiccups, apply a piece of wet brown paper to the baby’s head (Culture 1).  Some other interesting superstitions that are still observed today are as follows: “If the palm of your right hand itches, you will get money; don’t sweep a person’s feet; a pregnant lady should never go into the garden (it will kill the plants)” (African 6).  Many African Americans still have these beliefs today and value them greatly.

            Another important aspect to the traditional African American culture is death.  Their traditions, customs, and burial procedures are extremely different from that of non-African Americans.  Death is seen as a time of celebration and not a time of sadness, and many of the beliefs and stories related to death are still believed today.  One of these beliefs is that the dead cannot be buried if it is raining outside, because it means that the devil has come for the person’s soul.  Many family members try to bury the dead on a day when it is sunny, because it is a sign that the heavens are welcoming and open for the deceased.  Also, there are coins put on the dead person’s eyes to keep them closed (The History 1-3).  There are many African American traditions that are still observed today, and these link all of the people involved to the past.

            On the contrary, many African Americans today are involved in a more modern type of culture.  “’Modernism’ expresses a preference against all traditionalism” (Smelser 9939).  It also includes more secular thoughts, loss of one’s warmness for society links, and affirmation of individualism (Smelser 9940).  Rather than the past imprinting the future, the future imprints the present.  In a modern culture, compared to a traditional culture, there are unequal power relations (Barfield 327).  This is prevalent when looking at the roles of men and women in the two different types of culture.  In the more traditional type of culture, the men play more of a strong, assertive role, and women play a more subservient and compliant role.  In a modern culture, these roles would be more equal or maybe even switched, to some degree.  In the book, Black Girl Lost, we can see the more modern type of culture by observing the different beliefs and values displayed.

            When talking about roles being reversed, we saw in Black Girl Lost, Sandra took on many masculine personalities.  This was noted immediately when she and Chink began their relationship.  Sandra lifted up Chink’s chin and made him talk to her correctly.  “Then as she took the money she reached over and lifted up his chin.  ‘Listen, Chink, when you talk to me, don’t give me that shufflin’ shit you use in school.  And quit speaking like you just come from Georgia or Mississippi, boy.  You ain’t country, so stop actin’ like it.  Be a man.  I don’t like boys’” (Goines 50).  The reader could tell that the roles had been reversed, and Sandra seemed as though she was in charge.

            The traditional culture puts a big value on family, whereas the modern culture does not.  We saw in Black Girl Lost that Sandra and her mother had a horrible relationship, and her father was not even introduced in the story.  Sandra did not even like to see her mother, because she was always drunk and having sex with different men.  There was definitely a lack of parental guidance, and this lead to Sandra resorting to stealing.  Since she did not have a great family life and did not live in a protective environment, Sandra had no choice but to go to a life on the streets.

            As any reader can see, the two books are extremely different, but both have their own way of reaching people.  Baby of the Family was set in a very traditional atmosphere, and Lena was exposed to much of the African American traditions and beliefs.  On the other hand, Black Girl Lost introduced the reader to a different type of environment and mood.  Sandra grew up in a bad neighborhood with no one to love her or expose her to any type of tradition.  This forced her to go out on her own and become her own woman, learning things the hard way, all the while representing a new and diverse modern culture.  Both of these types of culture exist today, and the various lifestyles lived are an important part of who African Americans are.

Works Cited

Ansa, Tina McElroy.  Baby of the Family.  Harvest: New York, 1989.

Barfield, Thomas, ed.  The Dictionary of Anthropology.  Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1997.

Culture.  Feb. 1996.  University of Illinois at Urbana.  20 Nov. 2002.  http://www.news.uiuc.edu:16080/archives/96.02/01cult.tip.html

Goines, Donald.  Black Girl Lost.  Holloway House: Los Angeles, 1973. 

Smelser, Neil J. and Baltes, Paul B., eds.  International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences.  New York: Elsevier Science Ltd., 2001.

Stone, Michelle A.  African American Folklore.  17 Nov. 1999.  20 Nov. 2002.  http://www.coe.ohio-state.edu/EDPL/Gordon/courses/863/stone/stone.html

The History of African American Death: Superstitions, Traditions, and Procedures.  20 Nov. 2002.  http://www.northbysouth.org/1998/death/deathhistory.htm

Voices From the Gaps: Women Writers of Color.  24 Nov. 2002.  http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/tinaansa.html

Winthrop, Robert H.  Dictionary of Concepts in Cultural Anthropology.  New York: Greenwood Press, 1991.