Suzan Damas

                    web review                           Part I

    Living Black: The Negative Connotations, the Importance of Names and Literacy

I find the submissions from previous students to be very informative and intellectual. Below I will go over the reviews from which I learned the most and which were most interesting. First is Philip R. Jones’ midterm titled, “The American Nightmare: Stolen Innocence, Lost Identity, Physical Abuse, & Suppression of the American Slave.” In his essay, Jones discusses a very interesting idea of associating the color black with negative connotations. He writes that Douglass clearly suggests that black and white are associated with bad and good, inferior and superior, and irrational and rational respectively. I could not agree with Jones more because this phenomenon is not a thing of the past but also of the present. In fact, in the mainstream media today we see images of angels with white wings not black, not pink, not blue, or any other color, except for when the angel is evil—then we see dark wings as in the cover of a very recent movie “Legion,” which is a story of angels who come to destroy the earth. Even the angels themselves are portrayed as Caucasian. Furthermore, Jones states that the color white often characterizes cleanliness and purity, while black characterizes of dirtiness and darkness.    

From reading Gordon Lewis’ “Flight, Naming, Family& Dream Motifs in Song of Solomon,” I quickly recognized a motif central to Toni Morrison’s novel. The importance of names is very central throughout the novel. This concept although not discussed in the seminar is of great importance, especially since Morrison devotes a lot of attention to the naming process by providing the history of how the names came about and the general naming process.  Milkman, for instance, got his nickname after a former tenant of his father saw him breast feed at four years old—an age considered by many too old to be nursed. Other nicknames assigned to numerous characters include Railroad Tommy, Hospital Tommy and Empire State. Morrison further describes how names came about by mentioning that many people like Ruth picked her children’s names randomly from the Bible depending on where the pen falls. No wonder we see a lot of biblical names like Corinthians, Hagar, Ruth, Reba, and Pilate, except for Macon whose name was a result of a clerical error.

Perhaps more important are the names assigned by the community as an attempt to deal with oppression. For example, Mercy Hospital was referred to as “No Mercy Hospital” since colored people would have their babies at its stairs but never allowed in despite the fact that it was a charity hospital. This changed one day when Smith jumps off the roof therefore allowing Ruth Foster Dead to have her child inside the hospital.  Thus, Macon Dead becomes the first black child to be born in that hospital. Another example of symbolic naming is found on the street on which the only Negro doctor lives. This street is called “Doctor Street.” When the city decides to rename the street “Main” the African Americans resist the new name and keep calling it “Not Doctor Street” instead. Another descriptive name is “Blood Bank,” an area known so due to its high crime rate.

Cindy Goodson, a former student made a very important observation on literacy. Cindy shows Douglass’ perspective on knowing how to read as it would perhaps be better for Douglass if he was among those who could not read. Douglass adds, “Learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (Douglass 370).Through his reading, Douglass learns about the existence of free black people and the fact that there also exists some Caucasians who condemn slavery. Perhaps to his surprise, his literacy “curse” turns into a blessing to other black men as Douglass becomes involved in the anti-slavery movement. This story of Douglass is very interesting to me because it is very similar to that of religious prophets and Christ. By this I mean like Mohammad and Jesus, Douglass was humble, did not have much, and did not know hoe to read and write. Knowing how to read was Douglass’ way of becoming aware of how wrong slavery is, knowledge which he later uses in attempts to attain freedom from the chains of slavery. Similarly, religious prophets use the knowledge from God’s revelations to liberate people from their sins.  

Cindy also shows how Toni Morrison addresses the issue of literacy. On the subject, she uses Macon Dead to show that his illiteracy leads to his being given a wrong name i.e. if he could read, hce would have corrected the error that was made on his name. Not knowing how to read had even further disadvantages. For instance, we see Macon losing his property because he is tricked into signing a document that he could not read. This inability to read evidently costs him a valuable property. From reading Song of Solomon, I can not help but wonder why many of the freed slaves did not learn how to write? Was it lack of motivation or were they not presented with the opportunity? How did those who were eager to learn become so motivated? I do believe that (as it became evident in the future years from Douglass’ time) literacy dissolved the chains of slavery because through reading, eyes of those who were once slaves were opened. For example, they became aware of the fact that all men were created equal in God’s eyes, and that slave-owner relationships were not natural but something the slave masters used to justify slavery.         

In all, I like the language used by all three of the writers of the reviews discussed above. Their language shows maturity and intelligence, which encourages me to improve grammatically.                               

                                                             Part II  

              research plan                           Projecting Ethnic Identity Onto Objects

In my research assignment I plan to take the last option which is Conference Proposal & Paper option.  In this research, I will be working with my classmate, Omar. Together, we will show how dolls can be useful in projecting ethnic identity, as research has shown. This research will go well with the course as it perfectly fits objectives 1d(The color code) and objective 5a. Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye will be used to illustrate Objective 5a because we will use the text to show the power of fiction in helping others hear the minority voice and vicariously share the minority experience.  Additional sources will be used in completion of the assignment. Finally, the research will be presented to the UHCL Student Conference of Research and Creative Arts

                essay                        Part III

                      The Dreams: Stolen Dreams and Those Which Are Yet to Come True

            Song of Solomon is a novel by Toni Morrison whose main character is nicknamed “Milkman,” a black man in search of his identity. The book expresses main ideas by which minority literature can be discussed. For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on connecting one to two learning objectives.

The most outstanding learning objective is Objective 3a, “The Dream.” I find it important to mention that “The Dream” in the context of this narrative is connected but not identical to the American Dream. Before his murder, Macon Dead, Milkman’s grand father owned large areas of land. This land was to be inherited by his future generation, which does not happen, a phenomenon that sets the family back. Perhaps in further pursuits of the dream, Milkman has to develop business smarts (brains) and has to be smart in making connections with whites since they control the business world. In an attempt to rise again we see Milkman attempt to find gold through which he hopes to use his skills in obtaining material goods from the white business world.

Morrison shows Milkman interacting and being accepted by several families. This is parallel to objective 6a, “minority families place more emphasis on traditional or community aspects of human society.” Milkman himself is from a traditional nuclear family whereby his mother was married to his father who gave birth to him and his sisters. Despite the family misunderstandings and conflict, its members generally placed more trust and respect in each other and much less trust in institutions. With Milkman’s roles differing depending on what family he’s with, he sadly does not feel fully accepted by neither his traditional family (parents and sisters) nor his extended family (Aunt Pilate and her daughters). On his journey, Milkman adopts an alternative family comprising of his best friend Guitar and other characters he meets along the way.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is one of the most recognizable speeches in the history of America. Being that the speech was given years after the time in which Milkman existed; “The Dream” in King’s speech is understandably a little different. At the time of his “I Have a Dream” speech, African Americans were already free from slavery, but just not free from social injustices and consequences of being black. I think the most outstanding concept and key point of King’s dream is the fact that it calls the nation to forget the past and move forward towards development—this fact makes it very similar to the American dream. In fact, King writes his is a dream “deeply rooted in the American dream.” The notion of looking in the future is shown by the words: “I have a dream that one day...” These words carry a notion that the dream is a frame for the future and sets the stage for a better future.

As learned from the course objective 6a, minority families place more emphasis on traditional or community aspects of human society. Martin Luther King also emphasizes on family as he writes, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation…” The mention of children makes the speech much more acceptable and humane because it shows an emphasis on the powerless members of the family. By using the word “my” he makes the message more personal to him and more importantly also personal to those listening. Unlike Linda from “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” who could not turn to institutions like the court system or police for help; King points to such institutions like states to provide help and mobilize changes, while at the same time acknowledging that some people have been jailed, persecuted, battered, and faced police brutality—all in the name of freedom.    

The slave narrative “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” does not fall short in showing “The Dream” theme.  Firstly, the theme is clearly shown in the title of chapter XLI “Free at Last” (36). These words become the exact words Dr. Martin Luther King later uses to conclude his “I Have a Dream” speech as he says, “Thank God Almighty we’re free at last!” Linda’s dream finally comes true as she finally makes it to the free state of New York where her freedom is bought—this was a slave’s dream. Later in the narrative, Linda writes, “The dream of my life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own…” (37). Linda’s feelings expressed in this quote closely resemble or demonstrate the American Dream through the longing and desire to be a home owner and a successful individual in general.

This slave narrative, similar to Song of Solomon, Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” Speech, and the poem “For a Poet” has some incidences where objective 6a manifests. For instance, Linda grows up in a traditional family with her mother, brother (William), and a father so skilled in carpentry that he is granted many privileges of a free man. From reading the narrative, I get the sense that Linda’s family must have been so strong that it shielded her from knowing she was a slave during her early years. Linda’s extended family includes her maternal grandmother, Aunt Martha as the white community calls her. Aunt Martha is so loving that she tries to buy many of her family members, including Linda out of slavery.  Other extended family members include Linda’s uncle Benjamin who is sold at age ten. For Linda, institutions such as court systems and schools are not placed for her benefit. In fact, as she endures so much abuse from Dr. Flint she attempts to seek help but wonders, “where should I turn to for protection?” because since she was a slave girl, there was no “shadow of law to protect her from insult, from violence, or even from death” (7). In another incidence, Linda sees a policeman through a peephole she made in her grandmother’s basement where she is hiding, but does not attempt to ask him for help because she knows reaching out to a law enforcer only means more trouble for her. So she stays in hiding.    

The poem “For a Poet” by Countee Cullen perfectly shows a theme of “The Dream.” This poem is just evidence that dreams are universal and that no matter what walk of life people come from, we all have dreams. In the poem, dreams are wrapped in a silken cloth implying that the dreams are so significant that one would choose such an expensive material to protect them with. I see an ironic correlation between Milkman’s search for gold and Cullen’s act of storing his dreams in the box of gold. Milkman is in search for gold while Cullen uses a box of gold to store his dreams, almost hoping someone will find them and bring them to life. Clearly, gold signifies a valuable mineral but the way that this theme is presented in both texts is interesting to me. Just as gold is important to Milkman, dreams are so important to Cullen—Milkman never stops searching for the gold and Cullen never stops dreaming.