Martha’s Class Blog

Please (actively) read pp. 53-63 in your USO text books for Monday!

A weroan or great Lorde of Virginia

Engraving by De Bry (printed 1590) based on watercolor by White.

Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.

“I have thought that I could find no better occasion to declare it,
than taking the pains to cut in copper (the most diligently and well
that was in my possible to do) the Figures which do lovely represent
the form and manner of the Inhabitants of the same country with their
ceremonies, solemne feasts, and the manner and situation of their
Towns, or Villages. Adding unto every figure a brief declaration of the
same, to that end that every man could the better understand that which
is in lively represented.”

–From a 1590 letter from Theodor de Bry to Sir Walter Raleigh—A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia

More De Bry engravings can be found here.

How did the English picture the native peoples of America during the early phases of colonization of North America? Where did theseconceptions come from and how accurate were they? How much influence did they have on the subsequent development of relations between the two groups?

Yay last post!!!!!! (lol)

So in the last 30pgs of the book a lot of dramatic things occured. Tea Cake got sick out of the blue and was struggling, but trying not to show it to Janie. Their love showed a lot in the ending because they stuck by each other through a lot. Janie tried her best to make him better and once realized that he was going to die she tried to keep him comfortable. The doctor who diagnosed Tea Cake told her that he could go mad and she should watch out for herself. She thought she could handle it, but she kept her self prepared with a gun knowing Tea Cake had one as well. One day when she noticed he was acting extremely wierd they started arguing and he aimed his gun at her. She had been smart nd emptied out most of his gun so she would have time to react if this situation happened. In a loving manner she tried to calm him down, but when that didnt work she had to shoot him! She killed Tea Cake, but out of her safety and for him. She wanted the evil part of him to move on and that was the only way it would happen. Its sad that people acused her of murdering him on purpose! Why would she do that? All that he ever did for her was love her and she loved him back. They should be helping her through this time! The one thing that struck me the most out of the end is after the trial was over and she was declared not-guilty she started to leave, but stopped when she overheard some white men talking. They said that the only reason why she was let go is because Tea Cake was black. If he was a white man she would have been found guilty. WHile reading this i became disgusted to know that people truly thought that way; that who cares about black people and wheter they are alive or dead! Its a horrible thought and if true just shameful. This book gave a lot of messages/morals and overall was a good book.

Peace out!!! (in 4 hours we will be JUNIORS!!!!!)

For my final project i looked at the Atlantic Monthly’s list of the Top 10 “most influencing” people. On that list there are only men and dominatly white men. They all have different reasons for being on that list and it makes sense, but where are the women? I researched women and found that there are alot of people missing from that list. For example, Jo Ann Robinson. She was a major part in the Civil Rights Movement. She was behind the scences, and did the planning of the Bus boycott. Even though MLK lead the movement and made wonderful speeches he didnt make the movement, “the movement made him.” If so many woman were apart of the biggest events/movements that changed the lives of people, why are women still degraded? Why can’t people of sexes and race be equal? Why don’t we learn about these people who worked behind the scences?

Sooo, we finished the book this week, and had a great surprise. Or at least I did.

IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK, DON’T READ THIS PARAGRAPH! IT’LL GIVE AWAY THE END!

Anyways, to sum up the end really quickly, I’ll just let you know that Irene kept having fears that her husband and Clare were having an affair, but we never really found out for sure if that was true or not. Nella Larsen, the author, just leaves that topic alone for us to think about. Then, Clare’s super racist husband, Brian, finds out that she is really a Negro and that she had been passing all along – he is furious. Then, at the very end, we are surprised to see that Clare “accidentally falls out of a window” and dies. We never find out if that was really an accident and if Clare was committing suicide or if Irene pushed her out of the window, that’s also left up in the air by Larsen for us to think about.

Now that I’ve summed that up, I did a little bit of research about Nella Larsen and her writing. I found out that Passing is only one out of her two books she ever wrote. I was quite surprised at that, just because she was very young at that time, lived a long life, and was such a noted author. During the Harlem Renaissance, Nella Larsen was one of the most influential authors ever! In her other book, Quicksand, she also bases her plot around issues with race. I know I’m interested in reading that one myself, I really enjoyed this book and her style of writing.

Another thing I learned about her was that she was accused of plagiarizing her short story she wrote after these two novels called Sanctuary. She was eventually cleared of this scandal, but regardless she lost a lot of fame and respect of others. She was the first African-American women author to win the Guggenheim Fellowship award or something, yet people still didn’t like her. I found that very surprising.

One last thing I think I should mention is just the fact that throughout this whole book, Nella Larsen tries to recognize the African culture and expose American readers to that. I think that along with the time – the Harlem Renaissance and everything else going on in the 1920’s – that this was very important in literature. Many other noted African-American authors also tried to do the same in their writing. By opening the white Americans’ eyes to this new culture they didn’t really know about, they were able to accomplish some progression.

Overall, I just want to recommend this book to all you guys, it really was a good book. Also, the other one that Nella Larsen wrote, Quicksand, could be good too! Go buy it! Or borrow mine.

While Martin Luther King’s stance on non-violence is probably one of the most famous legacies of the Civil Rights Movement, there were many black activists who had a different view of things. Please examine these resources and respond.

Mos Def reading an excerpt “Message to the Grassroots”, a speech by Malcolm X which explains Malcolm’s position on self-defense:

If you have time to listen to Malcolm himself speaking for longer, here is one of his most famous speeches “The Ballot or the Bullet”.

Here is Fred Hampton, a prominent member of the Chicago Black Panther Party also talking about self-defense:

This is a link to the Black Panther Party 10 Point Program (”What We Want and What We Believe”) from 1966.

Here is part of a movie called “The Murder of Fred Hampton” which focuses on Fred Hampton’s life until he was killed by the FBI. If you start at 1:10, you can watch Fred Hampton and Bobby Seale speak and then there is a little coverage of the “Free Breakfast for Kids” program that the Panthers ran. Watch as much as you can:

Suggested Civil Rights topics:

The Young Lords

The Weather Underground

Malcolm X

Black Panther Party for Self Defense (subtopics: Fred Hampton, Bobby Seale, Assata Shakur)

Anti-War Movement

Second Wave of Feminism (subtopics: Gloria Steinem, National Organization of Women)

American Indian Movement (subtopics: Alcatraz, The Second Battle of Wounded Knee)

Gay Liberation (subtopics: Stonewall)

For the “Influential People” assignment:

Here is a link to The Atlantic Monthly’s list of 100 most influential Americans.  For this assignment, please pay attention to the top ten of those top 100.  For more on how The Atlantic came to their conclusions about who was most influential, please read this corresponding article.

Gah, here I go. Sorry it’s so late – I’ve been a busy little bee with bunches of other work and whatnot.

So, I actually really enjoyed the first part of this reading. This topic of what should and shouldn’t be taught to children is quite interesting, because if you think about it, most kids won’t remember much, if any of it… depending on what age you’re teaching them. For example, I remember talking to my mom and she was like, “REMEMBER WHEN WE WENT TO THAT PLACE…. THAT TIIIME… AND WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!?!” and I was like, “Err, nope… sorry…” Like, I didn’t remember it cause I was like, 5-years-old, but my parents were good parents to take me out somewhere like that to expose me to that stuff, regardless of if I ever remember it.

Okay – back to the reading, sorry. So at first, as I read the part in italics – the way the Rosa Parks story is told to children – I kept marking it up and was like, “uh, NOT REALLY…” or like, “there’s WAY more to that…” which the reading then went on to point out and explain. The thing that really struck me the most was the paragraph about how the boycott was lead by Martin Luther King Jr., and how it succeeded, and then it goes on to say “Now African Americans and European Americans can ride the buses together in Montgomery.” THAT MADE ME MAD! Angry Gina. I don’t understand how they can just be like, “YUP! WE WIN! NOW ERRAYTHANG IS HAPPY!” Like, that is NOT how it happened. SO much more happened. I mean, like I said, the kids aren’t going to remember all the tiny details, so like, they don’t really NEED to tell them exactly what happened legally in the fights they had to gain this freedom to be desegregated… but still, that IS what happened. And the kids shouldn’t be LIED TO!!!

I don’t know what I’m trying to say, but I just got offended a little, silly me. I just feel like… teaching kids about this stuff is good, yes, but if you’re not telling them the true story… what’s the point!

Another good point that was made in this reading was about how like, not everyone is a hero or heroine, but that only special people can create change. I think THAT’S why we tell kids the Rosa Parks tale in particular, not about the WPC and NAACP and whatnot – kids don’t want to hear that! They want to hear about some lady who did some AWESOME thing, you know? That’s what I remembered as a kid – how amazing Rosa Parks seemed. They worked her up to be some AMAZING human, but after reading this, I found out that like, she was NOT the first to protest the way she did, and that she was really just the tipping point that started the boycotts and whatnot.

• What do you guys think about the 2-sided argument about whether children should be taught this info or not?

• Why do you think they choose ROSA PARKS, of all the people? Why not that woman Jo Ann Gibson Robinson? She did the same thing, and her situation was a little worse!
• It said that MLK Jr. was originally reluctant about the idea to oppose segregation; what do you think about that? It shocked me, for sure.
• Why were these two – Parks and King – chosen to get this fame and to have their stories told? Why not anyone else?

The end.

In this section of the book, The family has to move once again because of embarrassment. It seems that they have a hard time staying in one place for a long period of time. This time, Sissy decided to “borrow” a tricycle from the neighbors, but the neighbors didn’t really call it borrowing.

They move into a new house and Kate once again moves the tin can bank. It seems that this bank plays a key role in their lives. I think it represents hope for the future. Do you think it is meant to represent anything in particular? Maybe one day being able to afford a house of their own. But if they keep moving so frequently, money will keep having to come out to pay the movers…It also seems that Sissy is a very large part of the children and the families lives. Francie and Neeley seem to love her and Francie really looks up to her as a role model.

Also in this section of the book, it shows Francie’s curious side developing. She watched fascinated from her yard the children playing at recess. She watch as a girl clapped erasers together in the back yard of the school, but wasn’t treated very well by the girl. The girl becomes like a bully figure intriguing Francie and then pushing her away. The girl spits on her and Francie gets upset. I think this might have been one of the first times another kid has acted like a bully towards her.

I am still puzzled as to what meaning the tree has in the story but maybe things will become clearer later on. Anybody have any ideas?

I know I haven’t covered everything in this section so if anyone has any other observations or responses please post them!

What jumped out at me the most in this reading was when the author was saying that the fight for black rights, for things like more black teachers and students and books writen about them, were just small parts of a bigger picture, a “larger democratic movement.” And the fact that these small things helped black people strive toward being able to “…participate in the crucial process of defining the good, the true, and the beautiful in our society…” Because at that point, white people had all the power, so they were defining all the good, true and beautiful things in their own ideal way.

The reading said “The struggle for Black Studies…was an attempt to open the arena, to say that there is more to American history than white-defined history, more to American liturature than white-established canons, more to “the American People” than a collection of blond and blue-eyed Norman Rockwell creations.” For some reason, this reminded me of the “Nuclear Family” in that these ideas of American history, and literature and people are very “normal” and clean cut and contained, like the nuclear family. And the black people fighting for their rights and trying to get a say in these “norms” were like the urban world that the suburban families tried to close themselves off from.

Anyway, do you guys think that black people have successfully gotten say in American history and all that other stuff, and the ”larger picture”? Or are they still struggling, because young children are taught that “there was segregation” and not many of the details are explained. And any other thoughts you have, about stuff i didn’t mention, write em.