Going Against the Grain: The Acquisition and Use of Literacy [pgs.108-123]

"Knowledge would begin to flow, and the chains of slavery and ignorance would melt like wax before the flames. (Stewart)"

African American women searching and aspiring to gain literacy was the start of a powerful movement. Literacy was used as motivation for black women to secure their rights and protest against the opportunities that weren't given to them that should have been. Although they were constantly being put down with not only racial slurs, but also condemning statements based on their gender, as long as the women could imagine themselves in a world where they were considered equal to everyone else, then they could use their imagination to further motivate themselves into using their literacy to break the chains of slavery and ignorance.

I love how for once African American women are portrayed positively. They are considered nurturers not only to their offspring or spouse but also to the entire community. Even before black women became interested in literacy as we know it today, they were performing literate acts by understanding the world and expressing their view to others through storytelling. It is actually very hard for me to understand why not many people look at the ways that African American women are literate. Instead they only seem to compare their literacy to the literacy of the European population. In the nineteenth century, black women were doing things that weren't accepted for women to do in society, such as becoming literate and also healers.

Belinda and Lucy Terry are other advocates and activists that are not as well known as Harriet Tubman or Sojourner Truth. However, they were able to make a place in history by using their literacy to stand up for their rights in court. Without literacy would it really have been possible for Lucy Terry to argue her own case? Of course not, because what exactly would she have said? Literacy is needed in order to effectively protest against something that you do not necessarily believe in and that is proven from the cases of Belinda and Lucy Terry Prince.

The Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

The word that stands out in this title is "right". How exactly can you make a law stating that people have the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, yet suppress African Americans in slavery? The problem with this is that many African Americans were not aware of their rights. White people created this law knowing that it would not be protested against because blacks didn't know the law and were not literate and able to read the law. Jefferson stated during the period of the Enlightenment, that African Americans were not able to reach their full potential due to the circumstances of slavery. So does that mean that without slavery, all African Americans would be literate? Does that statement alone by Thomas Jefferson give blacks an excuse to their illiteracy? Yes, because blacks were not aware how important literacy is needed to survive. Their masters forbade them to learn how to read and write and since the subject was not brought up in their presence, they did not think that it was mandatory.

Now that African Americans, particularly women, understand the importance of literacy, they are able to defend themselves in justice and equality.