Blog 6 Assignment -- Womanhood In Sassafras, Cypress, & Indigo

For this blog, we will be reviewing the themes and notions about the idea of womanhood, what it means to be female or feminine, in our reading, Sassafras, Cypress, & Indigo. Womanhood is a major theme, if not the central theme in Ntozake Shange's book. There are many parts contributing to this theme in the book, as we will see. Some of these elements include crafting, menstruation, adolescence, inner self-expression, independence & family, adult partnership, romance, sexuality, and motherhood.

As already discussed in the previous blog assignment, a main character, Indigo, experienced a major step towards womanhood after having undergone menstruation. However, prior to that, Indigo was expressing her femininity by crafting dolls at home to talk to. Family womanhood is abundantly clear from the start of the book, as Indigo's family was weaving and dying cloths for a living. This is something that is not only related to African culture, but may also be seen as chiefly feminine. Again, it's worthwhile to note that this work focuses much more on femininity and womanhood than the previous readings, which while they did touch on those themes, were much more focused on Blackness. The notions of adolescence as well as the relation of independence with family are explored as the girls start meeting other people, interacting with the world, and heading for greater horizons. All this was done as the girls periodically thought about their old family life, communicating with their mother at home. Indigo is not really talked about from the middle of the book to the end of it, although Indigo does appear again in the ending of the book, which elegantly takes the reader back to the feelings of home life with mother and young in Sassafras, Cypress, & Indigo.

Inner self-expression was a central element of the book. The girls and their friends played musical instruments and took dance classes to express themselves. Indigo played violin freestyle, Cypress took ballet classes before graduating to modern dance, and Sassafras had a male partner who played jazz. Sassafras mostly expressed herself through weaving, to honor her family's tradition. Also, Cypress had a male partner who played jazz as well, and Cypress ended up marrying him; that is, after she had an experimental relationship with another dancer named Idrina. The way Cypress developed more with different dance methods through the book traces her self-expression with regards to dancing. Besides music and dance, there are many other points of inner expression in the book. For example, the way the mother creatively gave all the girls gifts at Christmas was one way how the mother expressed herself with her family, even giving the girls gifts that encourage them to express themselves. Of course, as said before, many of the rituals in the book promote inner self-expression in a way that is largely feminine. The dream Cypress has at the end of the book is quite a novel, very abstract point of exploration into these girls' inner consciousness.

Adult partnership and motherhood is another driving theme in this book, although I cannot delve into all the details of the girls' partnerships. Indigo's interactions with the neighborhood boys and her association with the Geechee Capitans marks the start of her steps toward adult partnership. Sassafras's relationship with Mitch was able to demonstrate the darker side of early adult partnerships. Mother Hilda Effania always told the girls they were free to go out and they were free to come home. Cypress's travels were the greatest illustration of adult womanhood in the book, tracing her exploits around Idrina to her tenure and eventual separation with Leroy, before her marriage. When Cypress ran low on money and questioned Leroy how they were financially staying afloat, they eventually got to the story of Leroy's parents. His parents died in a vehicle fire, but some people speculated that it was not entirely an accident. Death around the family coming so close to financial security very well goes to show the potential dark side of later adult life. However, Cypress was very supportive, even though Leroy got insecure, and they would appear to be made up by the end of the book. This was in time for Sassafras to become a mother, making Cypress and especially Indigo aunts.

Blog 5 Assignment -- Analysis of "Sassafras, Cypress, and Indigo"

Sassafras, Cypress, and Indigo is a novel in a remarkably African-American-inspired style, written in 1982, and taking place in the city of Charleston, South Carolina by author female African-American playwright, Ntozake Shange. The main characters are the three Black sisters, whose names are given in the title, and their mother, Hilda Effania. They have a career in spinning, weaving, and dying cloths. The text narration and the dialogue by the book's characters are overwhelmingly southern-style, and many times does it even say, "The South in her." The idea of Blackness is a major thematic idea woven into this book, much like our other readings.

Some parts of the book do get remarkably rather intimate, with the girl talking about and elaborating on her inner feelings, sometimes in the form of sub-poetry, recipes, or rituals, and sometimes also encouraging the reader to participate as well. These ornate subsections of the book are deeply personal, and lead the reader to be quite in touch with the idea of femininity. It is actually an easily overlooked literary takeoff point when the main protagonist, Indigo, first begins her journey towards womanhood upon her first undergoing of her menstruation. She goes to the store to buy feminine hygiene products; when the store owner, Mr. Lucas, sees that it is not Indigo's mother that Indigo is getting the product for, but for herself, something gets into Mr. Lucas and he gets compelled to feel Indigo inappropriately. Of course, Indigo did not like him for that. Anyway, regardless, Indigo is given a violin to play. When she plays violin, she is said to make illustrious melodies of sounds, even speech, in her music, which often comes off in a girlish way. As we can see, womanhood and femininity contribute greatly to the theme and mood of this book, particularly more so in this reading than the readings from before.

Blog 4 Assignment -- Analysis of Mama Day

Mama Day is a book about a small family that lives on a small island off the coast of Georgia. The island, called Willow Springs, while legally under the jurisdiction of the United States, has never actually been part of any state. Sapphira Wade is the first-great-grandmother of Miranda "Mama" Day. Sapphira Wade was a slave. She married a man named Bascombe Wade and became the mother of seven sons. Sapphira Wade acquired the deed to Willow Springs, and the island became a community for free blacks in the time before the American Civil War.

Miranda "Cocoa" Day is often at odds with Dr. Buzzard, a healer on Willow Springs. Dr. Buzzard brews moonshine and offers a variety of other remedies for people who fall ill on Willow Springs, as the island is cut off from modern mainland society. Miranda Day has one sister, Abigail Day. Abigail Day is the grandmother of Ophelia "Cocoa" Day, which would make Miranda "Mama" Day the great-aunt of Ophelia "Cocoa" Day. Abigail Day is a kind and caring grandmother to Ophelia Day even to the point of coddling.

Ophelia "Cocoa" Day is the last Day alive among her siblings. Ophelia Day grew up in Willow Springs, but went to school in New York. In New York, Ophelia Day meets a man named George Andrews. Unlike the Day family, George grew up away from family, in New York, and is therefore disconnected from his heritage. George Andrews is a much more independent and systematic person than the Days. He is a big fan of American football and likes to look at all the different plays and strategies. George Andrews works at an engineering firm. It is important to note that he has a heart condition that is rather debilitating.

Mama Day differs from Kindred in numerous ways. While Kindred is a nonlinear book about a woman going back to slave life, Mama Day is a chronological book about modern black citizens living on an island, free from the oppression of the white man and, indeed, the hustle and bustle of western society. As a matter of fact, Mama Day seems to completely lack any reference of racism or oppression. Mama Day boasts a story all about a family of black women living freely and independently on an island more-or-less in America with little, if any influence from white society.

The greatest source of white cultural influence in the book would be Ophelia Day's husband, George Andrews. He was raised with whites in white society. Ophelia Day, not so unlike the bridge between Willow Springs and the American mainland, bridges the gap between white society and black culture to Miranda Day and the other denizens of Willow Springs.

The biggest theme in this book may not be immediately obvious. The biggest theme in the book Mama Day, by Gloria Naylor, is family and heritage. They live on an island that has virtually always belonged to their humble black family. All of the main characters are black and have an association with the Day family. Miranda Day is familiar with herbal medicine and knows much about African folklore. She believes she is better at healing than the island's doctor, Dr. Buzzard. George Andrews, despite growing up as an orphan in New York, hoped to connect with his black roots, and hoped to have a family. The climax of the story is the death of George Andrews.

One minor theme in Mama Day might be spirituality. Sapphira Wade is believed to have killed her husband, Bascombe Wade, before she, herself died. Belief in the supernatural may have played a role in this. Miranda Day believes that her world, like any other, runs on the magic of belief. George Andrews thought Miranda Day was crazy for believing in the supernatural, although he later adopted faith in it as well. One of Miranda Day's quotes is, "Everybody wants to be right in a world where there ain't no right or wrong to be found." It's a beautiful notion to say there is no right or wrong in the world, as it seems oblivious to the idea of real-world wrongdoing. While I do appreciate that much, I would have to contend that there is a such thing as right and wrong in the world; at least that's what the historical works of many religious persons, including Christians, would seem to suggest, if not declare. Additionally, while voodoo and other forms of cultural magic are referenced in the book, Christianity has always been somewhat opposed to interfering with nature, defeating the natural order, and playing God. Asking God for guidance and instruction on your wishes is staunchly recommended over forcing your wishes.

Blog 3 Assignment -- (Free Prompt)

Aww, God above, dear God above, I need help to pass this assignment. I didn't catch the prompt because I can't remember what class was on Wednesday. I'm just so damn sick of being rushed to do shit. My animal studies class is easy enough besides the essay project. Math class is rather straightforward, albeit as confusing in organization as ever despite being nowhere near as bad as the upper division engineering classes. This class, the writing class, has to be the most frustrating. I managed to read up to about page 82 before throwing in the towel. I can't think of jack to write about with this book. I'm behind in math class and there's a quiz coming up, so that is the number one competing factor with this class. You know what happens when falling behind in one class causes you to fall behind in another -- absolute shit follows, apparently. God, I pray constantly for help. I must have struck a nerve somewhere because school just seems to hate the living fuck out of me now, when it was never like that prior to my entrance to senior year. I'm a very good person. I put nothing before God. I bar sin. I repent. So what in creation could be killing my success in school? Sigh. I used to avoid the word "God above" like a bad word, but now I know it can be nothing but medicine to say. God, I need help concentrating on school, keeping up in school, and passing assignments. This is all that I need as far as present priorities. My recent failures in school lead me to start seriously wishing for the door to another place, even if it is suffering. At least I would be suffering directly and not suffering under the weight of school and household supposed-obligations. Dear God, I am dying to move past the college phase of life and be an adult properly, but I'm well and properly trapped here by the system, trapped in my parent's household by a closed society and empty neighborhood. I was suckered back into school because I literally had no other options in life here. God, if I could pass this semester without a failure, that would spell hope, as this semester should be the last one that I take 3 classes. The math classes ahead, we can only hope to be clearly organized and actually helpful, unlike the engineering classes of yore. God, if I could miraculously drum up a blog assignment in time, I can delete this malarkey, but if not, the teacher must know I am suffering. I'm suffering from household emptiness, suffering from a society dead of opportunity for me, suffering from powerlessness against oppression far away, suffering from the lack of even a single real friend, suffering from a lapsed academic concentration ability, and suffering from just the sheer unavailability of life in this town. If there was a door, here, and the door would take me to a real home, anywhere, I would abandon all this nonsense to go someplace I can express myself, somewhere I can breathe right, somewhere I can actually be someone and forge a life for once. Aw, heck, I would rather be completely dead than subject to the grueling punishment of obligation by schoolwork and, shudder, household. God, if I cannot walk away, then please help me just pass class so I can keep making (or faking) it in the hopes that I will ever meet a real friend here. Thank you.

. . . Yeah, I've been reading the book. Thank God for text-to-speech because I lost the ability to concentrate on boring. No, honestly, I literally cannot even see straight when I look at boring text now, and I never had trouble reading before. Yeah, I'm reading the book with the help of text-to-speech and while it isn't bad, it's grueling to think I have to write about it. I can't find jack to write about with this. It's like a narrative of daily life. There's no racism, no conflict, and nothing remarkable. That's why I find it so unbearably grueling to be forced to write about.

In all seriousness, there is a phantom menace in society, and it is the menace of Work-Worshiping.
Indeed, hard work pays off, but what is problematic is the blind worship of working, and worse yet, talking down on others for not being the same ditch-digging connoisseur you are. It's important to realize that hard work is relative. One man's hard work is another man's chump-chore or monumental feat. There's a big difference between encouraging hard work for success, and punishing the innocent for not overworking their backs off. You can't control everyone. You can only throw a line so far before you have no choice but to leave it up to faith, and why not pay some homage to faith in God above for once?

This assignment would be a chump-chore to me if the work was more defaulted, i.e. supplied prompts and actual connection to the text.

Yeah, here's a connection to the text: the slow, grueling drag & drivel of daily life with no real friends or hope for purpose. That's my life right now and I'm behind in math, which I absolutely need to pass because it is my major. Why, in fact, this should get a higher grade than a disingenuous, generic text analysis because I write this from the heart.

On a related note, I have determined that Islam and Mormonism are absolute bogus. I was a scientific atheist since childhood well into college, but God interacted with me directly and now I believe in the teachings of the Bible. The Bible is very strict about not worshiping false gods or prophets, and not making undue concessions to such sin.
Islam is not a valid religion because it stems from the blasphemy of a false prophet and worship of a false god (Allah before God-above).
Mormonism is not a valid religion because it says salvation can only be accomplished if you adhere to Mormonism and become a top member. A cute idea, but it is far from realistic and prone to fault.
Judaism is a valid religion, albeit arguably incomplete since it pretty much just adheres only to the Ten Commandments. The problem with Judaism is that it seems to be stuck on policy prior to the time of Jesus.

Prophets Joseph Smith and Muhammad were patriarchs. Indeed, the Bible is clearly chock-full of patriarchs. They do not get a free pass just because they were in the Bible. Even Jesus's family had shortcomings and lived in unjust patriarchy. Jesus Christ, himself, however, was not a patriarch.

Blog 2 Assignment -- Analysis Of Unjust Treatment Of Blacks In Kindred: The Fall

Good day.

In this essay, we will analyze instances of the unjust treatment of blacks in the book Kindred, chapter "The Fall". The first case of discrimination against blacks in "The Fall" was implied when Edana talked about how Kevin was likely better protection for her than freedom papers would have been when she said, "[...] He was probably better protection for me than free papers would have been [...]". This is quite sinister because it implies that Edana might have been seized, or worse, regardless of whether or not she was holding freedom papers. Such an act of reckless discrimination, marginalization, and oppression against blacks was far from inconceivable, given the cultural context.

The next case of unjust discrimination was when Rufus first saw Kevin and asked him, “Does Dana belong to you now?”, to which Kevin explained Edana was his wife. When Rufus learned of that, Rufus exclaimed, “Niggers can’t marry white people!” This clearly demonstrates another way black people were marginalized and discriminated against in society. It creates the impression that white people are the norm, and black people belong to a sub-class under society in which they are restricted from assimilating with whites because white people are necessarily better.

In the same scene, another act of unjust treatment of black folk is observed when Rufus says, “What’s the use of saying all that?", after Edana politely told Rufus not to call her "nigger", but instead call her, "black or Negro or even colored.” If I recall, Edana actually already had this same conversation with Rufus before. However, to be fair, that must have been years ago from the perspective of Rufus, and he may have forgotten about it and fallen back into the loop of referring to black people as "niggers". He seemed to have had a frustration about black people, evidenced when he muttered, “You damn black …”, at Edana, despite the fact that they used to be on fine terms.

For the next while, Edana was living in a position of unfair treatment, as she was forced by societal pressure to act like she and Kevin weren't married, lest they incur skeptical looks and confused reactions. The whole time Edana was around other people, specifically around Tom Weylin, there was an oppressive feeling against her and other black folk, as though Edana was not allowed to talk or do anything, let alone associate with Kevin on account of her race & status. We did not explore the entirety of the chapter, as this is all we have time for for now, but we did get a very good picture of the way black people were marginalized and mistreated in the slave south.

Blog 1 Assignment -- Analysis of Unjust Treatment Of Slaves

Hello.

The topic that we chose for this blog assignment is the physical, mental, and systematic abuse of slaves. In particular, we will be exploring the many different ways that slaves experienced abuse, and also analyze and consider how much the punishment of slaves was actually associated with bad behavior on the part of the slaves. We hypothesize that slaves really were punished according to the consequences of bad behavior, at least as slave owners saw it, at least a majority of the time -- otherwise, it would hardly have made any sense for so many people to give slaves such harsh and unjust treatment and apparently get away with it.

The unfair treatment begins in the first part of "The River". The woman who sees Edana, the protagonist, after Edana saves her son immediately starts accusing Edana of having killed her son, and hits her, albeit apparently weakly. Then, a man comes outside and aims a gun at Edana. It could be argued not to be unfair because, as was pointed out in the book, to the woman, it almost just looked like some strange foreign woman was standing around with a drowned boy. The man came out with the gun because times might not have been as clear and safe as they are today.

Rufus, a white boy, was initially seen calling Edana a "nigger", as though it's just a common term. If I'm not mistaken, the term "nigger" is supposed to be considered offensive or demeaning. Rufus said his mom always casually refers to black folk as "niggers", which might be considered unfair. However, it might also be viewed as, yes, casual, because some people have referred to each other as "niggers" not unlike how some people refer to each other as "fool", "fucker", or "bloke". It seems to me that the boy just calls black people "niggers" just because that's what so many other people are doing.

As we read in "The Fire", Rufus did show Edana the beating bruises and the whip scars on his back, so one cannot say the situation is just white slave owners constantly picking on black slaves, as it is seen that the white folk will also whip their own. It seems to me that slave owners were afraid that slave persons would not be very well behaved if there were no whippings, not unlike regular, everyday children, or police and criminals. White people got whipped and beaten for bad behavior, so slave persons should not be any different with regards to, it can be argued.

The worst episode of unfair treatment so far was in "The Fire", section 4, when a white man attempted to engage in sexual assault on Edana. This was clearly unfair. Edana hadn't done anything wrong at all when the man came in, insulted her, and proceeded to assault her and subsequently try to forcefully assault her with rape. Edana did fight back, but completely fairly and strictly in the retaliation of proper self-defense. It was extremely fortunate that Edana was able to land by a stick and knock out the assailant. Otherwise, who knows what sad relationship or even unplanned pregnancy she would have been so unfairly stuck with. God dang.

So as we can see, just as we hypothesized, most of the perceived unjust treatment of slaves was not completely unfair, since black people very well could have been strange, unpredictable foreigners or delinquents in need of consequences. However, it is evident that the abuse of power, or worse, perpetrated against the marginalized blacks was all too real a possibility in the dark, as seen in the attempted sexual assault of Edana.