Welfare and The Spear of Neo-colonialism

The systems of oppression have a way of evolving in society. One in particular is welfare which was discussed in Sandra Golden's essay, "Black and on Welfare:What You Don't Know About Single-Parent Women". She described her experience as a public assistance recipient and being met with discriminatory attitudes from the welfare office caseworkers. Golden not only painted a clear picture of the dehumanizing stigmas that was attached to her good name but she concluded she felt welfare barely helped her become self-sufficient. Golden mentioned, "It seemed the assumption was that welfare recipients were unmotivated, unskilled,[and]uneducated"(28). When she interviewed other welfare recipients, she discovered they felt the same way. Personally, welfare is a form of oppression to keep minorities serving the dominant group and suppress liberated ideas.
There were similarities between welfare and colonialism. The colonizers forced the natives to work by implementing taxes and force. In Aime Cesaire's book "Discourse on Colonialism", he mentioned that,"colonization equals thingification"(43). The colonizers made the natives become soldiers,workers,and servants. Almost completely erasing the native's language and culture, the colonizers made their mark in foreign continents like Africa even after they were gone. On the same token, dehumanizing people especially black women was what the welfare system applied. Since the welfare recipients, particularly black women were a little educated they could not help but co-operate with insensitive caseworkers. As a result, very few women have "participated in job placement programs"(Golden 31). Either the caseworkers ignore the needs of the recipients or the women are not literate enough to have a well paid job. One thing welfare and colonialism does is set up control. The government and caseworkers have control over the financial situation of the recipient. These women are not introduced to anything else, so they have to dependent on the government. Colonialism gives the colonizer the power. When one is dependent on someone else, one is not in control of one's life. Both systems of oppression embodied that concept.
Moreover, Golden has a liberated mind. In order to have a liberated mind, one must become aware of their oppressive surroundings and realize there is a better way to live. She described how the welfare system is and what it is to be a black women in the system. The natives had things tough under colonialism however most of them were liberated. Colonialism and welfare are one in the same. Welfare is the new form of control.
Shaniqua Smiley

Black Women and Welfare

What I found compelling about this particular excerpt in Joanne Kilgour Dowdy's "Readers of the Quilt" is that many superstitions or rather accusations against black women and the welfare system have been proven to be untrue. One of the myths about black single mothers is that many are unwilling or do not want to work while this concept is actually on the contrary. Many black single mothers do want to work and willing to do various jobs just to support their family. Another myth is that black single mothers are uneducated and lack various literacies, while in reality black single mothers possess the various literacies such as motherhood, work, and church literacy.

With being a black single mother on the welfare system comes various stigmas. Many assume that these women do not want to work or that they have extremely low levels of education and do not have the skills to work so from first walking in those doors to seek public aid judgment has already been placed. Many women in the article all had similar stories in which they said the “SSC treats you like you are stupid” and overall that they feel like the government welfare system is too busy with preconceived judgments instead of caring for others wellbeing.

From this article I have learned many inside details regarding the SSC. Previously I did not know that women were assigned to the job readiness program even though the SSC had no knowledge of their employment background, skills, or educational background. What this means is that women were not assessed according to skill level so they were not placed in the proper job training programs. What I have learned is that what is preventing black women from growing under the welfare system is not that inability or lack of job opportunities but rather negligence from the SSC on finding proper jobs and accurately assessing the individual.

Overall what I have learned from this article is that many of the stigmas associated with black single mothers is not true and what really holds this group of people back is negligence and until negligence disappears that is when black single mothers will be able to rise against the welfare system and live prosperous lives.

-Kori Coleman

Hard Work Pays Off

Hard work pays off. That statement came to mind as I read this reading. The author talks about how she worked in the cotton fields when she was a young girl and how that played a factor as to who she is now.
It reminds me of all the discipline I went through when I was younger and still to this day. I remember talking to one of my friends recently in the cafeteria. We were discussing the snow Maryland is getting since we’re both from Maryland. We had different views about the snow. She wished that she was home so she could watch the snow fall from the sky. I, however, was not thrilled about it and was happy to be down here and Georgia. I expressed my dread for snow because I always would have to shovel the snow. No matter how cold or how many feet of snow we received, my parents always had my brother and I out there helping them. My mom even told me that once I could hold a shovel I was immediately put to work.
My friend informed me that her and her mother never shoveled the snow. It would only be her father and younger brother out there battling the storm. I began to become upset by this. I remember going home for Christmas break and shoveling snow with my family. I realized that my neighbors were all out as well except for one family who had a set of teenage twin daughters. The father and younger son would be out there shoveling while the twins and their mother stayed inside. It made me mad picturing them lounging inside sipping hot chocolate and watching us work from the comforts of their couch. So, to myself, I automatically thought that my friend was lazy.
I never thought it was fair that my parents made my brother and I shovel snow all the time and do yard work. When I was younger, I would also get upset because all my friends would get money for their good grades, even if they had two A’s. I, on the other hand, would get straight A’s and get no reward.
When I would tell my parents about my frustrations, saying that I get good grades and get nothing in return, my dad would always say something along the lines of, “I shouldn’t need to give you money to get good grades because you should be getting them anyway.” Or “You’ll get your reward in the future because hard work pays off.” I hated that. I didn’t want to look towards the future. I wanted money right then. That’s all I cared about.
As I got older, I found it to be a hassle asking my parents for money. “You need to get a job” they would tell me. So I did. Then I would end up having two jobs at one time because I loved the satisfaction of making my own money and not having to hear the word “no” from my parents when I wanted something. However, with me having a job, my parents expected me to be able to pay for my gas, phone bill, some of my car insurance and food. At times I would buy groceries for my parents so they wouldn’t have to go out.
This may sound like a hard life, but I actually appreciate my parents for doing this now. It taught me discipline and responsibility. It taught how to look down the road instead of seeing what’s right in front of me. I no longer feel like my school accomplishments aren’t being recognized because I know one day they will once I obtain my dream job. I also don’t complain about shoveling snow because I realized that my parents are getting older. I feel as if they don’t need to be out there risking their health so if they go inside a little earlier to get warmth and rest, I’ll understand.

"Reel" Women

Leading black actresses have been portrayed as people with either no literacy or very little. More often than not in many movies they have either been stay-at-home moms or maids with little or no economic literacy and were dependent on someone in their lives. Especially the times that the women were portrayed as drug addicts.
In this passsage, Kilgour Dowdy shows how in about 9 movies how these leading actresses have to play certain characters while most of the time there is someone white that has to come along and help them out. For example in the movie "Losing Isiah" Halle Berry plays a crack addict that had to give up her baby and is barely literate. Also Meryl Streep comes along and takes care of the baby and Berry basically has to prove that to her that she can take care of the baby now. It was determined that Halle Berry's character had to improve her level of literacy in the book sense or else there was no possible chance to get her baby.
In all the other movies that they chose also there was something wrong with the Black women characters that they needed to improve their literacy in order to make their situation better, which sort of portrays how many view black women.

Black Women: As Seen on TV

Prior to reading Joanne Dowdy's except on Black Women and Literacy in Featured Films, I was taught to analyze movies limited to its cinematography. For instance, I was taught to identify and analyze camera shots and angles to better understand why the director made that shot. However Dowdy takes cinema to another level as she analyzes black women identity of a particular era in film. Dowdy discussed that, " rules and roles create social expectations...[which] was believed [were] the natural order of things..." (166). She described popular black films like "The Color Purple", "Saving Isiah", and "Sarafina" that portrayed black women having different kinds of literacy going through trials and truimphs. I identified with the movie "The Color Purple."
In the movie "The Color Purple", Celie had her life dominated by her husband because she was unintelligent. However, Dowdy sheads light saying, "Goldberg's portrayal of a woman who makes a way out of no way is both compelling and informative,"(171). Though Celie could not read and write, she found inner strength doing other things. Eventually, Celie became the owner of a sewing store. Dowdy also included the film taught that "there are many ways to be functional in the world without reading and writing skills,"(172). This film showcased the talent black women possessed.
Moreover, these popular films opened not only the doors for black women to be stars in movie production but showcased the many alternative literacies black women were known to posess. In "The Color Purple", Celie could not read but she could sew. Dowdy discussed the movie literacy we need to have to analyze the dialect, location, and era of black movies to understand how bigger society thinks of us. Besides that I enjoyed reading her except.

Shaniqua Smiley

Going Against the Grain

Reading this text had me very intrigued. I was intrigued for the perseverance of black people trying to obtain literacy. Whether it was learning from their masters, standing outside a school house, or passing down culture to each other; it was very inspiring.

However, becoming aware of my ancestor’s struggle to gain access to all of the literate amenities that white people had formed a disappointment towards my own generation. I realize that most of us hardly take advantage of all the resources given to us; we take them for granted. Black people in earlier times had to fight for an education and for equality. Even when they had education, it was segregated and of poor quality compared to whites. I believe that over the years, the black community has become lazy. Why is this?
For one, I believe the household contributes to this lack of literacy devotion. If there aren’t any literate family members, or members who encourage literacy, what can we expect for our future? My parents were always introducing me to new things to build on my literacy skills, and still manage to do it to this day while I’m in college.
In the text, it stated how the enslaved taught each other by passing down information they obtained to the youth. In some or most cases, this tradition still continues today, no matter what race or culture, however in my opinion I believe this action only takes place in literate households.
What can we do to change this? Can we encourage parents and other family members to become more involved with the younger communities, and not just their own families? Unfortunately, some families do not have access to certain resources, so when will we step up together and better our younger generations for the future?
To me it’s like how Obama wants to have more dedicated teachers in the school system so they can teach students more effectively. Also, so the students can become more interested in the math and science areas.

African American Women Redefined

Love is a powerful feeling. It wil make you hold on to something that may be untangible or unstable. In the book, Going Against the Grain by Maria Stewart, she brought light to African American women whose love and unbroken spirit caused them to have literacy for generations. During slavery, black people were not allowed to be literate, as an read and write. However black slave women developed other literacies and passed that information through generations. They were seen as interpretors and reinterpretors in the world, which was still present in post-slavery. More power is given to the black woman than what is credited to her.

Personally what looks human and is classified as human is human. The article mentioned black women had to first prove themselves as human. In the past we were treated more so like animals than human. However black women proven to have maintained their motherly literacy. The desire to keep their communities intact and not lose their tradition, caused them to have oral literacy to pass down tradition to the children.

Moreover the first generation of black women have achieved to manage their literacy in major tragedies in history. They could interpret symbols and languages to pass down African history to future generations. This article brought insight to how resilient and fearless black women have been. I enjoyed this article.

Shaniqua Smiley