Dear Nella Larsen (response to Quicksand)

Dear Nella Larsen,

Thank you for the interesting and thought-provoking read.  Your narration of the struggles in the life of Helga in Quicksand resonated with me.  As an African-American female who grew up primarily around white people, I really connected with Helga.  It was not easy to be the only black person in most of my classes in high school and on my swim teams, but what was always actually more difficult for me was being shamed for “acting white” in groups of black people.  For most of my life,  I’ve felt too black for white people, and too white for black people, leaving me in a place of confusion and often isolation.  I’ve been rewarded for “acting white” in settings of white people, and I’ve been condemned for it in groups of black people, including members of my extended family.  Though unlike Helga, I am not biracial and I have “people,” this anxiety of belonging has been a constant in my life.  

I also found it interesting to read about Anne’s hatred of white people, and Helga’s response to it.  Obviously, since I grew up around many white people,  many of my closest friends are white, leaving me unsure of how to respond when people make blanket statements that generalize the whole of white society as hateful and bigoted.  These statements obviously come from a place of (warranted) frustration, but it seems counterproductive to further isolate ourselves from a group of people that holds some of the power necessary for our race’s advancement.

Thank you again,

Veronica Stafford

Based on the Hazel Carby reading

To the judge,

I've been charged with prostitution and am asking you not to convict me. I need you to help me. I cannot say that I am innocent of the charge, but I can say beyond a shred of doubt that this society is guilty of the soul murder of black women.

I came up north after my father was lynched. He was the breadwinner of our already very poor family, and I couldn't bear to see my mother struggle to keep me and my siblings all fed anymore. Like many other Black people right now, I migrated here from the south in search of work, shelter, safety, security, the warmth of other suns, a new life.

I honestly did not know that the house I sought refuge in after a perilous journey was a brothel. But by that point they already had me and my body. I thought about running away and finding work elsewhere, but what would you do if you had no other home? No other source of food? No family or governmental support to lean on? And even if I was able to find a job as a domestic, who would protect me from the sexual advances of the man of the house? And his wife's misplaced scorn?

I do not find what I do empowering nor shameful. The real issue at hand however is that this society leaves Black women little other choice.

Sincerely,
Me

Midterm Primary source, Obituary for Marie Laveu

I'll be writing about Marie Laveau, often referred to as the Voodoo Queen. There are very few primary sources about her because most of the information/lore surrounding her was shared orally/just common knowledge for the New Orleans area. The source I will be using is her obituary. It was published in the New York Times in 1881, and was written by her friend and prominent writer, Lafcadio Hearn. There is also an obituary for her in the New Orleans Daily Picayune, but there appears to be no record of the author.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E07E3DD103CEE3ABC4B51DFB066838A699FDE

Midterm Primary Source

My midterm primary source is an interview with Margaret Garner. Margaret Garner is known for being a slave that escaped from slavery and upon being recaptured killed her baby in order to prevent the child from becoming a slave and suffering. I am going to use this source to explain the sexual exploitation that black enslaved women faced and then tie this idea to the culture of dissemblance. I also want to use Margaret's reasonings for killing her children to reveal black women as always being a protective figure for the black community. I will also be using our readings from class and other materials in order to explore this idea.

Midterm Topic

For my midterm essay, I am going to do a close reading of the case files Celia, a slave who is being tried in Missouri for murdering her master after being raped for five years. While it is illegal for slaves to testify against whites, Celia is allowed to testify in court under certain limits. By examining the case files, I hope to understand the story behind Celia's assault and actions. Additionally, by comparing Celia's testimony with that of her master's nephew, I hope to be able to understand what Celia was truly trying to say while exposing the discrimination in the court that led to her censorship.

midterm paper source

For my midterm paper, I will be analyzing an advertisement of Joice Heth, an enslaved woman who P.T. Barnum toured around the world to make money off of her. He claimed she was the mammie of George Washington, putting her at 150 years old. People were allowed to touch and examine her while she was on display. I'm going to use sources we've read in class to imagine what her life might have been like from her perspective.

For my primary source, I will be analyzing the passage "The Good Grandmother" presented in The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers. This passage tells the life story of Molly Horniblow (Jacob's Grandmother) and the role that she played in Harriet's life. I am going to use this source to dissect and study the place, social status, livelihood, and freedoms of free black slaves living in the South during slavery.