In A Raisin in the Sun, we learn a lot about the main protagonists in the first scene of the first act. We learn that Walter is very aggressive and very persistent on the things that he wants. The way that he talks to his wife after she was giving him signs that she didn’t like his plans for the liquor store made me very shocked. He seems to be very demanding and unaware of how the way he speaks can effect his wife. We also learn a lot about Mama based on the just the first act. We learn that she is extremely religious and will not allow her children to disrespect the lord’s name. Beneatha and her mother’s relationship is very interesting. In the beginning of the play, we see that Beneatha has very different opinions about God than her mother. Her mother believes that God deserves the credit and the respect of her family. After Mama slaps Beneatha, we see that she is very linear with her feelings with God and religion. The family dynamic is very interesting, everyone has their own little quirks.
Author: KAILA CHARLES
Strong Black Women
Quote: “Centering black women and viewing Atlantic slaving through the lens of intimacy and kinship, la traversée emerges as a predatory network of exchanges, forced migrations, and acts of resistance rooted in war and conquest. For enslaved women and girls bound for the Gulf Coast, the Atlantic passage threw them into a world of repeated attempts to dismantle their womanhood, girlhood, and humanity, as slave traders, trading-company officials, and would-be slaveowners struggled to make a profit from their flesh” Jessica Marie Johnson’s Wicked Flesh
This specific quote from Jessica Marie Johnson’s Wicked Flesh inspires me because women had to go through so many things centuries ago. Women were forced to be stronger than necessary because they were treated like objects by white men with power. It is very interesting, and allows me to be appreciate for women fighting for their rights. African women were used for financial gain and were not respected at all. They were treated as if they were nothing continuously and it was worse for young girls who did not get to live out their lives.
Black Masculinity
In Willis Richardson’s The Chip Fortune, Jim and Silas both convey perfect examples of male masculinity. You can see that Jim is ready to protect the women and the Victrola. He makes it know that he will not hurt the men but they will not move until Aunt Nancy comes back with the money. I believe that this is an example of black masculinity because it directly shows that this man is willing to put his foot down and take charge of the situation. We can also see this in Silas when he tries to give Jim back the money, It is a thing of a proud man to give back money given to them. It also shown again when Jim tells Silas to keep the money because they have been very good to his mother. Black men are also very proud, Jim says, “No, she, Ah don’t want you to cramp yourself up on ma account. It won’t take us long to find another place”. Jim did not want to inconvenience Silas, Liza, and Emma. It is a normal thing for black men to be extremely proud and not want to take things from people.
Lynching Effects All
Throughout the two Georgia Douglass plays that we read, we can see that lynching is very impactful to all parties. It will evidently affected the person who going through the act of lynching but it can be detrimental to one’s family. The entire experience is harmful to families as a whole. Safe by Georgia Douglass is a perfect example of the negative impact that lynching can have on a family. One of the main characters, Liza, hopes for her unborn child to be a girl because she does not want “no boy baby to be hounded down and kicked ’round” (Safe, Georgia Douglass). She makes it clear to audiences that she absolutely does not want her child to be a boy. In the end of the play Liza has her worst nightmare come true － a son. Being that she was so certain and fearful of the life that her son would have to experience, she killed him instead. She freed him from the dangerous world that she lived in because she assumed that he would never be safe from lynching due to everything that went on around her. Liza killing her child also comments on how black women are affected from the lynchings. Her character was so protective and scared that she may have believed that killing her child was the only one to protect him from anyone else doing it later on in his life. This play is just one example of how black mothers are protective over their children. It is unfair that people had to subdue to this cruel punishment. One question I have is: By Georgia Douglass having the character Liza choke her son to death, purposely used to allude to what lynching does to those who experience it?