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In "Everyday Use" Dee calls herself reconnecting with her heritage and part of that is wearing her hair natural. Recently, there has been a trend re-established where African-American women are once again embracing their heritage and going "all naturale." I don't think I will be following that trend any time soon. So, to all my African sisters, y'all have at it on the heritage train. My stop is at the beauty salon getting a perm!!

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Lame Animal

“Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him?”

This line from “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker immediately reminded me of one of my all time favorite movies, The Great Debaters, with Denzel Washington casted as the lead. There is a particular scene in the movie where Washington’s co-star, Forest Whitaker’s character, has a similar incident. The time period is late 1920’s and Whitaker’s character, a prestigious college professor, hits a pig with his car that has wandered out onto a dusty dirt road. He gets out of his vehicle to assess what had just happened not knowing what it was he had exactly hit. When he realizes what it was he says, “It’s just a pig.” But, it wasn’t “just” a pig. It was a pig owned by a white man and Whitaker, for those who may not know, is a man of color. So, essentially his character is that of a black man who is now in jeopardy of being lynched for destroying a white man’s property. His prestigious college background had no bearing on the matter against the poor white pig farmer now. No, not in the “good ol’ south” where a person’s skin color was their merit. Whitaker’s character sidled up to the oh so ignorant farmer and offered everything he had as grievance, but not in any effort to get him to be kind. It was in every effort to prolong his life. Ironic, huh?

I often tell myself that if I had lived during these times I don’t know how long I would have lived. I am a particulary quiet, easygoing person, but when I am wronged or feel as if an injustice has been done, it is nothing for me to voice my opinion. In a time period where voicing your opinion to a white person meant the difference between whether you would be hung or get to eat dinner with your family that evening, I’m not sure which way I would have faired. Let’s just say, I’m glad it’s 2012 where voicing your opinion can only get you a few unwanted stares! Lol.

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"Everyday Use" or Convient for the Cause Use?

I recently read "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker who is more notably known for her novel, "The Color Purple," that was brought to life through film by Steven Spielberg. Like many of her novels, this short story is  centered around ancestry, family unity, and symbolism. In keeping with the geographical setting of the rural south that Walker takes her readers to in her novels, the story introduces us to a family of three black women, a mother and two daughters, that live off an unbeaten path. It is told in first person through the point of view of the mother, Mrs. Johnson. The story examines a period in the African-American community where many blacks, who were somewhat educated, felt that their race was being overrun with the "white man's" views for long enough and it was time that they got back to their "roots." Mrs. Johnson, along with her daughter Maggie, hesitantly await the coming home of her daughter, Dee, who has gone off and done just that; so she thinks.

 Dee, now known for her "African" name as Wangero, was always kind of uppity. Her mother called it wanting "nice things." She was ashamed of her family, where they lived, and never embraced their love for quilting until now. Now that she was back to her "roots," her cause, she decided that the quilts that she long thought were old-fashioned had meaning to them that could now be embraced. Little did she know, the epiphiny she went off and had to get back to her "roots" was nothing of the sort. Her roots had been with her her entire life and needed to go nowhere to get back to them except within her own heart. Dee, or shall I say "Wangero," was a dynamic character. So, the epiphany, or change, she thought she had never really happened.

I feel that this attitude is common in any culture. A young man/woman who is fresh off the enlightenment train feels they know more about themselves than ever before and the ways of their family are dated. In actuality, they have confused knowlegde for heritage as Dee did. Thanks Mrs. Walker for this still timely message.

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What to Blog About?

I am undecided on whether to comment on Everyday Use by Alice Walker or A Worn Path by Eudora Welty. Any suggestions?

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