A Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Above is a poem written by Langston Hughes during the Harlem Renaissance. The poem concerns to race relations in the 1920's and 30's but I find the poems message to be relevant to the subject matter we have discussed in this class. The underlying question in this famous poem is " What happens to a dream deferred"? Hughes chooses to answer this question with a series of other questions that comprise the short poem. The "dream" appears to resemble ones goal in life and it questions what happens to a person's view of the world and self worth when that dream is postponed and delayed. Hughes uses two references to food in describing his purpose, raisins and meat. When comparing a dream deferred and a raisin he asks the reader if it " dries up in the sun, or foster like a sore and then run"? I believe this comparison is used to demonstrate a persons wealth and how they contribute to society. A raisin by itself is perfectly edible and contains nutritional value. However, if let to dry in the sun it spoils and therefore becomes useless. Hughes makes this reference to show how the African American race is perfectly capable and able to contribute to society but due to stigmas and racial unjustness, they are forced to become compared to spoiled raisins and meat which hold no benefit or reward. Hughes closes the poem by asking if a dream deferred " Sags, like a heavy load, or does it explode"? This last phrase is asking what happens to human beings when pushed to the lowest depths of disparity. The first outcome " Sags around like a heavy load" implies that a person would continue to live a life with no person and be constantly reminded of the burden of a dream deferred. The second outcome " or does it explode" implies a dream exploding, therefore killing a dream. If dreams are considered to be real and live in our unconsciousness and symbolize our upmost aspirations, than for a dream to explode implies taking your own life. Pretty powerful words.

Sea Island Creole English

As seen in class, several of the African American tales we read had quite an interesting and distinct dialect. Some of those stories included Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Bear and Brer Wolf. As can be recalled from each of the readings, they told stories of clever and determined animals designed to be associated with human traits. This was used, in part, to teach morals and of course to entertain. Interestingly enough, this type of linguistic writing comes from Sea Island Creole English, also called Gullah. Although there are many assumptions in terms of the origin of this particular dialect, it seems that most agree that it is North America specific. Over the years the language has most likely experienced some changes; however, Gullah is still used by a portion of the population. Most notably would probably be Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. No doubt, the fact that Justice Thomas still speaks with a Gullah dialect shows this particular culture's resistance to fade with time. This is further reinforced by the fact that the aforementioned stories have also survived the test of time. Inevitably, as time passes many different cultures become so intertwined together it becomes nearly impossible to separate them. Of course, much of this intermingling is dependant on exactly how determined a group of people are to adhering to their cultural roots by passing such things as dialect or folk tales along.

Harriet Jacobs Hid for seven years

This image is a drawing of where Harriet Jacobs hid for seven years.She hid in a small crawl space that was on the upper floor, measuring about nine feet long and seven feet wide. It was above a shack in her grandmother home. Jacobs lived there seven years in her grandmother's attic before escaping to the North 1842. Her children lived with Jacobs's grandmother so, while in hiding, the highest point was just three feet. Her children were unaware of her hiding Harriet was able to see them through a little hole.

"Tar Baby"

I found the post about "The Song of the South" to be interesting and i wanted to know more about it. Like stated below, the movie contains several different folktales. I found that the movie, created by Disney, was not even released on VHS in North America because of issues relating to race. The story 'Tar Baby' that we read in class was incorporated in this Disney film including several others. I did a search for the term 'tar baby' and discovered that some find the term to be very racial. The initial meaning of the term, in the story, was kind of like saying that one is caught in a sticky situation, much like Brer Rabbit in the story, and as much as he tries to get unstuck from the tar baby he just gets himself stuck further. I came across a few blogs discussing the use of this word and several people were angry at the connotation in some cases. It surprised me that the term 'tar-baby,' which is used in "From My People" -- an African American Folklore Novel, could be turned into a term that is against the very race who told the story. I found that in recent years some politicians have used the term in ways that mock the African American race, thus making it even more wrong.

Overall, I was surprised that a Disney movie incorporated racial material in its animations and I was surprised in how the term 'tar baby' has been used, after this folklore was told.

Songs from Class

Posted below are links to the songs we studied in From My People, the same ones I played for the class.  I thought I'd do so in preparation of our reading Du Bois in a couple weeks.  Song will be a major theme in The Souls of Black Folk, but it has also been a major theme throughout the course.

Frederick Douglass, of course, writes about how white Northerners visiting the South before the Civil War often misunderstood the singing of slaves.  Northerners often thought the music was evidence that the slaves were content with their lot--that, in other words, white Southerners were correct in claiming that slavery was a beneficial institution.  Douglass writes instead that the songs had complex meaning for those singing them: they were expressions of sorrow but also hope.  Additionally, songs were used to pass along coded messages about escape to the North.

Booker T. Washington alludes to this function of slaves' songs in his Up from Slavery, which we are reading now, in his discussion of the "grape-vine telegraph" of the plantation (11).

Du Bois will concentrate on other rich meanings of what he calls "the sorrow songs."  The meanings of the songs will be closely related to his focus on the "souls" of people.  We have discussed in class how songs give us access to a "deeper" and perhaps even better part of ourselves, perhaps what Lincoln had in mind when he talked in his first inaugural address of the "better angels of our nature."  When Lincoln used the phrase, however, he was still hoping for conciliation with a South that had not yet seceded.  After the Civil War, following the "better angels of our nature" meant for most who fought for equality not conciliation but struggle--sometimes, as in the case of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., linked below, in a struggle to the death.

Go Down, Moses, by Louis Armstrong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5EfwBWgg0

Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child, by Paul Robeson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJx1Hbn_KM

John Brown's Body:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvRZXdWjloo

O Canaan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itt06DPjum8

Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the land of Canaan.
I'm bound fair Canaan's land to see,
I'm bound for the land of Canaan.

Chorus:

Oh Canaan, sweet Canaan,
I'm bound for the land of Canaan.
Sweet Canaan, 'tis my happy home;
I am bound for the land of Canaan.

I'll join with those who've gone before,
I am bound for the land of Canaan.
Where sin and sorrow are no more,
I am bound for the land of Canaan.

(Chorus)

We Shall Overcome:

Joan Baez:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkNsEH1GD7Q&p=FE8B345FF90D90A4&index=39&playnext=2

MLK speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=130J-FdZDtY&p=FE8B345FF90D90A4&playnext=1&index=37

Po' Boy 'Long Way from Home:

R.L. Burnside (1984):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjGf4AkgM4Q&feature=related

Booker White, slide guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0jRX69mxcE&feature=related

Feel free to post your own links to songs, along with your own comments.

Hands of a Slave

These are the hands of a slave. These are the hands of Mr. Henry Brooks of Georgia (this photo was taken in 1941). Mr. Brooks is free now (at the time of this picture) but his hands were not at one point. These hands tell a story. One can only imagine the strained and overworked palms and fingers of Mr. Brooks. These thin, wrinkly hands represent the hardships of slavery, the hours spent on the plantation, resting only when Mr. Brooks was sleeping. It's hard to imagine it this way, but these hands were owned by a white slave owner. A slave-master decided what Henry got to do with his hands, plant crops, pick cotton, cut sugar cane, dig holes, weed land, serve food, etc. Henry Brooks was known as field hands as what most plantation slaves were called. This photo brings a new eye to slavery, one does not see a picture of a slave's hands which is unusual to think about now because their hands are the most important aspect of their body (to slave-owners). A slave wouldn't be able to do much without their hands, nothing at all really. This is a very unique picture and draws attention to the struggles a slave would encounter on a daily basis.

"The Song of the South"

Preserving folk takes and oral tradition is an important part of history. Ever since we read “The Tar Baby” in class and other Brer Rabbit folk tales I have been wondering about where exactly I had first heard of the tales. Only recently I remembered that when I was little my grandmother use to have a collection of Disney books and movies. Apparently all of these kinds of African American folk tales were recorded in the old styled (and I mean old styled 1946!) Disney films. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen or are interested in seeing the movie “Song of the South” it incorporates a lot of the stories we have read. From what I can remember it revolves around “uncle Remus” who regales children with the folklore of the past. If any of you don’t know who he is that’s the Zippity Doo Dah guy. In any case recently I looked online and they actually have this film at Vulcan video down the street. I may rent it just to have a better understanding of the stories. I strongly recommend you guys at least you tube the folk tales. I personally feel that they are super complex in nature. I’m not implying that these films will enlighten you about any themes or anything we haven’t talked about. For the most part if nothing else it gives a nice visual. It also kind of emphasizes the importance of the stories. If Disney thought they were important enough to document you know they must have been well known. They are considered classics. Perhaps it is a way of infusing the past and present by letting future generations have a glimpse at the issues of the past through stories. As we discussed that isn’t an easy thing to do. Although the history of these tales appear to be less well known it’s important that they continue to be circulated. Hence even if the Disney versions aren’t extremely useful they have helped keep the stories alive. Above is a picture of the movie cover for the “Song of the South” from the Disney archives (http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/movies/songofsouth/songofsouth.html).

Brer Rabbit is brown Rabbit in the middle of the cover. The bear and the fox, his nemesis’’ can be seen in the corners behind the trees. I suppose this is a more contemporary depiction of the tales. For the record, I also want to point out that if you do watch this movie there are liable to be some more derogatory or seemingly racist remarks. Just remember the context in which it was made.