In Jacqueline Royster’s piece Going Against the Grain, she gives examples of African American women at the beginning of the U.S. slave trade being leaders and competent of their surroundings while being held captive. I found this very interesting because, before reading this piece, I had a notion that the Africans who were brought to America were unaware of their situation and that they were completely oblivious to their surroundings. Beyond that, I believed that they would not know how to effectively fight against the injustice that was being thrust upon them. Royster shed light on their awareness and made it clear how much strength, diligence, and perseverance our ancestors embodied.
Royster uses the story of Lucy Terry in order to illustrate how African American women were performing tasks that were deemed beyond their comprehension during that time. Terry was brought to America as an infant and sold into slavery at the age of five. In 1756 she married Abijah Prince, a former slave, who bought her freedom and four years later, they moved to Guilford, Vermont where they received threats from their white neighbors. Terry took it upon herself to confront the governor’s council to complain against her assailants. She demanded the protection of her home and family. This was fascinating seeing that a black women who grew up as a slave knew how to handle the affairs of her household in a legal manner.
Royster goes on in detail about Terry’s court trial where she represented herself and won! During the process of legally saving her property, Terry took her case to the Supreme Court and claimed victory. This alone shows that although their literacy may have been presented in many different ways, African American women were definitely literate.
Learning about African American women who knew how to operate a legal system that was designed to work against their entire race showed made it clear that as an African American woman, I can be powerful. Mrs. Lucy Terry Prince portrayed a capable and competent black woman. Before this reading, when slavery times came to mind, I thought of us, African American women, as if we were unaware of the circumstances we faced. Moreover, I never imagined we would know how to go about protesting the cruelty that was inflicted on us. It was pleasing to learn that we as a people, though underestimated, were capable of overcoming obstacles then and are capable of overcoming new obstacles now. Now, I know that we can breaking barriers and create change.
The title immediatly grabs my attention. The presentation of how Lucy Terry manitpulates the system is the prime example of how "two can play that game". The blog elaborated that on the fact that even though whites believed that blacks were not compotent during the slave trade, blacks held their head high and overcame all obstacles. The beginning quote mentions us awakening, I believe it means awakening to your surroundings and making a change.
ReplyDeleteK.D
I really enjoyed Jasimine presentation. they way she presented her title reallly made me want to go and actually read her blog. Th breif summation on Lucy Terry really added to how her explanation of Royster's chapter and also made the title even catchier. "Learning about African American women who knew how to operate a legal system that was designed to work against their entire race showed made it clear that as an African American woman, I can be powerful." This blog was well done and very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you brought to our attentions that Africans were indeed "literate" when they were brought here, to America, on slave ships is very interesting to me. I love how you highlight the inteligences of our ancestors, and how they indeed were almost the complete opposite of what we have percieved from our Western History books.
ReplyDelete-A. Foster
I love the title choice you chose for this blog. My favorite part of this blog is when you write "Learning about African American women who knew how to operate a legal system that was designed to work against their entire race showed made it clear that as an African American woman, I can be powerful." This is so true and an example like this is just enough to enpower many African Americans male or female.
ReplyDelete-Darchelle J.
I like this blog post a lot. I too didn't realize that the slaves knew what was going on when they were brought to America. I also felt that the piece shed light from a new perspective that the slaves knew that they were being mistreated and abused.
ReplyDeleteI also like the title of your blog. It is clever how the writer used the example of Lucy Terry in her title. "Two Can Play That Game" implies that although the judicial system was mad to keep the slaves oppressed, it could also be manipulated and used in the best interest of the slaves.
Amelia Quaye
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ReplyDeleteI like how, in this article, the author pointed out the strength and unknown knowledge of African American women at the time. If she discovered new things that she was unaware of concerning the power of African American women, imagine if the people who criticize them the most gave them a chance and read into them. This article not only shows that African American women are much more literate than Caucasians thought, but Mrs. Lucy Terry Prince represented herself in a court trial against the White man and won. This proves that she was maybe even more literate than the people who had looked down on her and her race for centuries. I liked this article because, it showed you that if the author learned something new, that maybe the Caucasians did also.
ReplyDeleteK.J.
I love the mindset behind this blog. It was very true that in this case, the strategies used by the white men were being utilized by this woman who was a former slave. The whole situation was very clever and thought out. Honestly, I have to say that I thought that the black people of the time didn't know much about their situation. Obviously the people were very clever and somewhat understood the current situation. Jessica Robinson
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this blog very much because the writer seemed to be very inspired with knowing more about the role that African-American women played during slavery. The capability of many women during that time to prospore and prevail over oppression, Lucy Terry in particular, was very inspiring and only further complimented the idea that no matter the circumstances or attempts to degrade us, Black women are capable to rise above struggles.
ReplyDelete-Tayla Fauntleroy