Going Against The Grain Part 1 (Pages 108-123)

The reading opens with a quote from Maria W. Stewart, which was written in 1831. Maria W. Stewart was the first known African American woman to have written essays. The time in which the included passage was written displays the understanding that African American women had of two things: the power of language and learning and the deep-rooted hostility which people of African decent must live in the United States. (page 108)

"The environment in which students acquire their literacy has a major impact on the cognitive consequences of their possession of the skill and the uses to which it can be put." Harvey J. Graff

When looking at the history of African American women, their acquisition of literacy and their uses of literacy, the connection between the learning environment, possession of the skill, and the use of the acquired skill is  significant.The dismantling of barriers to education opportunities is tedious and the struggle for opportunity and achievement has to be constant. African American women have been victim to racist, sexist, class-bound ideologies since the beginning of Africans lives in the Americas.  The resistance of theses ideologies started very basic. African American women were first required to define themselves a human beings in order to establish a place for themselves as rightful holders of the entitlement of citizenship, which included opportunities for literacy and learning. They also had to earn and create an image of credibility and respect to discredit  the disempowering images of themselves as amoral, unredeemable, and undeserving. Activism served as a direct means for not only acquiring and utilizing literacy but battling the negative images portrayed. Going Against the Grain Part 1, details the various acts of activism which served as teachers of literacy. Part 1 also describes the various environments African American women have acquired and acquire literacy. Within multiple environments of domination and oppression these women were able to leave a legacy of resiliency and spiritual strength, a legacy which was foundation for individual and organization strength, and a legacy of activism which helped mold a legacy of literacy.

Works Cited:

Royster, Jacqueline J. “Going Against the Grain: The Acquistion and Use of Literacy” in Traces of Stream: Literacy and Social Change Among African Women. U of Pittsburgh Press, 2000.