Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven lessons I Learned in a Cotton Field

Lillie Gayle Smith grew up with a job most would consider a slave’s duty. She picked cotton in her aunt’s field for money while growing up. Smith never realized the significance picking cotton would have in her life until she took a class called, “Black Women’s Literacy”. While in the class, she reflected back on her childhood and the lessons she learned while working the fields. One of the important lessons Smith learned was money management. For every dollar Smith earned, her mother would also pay her a dollar. Smith would put some of the money away into a bank account, and the rest she would spend on toys, clothes, and items of that nature. However, when she was older, she realized she needed to be more responsible with her money so she would take the money she earned and buy her own textbooks for school.

Smith’s reflections on her childhood helped her discover her own literacy even more. She thought back about her ancestors who would pick cotton without choice, and the different struggles they had to go through. In her class “Black Women’s Literacy”, Smith was challenged to think back and remember where she learned what she knew. They were asked to question what they knew and think about views that disagree with their own. Smith’s class explained the history of women’s resistance and the disagreement they have had with men. Smith’s story about the male professor who favored the other males in the classes instead of the females is a great example of a women’s resistance. Some of the females in the class did not feel they were being respected, so instead of fighting the same battle that has been fought for years, they simply dropped the course. Some may feel that these women were giving up. But in reality they thought by boycotting a class it would create a bigger impact.

Smith’s literacy throughout her life is very much attributed to her days of picking cotton. She realized the impact it had on her and the decisions she made it life later on, but still appreciated what she learned. The class she took definitely helped her rediscover her past and made her gratitude even stronger. 

Works Cited

Smith, Lillie Gayle."Unearthing Hidden Literacy:Seven Lessons I learned in a Cotton Field." Readers of the Quilt: Essays on Being Black, Female, and Literate. Ed: JoAnne Kilgour Dowdy.  Cresskill, New Jersey:Hampton Press, Inc, 2005. 41. Print