The one thing I have to say, is that the readings of this week made me think a lot, for plenty of different readings.

The first reading that got my brain going was “The Race Problem in a Christian State.” It just really struck me that the reasonings behind Ransom saying that black people are more American than white people, besides Native Americans of course, is true. If you ask a white person their ethnicity you will get many answers like german, french, or british. If you ask a black person we will say African American, because we are defined by America. We don’t have the option to list all the African tribes our ancestors originated from, and therefore, we do not have the opportunity to participate in their cultures. For the most part, we developed our own culture here in America.

The second reading that really made me think was ” A Litany of Atlanta,” for the simple fact that I have never, and will never, understand poetry 🙂

Credo, however, genuinely moved me. Its inspiring and honestly so touching to see someone believe so full heartedly in the black race. It’s something you rarely see even today, even among black people.

And then we come to the “Atlanta Compromise Speech.” All I have to say about this reading is that I don’t understand Booker T Washington. To me, it seems as if he is pandering to the white people, or succumbing to white ideals of what a black person can be or do. However, this just seems to stand in direct opposition to how he fought to become who he was. I can understand him wanting black people to become skilled in the areas of physical labor, but I can’t understand him wanting black people to settle for just that.

Before this class, I had not read W.E.B. DuBois’s Credo. I found it very powerful, with the nine paragraphs, all starting with “I believe.” It was very reminiscent, for me, of the Nicene Creed, though in that, the paragraphs start with “We believe.” I’m sure there was a reason for this distinction, of DuBois using only “I.” He seems to definitely set himself apart from others, as is evident in the Sernett reading of his, “Of the Faith of the Fathers.” There, he made several points to scholarly assess “black religion,” while not including himself into it. Despite the first claim in Credo, “I believe in God,” DuBois does not seem to categorize himself into the religious ideas of  

DuBois words were very well put, and that kind of ties into (though opposes) Booker T. Washington’s argument, that “no race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” Booker T. Washington places hands-on work and manual effort above belief, words, or the “Talented Tenth” DuBois advocates for.

The Sernett chapter of DuBois made me think of a conversation I had with my boss. She’s African-American, and was raised in Brooklyn and New Jersey. The church that she went to was very much like the church DuBois mentioned on page 325, “stiff and formal…very quiet and subdued.” She said she wore white gloves, pressed dresses, and sat quietly in the pew every Sunday. There were no loud “Amens!” or the third part of DuBois’s “religion of the slave” — “Frenzy.” I think that it just shows what we were talking about on Thursday, the differences between classes, forms of worship, and location. 

DuBois just had a lot of powerful statements and claims in his writings, and they were all very thought-provoking. From the statement, “North is greed and South is blood,” in his Litany of Atlanta, to the “beauty of its [the Negro race] genius and the sweetness of its soul.” Perhaps I need to read more of both men to fully understand and appreciate their viewpoints, but I believe WEB DuBois to have a very effective and clear way of communicating his arguments, a much more book way of doing things.  

This week in reading Jarena Lee and Rosa Young and other religious was an exciting changed from the male based readings we were reading before. At  this time no one really allowed women to take the pulpit due to them just being women but yet Richard Allen allowed Jarena Lee too which is a huge step. One quote that stuck out to me was “For as unseemly as it may appear nowadays for a woman to preach, it should be remembered that nothing is impossible with God (Sernett, 173).”While still these women were taking some big steps forward it was kind of hard to read some of the more negative parts of their narratives, especially Jarena talking about her suicide attempt. It seemed though even though all these women were struggling, they still kept moving on and deeply rooted in their faith.

I was greatly intrigued this week by the range of thoughts expressed by women in Sernett’s book of primary sources. I was particularly drawn to Jarena Lee and Maria Stewart due to their religious distinctions. Lee’s story is noteworthy because unlike other African Americans during this time, she tries multiple Christian denominations before deciding that she feels most accepted and righteous with the African Methodists (Presbyterian > Roman Catholic > English Church (Anglican) > African Episcopal Methodist). Throughout this passage, Jarena Lee remains humble and pious while always being aware that Satan was working as a sinful tempter. Meanwhile, in the excerpt from Maria Stewart, I could  not help but notice similarities to the words written by Jupiter Hammon. While stated by Sernett that Stewart studied David Walker’s Appeals, she argues that there is no need to revolt against the slave masters. Rather than using her position of power to truly help her people, she insists that “all political discussions in our behalf [be dropped], for these, in my opinion, sow the seed of discord, and strengthen the cord of prejudice” (208). Like Hammon, Stewart makes the argument that no revolt is necessary on Earth because all are waiting for their justly reward in Heaven.

Rosa Young spoke to me (not literally) because she is the education system, but did it because she wanted to create a school for children “still in the shadow of plantation”and fight the systemic white.  It started with seven children but took a huge increase because of the high demand for parents to want their children educated, but they were in a rural area with little to no resources and so she talks more about her struggle within the piece. As an aspiring educator, it’s already hard enough that I have to go into a messed up school system which is getting more difficult because of who shall not be named but its hard when you want to give children the best and the system is booked against you. She dedicated a lot of time, effort, and money to see this school flourish and a lot doubted her ability, but it paid off. She lead the cause for starting a conversation for inclusion. Every child has a equal opportunity, but it takes a strong spirit to fight so hard for it.

It’s refreshing to be able to read passages written by women!

I fully expected the tone of most readings this week to be about how difficult it was to be a woman in religious circles, and I was not (or was?) disappointed. It was interesting how, in the first reading, Jarena Lee spoke about how that fact had been quickly changing (in the 1800s!) and women were allowed to preach more. Was it less common for women to preach in white churches and denominations? I have never been inside of a church or heard a preacher speak, and I am not aware of much of the history of Christianity in America at all, so this is all news to me. The constant mention of suicide was also something that surprised me in her passages because I had assumed people from that time period would not speak about topics like that.

The first two readings have something very specific in common – the authors claim to have been spoken to by God (or the Lord) personally in a call to preach or do other religious activities. This claim is something that, until a couple months ago, I would have considered ridiculous, exaggerated, or a sign of an illness. I have an illness that gives me hallucinations occasionally, so I would have had a hard time believing these claims. Recently, though, I’ve been following a religion (one I’m not sure if I can name), where sometimes I feel as though I’m being led to do specific things by an outside force, and my friends who follow similar beliefs feel this also. It’s probably much easier to write off women for saying that they have been spoken to by a god than a man who claims the same thing because of how “overly sensitive” and “crazy” women are perceived to be.

Thanks to the reading for this week, I have acquired a new best friend. To loosely quote Dr. Mathews, Martha Stewart’s farewell address is, “Feminist as fu*k.” Within the first page of Stewart’s address, she makes a valid point that many preachers miss, or choose to willingly omit. One of the first followers of Jesus was a w o m a n. And in this address, we call her Mary Magdalene. Fun fact, this Mary was known for particular extra circular actives.. I think that Stewart is able to kill two birds with one stone by doing this. One, she’s pointing out the insanity of not letting women preach, and two, she is vastly breaking socialite constricts for women at that time. Mary was very religious, but didn’t have the best moral standards for the time, but hey, Jesus chilled with her anyways. Stewart goes on further to site history. In religions across the world, it was the women in societies that were gifted with prophecy and magical powers, not the men. Stewart also attest that her darker skin does nothing to hinder her in being religiously educated. “Religion is the most glorious theme that mortals can converse upon” (pg. 208). Religion, in this sense, has helped mankind to expand their intelligence. Through Stewart’s address, I believe that she stands her grounds on the fact that religion, is one of the ways which women never have to worry being inferior to men in.

Ps. Reading this made me think of Beyoncé – Run the World (Girls), so enjoy.

Certainly the most memorable part of this week’s readings was in the first chapter I read. Jarena Lee’s chapter started, for me, quite like all of the others. My attention was caught, however, by a particular quote: “For as unseemly as it may appear nowadays for a woman to preach, it should be remembered that nothing is impossible with God.” (Sernett 173).

This quote, and the verse that it references, is one of my favorites. This quote is incredibly inspirational and heartfelt, and reveals the true dedication and wisdom of Jarena Lee. I have always found the verse referenced here to be incredibly encouraging, and I love that Lee uses it to argue for the rights of women to preach. Reading these chapters this week and discovering the struggles and obstacles faced by these women who wanted to preach and to be a bigger part of their church was both fascinating and disappointing, however. It was fascinating to read of the women’s strength and determination despite all opposition, but disappointing to read the accounts of prejudice and opposition against equality.

The accounts this week of overcoming obstacles is incredibly inspirational for the women’s courage and heartfelt determination, but this opposition is further disappointing when added to the growing list of opposition to equality that we have encountered in our readings thus far this semester. Each week, we read more accounts of people that faced hardships and struggled against bias on their paths to hope and to their goals, and it is distressing to read of the injustice that they faced. On the other hand, though, each of the accounts that we’ve read, especially this week, has been incredibly inspirational in that each of the authors believed so strongly in what they sought that they were able to face the obstacles nonetheless.

Jarena Lee. Everybody’s talking about her. And with good reason. Though I have written about her before, I feel that her perspective is particularly important  through her first hand account.  Jarena Lee. Everybody’s talking about her. And with good reason. Though I have written about her before, I feel that her perspective is particularly important  through her first hand account.

It immediately stood out to me that Jarena’s voice in the passage was not dialectal. Prior to this point, the only female voice found in Sernett was that of Sister Kelly. However, rather than butchering her own writing by adding dialectal tone, Lee has a more professional and educated feel to her writing. This, however, is an entirely unfair judgement on my part. Sister Kelly may have been equally educated, if not more, but simply misrepresented in order to fulfill a certain stereotype. However, I think it is important to note the role that the autobiographical nature of the resource has on the context of its meaning. Both women also emphasized the role of personal discovery of religion. The effects of religion on both Kelly and Lee seemed to have manifested physically, and with much excitement. This is in stark contrast to the relatively dull professions of faith from more modest but nonetheless devout male church members.

This made me consider a startling thought. Women in faith are not believed to be worthy of exhorting or preaching their beliefs, and their experiences with their own faiths are not treated to be as reliable or authentic as male church members simply due to their maleness. Thus, female worshippers are encouraged to preach and show support for their Lord in more spirited ways. No one would doubt a male churchgoer even if he was perfectly solemn in his professions of faith, but it seems to me that, comparatively, black female churchgoers have to work ‘twice as hard to get half as far’. Not to say that spirited preaching is not an excellent method. Far from it. Actually, wait. Here’s Ernestine Reems kicking butt and taking names.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f2aBDfEh6g

This week in Sernett there were some interesting and upsetting themes. Firstly, there was a strange theme of self-hatred in some of the readings, the most upsetting being Jarena Lee. Reading about her attempts to take her own life was really distressing, especially knowing the difficulties she was facing both in her private life and public religious life. There was also a large amount of judgement by some of the women writing towards their communities, such as in Rosa Young’s writings where she discusses topics like how many in her community have apparently become disinterested in marriage and the issues of poverty. This judgement of community can also be seen in Amanda Smith’s writings both in relation to the white religious meetings she attended and in her dealings with the AME. While personally I feel Smith had more ground to be judgemental than Young on many points it was satisfying to read about the two women working to make their communities better.