Working with the Past
No one knows with certainty what really happen to African-Americans during , in my opinion, the worst historical moments of our American culture. The deliberated effort to intentionally destroy the African culture was insidious, yet only through the "creative spirit" of many of them, we can now have a small glimpse of what happen, how did women survive, where do they get their strength, and what message they impart with their children. Working with Past is itself a creative work of art, an effort to recapitulate the experiences faced by African-American women, their creative spirit, and how they have been able to passed down this spirit through generation , as Walker states, " in spite of societal barriers (p.902). I have, for the many years I lived in this country, read and study about the history of Blacks1 in this country, despite my own sense of rage, and disbelief, I still can not been begin to image how as group Blacks in this country survived. Personally I was touch by Walker's essay because she is able to convey, with elegant pros
Using the work of Virginia Wolf from her book A Room of One's Own as a background to illustrate, her point, that African-American women, they neither had the privileged to have " a room of her own, or enough money to support herself" nor they had the freedom to express herself. Black women, "born or made a slave" would have been feared and mocked, chain, thwarted, if she would express her gift of poetry. The freedom to be alone, independent, self-sustained, is a privileged, often not shared by African- American women (p. 742). Yet, mothers and grandmothers, created history and transferred their values, feelings, efforts, creatively through music, dance, storytelling, and their ability to endured the duress of the times. e and intellectual finesse, how at that period of time, despite the limited freedom they have, history was transferred, mostly through mother and grandmothers, and as such Black history is a family matter (p.738). "Just exactly ho, and what, we black American women are," can only be discovered through by understanding and searching the reason wh
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 726
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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