BGD - Separatism

Jacqueline Woodson tells her life story within her literary work, Brown Girl Dreaming.  Woodson chooses to convey her story through writing her memoir in verse; poetry always holds a deeper and more meaningful connotation.  Nonetheless, Woodson’s memoir is a powerful rendition of life for African American’s during the Civil Rights Movement.  One of the most prevalent and meaningful concepts expressed in this work is that of Separatism, whether it be from the past or from a group of people.

The concept of separatism is first introduced in Woodson’s poem,  The Right Way to Speak.  Her mother punishing her brother simply for copying the dialect of the South conveys how strongly the African American people wanted to distance themselves from their harsh and traumatizing past: “ ‘Don’t ever ma’am anyone!’ The word too painful a memory for my mother of not-so-long-ago souther subservient days…” (69).  This extreme indication Jacqueline’s mother feels towards her own son speaks volumes of the trauma experienced by African Americans; her mother saw no other option than to literally beat the south out of her children.

This poem was the first that truly gave me cold chills.  As I was reading, Woodson’s words hit my skin like the stings of the switch and I could feel the pain written within the pages.  

Further in the memoir, Woodson includes an intriguing poem entitled “flag” that portrays her routing during the early morning school activity of pledging to the flag.  Woodson proclaims her mother’s indignation towards the pledge of allegiance: “Even though my mother’s not a Jehovah’s Witness, she makes us follow their rules and leave the classroom when the pledge is being said” (162).  The inclusion of this poem serves the purpose of furthering the audience’s understanding of just how greatly some African-Americans that were so deeply affected by the tragedies of slavery wish to be different from the others.  Jacqueline even states that she wishes to walk back in and say the pledge with her friends, but only if she would be shielded from her mother telling her that she is different.  This is another poem that gave me cold chills.  The last stanza of the poem involves Gina, the devoutly religious girl, implying that she is aware of the tactics Jacqueline’s mother is taking to make their family appear different.  The inclusion of the line “Im watching you” in Gina’s perspective, truly highlights the implicit prejudice that warranted such families to make leaps and bounds to be different.