Literacy in Disguise:: In the Shape of Cotten

In Lillie Gayle Smith's "Unearthing Hidden Literacy: Seven Lessons I learned in a Cotton Field", she begins with a brief story of her background. She draws the image of herself as a young Black girl in Alabama during the summer of 1963 who, as opposed to picking cotton as she was accustomed to on days like this, was called in to watch TV by her mother to watch The March on Washington and, later, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream " speech. This event can be seen as one of the peaks of Smith's literary acquisition, as she watched and listened to the speech with "pride and joy".

Smith then transitions into her fall 2003 semester at a graduate University, in which she took up a course entitled "Black Women's Literacy". She explains that as a Black woman who had shamefully picked cotton as a child, prior to engaging in this course, Smith had refused herself of ever sharing this experience with those around her. However she eventually learned that this once shameful occupation (in a sense) had molded and shaped her literacy as a black woman. in relating to this passage on a more personal level, the mindset  she later developed in fact reminded me of that of a Spelman woman, or at least what the professors at Spelman are attempting to instill in us. The many empowering notions of recognizing our naturally inherited traits and literary attributes as Black women, the incentive to explore further the works taught to us in previously male dominated schooling establishments, and our seeking of confirmation in the form of likeminded women like ourselves are many elements that contribute to the outcome of our developing literacy. Smith also explains how her life experiences, along with the life experiences shared by professors and classmates, contributed to their acquisition of knowledge and awareness. 

Another interesting topic that  Smith discusses is that of female resistance, Black females especially. She uses the example of how a professor in one of the courses at her University neglected to acknowledge the thoughts and concepts shared by females within his class, without first consulting another male student in the classroom. Smith explains how although she could see how these women could be deemed as defeated or quitters in a sense by withdrawing  from the course, in turn they saw themselves as "challenged, inspired, and empowered" by this experience, in that it gave them the drive to search for a follow-up course. Because it can be scientifically stated that women often identify themselves "based on relationships with others", this negative relationship between the female students and their biased professor sprouted growth in these women to identify themselves as intellectuals beyond said professor's expectations.

-Tayla Fauntleroy