I found the perspective of this article pretty interesting, coming from a Black Feminist point of view, but I wish Henry had gone into more detail about the differences between "womanism" and "feminism." After her brief description I still had no clue about what makes them different terms. It seems like an interesting concept though, and one I'd like to learn more about. Henry's explanation for research is something I really appreciated though; on page 235, she mentions how research can be something "violent" or "humanizing." She then goes on to clarify that her purpose was to be mindful of social change and to take an active role in inquiring about this subject. To me, this shows a little bit of her nature--that she is sensitive to the needs of her research subjects but that she is truly interested in researching to help them and other students.
When I think that many minority students are denied having a voice because teacher or school system doesn't teach about their culture (a point Henry makes on page 236), it really does make me sad. The United States is known as the "melting pot" of the world, and has been for a long time, yet our curriculum is focused on the European roots of our culture. Take, for instance, "world literature" which is taught in the 10th grade at my school. Julius Caesar is a major work taught in this grade, and it's British literature! There's hardly any Asian, Hispanic, African, or any other culture represented. There's so much good literature out there that would represent these cultures, and we're not taking full advantage of it.
To be quite honest, I spent the most time with this article thinking about the first thing I saw: the title. I asked myself, "what is the difference between speaking up and speaking out, if anything?" To me, "speaking up" is the first step someone takes after forming an opinion. You "speak up" instead of keeping silent about it and voice an opinion that may either be welcomed or not. "Speaking out" seems like more of an action; instead of just voicing an opinion, you go OUT and do something about it (hence the term speaking OUT). In my classroom, one of the biggest goals I have is to get everyone involved and to hear everyone's "voice" at some point. (This is actually kind of funny to think about since I was that student who sat in the classroom quiet as can be!) To me, my goal is to get everyone speaking up, but then to inspire and encourage my students to then go speak out on their own, in a non-confrontational way, of course. I'd love to hear other's thoughts on this question; I think we'd hear some very different and enlightening ideas.
Christy Rivers
Comments (5)
Christy-
I love your point about the literature we use to teach "world literature." WOW! Our point of view is so narrow sometimes still, although our country talks a good global game. I absolutely agree more literature should be brought in from around the world. We seem to say we celebrate diversity and individuality and then act in a completely opposite manner. What we say and what we do are two different things. I also couldn't connect the feminism with the womanism. Your differentation between speaking out and speaking up interests me. I agree with the progression. First, a child will have the confidence to speak up, then the more active speaking out will follow. Is speaking up the more positive aspect of communicating, with the intention of voicing an opinion in the midst of a dialogue. Then, I wonder if speaking out is the impulse in communicating, where you are responding to what someone is saying by cutting in on the conversation. Does that make sense? Is one better than the other?
Posted by Stefoni Shaw | February 22, 2009 8:45 PM
Posted on February 22, 2009 20:45
I really enjoyed your opinion of "speaking up" and "speaking out." I too was interested in the meaning and the differences in meaning of these two phrases. I am a big proponet of having my children find their own voices. I encourage them to think and think for themselves rather than voicing the opinion of someone else. I had not thought of your examples for speaking up and out. However, I agree that speaking out does seem like it requires action. Speaking up might be the time in class when they raise their hand and share their opinion. However, speaking out is when they take their opinion and act on it. This was a great perspective. I enjoyed your post.
Posted by Brittany Guy | February 23, 2009 10:02 AM
Posted on February 23, 2009 10:02
Christy,
Good point about the literature we present to students. I am sure you can see the opportunity to present various materials from different cultures when you teach high school grade levels. It seems students will have a enough background knowledge to begin to "speak up" about the literature if there are pieces from different cultures. Do you ever have the opportunity to allow the students to pick a piece from any culture they wish?
I am glad you asked about "speaking up" and "speaking out". I really enjoyed reading others ideas. I just posted on some one's critique about the Bloom's taxonomy. Maybe because my mind is on the hierarchy of skills in the taxonomy, but my thoughts are similar. I think "speaking out" is applying the information more than "speaking up". "Speaking out" to me is when students take what they know and become advocates for a point or idea. "Speaking up" is more like identifying an idea and presenting it. I hope this makes since?
Posted by Elizabeth Griffin | February 23, 2009 9:01 PM
Posted on February 23, 2009 21:01
I liked your comment about world literature. It's been a while since high school, and I teach third grade, where we have several different cultures represented in our text. Some consider our world pretty small to only include only selected pieces. My daughter a freshman at Davidson College took a writing class last semester called Russia and the West and she read some the most powerful Russian literature. She enjoyed it so much. She had no idea how much Russian literature has influenced our media, both movies and books. She was amazed!
SuSu Watson
Posted by SuSu Watson | February 24, 2009 5:52 PM
Posted on February 24, 2009 17:52
Christy,
To address your question about womanism: womanism is a term invented by Black feminists to use instead of the term feminism. Black feminists grew disenchanted with White feminism in the 60s because it excluded issues that were germane to Black women. So Black feminists wanted their own term to signify their political and cultural allegiance to Black womanhood and the unique social problems that Black women deal with, problems that are very different from what White women experience on a daily basis.
Hope this helps!
Posted by Alecia Jackson | February 26, 2009 7:34 PM
Posted on February 26, 2009 19:34