Blog Post #1: Hurston & Walker

       For our last reading in class we covered both Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker. Both of these women spoke to me in terms of their writing, especially because I can relate to being a strong African American women. And even though they are both from places called Eatonville (Hurston-Florida, Walker-Georgia) they share completely different experiences that shaped womens writing today!
       Because Hurston's mother died when she was only eleven, and her father wasn't really there for her growing up, it was very difficult to be a successful women. In "I Get Born" on page 290 in the book she explains that her own father, John, was so unhappy with Zora's upcoming birth because he was having another baby girl:
       "Still, and all, I looked more like him than any child in the house. Of course, by the time I got born, it was too late to make any suggestions, so the old man had to put up with me. He was nice about it in a way. He didn't tie me in a sack and drop me in the lake, as he probably felt like doing."
       Where I highlighted is what bothers me the most about this quote. John would have attempted to plan something like an abortion or adoption it seems. It's almost like once she was born, her father shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I can't do anything about it now."
       Zora also explains that John even threatened to slit his own throat. The fact that her own father acted this way scares me. It doesn't make sense! Eatonville, Florida was an all black town in which everyone took pride in being colored and supported each other. And by having such a healthy, friendly, environment around you, wouldn't you think that men would be a little more understanding of women in this community? Especially ones own father. Even the white man that helped Lucy, right after she gave birth had a special interest in Zora, but not John.
       And although Hurston says that all this about her father is just "hearsay," I believe that a person would be able to tell if their mother/father actually loved them. For example, if I heard this about my father, I would not believe it at all because I have proof that he loves me. I'm sure that when Zora was young, she didn't realize how serious this was. But it's almost an instance where you take evidence from childhood and then look at it a different way in adulthood. Kids have a carefree mentality and don't realize certain things in life until later on. Lastly, Hurston also mentioned the story of how she started walking. I believe this was a turning point in her life and it shows that since that time in her life, she hasn't stopped motivating herself and won't ever take anything sitting down!


       Alice Walker's "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens," really opened a new way of thinking about myself as well as other African American women.
       "In the selfless obstractions their bodies became more to the men who used them, they became more than "sexual objects,' more even that mere women: they became "Saints.' Instead of being whole persons their bodies became shrines: what was thought to be their minds became temples suitable for worship."
Jean Toomer explains that black women he idolized so much would be long dead before their day of revelation would come. In other words, they have lived and died such a mundane life and served as a child bearer or an underdog to the white folk.
       It again, amazes me how low in status black women were because some of the most empowering females in our world are in fact African American. Tyra Banks, Oprah, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and many others: http://www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2012/08/31/the-worlds-most-powerful-black-women-business-leaders-2012/
An perfect example from the text is Phillis Wheatley. She not only was a slave by age seven, but she was so lowly ranked that even in her poems she wrote about a "Goddess" with blonde hair. It's almost like she believed that she wasn't meant to be anything, like and knew her place in the world. And although Wheatley's thoughts were altered to believe she was inferior, Walker still supported her because she is a woman.
       The title "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens," first comes from Walker discussing her own mother's garden. Her mother would plant all different types of flowers to create an art of her own because she didn't have time to write, sing, paint etc... In a way, every mother has a garden in which they pass down to their children and so on, in order for them to inherit wisdom and the lessons of life.