Up From Slavery

Our assignment was to read the first four chapters of Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington -- I hope, or else I'll be a little behind in class today -- about his personal journey of literally coming out of slavery following the Emancipation Proclamation. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire reading assignment and can't wait to get a little further in the book, but by far my favorite part was when he was able to choose his name; therefore, that will be the primary focus of this blog.

"By the time the occasion came for the enrolling of my name, an idea occurred to me which I thought would make me equal to the situation; and so, when the teacher asked me what my full name was, I calmly told him "Booker Washington," as if I had been called that name all my life; and by that name I have since been known... I think there are not many men in our country who have had the privilege of naming themselves in the way that I have" (35).

Yes, the quote is a little long, but I couldn't bear to cut it short when there is so much significance in it. To consider that such an individual was a slave for his entire childhood, with no access to education, is surprising to me... How would someone in such a condition manage to rise above it? And when the Emancipation Proclamation was made, how did his family manage to survive on their own when so many were not? Not only that, but he worked in a salt furnace and then a coal-mine, but saved what little money he could and made his way to the Hampton Institute, "passed" his admission exam, and became a student after so much struggle in his lifetime. He constantly mentions how obtaining an education was the most profound desire he ever had in his life, how he wanted that more than anything in this world... And I love the fact that when he is first opened up to education when his community hires a local teacher, he also defines himself by it. There is no coincidence in that fact. He becomes a new person, with a new name and new identity, during the enrollment process... Maybe that's not much to anyone else, but it certainly affected me.

The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker

I like how the text seems as if it's coming straight from the mouth of the author... I mean, literally, the way that it's written seems exactly how I would talk on day to day terms. I like the fact that it's a diary, which makes it far more personal and "in your face" than if it were prose or whatever you want to call it... It's just neat that it's in journal form. It certainly has an effect on the mood of the reader because you can hear the author fight within herself about whether she believes in the cause or not and see how she reaches her conclusions step by step. You feel more connected.

I guess the part so far that had the most significant impact on me was the conversation between the narrator and her father, and right afterwards with Jim, her boyfriend. I know that, at this point in time, women's rights and labor laws were really not on the political agenda; however, it's so strange to think that her father and her boyfriend would be so cruel and insensitive to 1) something her father has an active role in already, and 2) to the narrator when they are about to be married. Does Jim not care about the things the narrator does? Were men just "that way" back then when it came to the women they were around on a daily basis?

I liked the scene where she's talking with the Mayor, and she mentions how Rose is barely scraping by to take care of her family since her father died. Here's a pretty profound quote from the text:
" 'My child, there is no use of getting excited over it. We will look into the matter and try to punish the guilty.' Yes, I believe him -- we will be the guilty party and he'll surely punish us." (97)

It's just sad to think of how women were regarded during this time in history, and how the Mayor and so many others just turn a blind eye to how bad the situation is for some of the poorer class.

My Thoughts on "Technophobia"

I'm not too sure what I'm going to say about this particular reading... It seemed to reiterate the basic underlying themes of movies like Blade Runner and the Terminator films, and I don't have anything really "new" to add to what was said.

In all honesty, I don't consider myself to have a real "fear" of technology... My only problem with the concept of machines is how they seem to dehumanize people. When you're dealing with something like an assembly line and factory workers, you see that the people are completely interchangeable and, in reality, replaceable regardless of who they are, what they enjoy doing in their free time, what kind of family they have... So, in a way, you're saying that the machines are far more important than the people who work them.

When you talk about technology, or more specifically over the topics of technology that we've covered thus far, you continue to see the same basic themes: lack of individualism, freedom, choice... That machines turn "bad" and wreck havoc on the people and environment around them, and it's the people's fault for being too concerned with capitalism to restrain themselves from producing the technology that will eventually be their ruin. However, my opinion on such is that I have a much bigger fear of machines getting to the point that the worker no longer matters rather than machines becoming self-aware and killing people at random.

I really enjoy discussing these topics... It's a completely different approach to analyzing text than I've ever taken before, and I'm loving it so far. From the text, I found a line that "stuck out" to me, and I'll go ahead and include it though I've already discussed the meanings I gathered from it.

"Perhaps this accounts for the desire for for a more literal, natural world in conservative films. It is a reaction to the world they themselves help create through an ideal of efficient economic development."

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.