Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez is a particularly striking read, particularly in the present times of the widely circulating ‘me too’ movement. Gomez makes a strong emphasis in her novel on gender and female empowerment. She subtly points out societal expectations by means of  her characters impressions of one another and contrasts these expectations through the fictional backdrop of her novel wherein female protagonists wield the power of command, property, and salvation.

One such early instance of gender comparisons appears shortly after Gilda has rescued the Girl. As the Girl assesses her rescuer, in all her strength and glory, she, “thought for a moment: This is a man! A little man!

Gilda laughed out loud at the idea in the Girl’s head and said, No, I’m a woman. Then without speaking aloud she said, I am a woman, you know that. And you know I am a woman as no other you have known, nor has your mother known, in life or death. I am a woman as you are, and more.”

It is of great significance what these first uncensored thoughts of the Girl reveal of what she has experienced and come to expect from society and gender roles. Her initial disbelief that such a self assured and strong individual could be female reveals the level of institutionalized and socialized oppression bestowed upon women and their assumed roles.

It is of particular relevance that Gomez chose to make her central characters lesbians, which sets them further apart from any reliance on the male counterpart to satisfy needs or wants. Virginia Fusco in her dissertation, ‘Love and Desire in the Postmodern Era,’ writes that, “thanks to feminism and the growing emphasis on the «personal» as opposed to the «public», women demanded free access to pleasure and to a satisfactory sexuality that was not subordinated to reproduction or legitimated by the heterosexual dominant model.”

Podcasts & Presentations Brainstorm

Making a podcast relating to African American literature is going to be an exciting and new challenge for me. I have never made a podcast of any type before so this will be a unique learning experience in more ways than one. According to Digital Trends, “you could go broad and cover a wide variety of topics, or you could go specific and focus on your own niche. Either way, the rule of thumb here is to find a theme.. and be sure to stick to it, as it will keep you focused.” Fortunately, looking for the representation of African American culture in modern life is a good way to help narrow down my possible topics.

Some ideas I am considering for both my podcast and presentation include the Martin Luther King statue next to the National Mall, Howard University, and Malcolm X Park.

The MLK memorial has great symbolic features such as it’s location, the stone from which it was carved, and the nature surrounding it which could be interesting to explore deeper in presentation form.

Howard University is considered to be the first black law school in the United States and holds great historical significance for education and equal rights in the african american community. This focus could tie in very nicely to some of the readings we have already done in class such as Anna J. Coopers, Voice From the South.

Malcolm X park was a meeting grounds for many significant political demonstrations in the 1960’s and was frequented by activist heros including Angela Davis. As a central location for organizing in the fight for african american civil rights it contains a great well of significant historical events in the fight for equality.

The Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. Du Bois’ describes a harrowing struggle of black people following emancipation. He eloquently details the frustration of the newly freed people, who after years of deprivation and humiliation, no longer have the tools to properly make of their freedom what they had dreamed and envisioned.


On the one hand, they are aware that they are no less able, having been given the same tools as the white man, to create and prosper in the world. On the other, they continue to exist in a world seen through the distorted lens of their white oppressors. Treated as lesser than, given access to little education, black people remain oppressed but only with a different title now of ‘free’ attached to them.


This knowing that one is free yet still unable to flourish in a society where the system is skewed for them to fail, leads to a sense of ‘double consciousness,’ where-in the black man is aware of himself through his own eyes as well as through the eyes of the prejudiced whites who look down on and oppress him. “By the poverty and ignorance of his people, the Negro minister or doctor was tempted toward quackery and demagogy; and by the criticism of the other world, toward ideals that made him ashamed of his lowly tasks,” DuBois explains in a long list of double standards and inscrutable paradoxes confronting black people, particularly those with special talents and ambitions.

In regards to the failed 'Freedmen's Bureau,' Dubois writes that, "it came to regard it's work as merely temporary, and negro suffrage as a final answer to all present perplexities... so the Freedmen's Beurau died, and it's child was the Fifteenth Amendment." The tone with which Dubois laments this exchange of the Bureau for suffrage brings to question his valuiation of the Fifteenth Amendement to African American progress. Despite the obvious shortcomings of the Bureau to instill real lasting assistance, DuBois seems disapointed at its dissipation and uncertain as to the benefits of negro suffrage to making real progress. Having a voice in electing suitable representation is a highly significant marker of progress, yet Dubois skims over it half-heartedly.

literacy tests impeding the african american vote

A 1985 article from the The Nebraska Law review echos the significance of the Fifteenth Amendment and the concerns of Dubois, by expanding on the idea that additional measures need to be taken to, "preserve or enhance the political effectiveness of racial minorities."


The institution of segregation is mentioned by both DuBois and Anna J. Cooper in ‘A Voice From the South,’ as being an insurmountable obstruction to the progress of black people. Both authors make mention of a certain more talented group of African Americans bearing a responsibility to bridge the gap between white and black communities. Ultimately, both authors place a special emphasis on access to education as a key to progress and true freedom and equality.