Introduction
In the history of America, various scholars, poets, journalists, politicians, writers, and public speakers have tried to deliver their thoughts, idea, and point of views regarding black race. In reality, history of America is complete of black isolation and violation that women, men, children, and young have faced under cruel survival conditions. Black race was the major cause behind each dominant black personality who has raised his or her voice for the community of black race. Many authors, in this regard, have also delivered their knowledge and truth about black history in America with the sole purpose to awaken the world about the issues black race has been encountering since date. In the start of the 19th century, many female authors like Alice Walker, Sojourner truth, and bell hooks, particularly have tried their best to speak for the black community.
In a broader sense, it would not be wrong to say that history of America has paved the way for black women authors to write truths of their life and, therefore, black suppression became the source of writing for many black women authors. Therefore, the major purpose of this paper is to talk about some of the writings and speeches delivered through black women authors and the main focus of this paper will be on major points of Sojourner Truth. Secondly, this paper will pick points of other authors such as bell hooks and Alice Walker as a support.
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Sojourner Truth
Talking about the personality of Sojourner Truth, it would not be wrong to say that the author has tried to reveals about one of the harsh reality that was not stem from the black racism, but within the practice of racism over women especially. The first idea that can be observed in public speech of Sojourner is linked with the fact that the author has tried to shed light on the discrimination that was and still in practice in black community. In other words, Sojourner reveals that black men got their freedoms and they got what was required for suitable survival of a person, but no one talked about black women’s right.
For Sojourner, black women and their equal rights were remained a question even for the black men. In this regard, as Sojourner wrote in the speech “There is a great stir about coloured men getting their rights, but not a word about the coloured women; and if coloured men get their rights, and not coloured women theirs, you see the coloured men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before (Truth, 1867).”
The above mentioned claim clearly talks about the difference that remained between black genders over the issue of their rights. Black men tried for their rights and they got, but black women were suppressed enough to even talk about their basic rights. The above statement also shows that Sojourner as an author was significantly influenced by the African American racism and that is why Sojourner wrote the speech with the sole purpose to address black women’s equal rights issue. In other sense, it would not be wrong to say that Sojourner got influenced through black racism and become one of the authors among African American women of the time.
In addition, another point that needs focus and that shows the level of influence gained by Sojourner as an African American Author claims that “I want women to have their rights. In the courts women have no right, no voice; nobody speaks for them. I wish woman to have her voice there among the pettifoggers. If it is not a fit place for women, it is unfit for men to be there (Truth, 1867).” Through this claim it becomes clear that being black Sojourner have gained influence as an African American women author and that Sojourner shows the highest level of his creativity expressed by Sojourner in American culture.
Third point within the writing of Sojourner over which it would not be wrong to say that readers can get affect and value the writing claims “I suppose I am kept here because something remains for me to do; I suppose I am yet to help to break the chain. I have done a great deal of work; as much as a man, but did not get so much pay. I used to work in the field and bind grain, keeping up with the cradler; but men doing no more, got twice as much pay; so with the German women.” Through this claims it becomes apparent that Sojourner’s writing directly affects readers and one can value the writing because of the way Sojourner has express the idea of humanity and equality deeply embedded within the personality of Sojourner and over which one can assume about the way American culture has influenced black women as authors and shaped their writing style that is mainly focusing on the idea of black suppression and black segregation as well.
Truth has also delivered her speech named “Ain’t I a Woman?” in which she has shed light on the cruelty of history on the black women. Truth is one of the African American women authors who also gained influence by the black American culture. She tried to show her sense of creativity and equality in her writing, showing the fact that being black and women offered a unique way of expressing ideas as an American author. Truth also tried to become the voice for the black women’s rights and, thus, her writing was influenced by the sense of being black. Truth in her speech claims “Why children, if you have woman’s right, give it to her and you will feel better. You will have your own rights, and they won’t be so much trouble (Truth, pp-178).”
Through the above mentioned claim it becomes clearer that Truth has gained a significant influence through the black nightmare that not only caused the women authors of American culture to face depressed and suppressed conditions of life, but it becomes the lifestyle for black women to wait for their rights even behind their black men. The claim also shows the equality idea triggered the intention of Truth over which she has tried to claim about the limited life boundary available to black women both by their black men and white’s constitution as well.
Furthermore, as being black American author, another point to note is that truth’s work appeared as a slogan to readers against the brutality and violation against black community, certainly black women American author. In other words, for any reader, writing of Truth appears like a way of expressing the suppressed conditions of life, black women have encountered in their lives and over which no one ever care about the feelings and expressions of black women and that black women in past kept their feelings and emotions within their body and mind and never tried to reveal to public just because black women authors in America never got the equal right even as authors as of black men and that is the harsh reality of being black American author. For instance, Truth states in her speech named “Ain’t I a Woman?” that “I am a woman’s rights. I have as much muscles as any man, and do as much work as any man (Truth, pp-178).”
At another point, Truth’s writing also depict the influence of being black woman author in American culture. For example, as she claims “I cannot read the book, but I can read the people(Truth, pp-177).” Through this claim again it becomes apparent that Truth gained significant influenced as being black women over which she clearly states that her writing is mainly based on the understanding of people and the way society treats black community and not any kind of a literature to gain influence.
Truth also gained influence as being black and her writing also triggers intentions of readers so that they can appreciate her writings in a way black women never gained before. In her essay, “What time of night it is,” truth tries to write about the way black men gained their rights but women never gained equal rights as being black as she claims “I come forth to speak 'bout Woman's Rights, and want to throw in my little mite, to keep the scales a-movin'.”
At another point, truth also showed influence of being black women author such as she claims in her speech that “The women want their rights as Esther.” It shows that Truth’s writing is solely based on her sense of being black and reader can value her work by her understanding of the American culture at the time. She also claims “I wanted to tell you a mite about Woman's Rights, and so I came out and said so.” This claims also shows that being black had has a significant influence on black American women authors.
However, through her essay “Black Revolutionary Women,”bell hooks utilized her writing as an black American author with the intention to show women not only suppressed by their black men in homely and social aspects of their lives, but women were not even allowed to reveal their ability to read and write. However, with the passage of time many black women tried to use their pen to write something deeply linked with their souls and the way black women have been encountering and surviving under cruel and limited conditions of life.
Hooks writing shows her work value as being black American authors because she also got the chance to express her feelings and she put emphasis on the black women writers who never get the chance to write for their self-pleasure and peace they had been searching both in their homes and in society. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that being black has influenced the way black American women author has tried their best to write something that is touchy and that has a soul in it. Black men gained their rights, but black women never gained their equal rights and this is what all black American women author had tried to show to their readers so far.
Alice Walker in her speech “In Search of our mother’s garden” clearly shows the way being black has affected her writing. For instance, at one moment Walker claims that “how the creativity of black women was kept alive, year after year, and century after century, when for most of the years black people have been in America, it was a punishable crime for a black person to read or write? (Walker, pp-11183) This question-based claim of Walker clearly shows that she has gained influenced being black women as an American author and that black authors never got a chance to express their creative ideas especially when it comes about to reveal others about the harsh reality of life as being black among others, as an American author.
References
- hooks, b. (n.d.). black looks chapter 6 Reconstructing Black Masculinity.
- Truth, S. (1853). What Time of Night It Is. Retrieved from www.historyisaweapon.com: https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/sojournertruthtimeofnight.html
- Truth, S. (1867). Keeping the Thing Going While Things Are Stirring. Retrieved from www.pacifict.com: http://www.pacifict.com/ron/Sojourner.html
- Truth, S. (2017). Ain't I A Woman? Retrieved from www.nps.gov: https://www.nps.gov/articles/sojourner-truth.htm
- Walker, A. (n.d.). In Search of Our Mother's Gardens,' p. 1180-1188.
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