The Best of the Brownies Book

It was nice to see more work from Fauset's pen this week. The "Spring Songs" were excellent children's fare that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. "The Runaway Kite" and "The Teasing Hoop" are excellent fantasy poems, with "Kite"'s description of the fairies using the kite to "sail for their fairy barks that patrol the seas." "Adventures On Roller Skates" is another fantastical concept that encourages children to dream of venturing to far away lands and use their imaginations in everyday games.

My favorite aspect of The Best of the Brownies Book was definitely the Br'er Rabbit stories by Julia Price Burrell. When I was a child my mother used to read me Br'er Rabbit stories from the Walt Disney company like "Br'er Rabbit and the Briar Patch." It was really cool to see where these stories originated from. They were great moral stories teaching sharing, cleverness and staying out of trouble.

Passing

This is an interesting story as we are now seeing the lives of two black women who live an affluent lifestyle different from the one we've seen lived by blacks of this era in other works from other authors. The familiar theme of passing for white when one truly knows them self to be black is an intriguing deception brought about with considerable ease by Claire and Irene. Claire especially, married to a white racist and having a child with him. The psychological effects this has on her are the most interesting to see, as she lives this lie day in and day out and longs to be with blacks once again and almost risks everything to be with other members of her race again. I'm looking forward to future developments.

Ethnic Notions

The media has great power and with this power it has a knack for shaping our thoughts and opinions and general impressions of our nation and society. The news media is one thing, but the aspects of our society shown in the film "Ethnic Notions" are something entirely different.

Simple items that Americans accepted into their homes represented some of the most disrespectful imagery of the time. Porcelain statues, decorations, etc. all exemplified a false image of African Americans shown to the rest of the nation.

It is painful to realize that beloved childhood television like Looney Tunes once played a part in this deception. Starting children off with the ridiculous idea of black people actually acting like the characters portrayed in the cartoons probably aided in creating a generation of people who thought that way.

Probably the most amazing piece of information in the video was just the underlying theme that all of what we were seeing was considered normal by many white Americans at the time. Worse still, the film makes the viewers realize how many stereotypes are still there today.

Change of Pace

There is a definite switching of gears in these Fauset poems. The themes are no longer exclusive to all but African Americans, but instead have turned into universal themes of unrequited love, jealousy and heartache.

After the sadness of "Oriflamme," which contains the anecdote from Sojourner Truth, there is a collection of poems based on common issues within everyday relationships. From the fight between lovers in "Words! Words!" and the jealous lover in "Touche'" there is a recurring theme from Fauset that is not based in matters of social unrest in her race, but in common heartaches of all.

One of the most gripping of all the works is "La Vie C'Est la Vie" in which two lovers are in an embrace, but the woman can is not in love with the man she is with and can only think of the only man who can set her "chilly blood afire." She reminds herself that "a woman would give her chance of heaven to take (her) place," but because of her betrayal of her real love and her own heart she ultimately wishes she were dead.

Powerful observations on love and betrayal and all the trials and tribulations that come along with each.