Header Image - The Worlds of Ntozake Shange
The Worlds of Ntozake ShangeAND DIGITAL STORYTELLING

Perry O'Parsons

Traditions Feed the Soul

by Perry O'Parsons 2 Comments

The first chapter of If I Can Cook/ You Know God Can gave me some things to think about; like about the varying degrees to which holidays carry meaning for different people. This is something I have never really thought about. It had never occurred to me before that holidays that get the most attention and deference are not for everyone (no holiday is). Placing value on one set of traditions A. creates the expectation that everyone else will feel the same about those traditions and B. that those traditions are somehow superior or more important than any others. This could be incredibly demoralizing to anyone who does not subscribe to those traditions and/or their value-systems.

This makes me think about nationally-recognized holidays. How does that work? Who is deciding what should be recognized as a national holiday? Like… thanksgiving?? I do love cranberry sauce on turkey, but why do we eat it on thanksgiving? And WAY more importantly, WHY do we get a week (or about a week) off for thanksgiving? That week off says “this  holiday is important and should be celebrated” and as we know Thanksgiving has some devastating and violent baggage attached to it.

That all being said, for those who might be ignored or harmed by the observation of certain national holidays, there is great pride and strength to be found in reclaiming holidays. As Shange writes in If I Can Cook/You Know God Can: “And so, black-eyed peas and rice or “Hoppin’ John,” even collard greens and pig’s feet, are not so much arbitrary predilections of the “nigra” as they are symbolic defiance; we shall celebrate ourselves on a day of our choosing in honor of those events and souls who are an honor to us.”(7) I think this quote gets to heart of what If I Can Cook is about. Shange is celebrating her traditions, her loved ones’ traditions, and the traditions of the African Diaspora, by exploring the stories behind these recipes she gives them recognition that that they do not get from, for example, the united states government.

Additionally, by documenting these recipes and their stories, she is creating a record for future generations to refer to in order to understand, and establish their traditions. Holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, and easter are often discussed or taught in American schools, meanwhile hundreds, probably thousands of holidays which may be practiced/observed by students in an American classroom, are not taught.

The same principle is at work in chapter one when she cooks a traditional New Year’s Eve meal for her daughter. She is giving her daughter a solid ground to stand on, an assurance that someone came before her, and by carrying on their traditions she is supported by them. Lots people in America don’t necessarily have to think about this dynamic. People who unquestioningly subscribe to the holidays and traditions observed by the government, by those currently in power, are given this support. They don’t have to look for it. Some might say, who cares? It’s just a silly matter of holidays and when school is out for winter break. But, as Shange seems to get at in “What’d You People Call That?” the human soul is fed by traditions and history. She says, “Though I ate alone that New Year’s Eve, I knew a calm I must attribute to the satisfaction of my ancestors. I tried to feed us.”(9) She is feeding her daughter’s soul now, and giving her means to feed it for years to come. Something she might not be given otherwise, or may not discover for many years. What a gift to give your daughter! 

 

Below I’ve listed two Wikipedia pages that I make me realize how many different holidays, which many of which are likely practiced by people in America, are ignored by the designation of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter etc. as national holidays.

Here is a picture of one of the covers of If I Can Cook.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_immigration_statistics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_holidays

TBD on Feminist Affiliation

by Perry O'Parsons 3 Comments

Before taking this class, my understanding of feminism was vague and mostly based on a white conception of feminism. Now as I am expanding my understanding of feminism, and different kinds of feminisms, and learning to look critically at the kind of feminism I was first introduced to, I find myself at the beginning of my development as feminist.

For now I am hesitant to identify myself specifically. As I am not a woman of color, I can recognize myself as an ally of WOC Feminist, Womanist, Asian/American feminist,  Latinx feminist etc but do not specifically identify with those groups. However, I certainly wouldn’t identify with the racist, exclusive, feminist groups that held (and still often hold) control of the public discourse over feminism. For now, this leads me to identify myself, not with a specific group, but with a role. For now I would identify as an ally to all my fellow feminists and a student of the various types of feminism. Each type of feminism is a practice of ideals, morals, beliefs etc. I must learn about and form my own practices before I appraise them and relegate myself to one or multiple groups.

 

I added this because I think this quote perfectly articulates the type of ideals I want to support, no matter what group I align myself with.

 

Rituals!

by Perry O'Parsons 3 Comments

The rituals outlined in Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo got me thinking about my own personal rituals. In the Shange’s book they are very specific instructions that serve very specific purposes. In my own life I have very informal rituals that I practice, for healing or distraction or peace etc. but I have never thought to identify or outline them.

Last year, going to a school where I was not happy, and living in a totally unfamiliar place, I developed lots of rituals that helped me feel more at home and were a source of healing when I was under a lot of stress. Below is a ritual inspired by my Sunday morning ritual from last year, which was almost always the same.

 

Waking in a Room Where You Feel Out of Place/Feeling at Home

On a Sunday morning, waking in a room that is yours, but where you feel out of place, open the blinds enough to let in morning light, but not enough to see out the window. Softly play the music that your mother played in your home when you were a child. Fetch water from the bathroom to make the coffee. Pour the water into the coffee-maker, scoop out spoonfuls of the coffee until you are pleased with the amount in the filter, close the top, and push the button. The fresh coffee will make the small, unfamiliar room smell like home. When the coffee is ready, carefully pick a mug and pour the coffee. Open the window slightly to let in crisp morning air, and sit in your chair by the window. Sip the coffee, breath deeply, relax.

 

Another practice of mine is to do a deep clean of my room everytime I go through a transition. These transitions can big or small. Moving out of my room at home to come to New York, closing a show I’ve been working on for six weeks, a break-up, or even just finishing an assignment that has been stressing me out. These are all transitions that usually prompt a deep-clean of my room.

 

Transition Ritual/Deep Clean

Pull up the shades and let in all the light you can! Open the window to let fresh air in and old air out. Turn on music that makes you want to dance! Strip the bed and wash everything that might be dirty. Take everything out of the drawers and off the shelves and place on the bare mattress. Re-fold clean clothes and re-organize shoes. Wipe down every hard surface to remove dust. Scour the room for trash. Trash old receipts, old newspapers or magazines, bits of paper and flyers etc. In looking for trash lying around, throw away things you’ve held onto for too long. After wiping everything down and throwing away all unnecessary things, put everything back in a new way, something that suits you better now that you’ve gone through this transition. Finally, retrieve the clean laundry, put away, and make the bed with the freshly cleaned sheets. Nothing is better than clean sheets!

 

These are just two of my many rituals that I practice all the time and which have grown and changed overtime. I think everyone has rituals that they are not aware of. Identifying them and writing them down is a valuable practice because it helps me better understand myself and do things with greater intention and awareness.

Thinking about ritual also got me thinking about a book by Malidoma Patrice Somé called Ritual: Power, Healing and Community which discusses the importance or ritual. In it, the author says

“ritual is called for because our soul communicates things to us that the body translates as need, or want, or absence. So we enter into ritual in order to respond to the call of the soul.”

― Malidoma Patrice Somé, Ritual: Power, Healing and Community

This is the cover of Ritual: Power, Healing and Community by Malidoma Patrice Somé

Response to Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism

by Perry O'Parsons 1 Comment

Thompson’s article clarified for me, a feeling I have had since I started this class. My understanding of the feminist movements before taking this class has been very skewed. Until taking this course, I never thought to question the narrative which either excludes/ignores the issue of race from the feminist movements or presents non-white feminisms as a reaction to white or “mainstream” feminism.

Overall, Thompson clearly articulates this widespread misunderstanding. Additionally, by citing specific vocabulary, history, authors and groups, Thompson offers a much fuller view of the important role of women of color in the history of second-wave feminism. She also outlines the pitfalls of hegemonic feminist thinking and quotes women of color on their opinions of the exclusion of women of color in feminist movements.

However, I find parts of her article are still somehow lacking. The title of the article, Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism suggests that she is writing specifically about the omission of women of color in the narrative of the feminist movements. In her article, however, she has a tendency to continuously pair women of color with working-class women, militant white women, and anti-racist feminists.

Plainly, I think this approach to the subject subtly continues the marginalization of the feminisms of women of color. Lots of parts of the article speak to the singularity and importance of multiracial feminism, but her pivots back to white contribution seem to undermine it.

Certainly it is important to discuss how white women can, and have been successful allies to women of color, but I felt the amount of space devoted to this topic in the article was unnecessary. I thought the article was meant to specifically discuss the exclusion of women of color, from the historical narrative of Second-Wave Feminism and their contributions and importance in that movement. I felt that the extensive discussion of white, anti-racist feminists was out of place in the article and didn’t directly serve the point.

SHANGE IS AN INSPIRATION!

by Perry O'Parsons 1 Comment

 

I found Ntozake Shange’s talk on black dance to be totally inspiring. I was practically on the edge of my seat the entire time. I found that during both the talk and the lunch she radiated an energy that seemed to include her listeners. Made me hear the music. Made me want to get up and dance. Made me want to get up and do something. Make something happen. That is the feeling I look for all around me and I think it is what makes her writing and her words so affective and infectious. The way she writes reaches out and places the words in the readers mouth.

I had never read her work before taking this course. Her work is freeing! It reminds me that writing can take so many forms. Letters and words are a malleable substance in her hands that can take shapes I have never even dreamed of. And not just words, but dance. And music. Sights and sounds and movements, everything, is just a something to be shaped into whatever you want. Whatever you feel. Not to say that it’s easy or without effort. She is brilliant. She is a master of what she does. But her work does not live by rules simply because someone says they are so, she has actively and effortfully remade language to push against those rules.

The impression I am left with from her visit, is that she is a woman constantly in motion, constantly in action. Even when a disability has restricted her motion. Seeing her as she is now, still alive and spirited, and having read the work she had produced throughout her life, I am inspired to achieve that level of action/motion!

 

This picture reminds me of that kind of action/movement/motion/creation that I’m talking about!

Response to Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born – Anger and Tenderness

by Perry O'Parsons 2 Comments

“Unexamined assumptions: First, that a “natural” mother is a person without further identity, one who can find her chief gratification in being all day with small children, living at a pace tuned to theirs; that the isolation of mothers and children together in the home must be taken for granted; that maternal love is, and should be, quite literally selfless; that children and mothers are the ‘causes’ of each others’ suffering.”

 

This quote resonated with me because it highlights an idea that I know I have internalized: the expectation that to be a mother, a woman must give up her self, her personhood, to her child. For many years I committed against my mother the injustice of believing this. My mother loves me and has always wanted to give me everything I wanted and needed. As a result, her love and the pressure to be “the perfect mother” (whatever that even means) overwhelmed her.