dear linda,
i apologize that your motherhood which to you was the single most important aspect of your life was reduced to an institution with only biological claim. i am sorry that your body was hypervisible to the white man and that your body was seen as a vessel that generated the south's most important source of capital. to be black, enslaved, woman, and mother is to be bear the brunt of the entire world on your shoulders. i despise that you had to witness dr. flint tell you that your children are worth "a handsome sum of money" while your heart beat furiously in its cage, voicing its silent resistance and anger.
i am sorry that the white man's filthy hands pried their way into your body and violated your sexuality and innocence.
motherhood to you was your form of resistance. you say that it made you the happiest. you sacrificed the world in order to make sure that your children were as safe as you could possibly ensure they were. as a result, you were in emotional, mental, and physical pain but it didn't matter to you if it meant that they would be in a better place.
your single-mindedness grounds me.
you wanted so much more: you wanted to "marry the man of your choice, "keep [yourself] pure," and "preserve [your] self-respect." even though the cult of true womanhood preached these very ideals that were only attainable by white women, you reclaimed your womanhood by unapologetically claiming your maternal identity especially when it was the most difficult.
warmly,
faatimah
i apologize that your motherhood which to you was the single most important aspect of your life was reduced to an institution with only biological claim. i am sorry that your body was hypervisible to the white man and that your body was seen as a vessel that generated the south's most important source of capital. to be black, enslaved, woman, and mother is to be bear the brunt of the entire world on your shoulders. i despise that you had to witness dr. flint tell you that your children are worth "a handsome sum of money" while your heart beat furiously in its cage, voicing its silent resistance and anger.
i am sorry that the white man's filthy hands pried their way into your body and violated your sexuality and innocence.
motherhood to you was your form of resistance. you say that it made you the happiest. you sacrificed the world in order to make sure that your children were as safe as you could possibly ensure they were. as a result, you were in emotional, mental, and physical pain but it didn't matter to you if it meant that they would be in a better place.
your single-mindedness grounds me.
you wanted so much more: you wanted to "marry the man of your choice, "keep [yourself] pure," and "preserve [your] self-respect." even though the cult of true womanhood preached these very ideals that were only attainable by white women, you reclaimed your womanhood by unapologetically claiming your maternal identity especially when it was the most difficult.
warmly,
faatimah
Very nicely written. We will discuss the cult of true womanhood in class and consider how Linda Brent had to draw on its conventions to make her story palatable to Northern white readers.
ReplyDelete