"Ain't I a Woman?"

“I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore.”
Helen Reddy

After the “Today” show summarized the deteriorating situation in Libya, on came “Two and a Half Men” out-of-control actor Charlie Sheen to declare, “I’m grandiose” and old “Family Ties” sitcom mom Meredith Baxter Birney to explain, “I’m gay.” Hardly a mention of the union demonstrations spreading to Ohio and elsewhere.

Anne Balay sent me notice of the “Celebrating Our Students Conference” sponsored by IUN’s Gender and Women’s Studies Program in the conference center. In the first session Mariah Hamang read poems from a volume of her work entitled “Ravings of a Disenchanted American Youth.” As she quickly recited the lines, I struggled to absorb the meaning of what she was saying. One mentioned smoking out with her boyfriend and a man dying of cancer during the summer after she graduated from high school. At the break I asked whether she had any copies of the booklet that I could buy and put in the Archives, but she indicated that she had given them all away to family and friends.

Speaking about Huck Finn, Leslie Mahaffey wore a Lady Gaga t-shirt from a recent concert and exclaimed that Gaga was a supporter of Gay Rights. The most moving paper was entitled “Cultural Memoir” by Ana Flores and dealt with child molestation. At one point when the victim confided to her mother that her uncle was sexually abusing her, her reaction was, “Don’t tell your father, he’ll kill him.” Later when she confronted her mother about it, she learned that the mother, too, had been abused as a child but was brought up to be deferential to men and not to do anything that would bring shame on the family. Determined that the cycle of abuse come to an end, Ana has instructed her own kids not to let anyone touch them in ways that make them uncomfortable; and when her husband brings friends to the house, the kids sleep with her and are told to scream if a man entered the room and she wasn’t there.

Two papers dealt with African-American women born into slavery. “Old Elizabeth” was an itinerant minister who didn’t start preaching into well into her 40s and faced the wrath of Black men as well as whites. Speaker Beverly Ann Lewis-Burton had a strong, passionate voice that led me to speculate that she was a preacher. Giving the impression that she had escaped from her master, Linda Brent hid for seven years in a space no bigger than a coffin above her mother’s sleeping quarters to prevent her owner from violating her. She didn’t even tell her own children because she feared they would inadvertently act suspiciously or be implicated if she were caught.

Buttressed with students taking Women’s Studies classes, the conference was well attended. Chancellor Lowe showed up, as did several faculty including Ana Osan and DeeDee Ige. After lunch (sandwiches, chips, a cookie, and bottled water), there was a panel on transgendered challenges and then a musical performance entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” presented by the Core Ensemble and featuring actress Taylore Mahogany Scott celebrating the lives of four African-Americans, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, novelist Zora Neale Hurston, folk artist Clementine Hunter (sometimes called the Black Grandma Moses), and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. The title is from a speech Sojourner Truth gave in 1851 at a Women’s Conference in Ohio, where she said: “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?” Almost a hundred people were on hand as Taylore Mahagony Scott showed her versatility and kept them spellbound. I particularly enjoyed her portrayal of Zora Neale Hurston evoking the spirit of the Harlem renaissance as the three musicians played music from the Jazz Age.

Discussed my proposal to hire five new faculty members with Liberal Studies director Bob Mucci. He suggested we divide it into two phases and emphasize how the number of students desiring to participate in the program has exceeded all expectations, despite it receiving scant publicity. Also since the new faculty would typically be teaching one Liberal Studies course and two surveys, the department would agree to staff two courses that fit into the Liberal Studies program. Since the bulk of Liberal Studies classes take place at 5:30 or later, the faculty involved would agree to teach at that time.

Anne Balay sent me notice of the “Celebrating Our Students Conference” sponsored by IUN’s Gender and Women’s Studies Program in the conference center. In the first session Mariah Hamang read poems from a volume of her work entitled “Ravings of a Disenchanted American Youth.” As she quickly recited the lines, I struggled to absorb the meaning of what she was saying. One mentioned smoking out with her boyfriend and a man dying of cancer during the summer after she graduated from high school. At the break I asked whether she had any copies of the booklet that I could buy and put in the Archives, but she indicated that she had given them all away to family and friends.

The most moving paper was entitled “Cultural Memoir” by Ana Flores and dealt with child molestation. At one point when the victim confided to her mother that her uncle was sexually abusing her, her reaction was, “Don’t tell your father, he’ll kill him.” Later when she confronted her mother about it, she learned that the mother, too, had been abused as a child but was brought up to be deferential to men and not to do anything that would bring shame on the family. Determined that the cycle of abuse come to an end, Ana has instructed her own kids not to let anyone touch them in ways that make them uncomfortable; and when her husband brings friends to the house, the kids sleep with her and are told to scream if a man entered the room and she wasn’t there.

Two other papers dealt with African-American women born into slavery. “Old Elizabeth” was an itinerant minister who didn’t start preaching into well into her 40s and faced the wrath of Black men as well as whites. Giving the impression that she had escaped from her master, Linda Brent hid for seven years in a space no bigger than a coffin above her mother’s sleeping quarters to prevent her owner from violating her. She didn’t even tell her own children because she feared they would inadvertently act suspiciously or be implicated if she were caught.

Buttressed with students taking Women’s Studies classes, the conference was well attended. Chancellor Lowe showed up, as did several faculty including Ana Osan and DeeDee Ige. After lunch (sandwiches, chips, a cookie, and bottled water), there was a panel on transgendered challenges and then a musical performance entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” celebrating the lives of four African-Americans, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, novelist Zora Neale Hurston, folk artist Clementine Hunter (sometimes called the Black Grandma Moses), and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. The title is from a speech Sojourner Truth gave in 1851 at a Women’s Conference in Ohio, where she said: “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?”