Going Against the Grain Part. 2

Going Against the Grain By: Maria W. Stewart
Part 2 (Pages 11-22) 
Literacy of the slaves was forbidden. The slaveholders used this tatic to make the enslaved
"useless" and only be able to work. The power of knowledge is so powerful and the slaveholders knew that if the enslaved people figured out how to be literate they could possibly over power them and possibly take over and turn around the whole slavery epidemic. In the passage becoming literate, it explains how once slaves were aware of their situation it fueled them to go against the White man’s authority. Slaveholders made sure that the enslaved wouldn't be able to succeed in the literacy aspect, they passed laws prohibiting slaves from becoming literate.

 After absorbing all of this horrible information I now realize that if African Americans wanted to rebell against the whole slavery epidemic they could've as a whole. With hundreds of slaves just on one plantation rebellion within literacy and power could've been beneficial to us as a people, or would it have?

 I think it was really unfair and mind boggling that people would actually prohibit another person from getting a simple ability like reading and writing skills. The history of our ancestors that had to endure these horrible acts just anger and compel me to strive for excellence at all costs. In todays society it seems as though African Americans as a whole have all the odds against them, negativity in the media, the most amount of people incarcerated and killed, along with the most prone and affected by most diseases. WE are still here! 

For goodness sake our president is finally something other than white. I believe that the importance of learning for future generations and instilling the importance of education and literacy must be taught at an early age. Without the knowledge of my ancestors and the constant encouragement of family and friends I probably wouldn't of made it this far. I hope for all the people that read this excerpt in Going Against the Grain will appreciate the fact of being literate and will encourage young people to work hard and "keep the ball rolling". We are Americans, "The home of the brave" we must keep the "bravery up" and succeed as a people because WE are here to stay and WE as a people "ain't going NO WHERE"!