Bringing it all together

"Brewster Place became especially fond of its colored daughters as they milled like determined spirits among its decay, trying to make it a home. Nutmeg arms leaned over the windowsills, gnarled ebony legs carried groceries up double flights of steps, and saffron hands strung out wet laundry on back-yard lines. Their perspiration mingled with the steam from boiling pots of smoked pork and greens, and it curled on the edges of the aroma of vinegar douches and Evening in Paris cologne that drifted through the street where they stood together – hands on hips, straight-backed, round bellied, high-behinded women who threw their heads back when they laughed and exposed strong teeth and dark gums. They cursed, badgered, worshipped, and shared their men. Their love drove them to fling dishcloths in someone else’s kitchen to help him make rent, or to fling hot lye to help him forget that bitch behind the counter at the five-and-dime. They were hard-edged, soft-centered, brutally demanding, and easily pleased, these women of Brewster Place. They came, they went, grew up, and grew old beyond their years. Like an ebony phoenix, each in her own time and with her own season had a story."

- Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place (p. 5)

Marilyn Nance, commissioned by the New York Public Library, wrote, "The concerns of the 19th-century African American women writers -- spirituality, reunion of family members, humanity, physical punishment, abuse, cruelty, brutality--mirror my present-day concerns. There is a striking similarity between ‘then’ and ‘now.’" (1997)

Keeping this statement in mind, as well as the material presented throughout this web-site, I have designed an assignment to "bring it all together." The Women of Brewster Place focuses on the everyday struggles of black women in contemporary America. We will probably never fully grasp the severity of the female slave situation, but we can draw out its surviving impact on modern culture and society. The Women of Brewster Place brings the reader through many emotions and frustrations that might parallel those of slave women. This novel deals with familial abandonment, prejudice, rape, strength, and loyalty. My proposal is this:

1. Read The Women of Brewster Place, paying special attention to relationships and experience that resemble those of slave women.

2. Note the role of men in this novel. How is the matriarchal presence portrayed? How are men described and played out (pay particular attention to C.C Baker, Basil, and Ben).

4. Violence, abuse, and overall degradation persist throughout the story. How do these women deal with such threats? How do the brick wall at the end of Brewster Place and the actual apartment buildings tie into all of this?

5. Hope is necessary for survival. What are the dreams that keep these women going? What were the dreams of slave women? Do these overlap? If so, How?