"The Black Woman As The Site Of... Recap=)"

"The Black Woman As The Site Of..." unit got me to see things from a different perspective on certain topics, not so much that I thought SO differently before we began the semester, but just from the standpoint of considering that many of the events we've covered are EVERYDAY occurrences for some black women.

However, I think that "Corregidora" by far was the selection that has the most lingering effect in my mind in terms of seeing the plight of the black woman that often goes unheard, unnoticed, or just flat out ignored by the mainstream society and media. Again, rape is nothing new that we haven't heard of before, but generational and almost hereditary rape is another story entirely. I had my reservations about the graphic and violent details that Ursa's great grandmother told her about  "Old Man Corregidora" when she was only 5, but the reality is that SLAVERY was graphic and violent and that this story is just a small fictitious re-enactment of what literally did take place for many black women at the hands of their white slave masters who were conscious of the metaphorical branding that they would engrave on the on the minds of not only black women, but on the minds of black people for generations to come.

Corregidora is the "evidence" of those crimes against the race, and I place specific emphasis on evidence because it was a recurring motif throughout the story which more or less came to define not only who she was, but ultimately who she became, which unfortunately is the reality of far too many black women in this country. We covered so much more, but at the base of it all, at least in my opinion, is victim mentality, and the constant battle of how to successfully move past it into the women and ultimately the people that we are destined to be as a culture, since we all come from women in the beginning regardless of gender.

Rape is a recurring theme in what we've studied so far which, admittedly, was hard for me to stomach initially, because MEN get thrown under the bus an awful lot in what we've previously dissected. However, at the same time I have to realize that although many blanket statements do get tossed around in our class discussions from time to time, it doesn't mean that they necessarily have to apply to me specifically, and in most cases, they generally don't.

As a man, and as a black man, who is "supposed" to hate black women according to the numbers, I do sincerely empathize with them over many of the stigmas and stereotypes that have been automatically associated and attached to the black female "character" that has been constructed by mainstream white society at the expense of the human beings that wear that name. Unit I has offered some viewpoints that I don't totally agree with to be honest, but there's been truth in much of what we've discussed, which has definitely kept me engaged, never any dull moments to say the least.