Breaking the Unbreakable Essay Samples

Breaking the Unbreakable

LaTonya Simpson Simpson 1 English 304 Professor Clenora Hudson-Weems May 10, 2001 Unbreakable “Broken v. 2. fragmented or fractured. 3. not functioning properly. 4. interrupted or disconnected. 5. disunited or divided,” (Random House, 88). “Broken” is a term that is used often when discussing the institution of slavery. Along with managing the plantation mechanically and financially, it was also a master’s job to “break,” or dehumanize, his slaves. Masters thought, “teaching slaves to feel that they were human beings was blasphemous and dangerous (Jacobs, 10). According to Angela Davis, author of the essay “Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves,” slaves who felt that they were less than human had no wish for emancipation. In the essay she states, “In the area of production, the slaves—pressed into the mold of beasts of burden—were forcibly deprived of humanity. A human being thoroughly dehumanized has no desire for freedom,” (Davis, 6). Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved is filled with blacks who were broken by captivity and its aftermath. Throughout the novel many attempts are made to break Sixo, but he refuses to let outside forces, namely those of his cruel master, schoolteacher, influence his life and ways. Victimized and subjected to brutal punishment Sixo continues to be strong and through his actions as an Africana man, preserves his mind, body, and spirit, remaining unbroken until the time of his death. Africana Womanism is a term that grew out of the need to identify the existence of Africana women throughout the world over their struggle for the survival of all Africana people. The concept developed from the realization that the existing ideals of feminism, African feminism, and womanism were all concept that did not fully address the needs of Africana Simpson 2 people (Hudson-Weems, 144). According to Professor Clenora Hudson-Weems in her essay “Africana Womanism and the Critical Need For African Theory and Thought,” Africana Womanism is not a concept, or a theory that she created, it is something that has always been in existence. ... my mission is to focus exclusively on the theory Africana Womanism, which I named, defined, and refined. Notice that I did not say that I created the idea of Africana Womanism, for it ha Z $ Ä „ Š Ž ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ $ : Z þ ) ¸ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ) ~ ¸ ¸ ’ ’ > ~ ~ ~ ’ Ä ¸ ’ ¸ ’ ~ ’ ~ ~ œ Ç ¸ ¸ ï ’ ~ ê9lDÚÀ Ä R V ” ß ï T 0 „ ç X ê ” X ï ~ Ì � h ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ Ù LaTonya Simpson Simpson 1 English 304 Professor Clenora Hudson-Weems May 10, 2001 Unbreakable “Broken v. 2. fragmented or fractured. 3. not functioning properly. 4. interrupted or disconnected. 5. disunited or divided,” (Random House, 88). “Broken” is a term that is used often when discussing the institution of slavery. Along with managing the plantation mechanically and financially, it was also a master’s job to “break,” or dehumanize, his slaves. Masters thought, “teaching slaves to feel that they were human beings was blasphemous and dangerous (Jacobs, 10). According to Angela Davis, author of the essay “Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves,” slaves who felt that they were less than human had no wish for emancipation.

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