Jean E. Sutherland
Students will now direct their attention to the overt actions of the Civil Rights Movement that ushered in the 1960's. We will discuss, read, and view material which should allow students to become more familiar with the accomplishments of this era. Generally, they will already have some knowledge of the protests involving Martin Luther King, Jr., but we will expand our investigation to include some examination of events related to student protest, voter registration, school desegregation, the emergence of Black Power, and the rising prominence of women in the movement. Since students of this age easily relate to the story of Ruby Bridges as she participated in the desegregation of the New Orleans public school, we will cover this event in more detail. There is a book and film listed in my bibliography which present Ruby's story well. How much time is spent in introducing students to this time period should depend upon the individual teaching situation, but, again, I recommend that the teacher read related material from Darlene Clark Hine's book,
The Shining Thread of Hope.
We will now turn to our primary focus of this time period. Though many recognize Faith Ringgold as a renowned artist whose audience is primarily adult, generally, children recognize her as the author of beautifully illustrated stories which they have heard or read. Her story quilts, which combine painting, quilted fabric, and story telling, have brought her international fame. She is also known for her fight to eliminate discrimination against women artist. She led others in putting pressure on museums to include women artists, especially African American women, in their collections, and through these efforts she was able to help all women artists.
Born in 1930 and raised in Harlem during the Great Depression, Ringgold experienced racism and sexism first hand, during her youth and as she developed as an artist. Since she suffered from asthma, she missed much of her time in primary school, often spending time with her mother who took her to museums and to see famous black entertainers perform. When she was sick in bed, her mother, who was a skilled dressmaker gave her cloth, along with the paper and crayons that recuperating children often receive.
Eventually Faith graduated from New York's City College in 1959 with a Masters in education, since women were not allowed to study liberal arts then. She taught in the New York public schools for twenty years and did her art work on her own time. Later, she returned to City College and earned her Masters of Fine Arts degree.
Her work and her life began to focus on racism, civil rights, and the struggles of black people. She worked to create more opportunities for blacks and women. Besides helping to get museums to show more art work by black women artists, she helped put more African Americans in positions of power in the art world. In her work she created visual stories of black peoples experiences. In 1972, she began to use material from African crafts in her work. She began to follow her family tradition of working with cloth. She decided to try painting on cloth. This led to the creation of story quilts, a combination of painting, writing, and quilting as a means of expressing her ideas. These quilts tell stories of slavery, city life, famous African Americans, family, jazz, and even Ringgold, herself, as she tells of losing one hundred pounds. Though the teacher should be able to find pictorial examples of these quilts in many text books, small images of all of them are available on the Internet. In her _French Collection," "Dancing at the Louvre,_ and _American Collection,_ her story quilts depict the life of Willia Marie Simone, a black female artist living in Paris, struggling for her place in the community. The quilt traces her, life up to the _American Collection_ which focuses on her daughter. Simone is clearly based on Ringgold.
She later began to make three-dimensional figures using a variety of materials. Some remind us of the dolls made by mothers during slavery. Her mother, Willi Posey, helped her on many of her projects involving cloth. Her work also evolved into performances in which singing, chanting, dancing, music and acting are performed with her story quilts, paintings, and sculptures so that she could more fully tell her stories.
Though she never saw herself as an author of stories for children, the urging of a book editor, motivated her to use her story quilt,
Tar Beach
, as the basis of her first children's book. It was an immediate success. The ones that followed became equally popular, and brought Faith numerous awards. In these books, she is able to colorfully explain some of the facts of slavery, examine the heritage of African Americans, and face the difficult issues of slavery, while also encouraging children to use their imagination and dream.
Faith Ringgold continues to spend part of each year living in Harlem, as she continues to express herself politically and artistically. Additional information on Faith Ringgold may be found by consulting her memoirs, listed in my bibliography.
Examining Her Own Words:
Talking to Faith Ringgold
Most of these facts will be presented to students as I read from
Talking to Faith Ringgold.
It is a relatively short book with many colorful pictures and suggestions for use in the classroom. I will also read a few excerpts from
We Flew over the Bridge the Memoirs of Faith Ringgold
, a much more detailed adult account of her life and creations. The book contains some colorful pictures and the actual words from some of her story quilts. Ringgold, who at times was faced with personal and family problems, discusses some of these in her book. The teacher needs to decide which to include. Generally, I feel that most can be omitted without distorting the contributions Ringgold made as a strong, talented African American woman.
We will now read
Tar Beach
where we meet Cassie again. She takes an imaginary flight from the roof of the Harlem tenement where she and her family go to escape the heat of the summer, a youthful experience remembered by Ringgold. Her dream of freedom has been answered as she glides over the city of New York where she claims various sights, including the union building that her father helped to build. The fact that he is now out of work, because he lacks a union card illustrates the existence of prejudice and discrimination in Cassie's world, similar to the prejudice Ringgold encountered as a black, female artist.
Finally, we will read
Dinner at Aunt Connie's House
where we go on another fanciful historical adventure. Cousins, Melody and Lonnie, meet and talk with twelve famous African American women who have come to life from the portraits that Aunt Connie has painted and hung on her wall. Each woman relates a bit about her life which may inspire students to discover more about them. The women they meet are Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McCleod Bethune, Augusta Savage, Dorothy Dandridge, Zora Neale Hurston, Maria W. Stewart, Bessie Smith, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Marian Anderson, and Madame C.J. Walker.
All of these stories will be discussed, both for their content and the artistic characteristics and messages in their illustrations. An "I am. . . ." list for Faith, similar to those we have done, will be created, discussed, and compared to others we have compiled. The similarities and differences will be discussed. I hope we will come up with a consensus regarding the qualities present in these women and an understanding of the forces that affected their lives and the strengths they called upon to cope with them.
Bring Our Unit to a Conclusion
Students will now redo their "I am . . ." list. Perhaps they may see themselves differently or perhaps not. Again we will arrive at a consensus list of qualities to compare with the African American women we have studied. I am certain that there will be similarities to these women among both boys and girls, illustrating that both girls and boys can possess some of the qualities that made these African American women the caring, strong, and resilient individuals which they were. This should lead to a favorable forecast for the potentially positive things that students might accomplish with their lives.
Concluding Projects
Our concluding projects will include the creation of a doll, a quilt piece containing a written piece honoring a woman who has played an important role in each pupil's life, and another quilt piece, made of either paper or cloth, containing representations which symbolize these important woman. These are all detailed in my specific lesson plans. We will also consider a means of presenting these creations to the women they honor and, perhaps sharing them with other students.
