Memory, Apathy, Action

      Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming offers insight to the mind set of at least one African American girl born into the tumultuous atmosphere of American society in the 1960s. Although I couldn't possibly pretend to truly understand the life experiences of someone like Jacqueline, her work both provides perspective and instills a certain level of empathy in any reader. What struck me most about Brown Girl Dreaming is how Woodson distinguishes between memory, apathy, and action – each as separate functions of time. Memory provides a place for her and her family to go back in time. Not necessarily to recall the hardships of her people in order to provide motivation for change, but to escape the horrors of the past and present and recall the best moments of their lives. Apathy is truly a waste of time, giving nothing more for the future. Action, however, is something to provoke change in the world, and is something that Jacqueline clearly years to take part in throughout her poems and story.
One great example of Jaqueline’s viewpoint towards memory is found in “the cousins” in part one of the novel. During her mother’s birthday, with the entire family around each other, they are each recalling memories from childhood of causing trouble and enjoying each others company around the neighborhood. “Remember the time, they ask” as each cousin queues the next story. This is coupled with dancing and listening to Sam Cooke singing “Twistin’ the night away” which is a song that celebrates having fun and causing trouble – ignoring the difficulties of life. For them, memory is a sacred place in which you can revisit only the happiest times when you want to. As Sam Cooke, the infamous singer and champion of civil rights sings in the background, they are set free from what has held them back in the past and still holds them back now.
The era of Jim Crow laws and civil unrest during the 1960s revealed the desire within certain people to take drastic action, and the unwillingness of others to take a strong stance against the oppressive opposition. Jacqueline addresses this most aptly in part four of the novel. In “What everybody knows now” Jacqueline talks about her grandmother having them sit in the back of the bus as whenever they travel together in the city. She writes: “It’s easier, my grandmother says, / than having white folks look at me like I’m dirt… easier to stay where you belong.” While Jacqueline understands her grandmothers position and loves her dearly, Jacqueline simple cannot agree with her grandmother. She is defiant to the oppression of the world around her. Jacqueline responds to the usual scene on the bus: “I look around and see the ones who walk straight to the back. See / the ones who take a seat up front, daring / anyone to make them move. And know / this is who I want to be. Not scared / like that. Brave / like that.” In the same instant, Jacqueline shows a disdain for the status quo of the present and apathy of the present in front of her, while creating a vision of herself for the future. She will not be a servant of the whites and sit at the back of the bus. Instead, she wishes to dare others to move her from the position in the world she believes she belongs.
The earlier reference to Sam Cooke in Brown Girl Dreaming made me think deeper into this great artist that I grew up listening to quite often. Cooke was never really a political figure until he made “A Change is Gonna Come” and was murdered shortly before it truly took off as a civil rights anthem for the rest of history. In that song, one of the final stanza’s reads: Then I go to my brother / And I say brother help me please / But he winds up knockin’ me / Back down on my knees.” Thgis is exactly the same message that Woodson talks about with her grandmother. Some African Americans chose to stay silent, apathetic. Unwilling even to take action in the arms of a fellow brother. Those are the “times when I though I couldn’t carry on” according to Cooke. However, both Cooke and Woodson were willing to pick themselves up and take action against the world in order to change the future. Memory serves its purpose to escape ands to motivate, but the only true agent of change is strong-willed action. Sam Cooke and Jacqueline are aware of the urgency for action.