I thought this may be of interest to the class. It uses Black Feminist critical theory as a framework for looking at how DH can be globalized equitably to include voices other than the dominant white/Western ones. The Black Feminist theory Risam references has very Gates-ian elements, and the grander mission of the article to search for ways of putting agency in the hands of people (via DH) connects with some guiding questions about inscriptive power we’ve been discussing in class.

Credit goes to Professor Allred for directing me to this publication! If you’re interested in DH it’s a really expansive resource for discussion of what’s going on in that world.

http://dhdebates.gc.cuny.edu/debates/text/80

By Boat and Across Water: the Black Body and Reflections on America

In the excerpt from “My Bondage and Freedom” Douglass travels by boat to Great Britain and Ireland. Through the language he uses when he describe this voyage Douglass takes back ownership over his black body. Black folks were taken from Africa against their will and put on slave ships, however Douglass chooses to leave America and travel by boat. On the trip, “All color distinctions were flung to the winds.” Douglass is not an “object,” but he is an “object of general interest.” He gets along with the people on the boat, and he is even traveling with white friends. For Douglass, “one part of the ship to me was about as free as another.” The atmosphere upon the boat is “eloquent,” the “sweetest songs” are sung, and there is “spirited conversation, during the voyage.” Douglass writes that he has “good policy, as with my own feelings.” He asserts himself as a human who has feelings and emotions. Douglass has agency on the trip and in this way he reclaims his black body.

Similarly, through language Douglass breaks out of the bonds, which America has tied on his hands, and writes about America. He is only able to write honestly and deeply about the injustices of America when he is no longer there. The order in which Douglass writes matters. First, he describes the voyage in which he chooses to leave America thus he is able to reclaim ownership over his black body. Following that he writes a letter to Mr. Garrison where he says, “the tears of my brethren are borne to the ocean, disregarded and forgotten, and that her most fertile fields drink daily of the warm blood of my outraged sisters.” The trip across the ocean awoke Douglass’s true and honest feelings about slavery. His brothers and sisters are “borne to the ocean,” meaning America is not their mother but rather a body of water is. This is interesting because water is fluid and you can’t hold it in your hands. It will slip through your fingers.

Douglass will “reproach myself that anything could fall from my lips in praise of such a land.” Compared to the excerpt from “The Souls of Black Folk” Douglass seems to hate slavery more once he is no longer a slave than when he was writing reflecting on being a slave. He then says, “America will not allow her children to love her.” Compared to the earlier statement, where the ocean takes on the mother role for black folks, Douglass could possibly believe that only white people are the children of America. Thus it is white folks comeuppance for slavery that America will not allow her children to love her. Douglass was only able to realize this once he left America and ventured to Great Britain and Ireland by boat and across water specifically.

For anyone who is a fan of the “nerdy” genres out there (sci-fi/fantasy), I’ve linked a blog I like to read by “Afro-Caribbean-American” writer Phenderson Djèlí Clark, who offers his critique of characters of color, particularly black characters, in movies, shows, and books in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. He tends to be fairly intersectional and writes quite often about women characters of color as well!

Blog + Twitter

Upon arriving in Baltimore, Douglass was met by Mr. and Mrs. Auld, his new slave owners. In describing Mrs. Auld, Douglass is initially taken back by her appearance describing her beaming “white face.” Prior to even meeting Mrs. Auld, Douglass was so affected by her gentle demeanor — he even goes on to detail how his feelings for his mistress brighten up his “pathway with the light of happiness.” This moment in the narrative is so interesting — Douglass describes his meeting with the mistress in a very poetic, very romantic tone. He describes this moment with a [sort-of] love at first sight element; for this one moment, there is no acknowledged separation between black and white. Rather than being a slaveowner, the mistress is merely a kind woman; rather than being a slave, Douglass is a man of feeling. 

At this moment in the narrative, the relationship between Douglass and Mrs. Auld has yet to be tainted by slavery, insinuating that slavery has the ability to inscribe a person with its terror: “… she had been in a good degree preserved from the blighting and dehumanizing effects of slavery. I was utterly astonished at her goodness… She was entirely unlike any other white woman I had ever seen.” The word choice in describing Mrs. Auld and her pre-slavery mannerisms / characteristics is really interesting. She was in a “good degree,” which shows that she was of a certain social rank or class. The reason she was in this “good degree” was because she was “preserved” from the “blighting” and “dehumanizing” effects of slavery. Because her husband is a slaveowner, the use of the word “preserved” is particularly interesting; it shows that the mistress keeps or maintains her original state.  In the context of Douglass’s narrative, the wife of the slaveowner would be preconceived to be just as terrible, if not worse than, her husband. Rather than being the wife of a slave owner, without having the stain of slavery, Mrs. Auld was almost immune to the effects of slavery. Douglass describes his experiences with his mistress as if he was describing an out of body experience.

As her husband began to unveil the true practices of slave holding, the mistress settled into her role as the slaveowner’s wife. Douglass recounts slavery’s demonic handle on Mrs. Auld as he completely reverses his discourse on the mistress: “That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice … changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.” Slavery gradually becomes inscribed on the mistress, as her affection and kindness dwindled. 

In Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass narrates memorable experiences he endured as a slave, from his childhood to the day he successfully reached the northern free states. In the “Preface” of the the narrative, WM. Lloyd Garrison authenticates Douglass narrative since it was believed that Douglass was never a slave: “He was such an impressive orator that numerous persons doubted if he had ever been a slave, so he wrote Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass” (Frederick Douglass, Douglass). For Douglass, to have a written narrative would indicate that his experiences as a slave were real, that would become part of the American slavery history.

Furthermore, Lloyd Garrison states: “The experience of Frederick Douglass, as a slave, was not a peculiar one; his lot was not especially a hard one; his case may be regarded as a very fair specimen of the treatment of slaves in Maryland, in which State it is conceded that they are better fed and less cruelly treated than in Georgia, Alabama, or Louisiana” (Preface, Douglass). Lloyd Garrison is indicating that there is nothing peculiar in Douglass’ experience and treatment as a slave in Maryland, since slaves in Maryland were treated “kindlier”. I think that Douglass being differently treated than other slaves, is what makes his experience peculiar, or strange, because he is not treated like the slaves that he wrote about, such as his aunt Hester, his little brother, or Demby. Douglass mostly observed those cruelties, and wrote about them in his narrative. He wrote about the savage acts that were physically inscribed in the bodies of his fellow-slaves and that were mentally inscribed in his mind and memories.

In Chapter VIII, Douglass states:

I suffered more anxiety than most of my fellow-slaves. I had known what it was to be kindly treated; they had known nothing of the kind. They had seen little or nothing of the world. They were in very deed men and women of sorrow, and acquainted with grief. Their backs had been made familiar with the bloody lash, so that they had become callous; mine was yet tender; for while at Baltimore I got few whippings. (Chapter VIII, Douglas)

Douglass was constantly observing the savage acts of the overseers, and the slave masters, which can only indicate that Douglass would suffer anxiety not just because he knows kindly treatments, but because he knows of the horrors of slavery in the South that marked his childhood and are written in his first few chapters of his narrative. Furthermore, Douglass notes that his fellow-slaves haven’t seen much of the world, and perhaps nothing. His fellow-slaves are kept ignorant, and in a way is indicating that his fellow-slaves are not observant. What is interesting is that the slaves with there callous back don’t need to write a narrative to tell their sorrows and pain. One has to observer their callous back, like how Douglass did to see the inscriptions of sorrow and pain that have been marked in a slave’s back by their overseers and slave master; something that Douglass didn’t experience until later in his life when Mr. Covey whipped him, leaving his back with cuts.

Also, something to note: while Douglass’ back was not marked or calloused like the backs of his fellow-slaves, his narrative is. And it is not marked in the back, but it is marked at the very beginning, in the “Preface”. Lloyd Garrison, perhaps without noticing, marked Douglass’ narrative in order to legitimize the narrative. Also, Lloyd Garrison undermined Douglass to a mere “specimen”, like something to be observed on and studied.

Throughout time the Black voice has notoriously been pushed aside and forcibly silenced time and time again. In the Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage And Freedom, Douglass fights against the oppressive nature of society, which fights hard for his voice to remain unheard. While he is enslaved, Douglass is lucky enough to come across a mistress who is willing to teach him how to read. Not many slaves were granted this opportunity. Later in life, Douglass used this opportunity to not only tell his own story, but to help others tell theirs as well.

The most blatant method used to suppress the Black voice was to deny Black bodies the means of inscription. These voices and their stories were never meant to be heard. Douglass actively fought against this notion, first by teaching other enslaved peoples how to read, then by writing his own publication and eventually his life story. In Narrative of the Life, Wendell Phillips writes,

“You remember the old fable of “The Man and the Lion,” where the lion complained that he should not be so misrepresented “when the lions wrote
history.”

Though a simple phrase, it holds great significance. Blacks had never been able to write their own history. In fact, they were never expected to. Douglass not only told his story, but created entire publications before doing so. The lions were finally granted the chance to tell their side of the story.

When he approached his friends with the idea of a publication, he was met with backlash and discouragement,

“I found them very earnestly opposed to the idea of my starting a paper, and for several reasons. First, the paper was not needed; secondly, it would interfere with my usefulness as a lecturer; thirdly, I was better fitted to speak than to write; fourthly, the paper could not succeed.”

Douglass understood the power of inscription, especially for a Black man at that time. He understood the importance of utilizing any means of inscription that he could. His friends could not grasp the importance of his creating this publication, being that their voices had always been heard. His friends attempted to silence him before he could even speak, or in this case, write. Perhaps they feared that their voices would no longer matter. They did not want to live the same reality Black people had lived for centuries. Whether intentional or not his friends walked the same path as so many others at the time who worked to keep the Black voice from telling its story. Had Douglass taken the advice of his “friends”, the world may never have heard what he had to say, which is exactly what was always intended.

The publication was not only for Douglass, but also for the advancement of all enslaved blacks. For many “had been shut up in mental darkness.” He spent his entire life being controlled and silenced by his masters as they attempted to keep him in the same darkness s his peers. To speak out against one’s owner was a sin, sometimes punishable by death. For Douglass, knowing the struggles of being enslaved he knew that no matter how silly it may have seemed to others, the publication was a step necessary for his story to be told. For a Black voice to be behind a successful publication was unheard of. But he knew that his victories were not merely his own. By creating a successful publication, Douglass claimed his authority to eventually tell his story and that of so many others. He proved his ability to break the silence that others fought so hard to uphold.