This content was created by Aleya Washington. The last update was by David Squires.
Keys to the Archive: Miss Jane PittmanMain MenuAboutIntroductionKeyword EntriesThe CollectionsBibliographyDavid Squiresc613f45970ae89ef70516076df94370392b06674
Black Women Refusing to be Silenced
1media/Silenced Black Women_thumb.jpg2019-12-01T02:07:10+00:00Aleya Washingtonbb23f453e4fdb56f291988fc1c3d9006858cec3445Activists protest against the silencing of Black voices, with a special nod to women and LGBTQ members of their community.plain2020-03-10T02:42:38+00:00The Crisis Magazine (NAACP)Black Women's Blueprint09/28/2018David Squiresc613f45970ae89ef70516076df94370392b06674
This page is referenced by:
1media/Silenced Voices.jpg2019-12-01T00:23:43+00:00Voice27Critics celebrate Miss Jane for the sincerity of her voice. This entry, however, argues that literary voice must go beyond a manner of speech to express subjective authenticity.image_header2562020-03-10T16:18:20+00:00By Aleya Washington
The concept of voice speaks simultaneously to truth and subjective authenticity. For that reason, voice for black women characters must speak to particular intersections of racialized and gendered experience while also confronting the problem of giving expression to those experiences in a society that silences black women. Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant explains the problematic clearly when she writes, “voice is the expression of the ‘deep down inside’ that Black women learn to create as they ‘pick up’ strength. It reflects those points of view that locate Black women in their actual circumstances rather than in a timeless narration of struggle and caregiving” (135). When black characters are allowed to use this voice, their strength does not overwhelm their humanity. When they have voice, they are strong without falling into the strong black woman trope. However, more often than not, black characters are not allowed a voice.
The definition of voice for this project does not mean speech type. Miss Jane's speech type is particular, with its evocative use of dialect, but does not afford her a voice in Beauboeuf-Lafontant's sense. One can appreciate Miss Jane’s dialect while acknowledging the fact that her words are neither about herself nor expressed solely through her point of view, but through an editorial framework. The idea of voice here is almost interchangeable with perspective. However, it adds to the definition of perspective. It means not only the character’s viewpoint, but also their ability to speak through that viewpoint about themselves and for themselves.
