[
Between the World and Me]
In Part 3 of
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates begins discussing meeting with Dr. Jones, the mother of Prince Jones, Coates's classmate who was killed by a police officer. What stood out to you concerning Coates's reflections? Why or how so? Please provide a page citation.
11 comments:
On page 138, I felt some mixed emotions about Nehisi's talk about being surrounded by the Dreamers. It is very sad to think of the world in this way. However, it is very true that the black body is completely repelled by people but it isn't the body's fault.
It's a lot of responsibility in being black in a hateful world. I connect this section with living in Chicago on the south side.
-Joshua J.
I found it interesting on page 138 that Coates compared Dr. Jones saying, "I'm not going to live like this," to his grandmother's resilience in her own life. He goes into explaining her hardships and successes through high school, and it really highlights the huge amount of resilience needed in order to be loved by all during their time. Both women had to look at the situation America had built for them, or "the Dream" that America tried to convince them was reality, and say that they were not going to stand for it. They were going to transcend it.
-John H.
Ta Nehisi throughout the book tends to refer to scholars as dreamers, but when it came to Dr. Jones he described her in a different manner. "Dr.Jones was reserved. She was what people once referred to as "a lady"..." (138). This stood out to me mainly because instead of dreamer he used reserved. A reserved manner sort of keeps the idea in my mind that Dr. Jones did not just dream of her future, but she had it all planned out.
On page 137 in the book, their was a certain quote that really stood out to me. Coates said, to describe Dr. Jones' appearance, "What I felt right then, was that she was smiling through pained eyes." I feel like this quote is extremely symbolic and powerful, and applies to many situations such as this, where someone that is mourning "smiles through pained eyes." This quote definitely has the biggest impact on me because it is so extremely applicable to other situations.
What stood out to me in this section, is where Coates described Jones' appearance on page 137, " What i felt right then, was that she was smiling through pained eyes.". That quote stood out to me because Mable Jones is a woman who was faced with much adversity to get where she is now. Comparing her past and her life achievements to the pain she feels from the death of her son, it puts the weight of the impact it had on her into perspective. Out of everything she has gone through the loss of her son is what hurt the most.
It is important that we do surround ourselves with dreamers(pg.137-138), but it is also important to act on those dreams. so it is also important to surround ourselves with people who work hard to achieve what they want. In this world where we do carry a fragile body(pg 13) and automatically looked down upon, we need to work harder than others to achieve the same dream, and in most cases it seems like an asset to carry a mentality similar to an elite athlete like Mable Jones did on page 140. I have a long history in sports, so in my mind I think of each test day as game day and everyone else is a competitor. Its funny how life is a game because its full of competitors and teammates who are your friends, just to provide a few examples. And the refs are people who are higher up; they can either be good or corrupt and favor only a certain side.
On page 140, Coates wrote, "There was nothing surprising in her success, because Mabel Jones was always pedal to the floor, not over or around, but through, and if she was going to do it, it must be done to death." This stood out to me because he also explains that the reason her success is not surprising is because he looked at her success compared to how hard she as an individual worked, not "tribal expectations." It conveys the message that a african american, for example, shouldn't be marginalized to someones expectations of their race.
The ending/begging of pages 141 and 142 stood out me a lot as it speaks to being ostracized by the black community. Even though I seldom have found myself as the token black before college being too "white" is relatable. It does have some effects one your self esteem and when your the token black there's more emphasis placed on Black regardless of what follows it. The notion of being black enough is a product of our society and we should not subscribe to it. Their is not a right way to be black as long as your are black
What stood out to me in Coate's reflections of Prince's mom was how he was trying to understand why she didn't want Prince to go to Howard. On page 141, Coates says, "But like at least one third of all the students who came to Howard, Prince was tired of having to represent to other people." In that quote, he is saying that even since he was such a high caliber student and had a passion for attending the Mecca, he still had to prove hisself to many other at Howard. As I read on to the next page, I was surprised when Dr. Jones said he only applied to Howard, that's how bad he wanted to be there.
On page 138 and 139 he talks about how Dr. Jone went to school and was insulted because of her color and even through all the torment she became the president among all of them. He thens goes on to say that even though she was accepted they still yelled derogatory things around her at sporting events like she wasn't even there. This stuck out to me because even if a group of people can accept one person that is different from them doesn't mean that they will accept all people of a different color.
What stuck out to me the most was what was happening between the last sentence on pages 136 to page 141. There always seems to be something that we as people represent, even without knowing it. All people of a darker skin color seem to represent the black community, even if the is none in their ancestry. Recognizing the type of demographic you represent helps define, but doesn't determine how far you'll go in life. Take Dr. Jones, she was teased because of her color and yet is now a full fledged female doctor.Like it was said on page 141, "...Prince was tired of having to represent to other people." Meaning that the only person he truly wanted to be held accountable for was himself and what he believes.
Post a Comment