Escape From Slavery – Formal vs. Informal Education
Could Bok’s journey from slavery to freedom to the global stage of antislavery campaign be possible and accomplished without informal and formal education? In the book “Escape from Slavery,” Francis Bok’s extraordinary life journey has highlighted the benefits and importance of informal and formal education Bok has acquired through his personal experience, ordeal, and endeavor. Accordingly, the simple answer to the aforementioned question is that it would have been impossible for Bok to fulfill his dream if he had not obtained the education needed. Moreover, a sophisticated and specific response to the question should be that it was the education, formal, informal, and the combination
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Since Bok arrived in America, his mind has been always filled with the eagerness in the pursuit of formal education. In Bok’s mind, “I wanted to be educated about what was going on in the world…I needed more than computer literacy or even fluency in English—I needed knowledge” (Bok 206). In Sudan, Bok needed to free himself in search of opportunities; but, in American society full of opportunities, Bok found that he had to educate himself in making wise choices and fully utilize opportunities available. Obviously, formal education has served Bok well in the new …show more content…
Apparently, the practical skills gained through informal education helped escape from slavery, and knowledge and wisdom developed with formal and informal education had broadened Bok’s view and perspective on everything in his past, present, and the future. At the end, the education has totally lifted Bok from the origin. He has no longer limited and isolated himself to his own slavery story, but made antislavery in the world as his life mission. All in all, it is the education that has made Bok’s complete personal metamorphosis possible and
Being educated can help people earn their living and be more responsible. Nowadays, education level is one of the most important requirements and comparative advantage for searching a job. The people who finish higher education, they would have more opportunity. Just like the author Wes’s father, “he finally had the chance to host his own public affairs show. And he’d hired a new writing assistant. Her name was Joy.”(12) After graduate from Bard College, his father gained more opportunities to realize his dream, being on television. Studying in college, we can learn the professional skill and know more about the
One of the illusions that Douglass sought to destroy was the natural mental inferiority of his race. This component of the pro-slavery argument was brought up numerous times, for example in George McDuffie’s “The Natural Slavery of the Negro.” In this work, McDuffie argued that slavery was not only merited, but necessary, as people of African heritage were “utterly unqualified” for “rational freedom” because of their “intellectual inferiority” and their need for a “condition of servile dependence” (The Natural Slavery of the Negro, McDuffie, P2). Douglass combated this argument with anecdotes of how he “finally succeeded in learning to read” without a formal education (67). His anecdotes...
In the 1997 article, “On The Uses of a Liberal Education: As a Weapon In the Hands of the Restless Poor,” published by Harper’s Magazine, the social critic Earl Shorris described how political power could be achieved by a rather non-vocational educational discipline, the humanities. He emphasizes on how the knowledge of a liberal Education can be used as a form of weapon within the lives for the poor.
In conclusion after reading “Learning to Read and Write” and Self-Taught: African American Education In Slavery and Freedom I was able to get a better understanding in how literacy connected to freedom. Learning to read and write ensured them that slavery was not infinite. I believe that so many slaves successfully escaped because they fought so hard to become educated. I learned to appreciate reading and writing on a different level. Without their fight my education would not
In his book Black Leadership, Marable describes what we will refer to as the Tuskegee phenomenon, in which he asserts Booker T. Washington’s favoring of just this type of “quick fix” vocational education to be erroneous. Over the next few pages, I will examine Marable’s arguments and I will attempt to extend their application into society as we know it today.
White slaveholders kept their slaves in the dark in terms of education, as well as individual identity. Slaveholders would not tell slaves about their family or where they came from, or how to read and write. Slaves were kept illiterate so they were unable to document their experience as a slave, and so they could not read about abolitionist movements, or documents of that nature. To whites, knowledge was the equivalent to freedom, so they forced their slaves to remain illiterate. However, Douglass was accidentally shown the ticket to freedom, through Mr. Auld. Once Mr. Auld explained to Douglass that he was not allowed to become literate, Douglass “understood what had been to [him] a most perplexing difficulty...the white man’s power to enslave the black man” (page 47). Once Douglass understood what it would take to become a free man, he worked hard to become literate. By becoming literate, he was no longer inferior to any white man. He understood what it meant to be an abolitionist, and began planning ways to escape. Other slaves inhibited intellectual capabilities because Douglass “devoted [his] Sundays to teaching [his] loved fellow-slaves how to read” (page 87). Douglass and his fellow slaves worked together and devised a plan to escape slavery, which involved Douglass writing passes for each individual. Later on in the novel, literate slaves help Douglass become a free man. This further proves Douglass’ point that blacks are not intellectually inferior to
It is vital to acknowledge, that when it came to education for the majority of slaves, the only exception was teaching them skills which revolved mostly around learning the crafts they were assigned to do, whether that was; ironwork, farming, or serving in the house (Bullock, 10). Moreover, they were most often taught the faith of their masters. For example, taking the words of James Dane, a freed man, when he opened up about the education he received in the plantation as a slave: “No one was taught to read, We were taught the Lord’s Prayers and catechism” (Maryland, 5, 9). All this had and apparent effect on the lack or scarcity of written evidence or testimonies by slaves, which if existed, might reflect the experiences of slavery more accurately. Nevertheless, Even the very few of those slaves, who managed to learn how to read and write, and thus had the possible chance of writing their testimonies, they however, faced many attempts to silence their voice, and hide their stories. Furthermore, even in cases where those slaves’ testimonies were able to see the light of day, those stories were most often ignored and neglected, especially in the dominant narrative (Bontemps, 8, 10). For instance, Booker T. Washington, an African American author who wrote several books, including his autobiography “Up From Slavery” where he talked about
Later on, Douglass noticed that Auld had revealed the strategy where “whites” manage to keep “blacks” as slaves, and soon the “blacks” might free themselves from the “whites”. Douglass self-educated himself to have enough knowledge to finally free himself. He was greatly determined to end slavery and gave a great amount of time, immense talent, and energy to make it
While discussing about the education for the African Americans, it is clear that there were no schooling system for most of the kids of enslaved people. A few of them who got education including the Fredrick Douglass, learned and got education through informal means. A single college education was available to them with a few or limited number of students. But after the civil war things begin to change. It was emphasized that higher education should be provided to everyone so the opportunities begin to enhance and the situation got better in terms of every field. Not only in the education rather in every field of life, had African Americans got chances to prove
In Fredrick Douglass’ narrative of his own life he makes known his difficulty in receiving an education, something we take for granted today. He goes on to restate a conversation between his master and mistress: “Learning would spoil the best negro in the world. Now, if you teach that negro…how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm.” (Douglass 41) One educated slave poses an immense threat upon the act of enslavement and those who enslave. Knowledge is dangerous in any form; it was feared to cause a slave to question authority and the entire slave institution. Intelligence enlightens slaves of the evils of slavery and that has a spiraling effect as such information would not be kept to one's self. Knowledge edifies enslaved men and women of their quality of life and to distinguish themselves as human beings rather than property. Slave owners would deprive their slaves of basic education in hopes of a decreased chance of rebellion and in contrast, a slave would need education to be liberated. Acquiring knowledge was far more powerful than any weapon. We see this idea throughout Douglass' narrative as Douglass was able to liberate himself through education.
While the author is constantly trying to express his knowledge through his multiple speeches, forces such as the Brotherhood destroy his goal of success. Ellison writes, “‘To point out the dangerous nature of his speech isn't destructive criticism, it is from from it. Like the rest of us, the new brother must learn to speak scientifically. He must be trained’, said the brother with the pipe.”(Ellison, 351). This reveals the whitewashing that the narrator faced. This is the idea that individuals must learn everything exactly the way that the superior races wants them to. Any other information is considered obsolete. However, whitewashing is prevalent in the real world and is part of the reason that groups like the black panthers fought for education in their 10 point plan. In their 10 Point Plan, The Black Panther Party writes, “We Want Education For Our People That Exposes The True Nature Of This Decadent American Society. We Want Education That Teaches Us Our True History And Our Role In The Present-Day Society”. This reflects the idea that blacks were being taught false information that diminishes the black image and reputation. It is an unfair and disheartening truth, however this is a leading problem in America’s school system. Inappropriate teaching of black history is a source of black self hate and a thirst for assimilation. Education can simply be the
... are often expected that bound quarters can acknowledge the political facet of the denial of that education. There was a morning awareness among African Americans across America that guarantees created had not been unbroken from Reconstruction through warfare I. The Renaissance really had the result of deepening the sense of unfair discrimination by showing however it might be accomplished through far more delicate ways than slavery or Jim Crow Law. several of the intellectuals of the movement urged that discrimination of this kind be confronted and overcome. It may solely be through education that the important problems that African-Americans two-faced might be handled, and in and of itself the literature and art of the amount tended toward the advanced partially as a shot to force audiences to become a lot of education if solely to know what they were reading
This book was about Booker T Washington who was a slave on a plantation in Virginia until he was nine years old. His autobiography offers readers a look into his life as a young child. Simple pleasures, such as eating with a fork, sleeping in a bed, and wearing comfortable clothing, were unavailable to Washington and his family. His brief glimpses into a schoolhouse were all it took to make him long for a chance to study and learn. Readers will enjoy the straightforward and strong voice Washington uses to tell his story. The book document his childhood as a slave and his efforts to get an education, and he directly credits his education with his later success as a man of action in his community and the nation. Washington details his transition from student to teacher, and outlines his own development as an educator and founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He tells the story of Tuskegee's growth, from classes held in a shantytown to a campus with many new buildings. In the final chapters of, it Washington describes his career as a public speaker and civil rights activist. Washington includes the address he gave at the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, which made him a national figure. He concludes his autobiography with an account of several recognitions he has received for his work, including an honorary degree from Harvard, and two significant visits to Tuskegee, one by President McKinley and another by General Samuel C. Armstrong. During his lifetime, Booker T. Washington was a national leader for the betterment of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South. He advocated for economic and industrial improvement of Blacks while accommodating Whites on voting rights and social equality.
On his way back to the University neighborhood, Mubarak pondered over the appalling conditions which his countrymen have been forced into. Reprehensibly, Sudanese communities even abroad are microcosmic representation of Sudan, economically socially and politically speaking. While, opportunists and loyalists of Basher’s Salvation Regime lived in abundance and afforded access to the best services in the kingdom, victims of its unjust policies lived in squalid conditions and absolute indignity.
However, some of our past generations weren’t able to receive an education, due to being in a poor income family, or during pre civil war time, were the slaves weren’t able to have any education.This was the case for Frederick Douglass, He wrote about his journey of how was able to learn how to read and write in his essay How I Learned to Read and Write. Douglass wrote about how he was a slave child pre civil war time, and how the wife of his master been secretly instructed him how to read and write. That until his master found out, and put an end to it. Back then slave owners though if their slaves had an education, than they would be able to think for themselves and be an educated human being. However, Douglass didn’t let his master stop him from learning how to read and write, he continued his education by observing those around him, and by sneaking in the room of his owner’s son, and using the son’s old copy-books. “During this time, my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement; my pen and ink was a lump of chalk” (275). Growing up, my mother grow up in the country of Guatemala, She had grown up not having many materials to have an education, but she had never let that hold her back. My mother had worked hard with the little things she had around her, and was able to graduate high school and move to