Coconut Childhood. Memories and Reflections of Multi-racial Schools and Stereotypes in the Late 90's and Early 00's
As a reading assignment over the summer (one of many), we were set the task to read Maya Angelou’s first semi-autobiographical novel ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings‘, a detailed account of life growing up watching the ‘sweet little white girls’ as a ‘too-big Negro girl with nappy black hair’ (p.3). Continuing on through the first handful of chapters and being mindful of themes and of course the historic context of writing I was aware, as I’m sure many hundreds of thousands before me have been, that I felt so many overwhelming similarities with Maya’s thoughts and feelings. As a result it has taken me a long, long while to actually have the courage to begin reading again. During one of the lengthy pauses in reading I got to thinking about my own experiences as a little girl, feeling more or less the same way she did and it struck me that it was only after moving to a ‘whiter’ area that these feelings became apparent. Continue reading
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