The Myth of the Happy Slave: January 17, 2017

Focus: What is the power in telling your own story?

1. Warming up with the three good things

2. Questioning the myth of the happy slave

The myth of the happy slave: 19th century and early 20th century images

• Make a copy of this and save it in your "Race and Power" folder.

• Look carefully at the depictions of slaves in these images. What details strike you?

• What story of slavery do these images tell, and how?

• Why do you think these images were so popular (well into the 20th century)?

• Open the slavery images from last week. Flip back and forth between those images and these. What is problematic about the myth of the happy slave?

Frederick Douglass addresses the danger of the "happy slave" image

Children's book promotes the happy slave

3. Discussing "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" in grid groups (click HERE if you'd prefer to type)

Topic #1: Myth vs. Reality
Each member of the group picks one line from Harriet Jacobs' narrative that undercuts (exposes the falseness) of one of the images from the warm-up. Read the lines aloud, look at the images, and discuss what happens when the myth is partnered with the reality.

Topic #2: Your Questions
Pose a Level 1, 2, or 3 question about "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" to your group. Focus on the parts of the text you most wish to discuss.

Topic #3: The Power of Telling Your Own Story
Brainstorm as many reasons as you can as to why it was significant that Douglass and Jacobs told their own stories. What is the power of their particular narratives, and of all slave narratives?

4. Updating your virtue charts--how'd you do over the long weekend?

HW:
If you fell behind in the reading or rushed through it, please (re)read any pages from Douglass and Jacobs that you missed. After today, hopefully the importance of reading their narratives is beginning to sink in.