CHAPTER 14 Intra Cultural Communication: Within a Marginalized Group Elocutionist Hallie Quinn Brown: Public Speaking and the Cultivation of the Whole Person Faye Spencer Maor In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the academic subject and discipline of elo- cution gained popularity and acceptance in the United States' institutions of higher learning. A Prevailing notion regarding the value and importance of teaching and studying elocution was that it was one of few academic disciplines which developed the "whole" person, body, mind, and spirit. Noted elocutionist, Thomas Sheridan said once that through elocution, or public speaking and Peech communication, "The mind in communicating its ideas, is in a continued state of activity, "motion, or agitation, from the different effects which ideas produce on the mind of the speaker" (Ward and Trent, et al.). Elocution textbooks of the day focused on the proper way of breathing and nunciating words and phrases. The proper control and exercise of vocal chords were also part of the raining in elocution. More importantly, there was an emphasis on the term "culture" and its com- munication to members of the society through language. In the introduction to Hallie Q. Brown's well, Bits and Odds: A Choice Selection of Recitations of School, Lyceum and Parlor Entertainments, 217Enter nature, and k author, and the nice to the stude CHAPTER 14 IntraCultural Communication: Within a Marginalized Group 219 ormance in the dist Episcopal Church married, they settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In Brown's unpublished autobiography, As thre Mantle Falls, she asserts that the Brown's wn's home in Pittsburgh was a station on the Underground Rail- African American And (15). She tells stories of her mother always baking bread that would mysteriously disappear. One particular story she recounts is of her family defying slave catchers and authorities by escorting fugl- tions, interests trade ave slaves openly from their home under an American flag. The Brown family dared the officers to king, talking or wake pouch the flags (15-16). Brown has a flare for the dramatic and even in her writing seems to be per- an African American ton forming. At the very least, it can be said Brown was always aware of her audience and had a clear arch for the social paris purpose for her message as it related to the audience. Early in life Hallie Quinn Br Quinn Brown was exposed to prominent figures in the free African American s the scholar mun woo community. One family friend and nd and frequent quent visitor was Robert Delany, one of the first African American medical doctors in the United States. She also speaks of meeting the real Uncle Tom from oman, and teacher. they the novel Uncle Ton le Tom's Cabin. Brown says, in her writing, that she was determined to set and reach her orkers of the late timesmeat goals as a child. As a result of a visit to Canada by Queen Victoria, Brown vowed to meet her. In fact, men of her day could be the not only met Queen Victoria, but also performed for her some 20 years later (McFarlin 5). Need- less to say, she was a determined and persistent little girl and woman. and dancing be in te s At about age 18 or 19, Brown was told she would be sent to school in Ohio. That school was and why she is so interests Wilberforce University, the school Brown would be associated with the majority of her academic how the art of public so d people. career. At Wilberforce, Brown was given a home with Bishop Payne, who was the first president of Wilberforce, and his wife. As a result, her education was continuous, since reading aloud was a regu- he artistic style or time lar practice in the classrooms of Wilberforce and in Bishop Payne's home. He regularly made stu- and feeling of an action dents read aloud, even hearing such recitations in his study. In Brown's unpublished autobiography, she gives Payne considerable credit for her early training as an elocutionist, and her love of literature ximately 95 years old boy (21). She felt Payne was ".. . carefully trained in articulation, enunciation, and pronunciation .. . s of literacy work, wrap (20) andbill advertising or for After graduating from Wilberforce, Brown took a teaching job in Mississippi and South Caro- or woman, who Is lina. In South Carolina Brown accepted and completed her first public speaking engagements. It was ver knew, until tosig in the woods of South Carolina, on a tree stump she says. "A hundred dark faces with searching eyes peered into mine. It seemed unreal, uncanny under the light of wavering torches" (34). This was a foreshadowing of her later years in public life as a public speaker. After South Carolina, Brown moved to Ohio. In Dayton, Ohio, Brown taught in a one-room school situated above a firehouse. While teaching in this school Brown began to pursue her elocutionary training and performing in earnest-training which began innocently at Wilberforce with Bishop Payne and furthered with her sonal life. She wasted debut in the woods of South Carolina. Brown's first step into public speaking in the woods of South Carolina and encouragement of pite the social and atter friends turned her interest toward a more serious study of elocution. She says, ". .. having my friends ary things. The gaily say I had a little talent for elocution I determined to direct my endeavors in that line" (McFarlin 4). ons of her people, ta Her teaching was never separate from her elocutionary studies. In 1870, Brown was teaching in Day- ton, Ohio when she met a professor from the Boston School of Oratory. As a result, she enrolled. As Bgins. Her father she learned her lessons in elocution, Brown taught them to her students in the classroom over the Then Thomas and For firehouse (36). No doubt her students recited orally. Her first invitation to speak publicly in Ohio dominant plemonsit218 UNIT III HyperRelationship faustin Delany says, "By culture we are to find these perfections of nature, and by training we are marrie conceal the art by which we adapt ourselves to the creations of the author, and the creations of ,i Mans author to ourselves" (6).! This point would have been of key importance to the students and tear the of the day and even today. One review of a Hallie Quinn Brown performance in the black press s; road ( She has a wonderful voice and a culture to match it" (African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, id partic tive s n3 ONLINE). A lack of culture was, and still is to some degree, a charge against African Americans-"cultures couch being defined as the development or improvement of the mind, emotions, interests, tastes, or man form ners. The result of culture can be what some call refined ways of thinking, talking, or acting. Why purp better way than through the mastery of an art, such as elocution, for an African American to prost and demonstrate his/her humanity-culture-intelligence? In the search for the social processesis com African Americans in their quest for acceptance and equality, perhaps the scholar must understand Ame the way education is tied to the general matter of social structure. the n Hallie Quinn Brown was an elocutionist, political activist, club woman, and teacher. She was, by goal far, one of the busiest and most productive African American literacy workers of the late nineteenth and she n twentieth centuries. She was a woman who did what very few black women of her day could do-get less people, black and white, to pay to see and hear her, not for her singing and dancing, but for her inter- pretation and skill with language. It is important to know who she was and why she is so important to Will students who study speech communication. Brown is a living example of how the art of public speaking care and communication can change lives and be used for larger purposes and people. Wil An elocutionist, by definition, is a person who has perfected the artistic style or manner of lar speaking or reading in public; one who is able to capture the meaning and feeling of an author and den communicate it naturally (Ayers, et al.). Brown, who lived to be approximately 95 years old, did her she literacy work through public speaking and teaching. Her fame, in terms of literacy work, was gained (21) through her performances of recitations, readings, and writings. In a handbill advertising one of her (20 appearances, a testimony reads: "I know no English Elocutionist, man or woman, who recites with the naturalness and charm, the vivacity and power of Miss Brown. I never knew, until tonight, what the human voice could do" (Rev. C.F. Aked). lina in pee Life and Career in Public Speaking for mo Hallie Quinn Brown was overtly political in her teaching and personal life. She was a bright, W energetic, and highly motivated woman who lived a very public life. Despite the social and economic ear circumstances of her day, she engaged in and accomplished extraordinary things. The guiding and unifying theme of her life and work was the improvement of the conditions of her people, especially through literacy, which she practiced and taught through elocution. fri Brown's parents were Thomas Brown who married Francis Jane Scoggins. Her father, Thomas, was born a slave to owners who fought in the American Revolution. When Thomas and Frances influence being "culture". "The writer here (Delaney) refers to the relationship between "natural" talent and training with the dominant phenomenon ofCHAPTER 14 IntraCultural Communication: Within a Marginalized Group can- 223 juse they've been hurt ? rich teachers comments. As an undergraduate student, I remen beliving papers that had been bled on. At a recent Communication and Composition conferred one of the presenters did a study with community college students who their responses in a film that was shown to teachers of composition. When g s who confirmed this. She captured the students asked their instructors, "What exactly are you looking for?" "Who do you use portunity, ink" or "Why don't you give more comments because they seem to offer a solution?" AAVE and Affinity in the Black Community n environment Such frustrations are common for African-American students because of their use of to adopt, I was I knew my ro Clean-American Vernacular deets should be sometimes called Black English in both oral and acular. Many feel that African-American students should be required to u discuss toget imen communication. Yet, this belief doesn't value cultural capital. Within the y were used a Can-American community, like many others, language is developed through stories, customs, and women to and other oral traditions. Children learn how to communicate primarily from the people in their ernative kap environment. Likewise, it is hard for many who have acculturated to the dominant culture to re- member that as Smitherman (1999) states, . . . all . . . black folks . . . do not aspire to white-mid- e challenge b de-class-American-standards" (61). Accordingly, many children do not realize that something is lass war at "wrong" with their communication until they enter an acculturated environment, like school. How- ome type of ever, in order for the child/student to "fit in" when he/she returns home, AAVE must be used. If not, cks." We alin then his/her position becomes questioned. In Talkin and Testifyin, Geneva Smitherman (1999) refers aries such a to this as, ". . . the push-pull syndrome . . . pushing toward a White American culture while simul- e represents caneously pulling away from it" (10-11). She continues with providing evidence about this "push- our class and pull" within the African-American community: system. Al Historically, black speech has been demanded of those who wish to retain close affinities within the could relane black community, and intrusions of White English are likely to be frowned upon and any black users erns within thereof promptly ostracized by the group. Talkin proper (trying to sound white) just ain't considered bure in the cool. On the other hand, White America has insisted upon White English as the price of admission into its economic and social mainstream (11). the work eness pain Such hegemonic practice of accommodation strips one's sense of culture and identity. So, why shouldn't cultural nuances like African-American English Vernacular (AAVE) be appreciated in edu- cation? Several dimensions of AAVE are common everyday expressions that involve styles like call god response or signifying. Many are highly emotive and should be acknowledged and valued to re- sure African-American students that their experiences have cultural capital. "It is time that teachers a of our walized that poor grammar doesn't equal poor reading skills . . . Nikki [Giovanni] said, that's why always lose, not only cause we don't know the rules, but it ain't [my emphasis] even our game" (Smitherman, 58).2 3 222 UNIT III HyperRelationship because they've be .......... Inclusivity, Not Exclusivity, of the African receiving papers th one of the present American Vernacular English ( AAVE) their responses in many students as ink?" or "Why do by Hope Jackson AAVE and Such Frustr I recently taught a freshman composition class in a traditional setting (classroom environment) African-America for the first time in about four years. So, as I read the textbook my colleagues chose to adopt, I was feel that African only slightly impressed with the few African-American authored essays. Moreover, I knew my stu written comm dents would call the essays and stories that were included "boring. The essays didn't discuss topic they encountered on a regular basis and the writings didn't utilize the language they were used to African-Americ hearing. Needless to say, I knew I'd have to make a few changes for these young men and women so and other oral they could "connect" with the readings to be inspired to write. So, I begin to find "alternative" ways environment. I to have them enjoy reading, and at the same time be excited about writing. member that a When teaching any English class, reading and writing are always expectations. The challenge is dle-class-Ame making both enjoyable. Students' minds must be stimulated. Since my class was all "wrong" with African-American men and women, I wanted to supplement the readings with some type of ever, in order African-American literature. So, we watched controversial cartoons like "The Boondocks." We also then his/ her examined prevalent issues in the African-American community by viewing documentaries such as to this as, ". "When the Levees Broke," "Good Hair," as well as "Tupac: The Lost Prison Tapes." These representa- taneously pul tions of African-American culture generated lively discussions involving stereotypes about class and pull" within race, what is "good hair," along with concerns about the United States' for-profit prison system. All of them featured language dialects of the African-American community to which they could relate, Historica thus enabling the students to discuss issues relevant to them. They could see these concerns within black con their own personal experiences. Geneva Smitherman (1999) refers to this as a unique attribute in the thereof p African-American community known as "Concreteness." In her book, Talkin that Talk: African cool. On American Language and Culture, she explains, "The speaker's . . . ideas center around . . . the world into its of reality, and the contemporary Here and Now" (65). Therefore, by including a concreteness phi- losophy in my teaching, these students weren't as apprehensive about writing assignments. Such h shouldn't c Writing and Communicating with Self cation? Sev and respon Most people find writing difficult because it is so personal. Writing is a demonstration of our assure Afri thoughts. Our thoughts are a description of self-talk or communicating with self. When someone realized th criticizes our writing, we feel hurt because it feels like one is criticizing our thinking and in some we always cases, our values or beliefs. Not surprisingly, many African-American students are wary of writing (Smithern From Communication Voices, 3/e by Myra M. Shird. Copyright 2007 by Myra M. Shird. Reprinted by permission