Prelude: The Barbershop and Ernestine Johnson

We read the article Prelude: The Barbershop in class this week and it really spoke to me. Most of the things that Young talks about in the prelude relate to me. There are some differences because Young is a male and I am a female. I feel like I am one of those black girls that isn’t “ghetto enough” and “not white enough” because I am a well spoken black girl and that isn’t something people expect. In addition to reading Young’s article, we listened to Ernestine Johnson speak on Arsenio Hall’s show. She performed “Average Black Girl” and it was really moving; the way she spoke was intoxicating and I had caused me to have an emotional tie to it. I've come to realize that there are many black people that feel the way I do because we are on the border of two social groups and it can be frustrating sometimes. When Young asked why people have to feel this way, being on the border of social groups, and why we aren't just comfortable the way we are, it made me question it also. Everyone has the longing to be accepted and when you somewhat fit into different social groups it becomes hard to identify and express yourself socially. Although I don't feel like I have a problem identifying myself and expressing myself, I can say that I do feel like I have to act a certain way around certain people because of the what they expect of me; it shouldn't have to be that way.