Ideas of Womanhood

In cultures across the world, girls become women once they have their first menstruation. Womanhood is considered a coming of age for girls, because they gain new responsibilities such as giving birth. For the youngest sister Indigo, she had trouble adjusting to her new “magic” because she had so much “South in her” (2). Indigo’s…

Sassafrass’ Love Language

Sassafrass’ partner Mitch speaks a striking line from her section of the novel that illustrates both the materiality of Sassafrass’ craft and a reason for the discord in her relationship with Mitch: “You can create whole worlds, girl” (70). In context, Mitch intends to pressure Sassafrass into channeling her self-expression in writing rather than “all…

B**ch Get Up: Degradation or Appreciation in Curren$y and Juvenile’s song? (Pop Up Challenge)

In 2013, New Orleans rap legend Curren$y, aka Spitta, released his beloved album New Jet City. One of the most prominent songs on the album was a song titled “Bitch Get Up”, which features another NOLA rap legend, Juvenile. Towards the beginning of the song Curren$y raps some lyrics that may seem to be horribly…

Indigo: Coming of Age Internally and Externally

In the novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange, Indigo makes the following statement to her mother when her mother tells her to put her dolls in the attic, and to start worrying about things that a girl her age should be more concerned with: “Every time I tell you something, you tell me…

Ludacris’ Move B***H

Challenge Post #2 In 2002, Ludacris released the single, “Move Bitch”, featuring rappers Mystikal and I-20. The chorus goes on to repeat the phrase, “Move bitch, get out the way, get out the way bitch, get out the way,” four times. The chorus, without any context, seems very offensive to women. However, Ludacris is not…

Him & I – G-Eazy & Halsey: Terms of Endearment or Degradation?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA7AIQw-7Ms “Him and I” by G-Eazy and Halsey is a song from 2017 that presents a sort of Bonnie and Clyde love-story the song’s lyrics depict the two lovers/partners in crime living a fast and hard lifestyle. the song lyrics read. Throughout the the song there are various phrases and lines in which the couple of the song…

The South in her is what Matters

The novel ” Sassafras, Cypress, and Indigo” starts off with the youngest of all sisters: Indigo. Unlike her sisters and mother, Indigo is very independent and does not conform to the norms of the older, white society. Instead, she perceives her family’s life as mundane, a constant “back and forth” ( 4) and, from a…

Cypress’ Dream and Facing Her Race

“Now, in contortions she hadn’t learned in class, legs and arms twisted like a dying centipede’s, Cypress vowed on the voices of her dreams; the image of her mother strapped down and bleeding, her father helpless in a glass cell. She vowed to avenge her kin. She swore on the burned limbs of her father…

The Wonders of Weaving

InSassafras, Cypress & Indigo, Ntozake Shange uses textile weaving as a source of strength and comfort for Sassafras when she is feeling low. After being abused and leaving her boyfriend Mitch, Sassafras leaves LA to be with her sister in San Francisco. “…the cold she felt continually reminded her of being alone – forsaken, she…

The controlling, wrathful, and god-like, Mitch.

In Ntozake Shange’s Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, Mitch is compared to divine powers that highlight his control over Sassafrass. Gods are above humans , they are at the top of the hierarchy. When Sassafras was explaining Mitch’s appearance she states, “his presence was that of one of those Olmec gods. Mitch thought of himself as…