I remember every night as a little girl I prayed for stability. I am not sure if I knew exactly what the word meant or if I just assumed. All I know is that I hated change and I just wanted things to be the same tomorrow, so I could know before hand how to deal. This thought process hindered me through most of my life. I have spent majority of my life in really bad situations quietly and politely suffering. In the story Sunny’s blues a man in Harlem is completely removed from anything that connected him to his true self. He is distant from his brother and his community and is blinded by his pride. I know first hand what it is like to walk around disconnected from your self.
After growing up in poverty I knew that I wanted to be something…show more content… At first glance I assumed that the book was about voodoo, which was something I would often read about but it actually was about how Africa American slaves converted to Christianity while trying to hold on to their African traditions. When I decided to check the book out I decide to start researching how the Africans survived slavery, with the thought that I could over come my suffering if I could draw strength from my ancestors. I started finding more and more books that brought me peace and gave me clarity and helped me to improve my life. In order to comprehend what was happening to me I had to acknowledge that suffering and surviving go hand and hand. Growing up in poverty teaches you to survive but rarely does anyone in this type of environment admit that they are suffering. There is a dialogue in the story between the two brothers where the narrator says, “I just care how you suffer… I don’t want to see you die trying not to suffer.” (Baldwin pg.143) Just like the characters in the story I have yet to reach my ultimate goal or even to change my current situation but I have been able to change my state of consciousness and see outside of my fears. “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” (Baldwin pg. 148) When you finally have that moment of epiphany there is a sense of