Leslee Abrego

Postcolonial Criticism and “Brown Girl Dreaming”

Postcolonial criticism analyzes the “resilience of subjugated individuals [and] their ability to

experience the conditions in which they find themselves and creatively respond to those conditions

(Smith 532)”. In the book “Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jaqueline Woodsen, her advocate standpoint grows

more prominent as she gets older due to her life experiences as an African American during the 1960’s

and 70’s, which proves Michael Foucauldian’s theory that “marginalized people subject to repressive

power in fact wield positive and productive power of their own (Smith 533)”. Jaqueline Woodsen’s

advocate journey stems from Foucaldian’s theory and is a result of her experiences of being a

marginalized African American woman.

Through a postcolonial criticism lens the Civil Rights movement was an “emerging [way of

viewing the world (Smith 532)”. A

power struggle between whites and

African Americans (or colonizer and

colonized) in the United states inspired

positive and productive changes from the

repressed African American society. The

everyday struggles and observations

Figure 1 After years of inhumane segregation African
inspired the author to become an Americans in the U.S. fought collectively for equal
rights.
advocate, as can be generalized to the

rest of the civil rights activists. In other words, a person’s struggles placed by society often times inspire

greatness.

In the beginning of the book, Jaqueline talks about her grandmother’s struggles as a slave and

then about the fight for freedom and rights. She claims says that she is “born in Ohio but the stories of

South Carolina already run like rivers through [her] veins (Woodsen 2)”. Through a postcolonial lens this

reflects the author’s bias views. Her oppression is passed down generationally. The power struggle

between whites and African Americans is already embedded in her. Woodsen did not live as a slave like
 Leslee Abrego

her grandmother did but she still feels the effects of oppression and it ignites a sense of fighting. Her

grandmother’s struggles inspire her to want to fight for her rights and for the rights of other “brown

children like [her] (2)”.

Another example of how certain experiences are passed down and even then still inspire positive

power is when the author is recalling her birth.

She claims to have balled her fists and her

mother saying that every baby’s hand does that

automatically. She then goes to compare it to

the symbol of the Civil Rights Movement and

on to naming famous Civil Rights activists

such as Rosa Parks, Malcom X, Ruby Bridges

and Martin Luther King. The symbol which can

be seen in the image on this page is described

to be primal according to Woodson’s mother. She states she doesn’t know “if [her] hands will be Rosa’s

or Ruby’s gently gloved and fiercely folded calmly in a lap, on a desk, around a book, ready to change the

world (Woodsen 5)”. She doesn’t know how she will advocate and take a stand in the revolution when

she grows up but she feels empowered by these activists. In this quote, she is not questioning if she will

change the world, she is sure of that, the only thing she is not sure of is how she will. Woodsen from very

early on has passed down knowledge of repression and it ignites a productive power of her own. Here we

see how the repressed population come together as a collective power to change “accepted ways of

thinking, writing, and speaking – to social practices (Smith 532)”.

One particular instance in Woodsen’s childhood that is important to the analyzation of post

colonialism is the ability to change her way of speaking or the “right way to speak (Woodsen 68)”. Her

mother tells her that she knows the correct way to speak because she is from the North. This implies that

speaking with a Southern accent is seen as inferior and makes Jaqueline Woodsen feel even more

oppressed. Her mother faces discrimination for being African American and further discrimination if she
 Leslee Abrego

speaks with a Southern accent. Here we see her response to the social conditions she has experienced. She

recalls that she is “afraid to open [her] mouth. Fearing the South will slip out or into them (Woodsen 69)”.

Woodsen and her siblings spend time in the South which has different social conditions than in the North

and she is scared that she will pick up a Southern accent or mannerisms that will result in further

discrimination. Being able to retain their Northern speech shows the families adaptability to different

social conditions placed on the oppressed.

Jaqueline being a part of a subjugated population experiences a lot of oppression that wields a

need for change but it is not only negative experiences, positive experiences also help put into perspective

what her advocating could result in. She recalls going to the fabric store and being “just people”. At the

store she is not treated differently because of her skin color unlike the other stores or restaurants where

they are still experiencing racism and discrimination. In the fabric store a white woman speaks to her

grandmother in a friendly manner which makes Woodsen feel welcomed and an equal. This allows her to

imagine a world where she can go anywhere and feel accepted; not judged by the color of her skin. These

experiences are just as important in inspiring her to become an advocate and wield positive and

productive power.

At the end of the book Woodsen ends with a very powerful quote. “. . .listener and writer Jackie

and Jaqueline – gather into one world called YOU where You decide what each world and each story and

each ending will finally be (Woodsen 320)”. Here she really stepped into her power. All of her life

experiences growing up with discrimination placed by white oppressors and her lack of power in the

world, ignited her to demand change. She envisions a world where she doesn’t have to respond to various

situations differently and adapt because of the color of her skin. Her “emerging [way of viewing the

world (Smith 532)” is clearly expressed not just by other advocates but by her own voice and writing.

Postcolonial criticism “exposes colonialist attitudes held by the author and demonstrate the role

such biases play in the representation of subjugated persons and cultures (Smith 531)”. However, in

“Brown Girl Dreaming” we see a different perspective in which the subjugated persons view the world

and how their experiences shape their actions for change.

 Leslee Abrego

Work Cited

Pruitt, Sarah. “How the Black Power Movement Influenced the Civil Rights Movement.” History.com,

A&E Television Networks, 20 Feb. 2020, www.history.com/news/black-power-movement-civil-

rights. (IMAGE 2)

Smith, Johanna. “Postcolonial Criticism and Frankenstein.” Frankenstein: Complete, Authoritative Text

with Biographical, Historical, and Cultural Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from

Contemporary Critical Perspectives, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and Johanna M. Smith,

Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016, pp. 530–547.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Racial Segregation.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 14 Jan. 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/racial-segregation. (IMAGE 1)

Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming. Penguin Group.