Descriptive Review of Surviving the Blight by Cannon

In my Introduction to Theology class, we have to do at least one "descriptive review" paper a week. The first week was on "Inheriting Our Mothers' Gardens" and I chose to review an essay by Katie Geneva Cannon on "Surviving the Blight."

With a title as consciously ambivalent as Inheriting Our Mothers’ Gardens, one may expect to find a wide swath of perspectives on the symbol of garden as it relates to “inherited” theology and worldview. In chapter four of this collection, Katie Geneva Cannon understands the metaphorical garden as related to the blighted plants of her African-American roots. In this, her main theme is the survival of a people and culture in spite of inhuman oppression and systemic de-humanization.
1. Questions/Audience:
Cannon, like the rest of the authors in the book, is writing to a global audience of women, and she is writing, in one sense, to inform others of her unique perspective. The author perceives her audience to be unaware to some degree of the “blighted” gardens of the African-American people who have suffered from the institution of slavery (and its effects) as it existed in the United States.
The questions that necessarily must be answered by all the authors in this book are (1) “from what history and culture does my version of feminist theology spring,” and (2) “what can I offer to the global dialogue as I examine this heritage.” Cannon’s unique take on these questions is apparent in her summary of the stories of oppression that begin her chapter; the author states that “hovering over all my cultural inheritance is the devastating reality that chattel tenure excluded any sort of social recognition of Black people as thinking, religious and moral beings” (83). Cannon must not only answer the first two questions, but she must do so with the reality that her cultural heritage is one that suffered under a conscious attempt at eradication.
2. Answer:
“Even with cultural self-expression outlawed, my ancestors never surrendered their humanity or lost sight of a vision of freedom and justice they believed to be their due” (84). With this statement, Cannon transitions from a recounting of the “blight” to a telling of the “surviving.” This is done with three specific “flowers” from her garden: folklore, spirituals, and prayer. In her accounts of all three, Cannon demonstrates that her heritage is full of the struggle for “freedom, resistance and self-determination” (85) and the “unflinching faith that they, too, were the people of God” (87). Both narrative and music are tied together in prayer, which the author describes as a “living bridge” (88).
3. Method:
The author approaches this task with the double-edged sword of narrative as her primary means of analysis. On the one hand, the reader can read the essay and feel as if all Cannon did was tell tales of her past; on the other hand, the tales of injustice and oppression allow the reader to see the garden from the author’s eyes. Cannon seems most concerned with placing the reader in the midst of the “blighted” garden, and letting the reader then appreciate more fully the beauty and strength of the surviving flowers.
4. Significance:
In a world where there are many injustices, the American enslavement and de-humanization of African-Americans stands out as one of humanity’s bleakest moments. If Cannon can effectively demonstrate for the global reader how her ancestors survived these times with a culture of “freedom, resistance and self-determination,” then hope can be offered to those in the world still suffering under the many facets of institutional and systemic oppression.
5. Evaluation:
As my tone may have indicated, I value both the author’s stories and approach. Cannon’s use of narrative is an effective tool as she first establishes why her ancestors’ history is unique in the magnitude and scale of the oppression. Next, her answers sufficiently demonstrate that “despite” the inhumanities, her culture retained its humanness and religion.
My only criticism is that Cannon does not go into much detail as to how exactly these “flowers” might be planted in someone else’s garden. Understanding one another is good, but contributing substantive answers to each other’s questions could be considered the true task of dialogue in theology. The author either does not have room or does not find it necessary to interpret her inherited culture for the non-African American. This, once again, is a double-edged sword; if any person so chooses, they could interpret the author’s history as similar to their own. Overall, I personally felt closer to an understanding of the author’s situation, and appreciated her task, method, and her application of the method.