Shanice Burgess
Week 1
What is African American Rhetoric
African American rhetoric displays the highs, lows and in between of all things African
American. It includes the verbiage of how we communicate with one another from a “street”
sense to the “church” way of communicating. According to Geneva Smithena from chapter
“How I Got Ovuh” in Talking that Talk: Language Culture and Education in Africa America.
African Americans sometimes use the language to speak with people, depending on the setting
would depended on the dialect of the two. African American rhetoric breaks down AA people
and what it means to be black.
In Baratunde Thurston’s How To Be Black, he talks about his experiences first hand of
what’s expected of you in America as a black person. “When Did You First Realize You were
Black” was a very important chapter in Thurston’s book. As a black person, of course I knew I
was black but didn’t experience or have it pushed in my face until I was old enough to
acknowledge the difference in treatment from fellow fair skinned counterparts. AA rhetoric
explains AA livelihood from in the home and how you respect your elders to what’s expected of
you out in society.
When you mention African American rhetoric you essentially must include things such as
the history of the first people and how we’ve got to where we are now. You encounter the people
and understand how they’re different but still desire freedom. We must include urban names and
how they’ve come to evolve. The stereotypes that include the food, being athletic, discipling, and
the education of mental health, all play a factor in AA rhetoric and what it entails. Some may see
it as being pessimistic, it is still the need to know so you can gain a clear understanding behind