I remember Mrs. Foudy drilling me in second grade on how to speak “good” English. I could not use “ain’t” and double negatives or use “be” in the “wrong” place. I used my precious grammar book to conduct classes out of my garage for neighborhood children. By teaching others, I was able to practice using “good” English. I still have this book stored in a box at home.

My teacher had a profound effect on my desire to learn all that I could about “correct” pronunciation and “correct” English. I would go with my mother through stores reciting a variety...

I don’t know to much about my prantes because they both died when I was just [a] child. I can’t really just vision my parents in my mind like I can my brother. It’s scarcely in my mind; I know my mama had a mole [just like I have]. She had a mole. That’s where the moles come from. And she had to be a kinda tall lady too, not fat, but maybe she wasn’t skinny either. Now my daddy, he was kinda short I think and so that’s why I’m short. Some took on the mother side and some...

I don’t remember all of my life as a child. I grew up on Lofton Street in South Tiberius (when I was about 4 or 5 we moved across the street from Nelson Street to Lofton Street). I sort of remember some of my life. I was the baby until I was 7 years old. Ruth spoiled me as a child. She was raised by her grandmother until she was 7 years old. She had never seen a baby before me and I was like a doll to her. She kept me clean, kept my hair combed with ribbons in...

It is interesting how I can remember specific events that took place in our house, but I do not remember the house itself, nor do I remember the neighborhood in which we lived. The night we moved from the old neighborhood and the next sunny day in the new one are as clear to me as if it happened yesterday.

It took some time to adjust to leaving familiar territory to begin Head Start. I recall going through the tearful routine every morning for several months. Eventually I started enjoying Head Start and looked forward to going everyday. The first...

I Remember when I was five my mother and Sister would come to see me in Tiberius, I never really knew my mother, but she would always pick me up and kiss me for [a] long period of time and take me with her wherever she went. But she would always bring me back to my Grandparents house afterwards. My mother would then leave again and I would’nt see her for a while. My Grandparents had five children of their own. As I got older around six years old, Then I began to realize who my mother was. I was...

I was in the fifth grade. It was my second year in a magnet school where I was being bused from my home in a working-class neighborhood. The school was in the middle of a white, middle-class neighborhood that didn’t resemble mine at all. All of the teachers there were white as I recall. The students of color that attended the school were all bused in from my part of town. We took long bus rides in the morning and afternoon to get there. It was a big change for me, but I liked the school. I got along wonderfully...

Maya really does appear to be quite comfortable with her life, both past and present. Although she would like some things about her life to have been different, she does not mourn lost possible selves or what might have been. She is quite practical about her life and what was and is still possible for her. In response to various questions about her goals,¹ she is brief but consistent. She says she expects or desires to (be/have):

doing my housework, doing what I got to do

[in good]health

stronger mind

going to church

going to nursing home to pray...

Unlike her mother, Maya, Grace has many regrets about education as well as unresolved anger about her experiences. She can remember few good times about her schooling. From her experiences and her reflections on them, she has formed some interesting opinions about what education should and should not be, what the role of teachers really is, and how children should be treated and cared for in schools and out. She has also thought a lot about language, literacy, and possible selves. I cannot help wondering if she will view her experiences as Maya does in another twenty-five years or so....

Reia may not have been proud of her accomplishments at the time she made them, but she certainly is now. She exudes self-confidence, and she still has much more to do. Unlike Maya and Grace, Reia desires many things that she believes she can attain as long as they are things she is in control of, and that is quite a bit. She is not completely comfortable with certain aspects of her life, but she is not going to let them get in the way of her reaching her goals. She has several goals, some of them grand and some...

Like Grace, Deidra is in a time of conflict and struggle. Although Grace’s writings were of great interest to me because she is a good storyteller, Deidra’s writings were of interest because they were the saddest. Unlike Maya, who claims to have long since reconciled with her disappointments and past dreams, Deidra is just beginning to realize and address her struggle. She is still trying to define and configure her conflicts with language, literacy, and identity. She has hopes and dreams like everyone else, but she is beginning to see the difficulty of realizing them because she has a literacy...

The funny thing is I do not think I could have made the statement in the subtitle of this chapter during the time I was going through grade school or even college. It is funny how things do not look as bad when there is time and experience to provide a little distance.″Had I not had people who were supporting me and encouraging me and letting me know that I could do these things, I don't think I would be doing any of this right now.″At the time, I did not realize I had all that support. I...

As I was going through the data one day after being overwhelmed by all the work I had done for this project and all the possibilities it held, I suddenly realized there were no easy answers. It was not as simple as asking a question and then fitting it perfectly into some slot. Some of the questions I asked did not fit neatly into the categories I delineated. Some questions—and some answers—were bigger than that. I could not easily separate language issues from literacy issues just to get back to my argument that language and literacy were connected...