Voices of Our Foremothers

  In the essay entitled Voices of Our Foremothers: Celebrating the Legacy of African-American Women Educators, Sunny-Marie Birney speaks about her personal experience and interactions with black female educators. These literate black women in her life not only encouraged and inspired her but also educated her academically, spiritually, and emotionally. Although she did not have very many African American female figures in her life growing up, she notes that the few she did come into encounters with made a very positive impact on her life. The black female teachers that she had as a child were very caring to her which helped her want to excel in her school work. They used many different methods including songs, to help make the learning experience more enjoyable for their students. She also states that as an adult, her black female college professors showed the same characteristics while teaching their classes. She ties these caring educators to our 'foremothers' who paved the way impacting the lives of many Black children.