Reading Schedule:

For Wed. Read through Chapter 7

For Fri. Read through Chapter 10

For Mon. Read through Chapter 12

For Tues. Read through Chapter 14

For Friday. Finish the book. You will have time to read on Wed. in class. 

Make sure to post weekly on the blog. 

Do the Right Thing, hmm?

"And we laughed about the scared little Chinese whose restaurant didn't have a hand laid on it, because the rioters just about convulsed laughing when they say the sign the Chinese had hastily stuck on his front door: "Me Colored Too."" (pg. 117)

Wonder how much inspiration Lee got from Malcolm X...he is quoted on the cover and everything. Just a nice connection I thought I'd point out.

Reading Schedule

All,

 Some really useful writing on Cotton here. I'd like to see everyone post at least once a week from now on. For this week, read through Chapter 5 by Friday.  Tomorrow we will have our discussion on the film, Cotton, etc... led by Claire and Erin. On Wednesday, I will give you time to finalize the presentations you worked on last week and we will begin them on Friday. For Monday, read through Chapter 7. Happy reading, Mrs. R

Preaching and Eating

It seems that the only two things that cause Harlem to stand still momentarily are church services and big meals. These are the only moments during which crime ceases to exist, showing their utmost importance to even the lowest of the low in society. Although not everyone may go to church, Sundays are respected by all. "Everything happens in Harlem six days a week, but Sunday morning, people worship God. Those who are not religious stay in bed...A drunk better not be caught molesting them (churchgoing families); he'll get all the black beat off him" (pg.110). There is a similar significance associated with eating. When Grave Digger and Coffin Ed go to Mammy Louise's, there seems to be some sort of unwritten rule preventing them from discussing the crime while they are there. ALso, when Deke O'Malley's congregation meets to discuss his innocence and start up a collection for him in prison, food takes precedent. "On many a table there was chicken and dumplings or roast pork and sweet potatoes, and crime took a rest" (pg. 112).

Yellow vs. Brown

In "Cotton Comes to Harlem", Himes separates the characters into groups based on their skin tones. of course there is the obvious black and white categories but within the black community there is another separation, based on whether the person has dark brown or yellow skin. An example of this is the physical and mental differences between Mabel and Iris. Mabel is said to have dark brown skin, while Iris has yellow skin. Mabel has a sweet temperament, and while she is gullible and quite frankly an idoit, her intentions are always good. On the other hand, Iris is a backstabbing and violent woman, who always uses sex to get what she wants. This is also seen, like when Grave Digger and Coffin are at a bar, they are approached by a "yellow whore". What is interesting is that the yellow tinted skin is closer to white than the dark brown, and all the yellow skinned characters are bad people.

Stolen Money

This seems like a very obvious theme, but so far we haven't discussed what the money could symbolize. The Back to Africa Movement in the mid-20th century for African Americans is an absurd idea. How is that their home? Although life in Harlem was tough at times for blacks, it is wrong to give them false hope in a place where they would be considered more foreign then they already were. Having the money stolen from this cause shows that this movement was not meant to be. It is just as wrong to steal money as it is to try and organize the mass movement of African Americans to Africa.

Women in "Cotton Comes to Harlem"

"Cotton Comes to Harlem" shows blatant, in your face violence. This violence occurs between whites and blacks, blacks and blacks as well as the male-female relationships (all race variations). The women are powerful and manipulative. Usually when women use their bodies to reach a goal, I cringe. Why would they degrade themselves? How could they allow other people to see them in this way? However, in this book, I was proud of Iris for flaunting her body and escaping house arrest. In the end, I rooted for Billie when she tricked the Colonel into buying the empty cotton bale. This was a complete shift for me. Iris is smart, not naïve. She wasn't allowing people to goggle at her and offering to give herself to them simply for pleasure. She had a plan and for Iris, not even emotion got in the way. I respect her deeply for her strength and smarts. Women have a weapon, their bodies. They can use it to distract and reach their goal. Those who use this weapon have not lost dignity, they are simply more daring than the others. 

Cotton Comes To Harlem -Post

The main question or complaint I have with this book is why Grave digger and Coffin Ed allowed Calhoun (a white guy) to get away in the end. I know he had to give up the 87 grand but when I think about how much they hunted down Deke it just doesn’t seem right. Calhoun’s greed costs a lot of blacks their lives, where as Deke only swindled people out of their money. Deke is only a pawn in this whole huge mystery but he gets punished like he was the main villain. The only reason I can see for why Calhoun was let free is because of his skin color. It’s like a game when they catch him, the black man can’t really punish the white man so he lets him go. It’s an almost aww shucks we’l let ya go laughing kind of joke. Where as Deke is slapped all around and told hes going to court for murder when he didn’t even kill anyone. Calhoun gets a slap on the wrist and he’s on his way, it just made me mad. Was this intentional by Chester Himes? When he wrote this did he understand that the white villain was getting off easy and the black villain was being unfairly accused? I think it all connects back to the cotton. In the book Alabama refuses to bring Calhoun to authorities because killing a black man isn’t considered murder there. Harlem should be different, it’s in the north, killing a black man should be a crime. But just like how the bale of Cotton makes it’s way to places it shouldn’t belong (the north), unfair laws and overall racism still lingers in the north from the south.

We got stickup kids, corrupt cops..

Grave Digger was called upon to speak. He stood up and looked at his map and said, "Brothers, this map is older than me. If you go back to this Africa you got to go by way of the grave." No one understood what he meant, but they applauded anyway. The next day Harlem's ace detectives were cited by the commissioner for bravery beyond the call of duty, but no raise came forth. (pg. 157)


This passage was one of those rare occasions where I straight underlined as soon as my eyes passed over the words. At first skim it holds the typical conclusive tone of any crime drama -- the detectives put their guns back in the hostlers, smiles breaking their stone-serious faces with hands rubbing temples or resting on hips. Right under the surface, however, are the stereotypes, the messages of race and an era that is difficult to change or shift in a new, more positive direction. The position of the people of Harlem throughout the novel has been obviously stated -- the reader must get it, cannot do anything but get it. In this passage in the most blatant of ways Grave Digger in two sentences is able to debunk the back-to-Africa movement, staying polite, staying logical. Immediately following his words, Himes sticks with the terse writing and conveys an even crueler, darker message, one of ignorance, of a continuous sheep-like following even after the entire Deke mess -- "No one understood what he meant, but they applauded anyway." And as a final dampening message, the detectives get verbal praise but no pay raise, which, given the life and times and what they had to endure, would be far more beneficial than any handshake or medal. What I want to discuss is whether the twinge of negativity and perpetuation as an undercurrent in the novel is a commentary on the poor state of the real world, thus hoping to prompt change, or a jaded acceptance of the way things are, the way things are stuck to be.

and just because:



"...It's been twenty-two long hard years of still strugglin
Survival got me buggin, but I'm alive on arrival
I peep at the shape of the streets
And stay awake to the ways of the world cause shit is deep
A man with a dream with plans to make C.R.E.A.M.
Which failed; I went to jail at the age of 15
A young buck sellin drugs and such who never had much
Trying to get a clutch at what I could not... could not...
The court played me short, now I face incarceration
Pacin -- going up state's my destination
Handcuffed in back of a bus, forty of us
Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough
But as the world turns I learned life is hell
Living in the world no different from a cell
Everyday I escape from Jakes givin chase, sellin base
Smokin bones in the staircase
Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess
I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed
But I'm still depressed, and I ask what's it worth?
Ready to give up so I seek the Old Earth
Who explained working hard may help you maintain
to learn to overcome the heartaches and pain
We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks
and stray shots, all on the block that stays hot
Leave it up to me while I be living proof
To kick the truth to the young black youth
But shorty's running wild smokin sess drinkin beer
And ain't trying to hear what I'm kickin in his ear
Neglected, but now, but yo, it gots to be accepted
That what? That life is hectic."

This Week

Welcome back! This week, we will finish our work with Cotton Comes to Harlem this week, watch "Do the Right Thing" and write/record/create our reflections on the work we've done over the past month. We will discuss this more in class on Monday. You also  need to post to the blog at least once before Wed. Claire and Erin will lead discussion on Friday. 

12/5   Himes Recap 

   Begin "Do The Right Thing"

Homework: Post to the blog/work on your reflection.

12/6   Do The Right Thing

Homework: Post to the blog/work on your reflection.

12/7   Do the Right Thing

Homework: Work on your reflection.

12/9 Discussion

Homework: Complete your reflection.  Bring The Autobiography of Malcolm X  to class on Monday!