Jackie Learning to Write

 Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a story of a girl, finding her way in the world, but more importantly finding her voice through writing.  

Each poem beautifully paints a picture of a part of Jackie’s life. We learn about her siblings, parents, grandparents, and ancestors. We learn why she exists as she does today. In “the beginning” Woodson describes her first interaction with writing through one letter of the alphabet; the letter J. This specific memory and description resonates with the reader because now at their fingertips is a whole book comprised of letters and words written by Woodson. The title of the poem relates to our class in a chronological sense. This quite literally is Jackie’s beginning because her life becomes about writing. The ambiguous last line of “infinity” also suggests some greater importance to this poem.  


In “when I tell my family” Woodson writes about her family’s reaction to her aspirations to become a writer. Through dialogue, it’s determined that writing should just be one of Jackie’s hobbies and that this pursuit is “just another one of my stories”. This poem is discouraging because these types of barriers put up for Jackie as a young black girl are precedented. We see them on a social and political level too in this collection of poems. There are so many things Jackie is told she can and cannot be. The inspiring part of her narrative is she obviously becomes a writer and breaks though this controversy.  


It's also beautiful to watch Jackie’s life unfold in stories like “the butterfly poems” and “first book”. Again, she is judged and not believed when she says she wants to write a book. I love the last two lines of this poem, “On paper, a butterfly/never dies”. This story continues in “first book” when Woodson writes “the butterfly book/ complete now”. This fulfillment is inspirational and satisfying to the reader. Especially after learning Jackie’s dream to be a writer and watching people tell her that she cannot be one.  


Furthermore, in “a writer” Jackie’s trajectory culminates.  Ms. Vivo is a role model who purely supports and validates Jackie. The concepts of equal rights and feminism are addressed. It seems in this poem that Woodson writes about finding her purpose beyond just writing words down on a page. In this poem and story, Jackie has a message to spread, and a voice that needs to be heard. The last lines, “But my voice grows stronger with each word because/ more than anything else in the world, / I want to believe her”. Ms. Vivo says, “You’re a writer” and these three words are so important for Jackie to hear at this point in her life.  


The poems, “the beginning”, “when I tell my family”, “the butterfly poems”, “first book” and “a writer” are just a few of the numerous poems dedicated to Jackie’s relationship with writing as a child. Woodson recounts these memories with such clarity and emotion that we see their full purpose in this collection.  

 

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