Brown girl dreaming

what do barren mean?

• having very few plants; not suitable for plants

• A type of barrel

• having to do with animals or humans

who is Langston Hughes

• American writer who wrote on the subject of race in America

• American singer and songwriter

• American poet, novelist, playwright and columnist

• An African American Muslim minister and human rights activist

"Life is a broken-winged bird / that cannot fly."

"life is a barren field / Frozen with snow."

what are gourds?

• a type of instrument

• a type of guard in the UK

• a type fountain that splashes up water

• A type of cucumber, melon, squash, and pumpkin

"USA - / a country caught / between Black and White."

'And followed / the sky's mirrored constellation / to freedom"

"my great-great-grandparents / worked the deep rich land / unfree / dawn till dusk / unpaid"

Why did Woodson's great-great-grandparents work all day unpaid

• They waited for gods call for them

• They were hoping for the best

• They were slaves

• They wanted to teach the kids a good lesson

"enslaved, then emancipated / but not free"

"the stories of South Carolina Already run / like rivers / through my veins"