Dear Ms. Hazel V. Carby,

You must be wondering who I am. My name is Helga Crane, and I currently reside in Alabama. I am married to one Reverend Green in the South, and I admit that there has been great turmoil within myself that has caused much suffering. I am wanderer, venturing from place to place in search of something, for some sort of affirmation perhaps? I thought teaching at Naxos, going to New York, or living in Denmark would fulfill me in some way, provide some clarity of what I should be doing in life, but alas! they have not.

I feel absolutely foolish writing to you, I hardly even know you! But I would like to know your thoughts on some things that have crept into my mind as of late. You yourself have written about black women migrating into urban areas, with their sexualities being of primary concern. I was interested in this idea, that the migration of black women, have yielded in a new fashioning of their identity in the urban context, one in which sexuality is often objectified and exploited. Yet, in the attempts to police black women’s sexuality for the sake of the middle class, we are neglecting the empowerment in the resurgence of a black woman’s sexuality.

As a middle class woman of color myself, I am ambivalent as to where I stand on this issue. As you may or may not know, I left Naxos because I could not bear to see the stagnancy of the Negro population; I could not stand that the white reverend who came to us commended us for being so exemplary yet forewarned us about wanting to achieve too much. Of course, I want the best for my people, but what does the best for my people mean? Does it mean I want to us to be able to live up to white standards? Or is it that I want us to be able to be satisfied with ourselves and our freedom and our choices?

I married Reverend Green on a whim, I admit. I married him and had several children. Yet, all the while that I am here in Alabama, I absolutely hate it. I despise that we are worshipping a white man’s God who has put us in this plight, who has kept us in this degradation. However, I yearn for the things that white people have--the finer luxuries, the nicely decorated rooms, anything classy that money can buy. So, what does it say about me when I want these grandiose things that are part of white society, yet I find it disgusting when blacks worship a white God? What does it mean when I say that I cannot hate the migrant black woman for using her sexuality to her advantage despite the fact that she is giving blacks a bad reputation in the eyes of whites?

I apologize for all the questions and ruminations but I just feel incredibly conflicted. Perhaps it is due to my own inability to find peace in who I am and where I belong. But I hope you respond soon. I eagerly await your reply.

Sincerely,

Helga Crane

Questions:

1) In Nella Larson’s Quicksand, Helga travels from the south to Chicago to New York to Denmark, then back to New York and finally to Alabama. She interacts with various communities--religious southern blacks, middle class New York blacks, upper class whites. What do you think Larson is saying about Helga’s racial and spiritual identity? What do you think that Helga is looking for on her journeys?

2) In Hazel V. Carby’s Policing the Black Woman’s Body in an Urban Context, Carby makes the argument that black migrant women participating in socially promiscuous behavior in urban areas is a way of being empowered to take control of their own bodies and their circumstances. These black migrant women were typically low income, working class individuals. What do you think empowerment looked like for those middle class black women who looked down upon the migrant black women? Where does Helga fall in this divide between working class black migrant women and middle class black women?