​Assignment Description:

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This assignment required me to compare and interpret how two authors—Henry Dumas in Ark of Bones and Tony Medina in I Am Alfonso Jones—use the African American narrative strategy of “naming.” I had to analyze each text individually, connect them to scholarship by Ayanna F. Brown and Janice Lively, and explain how naming functions as a tool for cultural memory, resistance, and identity in Black literature.

 

Full Essay :           

               The African American narrative strategy "naming" carries extraordinary power. In African American literature, naming often preserves history, memory, and identity, becoming an act of resistance against systems that attempt to erase or silence the black community. Naming holds weight–they tell stories that outlive people's lives and connect generations through the remembrance of names. Ayanna F. Brown and Janice Tuck Lively explain how black writers use strategies like naming to preserve cultural memory and assert identity against systems of erasure. Henry Dumas Ark of Bones and Tony Medina I am Alfonso Jones use this strategy through characters. Dumas writes during the Civil Rights era and Medina writes in the Black Lives Matter movement. Medina and Dumas use naming to honor the black men and women who dealt with injustice and to celebrate survival. Both Ark of Bones and I Am Alfonso Jones use the African American narrative strategy “naming” to transform names into powerful symbols that represent resilience, legacy, and cultural pride. 

 

                 In Dumas and Medina’s writings, naming is a symbol of resilience. It is a way for African Americans to endure suffering and regain strength. The character Headeye is a spiritual guide for Fishhound and other African Americans who have black and African ancestors; taking them on a journey that reveals a sacred connection with God, the living and the dead. The “Ark” is not just an ark for human bones but for a symbol for black and african ancestor’s names, memories, and spirits. Headeye tells Fishound that “Everytime a brother dies, his bones go on this ark” . (Headeye pg.75). This statement suggests that no life is forgotten and will be remembered through their name. Naming in this case is used as resilience because it shows how Headye was able to be resilient and find a purpose in life by listening to God’s calling and watching over all the ancestors who died during slavery. Both Dumas and Medina use naming as a way to show how African Americans endure adversity and gain strength as a community. The article Selling the Farm to Buy the Cow says that “findingsfrom the study illustrate that African Americans struggle with naming and the implications for black names that influence personal Choices they make regardless of their age, education level, and status. This is telling us that social pressure is placed on the black community to have to go through cultural truth and how we have to be resilient to keep black culture alive through naming. 

Dumas and Medina use names to echo legacy through both Headeye and Alfosno Jones. Dumas names the protagonist Headeye and his name carries a legacy for being the leader of the Ark of Souls for all of the ancestors who suffered in Slavery. “ People been askin me where’d he go. But I only tell em a little somethin I learned in church. And I tell em bout Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones”.(Fishound pg.7). This statement is telling us how people are still asking about Headeye who left a legacy for Fishhound to talk about how he leads the ark of bones and also how he preaches God’s word. In I Am Alfonso Jones Medina uses the name Alfonso Jones to represent legacy. In the story Alfonso Jones leaves a legacy for the black community to remember him for being murdered due to police brutality and injustice. In the story people keep repeating the phrase “Say their names”. This statement is telling us that this is a calling for black people to get out and protests against police brutality and injustice against the black community. Ayanna F. Brown and Janice Lively use the Critical Race theory to reveal how naming can preserve memories and legacy. “They use the principle tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) alongside discussions of "race" in a sociolinguistic analysis of participants' discussions of race and naming”.  The way people talk about names and chooses names gives an example on how black legacies can be passed down through naming.

 

                    In both stories the authors use naming as an expression of cultural pride. A symbol that means our blackness is worthy, enduring, and beautiful. Dumas names the story “Ark of Bones’ and Headeye to symbolize how proud God is of our culture and how we can still pay homage to our ancestors before us. In the story Headeye says “ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of thy brothers, scattered to the islands. Behold, I shall bind up the bones and you shall prophesy the name”. This statement is saying God chose headeye to lead the ark and that you shall live on the prophecies name which is the “Ark of Bones” (God pg.2). In Medinas’s story he uses Alfonso Jones' name to praise our culture by talking about people repeating Alfonso Jones and others who died to police brutality and injustice. We learned from those wrongdoings and now we come together with a culture and protest against an unjust culture in America. Ayanna F. Brown and Janice Lively say that “The authors take up CRT's call for narrative as a critical component for revealing and analyzing the sig. nificance and impact of race”. This statement tells corolates with how Medina and Alfonso

 

                  Jones name their protagonist and how they represent cultural pride in the black community. 

Names are not meant for just a label for a person, place or thing, but also as a powerful identification or indication for them. Naming in African American culture takes on memory, creativity, culture and identity. The names Dumas and Medina are names that serve as a way to cherish the people who have passed away, the names have strong meaning that shows a good future, and gives insight into some of the most meaningful parts of the character. Dumas uses his protagonist’s name to show his role as not only a prophet but also shows his connection to his ancestors and all those who died from slavery in the past. Medina uses his protagonist name to pay tribute to black history and how us as a black community have been mistreated by police brutality, and racial injustice for many years. Both authors use naming fantastically and did a great job of using names to represent resilience, legacy, and cultural pride.