Precious *

Precious is the story of a sexually, physically, and mentally abused teenager growing up in the projects of Harlem. It is based on the first, and only, novel by Sapphire, an African-American lesbian who grew up in less than ideal situations herself. Though not claiming to be autobiographical, one can see how this could be the story of many abuse victims. As we learned with the show Shadowed Dreamer often times the most heinous of stories is the most truthful.

Precious is kicked out of school, pregnant again at 16 by her father, relegated to living a loveless life with her mother. Her mother is content to receive welfare checks destined for Precious' child and when Precious' school counselor stops by the house to offer her a spot at an alternative school, her mother berates her for thinking she's "too good" to go get welfare. The protagonist is her alternative school teacher, a quiet, and later we find out, lesbian who goes the extra mile for all her girls. She finds a home for Precious when the baby is born and teaches her to write, read, and value the love she does have. Finally, when her mother wants to see Precious and meet up at her case workers office we discover the dirty truth. Precious' mom allowed the abuse to happen and resented Precious her entire life for taking away her "man". This is the man who ends up giving both of them the HIV virus. Without remorse, with only regret, her mother tells the story through tears.j

Sadly, like Shadowed Dreamer, these stories are probably not too far from reality. They also show Precious' grandmother being the actual caretaker of her firstborn and only bringing the child by for home visits by case workers to approve welfare. It does not take much to see many young children in low income minority families being raised by the grandmothers or many children being raised without any male figure in the household. These are statistics that can be seen in any inner city newspaper. Why must this cultural disconnect continue? Is it the poverty? In the end, Precious pulls herself up and soldiers on. Like Stephan Hart, can this really be realistic? Honestly I don't feel that is a believable. Although Precious' reliance on the public welfare system does appear to be pretty accurate. As the movie points out clearly welfare is not the solution. People have learned to use the system and lie their way through it. Welfare seems only a form of social blackmail to force people to keep their kids in school, not abuse their wives, and steer clear of the law. All the things people should want to do naturally.

While all these problems pointed out are certainly not distinct to the African American welfare culture, I'm curious how that is how they are often portrayed. Or is it that we most often see depictions of the black welfare class in urban America this way in media? I'm not sure how to get more positive African American images out there. Surely now that we have a black president you would think more people would be able to see the culture outside the limitations of the media's representation.