Rosa Lee

Rosa Lee



The book gRosa Leeh by Leon Dash touched me very deeply. I was shocked by how much adversity and affliction she had to bear by slipping deeper and deeper into the vicious circle of drugs, prostitution and crime.
Rosa Lee`s parents were black rural share croppers from the South who moved to Washington D.C. in order to escape racial oppression, economic exploitation and segregation and to find a better life and work there.
But once in the city they faced barriers in housing, education and employment.
During her childhood, Rosa Lee was given a hard time by the strong discipline of her mother Rosetta, which was usual for southern rural families during this time. Sometimes her mother would beat her up and slap her right in the face. She also made Rosa Lee responsible for all the household chores to prepare her for a life as a domestic worker. But Rosa Lee hated the idea of cleaning up the houses of white families.
Rosa Lee`s father was an alcoholic and there w...