The Harmonizing Aspects of Two Sisters

When one first opens “Having Our Say,” you are overcome by the enthralling story of two sisters, Sadie and Bessie Delaney. In the book, they tell the story of their first one hundred years of living together. As long as that may seem, and despite the differentiation in their personalities and among other things, they existed beside each other harmoniously. The differences in Sadie and Bessie are vividly evident as one reads through the book.

Sadie Delaney was the older of the two sisters and she can be compared to Booker T. Washington. She exhibited a composed, serious, and agreeable demeanor as she always did what she was told. Sadie was the “mama’s child” because she followed her mother, Nanny Delaney, around like a shadow. She was always helping her mother in the kitchen, which proved to help her when she was given an assignment as a student teacher to teach the girls to clean up after baking cookies. Sadie was considered to be molasses since she could use flattery to get away from altercations. She believed in survival and she understood it very well. On one occasion, she made an agreement with Bessie not to cry during a whipping, however, understanding when she was beat, she cried on the first hit to avoid the inconvenience that Bessie had just endured. Additionally, Sadie always knew that she would make it into Heaven since she was a generally pleasant person.

Bessie Delaney was effervescent and she was more like the stern militant W.E.B. Dubois. She displayed a domineering manner as she was nicknamed “Queen Bess,” and, contrary to Sadie, she was considered to be vinegar. She had a mind of her own and she was not afraid to speak it. One time, she was waiting, with two colored teachers, for a train to travel to Brunswick. A white man, who was obviously drunk, stumbled into the room.