Understanding

Something I found fascinating while reading Adrian Piper's My Calling (Cards) #1 and #2 is that Piper does not lose her composure. Despite the discomfort that racism and sexism have caused her, Piper remains clear in regards to what message she wants to send to potential readers. She elucidates that simply because she is at a bar, that does not mean she wants to be the subject of flirtation. Additionally, she does not want to be surrounded by people who engage in any racist behavior. Despite the agitation and resentment that people around her may cause, however, Piper does not appear rude or disrespectful in any way. In Calling Card #2, she capitalizes the word "ALONE," which does not imply a lack of kindness, but rather, makes her point extremely clear. Further, Piper addresses the person as "Friend" in both Calling Card #1 and Calling card #2, despite their ignorant actions, and even says "thank you" in Calling Card #2. These examples suggest that Piper does not lose sight of the clear points she wants to address, in order to prevent these problems from occurring in the future. Her tone and word choice display the power of words, as words can have a drastic effect (positive or negative) on readers and their understanding of a text.