A “pocket ghetto” is a small area of low-income housing with high minority group concentration that is isolated by physical barriers. The term began to be used by geographers as they studied postmodern cities. Michael Sorkin in his book, Variations on a Theme Park, described three dominating characteristics of the postmodern city: generic globalization, theme park commercialization, and an obsession with security. The third characteristic, an obsession with security, is the most important in terms of this research because the function of a pocket ghetto is to contain or ‘secure’ certain people within a certain area. Pocket ghettos form by either intentional construction or containment or by the negligent evolution of urban form. In cases like…
Therefore, the publication of Coal in 1976 was by a major book company, after which ‘’the black unicorn (1978) foolowed suit, she later began to expand her writing by addressing large audience. In the volume of ‘’the black unicorn’’, the poet went deep to explore the African heritage. Her writing was very much considered as one of the great works in the critic word of literature. Therefore, Lorde’s writing and poetry gave her the motivation to brain storm what was considered as very important to her a woman of color by tackling it. She’s a lesbian, mother and a…
Walker’s works show the raw interaction of race, gender and sexuality through her silhouetted figures. Her works are crowded with figures that evoke history from the past leaving viewers to interpret these stories engaging their own thought and ideas. Walker’s works of art could challenge viewers as interpretations will…
Drawing from many areas of inspiration, Mickalene Thomas is a contemporary artist that explores different depictions of african-american women. Many of her works focus on the african-american women that have a solid standing in todays pop culture. Her works soften the usual view of the african american woman, a gaze that is most often than not harsh and unrelenting, and romanticize their femininity. Mickalenes attempts to blur the lines between the foreground and background in her work, thus leaving everything in her piece in the same spatial realm. The focus and importance then being not the “subject” or “object” but the whole piece in its entirety.…
Audre Lorde’s, Uses of the Erotic, and Sapphire’s Push, both highlight important concepts surrounding women, race and sexuality. Lorde uses the word erotic and expresses it as a power that women possess. A power which she expresses is related to sex but not bound to it. Lorde emphasizes the importance of connecting with our bodies, our feelings, and those of other women as well. We as women have a power within us which we need to explore. On the other hand, Sapphire introduces us to a young African American woman named Precious who is the victim of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse by both her mother and father. Her inner power has been tainted and introduced to her in a way which confuses her soul. It is because of her abuse that she disconnects…
As an adult, Lorde must face realities of prejudice and discrimination though it is painful. She squints her eyes in Washington D.C. because she was in “silent agony”…
Audre Lorde: a black lesbian feminist socialist; uses poetry to address issues of “difference” such as sexism, ageism, and racism; aims to encourage oppressed members of society to stretch out and bridge the gap between the actualities of our lives and the consciousness of our oppressor…
Ntozake Shange is, both, an American playwright and poet. She is a self proclaimed black feminist and it is reflected in all of her work. Shange’s work addresses issues relating to race and feminism in attempts to open up the eyes of the readers or audience. She has had many works, including a novel about an African American girl who runs away from home, titled Betsey Brown. She has many honors and awards, as well, that includes fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund, and a Pushcart Prize.…
When immigrants from foreign countries come to the United States they are classified into many categories such as race, religion, ethnicity, etc. They leave their own country miles apart and discover themselves into a very different person, whom they never thought of they would become. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s newest noble, “Americanah,” has introduced us with a story of a girl named Ifemulu who came to America and faced the biggest challenge of her life. And through out this essay I will explore the different ways in which Ifemelu incorporate questions about her “blackness” into the formation of her identity. I will illustrate in what ways Ifemelu believes she is black and in what ways believes she is not. I will also give a definition of “black” as I think Ifemelu would define the concept.…
Renaissance. She was attacked for her novels’ picture of black life, and this portrayal is another connection between her anthropological work and her fiction (Howard, “Just Being Herself” 156).…
Through their music, black blues women have been able to create an aesthetic community of resistance with collective desire for freedom against the forces that oppress them, a tradition that is still used by artists today. Unfortunately, primarily due to respectability politics, artists such as Bessie Smith and Gertrude “Ma” Rainey rarely get the credit they deserve for changing the way in which feminist themes are incorporated into music and mainstream society. However, regardless of whether credit was given or not, just as Bessie Smith enlisted acts of inheritance to the works of Ma Rainey, the Beyoncé’s, Erykah Badu’s, and Solange’s of today still enlist the same themes that were present in their works to address the racial and gendered oppression of the black female body. All of these women, whether under the genre of blues, Hip Hop, R&B, or Soul, have used their music to express the ever-changing social conscious of working-class Black women in…
Kitty Wells and Janelle Monae embody the archetypes of musicians’ willingness and openness to confront sexual oppression (Wells) and black liberation (Monae) in their controversial songs (Meyer 2014). Both women convey how identity politics can influence art and prompt critical discourse through their lyrical messages and musical…
Audre Lorde a self-styled black, lesbian, warrior, poet; dedicated her life to addressing the injustices of racism, sexism and homophobia. She had a creative talent of confronting these issues through her writing. Audre writes poetry, essays and autobiographies, she has a great impact on American and African-American literature, feminist theory, and gender studies. Audre, whose original name was Audrey Geraldine Lorde; at the age of four she learned how to talk while she learned to read. Audre’s mother taught her to write and during that time Audre dislike the way her name was spelled, she didn’t like the tail of the “Y’ hanging down below the line, so she would omit it; she loved the evenness of Audre Lorde. This inspired Audre to write a part autobiography and part revisionary myth called Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. I loved the way she opens with a beautiful question of spiritual and intellectual indebtedness, “To whom do I owe the power behind my voice, what strength I have become, yeasting up like sudden blood from under the bruised skin’s blister?” Zami tells the story of- as Audre said it “coming out blackened and whole,” in the story she expresses her identity as a fierce black lesbian woman, she talks about becoming a loving woman, a poet, a creator of self-authored words and perceptions. In Lodre’s words “Zami” is a “biomythography” which is combining history, biography, and myth. She also focuses on her developing lesbian identity and her response to racism in the white feminist and gay communities, and to sexism and…
APA (American Psychological Association) Style writing is widely used across all fields of study and is regularly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This paper details the basic structure of an APA paper, provides resources and tips to assist authors during the writing process. As stated by the Publication Manual of the APA, an abstract is “a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly and, like a title, it enables persons interested in the document to retrieve it from abstracting and indexing databases” (2010, p. 25). Applying and understanding the method of APA Style writing and its usage requirements and by referencing resources properly with in-text citations and reference entries, you will undoubtedly connect with your readers.…
The greatest challenge for health care is for the Elderly. The elderly population has been rising steadily for the past few decades. The elderly population is usually defined as people aged 65 years or above. However, a longer life span in the elderly population brings along poorer health. This involves an increased demand for health care services for elderly people. About two-thirds of the elderly population has limited or no monthly income and this generation will have to bear the burden of financing the provision of health care services for the elderly. Long-term care services for the elderly represent a significant share of total health care spending and an area of increasing concern for legislatures.…