How Did Lucille Clifton Impact The Civil Rights Movement

While the United States was founded upon the belief of freedom, there has never been a true sense of freedom. Throughout history and even in today’s society, groups continue to be oppressed, whether it be based on their gender, race, sexuality, or another aspect. In the past, these groups pushed back and tried their best to gain the “freedom” the USA promised them, leading to multiple movements for rights. One of the most memorable ones would be the Civil Rights Movement. Another that can be thought of is the Women’s Suffrage Movement. While the people who rallied behind the cause and were leading the movement are thanked for their bravery and sacrifices, there are also the people who have worked behind the scenes to further these movements. One of the areas that these people used to have an impact is the field of literature.
People don't need to even study literature in school or become authors as a job to be able to have an impact on the way that literature portrays difficulties in life. One of such is Lucille Clifton who was born in 1936. This was during the time of the Civil Rights Movement along with the woman suffrage movement. While she went to college and went on to work as a clerk and as a literature assistant, she never studied writing in college. But she wrote poems as an outlet to her frustrations with the way society was treating women. It was not until it was her during her mid-thirties that she was recognized as a poet and that was only due to her winning a competition with her poetry. (In-text