"The motive that these women have on the male characters is a significant one. Gaines eloquently depicts Tante Lou and Miss Emma, both African American women. They were a big part in many of the male characters' lives. Whether it was being house maids at the Henri Pichot's house, or becoming surrogate mothers for our protagonist grant, they were important to those in their immediate community.…
Women on the plantation, both black and white, were not merely left behind during the Civil War, but instead right at the center of victories and defeat. Beautiful pictures are created of southern belles and beaux with lavish entertainment, yet the strenuous work needed to maintain the extravagant estates is left out.…
Living as African American women of lower economic status during Henrietta’s time compared to life now are very different lifestyles, yet there are similarities.…
The novel Born in the Delta: Reflections on the Making of a Southern White Sensibility, was written by Margaret Jones Bolsterli. Margaret Jones Bolsterli grew up in the Arkansas Delta on land that has been in her family for more than 150 years. Margaret Bolsterli is the author or editor of four University of Arkansas Press Books: Born in the Delta, During Wind and Rain, Vinegar Pie and Chicken Bread, and A Remembrance of Eden. Margaret taught Women’s Studies at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for 25 years, educating not just individuals but families. The novel, Born in the Delta: Reflections on the Making of a Southern White Sensibility, was about Margaret Bolsterli describing growing up in the Arkansas Delta during the 1930s and 1940s. She describes the southern history and its culture. Bolsterli particularly, describes white family life and community life in the Mississippi River Delta and consideration of what being a U.S. southerner means. Born in the Delta is a revelation and social analysis of what the south is like and it comprehends on Bolsterli bi-regional, bi-cultural, and international experience to interpret the south and where she lives now. In this book, Bolsterli also courageously confronts racial conflicts, violence, the Confederacy, and her own family secrets. In Born in the Delta, Margaret Bolsterli was trying say why as well as how Southerners are the way they are. She delivered this through each one of here themes. Bolsterli themes are the southerner’s strong sense of place, the penchants for stories rather than conversation; things rather than ideas; violence; blackness and whiteness as organizers of social relationship; manner the repressive functions of southern religion; respect for books and learning; special food in African and the Native custom; and the presence of the Civil War in the presence. Besides the Southerners' peculiar way of talking, by telling stories and intimating instead of stating ideas,…
Phyllis Wheatly was born a slave in colonial Boston unusually. the family the that she was taught to read and write to that even though she did not have her freedom and could not sit with the family in church, she had skills that most slaves were not allowed and eventually she put her knowledge to use and wrote poems that were so fine they were published in…
The reviewer focused on the different parts of history of the African American woman as well as the history of all women as a whole. She broke up the review by discussing each chapter to coincide with Davis’ break up of her book and…
She strongly states all terms and purposes of which she wrote the book. Her passionate writing beheld the truth behind the slavery in the South which was brought attention to the North. She held accountable the evils of those who were ignorant and those who defied their Christian principles. In this book, she showed through both religion and characters that slavery was an absolute…
Eudora Welty grew up in rural areas, where segregation was strongly enforced. Back then colored people weren’t as privileged as white people. Eudora Welty wrote many of her stories based on her life experience. Phoenix Jackson, the story’s main character in A Worn Path, lived in “a society…
Laura Jane Addams was born on September 6, 1860 in Cedarville, Illinois, into a privileged middle class family. As a young child, Jane, as they called her, knew hardships. At the age of two her mother died. Soon after, Addams had been struck with tuberculosis leaving her with a deformed spine. Still having her father to carry her through, she would try to live life as normal as possible. Jane often would travel to the mills her father owned; playing in the piles of grain in the storerooms. At the age of seven, while on route to one of her father’s mills, she saw a neighborhood that was very impoverished. Addams found out that the world was not all ice cream cones, clean clothes, and having others wait on you. Addams decided at that young age, that she was going to have a “big house” in the middle of a poverty stricken neighborhood.…
By many, poetry is looked upon as being a language of its own. It’s a way of creatively expressing unique emotions, thoughts, and beliefs with the use of many literary devices. American poetry has been the most important form of writing throughout history. Many famous authors, such as Lucille Clifton, used poetry to document the most major times in history in which they lived, such as the Feminist Movement in the 1960s. During this time, women experienced a significant amount of gender discrimination and harassment, which inspired Lucille Clifton to incorporporate metaphors, similes, and symbolism in many of her poems to raise awareness about the power of women.…
Giovanni observed that even though African American families were in the middle of segregation, her family was “quite happy” (24). Giovanni mentions “How good the water felt when you got a bath from one of those big tubs that folk in Chicago barbecue in” (7-8). Her poem reflects all of the good times she has had with her family during the Civil Rights Era. Her word choice of “Happy birthdays and very good Christmases” (20) shows people how her family was happy through rougher times.…
Francis and Ida O’Keeffe, Georgia’s parents, named her Georgia Totto O‘Keeffe after her Hungarian grandfather, George Victor Totto. The O’Keeffe’s, an immigrant family from Ireland, had settled in the same town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, ten years before the Totto’s, in 1848. Georgia’s mother and father, Francis and Ida, grew up as neighbors. When they got older, both families favored a marriage between the two. Although Ida aspired to be a doctor, she obediently agreed to the marriage in 1884. Georgia’s mother spent much time educating all of her children, but Georgia was not the favorite and didn’t get much attention from her mother. Growing up in a family with five other brothers and sisters, Georgia’s character developed to be quiet and independent. Colors and objects fascinated Georgia from an early age; and by the time she was in eighth grade, she had already dedicated herself to becoming an artist.…
The education system in the mid-twentieth south was tremendously violent and hard for African Americans. The schools discriminated against them and weren't accepting in anyway. Teacher that would accept or offer help to non-white students would either be persecuted, fired or murdered. In the matter of the education system schools were persuaded to not teach Africans in the same manners as whites. In the life of Anne Moody, she was tormented and scorn for an education.…
Throughout the history of African Americans, there have been important historical figures as well as times. Revered and inspirational leaders and eras like, Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, Nat Turner and the slave revolt, or Huey Newton and the Black Panther Party. One such period that will always remain a significant part of black art and culture is the Harlem Renaissance. It changed the meaning of art and poetry, as it was known then. Furthermore, the Harlem Renaissance forever left a mark on the evolution of the black culture.…
African American literature has a strong deeply rooted background in the history of America, thus giving the writers categorized in this genre a strong message to convey in any story they chose to tell. From tragic life moments to happy life moments, the writers have the ability to tell their story in a variety of methods. This canon of literature serves as a diary for the African American community. All of the literary works that compile this genre reflect the many twists and turns a collective group of persons must endure while struggling to achieve a place in history. The following discussion of three historically significant African American stories reflects the struggles one race of persons had to endure on their journey throughout various time periods in America.…