In her 44 years of teaching, she inspired countless black teenagers in a time where minorities' schools were implacable. I enjoyed this essay because I strongly believe that one inspirational teacher can change the lives of many students. My high-school had a teacher…
One name hasn’t represented so much, to so many people, since biblical times. Michael Jordan, a man who grew up in a nation divided, a nation struggling, was not as deeply effected as other blacks in the United States were. He excelled in baseball as well as basketball, a sport that was on the ropes, losing money as well as support more rapidly than ever at the professional level. This did not stop him however. Michael, who wasn’t highly recruited, went to the University of North Carolina. He took a Dean Smith system to heights it had never seen before. This was a team that had been close to winning an NCAA championship, but never could finish the job. Jordan changed that, leading the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA championship and winning it for them in the final seconds. This was only Jordan’s freshman year at UNC, and he was already grabbing national attention. Although this was arguably the highest accolade Jordan would accomplish during his 3-year NCAA career, when he turned pro it was a completely different story.…
In the article “King’s Daughter Cancels off-Broadway Appearance to Attend Memorial Here,” published in the March 9th, 1983 issue of The Falcon Times, author Drewzon Robinson explains the significance of Yolanda King’s presence at Miami Dade College North Campus. The article emphasizes her passion for educating the new generation on the continuation of her father’s dream. King expresses, “the dream is still only a dream and we must cease premature celebration and get back to the work that is still left to be done” (qtd. in “Robinson” 1). This remark by King implies that the work of her father continues to instill an urgency to mitigate poverty, violence, and racism in the United States. Drewzon reports that King compels her audience to take…
Sojourner Truth became the strongest symbol of African American women during an era where both sexism and racism were prominent issues. Her life was not easy. She was sold into slavery several times. Her family and friends were constantly taken away from her and sold into slavery. Sojourner Truth’s use of appeals, repetition, and rhetorical questions in her speech “Aren’t I a Women?” illuminates her women’s rights argument.…
Professor of History at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Dr. Cynthia Griggs Fleming is qualified author of this literature. Her specialties are in twentieth century United States Cultural and Social History particularly in the modern civil rights movement, race relations, and black educational history. She teaches a survey course in African Americans studies, as well as course in a course in Black in Film, History and Philosophy of African American Education, African American Women in American Society, and Civil Rights course. Cynthia Flemings have written heavily on the civil right movement. Not only did this she write this book, but has published articles on black activism and African American identity in journal such as The Journal of Negro History, The Tennessee Historical Quarterly, The Journal of Woman’s History, and The Irish Journal of American History. Dr. Fleming also is writing the authorized biography of C.T. Vivian and the impact of civil rights movement on the Alabama Black Belt County.…
Davis, Angela Y. “I Am a Revolutionary Black Woman.” In Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform and Renewal: An African American Anthology, edited by Marable, Manning, and Leith Mullings. Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.…
African American abolitionists and women's rights activist, Sojourner Truth expresses in her speech, Ain’t I A Woman (1851), that women should have rights given unto them, no matter what race. She first supports her claim by recognizing that men say women should be helped through their daily lives, yet she has never been helped in any way. She continues by telling of the hardships she faces daily. Although she is facing more than what most white men face, she is not classified as a women based on rights in society. Truth establishes an optimistic view on the subject of women’s rights for her audience, while forming a straightforward, hopeful tone.…
Shirley Chisholm was a “Rough Rider” straight out of the gate. Her mother said at 3 years old, she was bossing kids 3 and 4 years older than her. To know Shirley Chisholm, is to know that she was small in stature but, she had a lot of tenacity. Due to the economic situation in the United States her parents could not afford a good education, so they sent Shirley and her sisters back to Barbados to live with their maternal grandmother, for about 7 years. Her education in the strict, British-style schools of Barbados, she credits with her ease with speaking and writing. After attending those schools, when she returned to the states, she was several years ahead of her peers.…
Maria W. Stewart delivered an emotionally charged lecture that expressed her views regarding African American freedom and treatment in America. Stewart addresses many other positions and logically appeals to them. Stewart was trying to send the audience a message of awareness to the continued injustices and mental barriers America is facing. She uses allusions, pathos, and anecdotal evidence to effectively portray her position.…
I am doing this review over the album Just Who I am, by Kenny Chesney.…
Leslie, Kent. Woman of Color Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995.…
This book looks at attitudes toward education and the unequal access to education in general for black citizens of Jackson. And even when some colored women would be well educated like Yul May the racism happening wouldn’t let them be anything else than a maid. College for Jackson's white women is more of a place to find a husband than a place to get a good education. Skeeter is even considered a failure at college because she didn't find a husband. Minny and Aibileen both have little formal education but are both very literate in terms of literature and current events, more so at times than many of their white…
June Jordan fights for the recognition of Black English because she feels that the language is disappearing into a world where nobody cares. However, it is not the dialect that she is urging to be taught in schools, it is the importance of the language. Jordan believes that schools, media, and families have stripped the importance out of Black English. She writes that Black English encloses "life, voice, and clarity" and that Standard English does not withhold these properties. Jordan uses a student of hers, Willie Jordan, to show an example of a student trying to regain the confidence of his past. Willie's story shows the dramatic affects of learning by Standard English and how racism goes unnoticed. The African American culture and language has been pushed further and further into assimilation, and Jordan believes that study of Standard English in schools promotes writing that is verbally correct but not what is sincere. Jordan also looks at the use of Black English compared to the languages in other countries. India and Nicaragua all have a multilingual language. She demonstrates that all citizens of these countries, despite the various languages, are permitted to formal education in their own languages. Jordan argues in her essay that it is time for all people to open their eyes to the importance of each individuals language, culture, and…
Melba Beals was one of the nine African American students to go to an all white school. These events challenged her because she was facing lots of racial comments and actions. “Some of the white people looked totally horrified while others raised fists to us, others shouted ugly words” (Beals). People didn’t want her to go to school she wasn’t able to go for a few days. She felt proud for changing her society and showing people she can go to school. “I felt proud and sad at the same time. Proud that I lived in a country that would go this far to bring Justice to a little rock girl like me, but sad that they had to go to such great lengths” (Beals). Melba Beals had the courage as an African American student to go to a white school and in the path she changed her country and…
Lisa Schroeder’s “I Heart You, You Haunt Me,” tells the story of a 15-year-old girl named Ava who experiences the loss of her boyfriend. She tries to live her life, but she can't help but feel guilty. She can still hear his voice in whispers in her mind. She can see the little notes he's leaving her. She loves him, but she only to feels more guilt every time he pops into her mind.…