women saw themselves and society.
women saw themselves and society.
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.…
The poem "homage to my hips" by Lucille Clifton is meant to convey the author's embrace of her femininity and her body. She uses metaphors throughout the poem to convey her acceptance of her own body and to urge other women to do the same. The poem also challenges social norms that apply to women and the beauty ideal. Additionally, Clifton alludes to the need for empowering women. In the opening lines of "Homage to My Hips," Clifton describes how her hips are big and how "they don't fit into little petty places." This line explains how the size and shape of her hips do not fit into the socially accepted beauty ideal of thinness. She then talks about her hips being free and how "these hips have never been enslaved." This line is meant to be…
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.…
When Alvin Ailey’s Cry premiered in 1971, Judith Jamison was praised for her tour-de- force 16-minute solo. An original New York Times review expressed that “She looks like an African goddess”. Cry - originally a gift for Ailey’s mother - was dedicated to “all black women everywhere, especially our mothers”. This work, one of Ailey’s greatest successes, evokes an emotional journey, as the performance depicts the struggles of African American women suffering the extraordinary hardships of slavery. Through self- determination, these women overcome their tribulations to attain justice and emancipation. [insert argument here]…
The horrors of slavery is one that should not be made light of. The dehumanization of blacks during this time, forced our ancestors to endure the most devastating genocide in human history. On one episode of the tv show, Saturday night live, Host and cast member Colin Jost and Leslie Jones discuss the actress Lupita Nyong’o being named as People Magazine's “Most beautiful person”. Jones questions the standards that defy beauty by comparing America today to America in slavery times. Although Jones's rant is seemingly subversive because it emphasizes the fact that black women are undervalued, while simultaneously challenging the standards of beauty, Jones reference to a sensitive topic in our county’s history in order to prove this point-…
“The Coming of Age in Mississippi” has covered many stereotypes of how black women are perceived. For Anne Moody, her identity as an African American female weakened her individuality, in addition too her diligence; Anne Moody’s perseverance resulted in her powerful transformation of abandoning the rules of how African American women present themselves. From the past to the present, African American women had a hard time proving their identity to the cultural norms people established in their community, in the media, in the white society and surprisingly enough in the black society because of limitations and pressures created on them.…
. “A Poem about my Rights,” written by June Jordan, and “Ain’t I a Woman,” by Sojourner Truth were both poems, although Sojourner Truth’s was a speech that was being written as she spoke, they both spoke about equal rights for women. However, I believe that “A Poem about my Rights,” delivered a more powerful message because it expressed the idea of not only women’s rights, but a general idea of equal rights. I also believe that “A Poem about my Rights” depicted more description within its language and imagery.…
Respect is something that everyone in their life wants to have and knows that it takes a lot to gain it. During the 1940’s and the 1950’s woman in general did not have a lot of respect, but if you were a Black woman during this time, it was even worse. In Gwendolyn Brook’s novel Maud Martha, displays the idea that Black woman had to be beautiful, obedient, and is able to produce children in order to have respect. Gwendolyn Brooks brings this idea forward with her characters Helen and Martha in her novel Maud Martha.…
Feminism is defined as the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. However, feminism for colored women is slightly different because it ties sexism into oppression and racism. Throughout Brenda DoHarris’s novel, Calabash Parkway, feminism is displayed on numerous occasions by the Guyanese women being portrayed in the story. There are examples of feminism in Thelma Thompson’s novel, Bay Leaves and Cinnamon Sticks, by Miss Millie, a Jamaican woman who finds work in the United States. The meaning of feminism amongst women of color can be analyzed in several ways.…
All throughout 20th century America, African Americans such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dorothy Height were fighting hard for what they believed were human rights that could not be denied, such as the right to vote or the right to be served in a place like a restaurant. All the while, this civil rights movement was distinguished by the work of countless artists, authors, singers, and humanitarians who made the public aware of injustices done. These works helped to inspire and encourage fellow African Americans to protest for their rights, but also served to provide a first-hand account to future Americans reading of what life was like throughout this ordeal. Through a combination of the historical and biographical lenses, authors such as…
It is hard for me to admit that I'm afraid. Being a black woman in today’s society, I constantly feel the pressure to prove something. The pressure to destigmatize, and rise above—to be better than the ill-gotten images depicted of my race and sex. The pressure to carry the entirety of my race and sex wherever I go, yet still be an individual. Facing all the pressure to become the model “strong independent black woman,” I am hesitant to admit I am afraid because fear is seen as weakness. Picture a horse or deer with their stick-like legs shaking in fright in cartoons—the stark opposite of historically mightier figures like lions or jaguars which portray power and confidence. However, what one may forget is the legs of that horse help pull the weight of 400 pounds, and the body of a dear can annihilate a two-ton vehicle. So fear—or what looks like fear—isn’t always a bad thing.…
African American women have played a significant role throughout history in the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality. Beginning with abolitionist movements, struggles for fair suffrage, improvement of race relations, and educational facilities, they have been an unrelenting force in promoting equal justice for all. Yet this mighty force has rarely been recognized among studies and history books. It has not been until recently that African American women’s accomplishments became an area of concentration and their efforts recognized as a hand that not only advocated change, but also led the movement for social improvement. This pattern of discrediting the works of African American females was even carried over to the Civil Rights Era.…
Developing in today's society and culture, I recently realized what it truly means to be a black women living in America. Going to a high school where I am a minority by all meanings of the word, I was not aware of how I was being perceived by other. This unknown ignorance helped me go through my first year of high school without faltering in knowing what I thought I stood for. My lack of understanding my role in society was why I felt a sense of false serenity about the stability of the world around me. It was not until the exposure of modern discrimination, which crept its way into the news or on social media, that I began noticing how my values in time of crisis for both the black and female community varied greatly from the students around…
Regardless of the art form used to take a stand against oppression, the artistic tools of music, literature, dance, or photography can provide a way to reject social subjugation. In the case of Black women artists they took a stance against rape, murder, racial discrimination, and gender injustices. Harrison also believed that Black women through the expression of art were able to disrupt the notions of culture, race, gender, and any notions that demarcated their own lives (Harrison 2002).…
Black feminism has evolved and created new forms of activism that speaks to the special needs of women in the twentieth century. Although the relationship between Black women and Black feminist theory primarily feature poets and musicians, visual artists have influenced and participated in these movements. Historical narratives of are often not discussed in contemporary Black feminism. Before the 1970s, Maria Stewart and Ida B. Wells played an important role in establishing a Black feminist thought that is modeled in new forms of contemporary feminism without proper recognition (James, 1999; Collins, 2000). In this paper, I examine the exclusion of the histories, theories, and movements that comprise Black feminist thought and how these moments…