Similarities Between Equiano And Douglass

Since the African-Americans came over to the Land of the “Free”, to the emancipation proclamation of the 1960s, and even to the Brown V Board of Education case in the 1950s, the “Black Experience” has evolved in the past 200 years. From the idea of racism today, to the definition of freedom, and to how the black experience is viewed in society in the 21st century.

Olaudah Equiano was the first African writer to reach a sizable American audience. His journey to America wasn’t glamorous, as it was full of heartbreak, torment, and suffering. Equiano was born in West Africa (now Nigeria) and was taken from his home to be put onto a slave ship. By age 11, he and his sister were kidnapped and then separated for seven months. They were reunited when
Equiano was taken from his home to be a slave and was separated from his family at an older age, slavery was new to him and he did not have a chance to escape it while on the Caribbean. Equiano was eventually able to purchase his freedom in 1766. Douglas was born into slavery, knowing it and living in the fear of slavery his whole life. Douglas was separated from his mother as a baby, but there was hope for him. The North granted him freedom and Douglas was able to escape and start a family in the 1800s. After Douglas, there was a void. For two years, there was a vacant position as a black leader in America. There was no one to represent them in the segregated America that had claimed everyone was “equal”. Everyone was equal, but if your skin was darker than your neighbors, you went to different schools. If your skin color was darker than you had to go to poor unkempt restaurants while you gotta watch whites enjoy gourmet restaurants but you weren’t allowed to step into that building. Heaven forbid you shake hands with someone who has a different skin color than you. Martin Luther King Jr. saw this issue and took the stance. His boycotting, speeches, and more brought awareness to America. Martin Luther’s “I Have a Dream Speech” points out the gap between the American dream, and the American reality. “But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)This speech was presented in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Slavery had been abolished for nearly 100 years, but there was still racism in America. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table