Mary was the first black women appointed to the Board of Education, she became the first president of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, and she was the first women president of the Bethel Literary and Historical Society. Mary speaks about the trials and tribulations African Americans had to endure during the early 1900’s, and how situations continue to worsen as time goes on. In her speech she goes on to make references how colored people are not being treated fairly and with dignity she believes they deserve. She makes it easy for her listeners to understand these injustices by referencing topics her audience can relate to. Her story about how a young colored women was turned away from a job just because the color of her skin can be linked with how women with higher capabilities than their male counterparts are still not receiving the position.
Nhi Tran Professor Nicholas Cox History 1301 25 November 2014 Persuasive Strategies from Harriet Jacobs Anti-slavery or abolitionism is a movement to end slavery in the nineteenth century. Many abolitionists and writers such as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Lydia Maria Child use literature to fight for slaves’ freedom and human equality. Another standout abolitionist is Harriet Jacobs, an African- American writer who escapes from slavery and becomes abolitionist speaker. She contributes to anti-slavery movement in American history with her Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one of the first autobiographical slave narratives. Under the pseudonym Linda Brent, Jacobs uses her pen to describe her struggle for freedom,
“Ar’n’t I a woman?” Sojourner Truth was an uneducated African American abolitionist and a women’s right activist. She was born Isabella Baumfree, a slave. She faced many trials and tribulations during the time she was enslaved. After getting her freedom she sued to get her son back, who was illegally sold. Truth went on to win the case, which made her one of the first African American women to sue a white man and win.
When she came back to visit, she had changed her name to Wangero which she believed represented her heritage more so than “being named after the people who oppress me” (112). Dee’s personal struggle to overcome the oppression directly parallels the African American community’s struggle to overcome oppression. The evolution of the African American community in society can creatively be seen through Alice Walker’s development of the characters Mama, Maggie, and Dee. Walker also uses possessions to creatively represent the heritage of the family. Through the three characters, Walker symbolizes the struggles and success of the African American community.
Josh Beatty Mrs. Moore Honors English 10 April 28th, 2011 The majority of people have been picked on or teased at some point in their life. Racism in the 1960’s was an extreme form of bullying. The civil rights movement was occurring in this time. The Secret Life of Bees happens during this hard, and wonderful, time for African Americans, specifically 1964, wonderful because they were getting their rights as an American citizen. In the book, Rosaleen, an African American housekeeper and nanny, gets upset with the bullying and the overpowering of the whites and acts out; this acting out gets her put in jail.
The talented tenth was an article written in 1903 by W.E.B. Du Bois. It was about the efforts of the American Baptist Missionary Home Society trying to start black colleges which would train African American teachers. W.E.B Du Bois fought for civil rights for black people in the United States. During the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties, he was the person most responsible for the changes in conditions for black people in American society.
For example, in the online article “Eleanor Roosevelt and Civil Rights” it notes that back in the 1930’s racism was a controversial issue. Many were still felt that blacks and white should be separated. Eleanor became a key advocate for assimilation of races. Though, she wasn’t against segregation until she came to the White House. After Eleanor became aware of the inequities for African Americans with regard to their rights, she gave it the much deserved attention it required.
Truth then went on to lecture in antislavery and women’s rights movements. It was during her time with the women’s rights movement that Truth delivered her Aint I a Women speech in Akron, Ohio, on May 1851. In this speech, Truth not only addresses the struggle of women, but also the duality of the black women in that they have to combat not only racism, but sexism as well. She begins by talking about how men perceive women as frail saying “Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages and lifted ober ditches and to hab de best place everywhar.” (68). But then she goes on to say that she has never received such treatment from a man and isn’t she a woman as well?
Europeans started bringing African-Americans to America back in the mid -1500s. Two and a half centuries of slavery and segregation stop black men and women from exercising their rights. They were denied the right to vote and if they tried to vote they were either beaten or even killed for trying to do so. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was formed in 1909. It’s sole purpose was to try to abolish segregation and discrimination in housing, education, employment, voting, and transportation and securing for African Americans their constitutional rights.
Citizens should be encouraged to embrace their citizenship, and not merely as a duty, but as a meaningful opportunity to participate in their own government for the sake of common good and in building the culture of life. In addition, it is an exercise of significant individual power. Now, most Americans will tell you that our politicians have all the power, but I disagree. Although it is true that our politicians do make the laws, here in the United States of America, the people have the authority. If an individual does not vote, then that individual cannot argue or comment on the outcome of what our politicians do.