She even hoped that it could lead her to a piece of her Mother’s past that was never reclaimed and it did. The picture lead Lily to the people that her Mother held dear to her heart: The Boatwright Sisters. The Boatwright Sisters were hardworking, educated, black women. They did not judge Lily because of her skin. There were no judgments cast.
Before then, Walker had not encountered any racially based situations. California was more integrated then Georgia was at the time. Her artwork takes the theme of what it does today because of racism in Georgia at that time. She was continuously reminded that she was African American, and she was made fun of because of it. She had a firsthand witness to racism in America, and that helped form her artistic style into what it is today.
Black women living in the United States leading up to and during the civil rights era were unable to express themselves due to the closed minds of white America. In the essay “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens” Alice Walker goes into great detail about the oppressions of African American women who were forced to endure not only racism and sexism, but classism as well. Walker goes on to talk about how spirituality is the only tool they had that could not be taken away. This was kept alive through folklore and anything else they could get a hold of that helped them to escape reality. Within the essay Walker speaks of several different instances of women before and during her time that were visionaries of indescribable proportions.
Single sisters of wives who died young were supposed to marry and take care of the widower and the children. Slavery was the main problem of southern culture.Regarding the interest of her white employers, black women should ignore her own family and her own desires. And in the writing about history, many men believed that the capacity of women was to make things happen in the domestic area so that only men could be historical agents, however, they all had at least a mother, a sister or daughters and they were totally aware of their capacities. As for the place of the women in the south, it was believed that they were satisfied with their assigned places. Certainly, no southern lady, they thought, desires to change her legal and moral situation.
Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" was far ahead of its time in both depicting the everyday life of black people in a way that everyone can understand and discuss the oppression that black people still felt even though strides had been taken towards civil rights. According to NPR, Hansberry shared the aims for this play with her husband. "Hansberry told her husband she wanted to write a social drama about blacks that was good art. Instead of stereotyped characters that would bear no resemblance to actual people, she invented a situation that was sometimes painfully realistic. The plot revolves around what her characters do given the opportunity to escape their cramped surroundings" (NPR).
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton discussed the possibility of a women's rights convention when they were prevented from speaking at an anti-slavery convention in London in 1840. However, after the Civil War, some of the suffragettes were outraged when black men got the vote but not white women. Susan B. Anthony wrote indignantly about: "Patrick and Sambo and Wong Tong making laws for the daughters of Adams and Jefferson, women of wealth and education". As with the suffragette movement in the UK, there was a strong class element to the struggle. The suffragette movement gained strength in America after black men got the vote (though most southern black men were effectively disenfranchised by literacy laws, the poll tax, threats and intimidation etc).
It is obvious that Hurston wanted a good education from the beginning, to start off in the already rough everyday life of the racial period for African Americans. At the time, it was a difficult time period for blacks, and she knew she would have to go the extra mile no other African American woman had attempted yet. She wanted to have a good chance to become a noticeable, talented writer, and had achieved this success through her most knowledgeable novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. After finishing college, completing many books, and taking many simple, low paying jobs, Hurston found herself poverty struck and charged for a crime. "After suffering many setbacks, including the allegation of committing an immoral act with a minor (which was later dropped), Hurston returned to the life of poverty," (Doe 1).
Song and Literature through Vernacular Tradition For many years African Americans struggled with racism, prejudice inequality and oppression. They were taken from their families deprived of reading, writing, and learning and had their god given rights taken away. Through all the struggle, fighting and battles they never gave up and kept pushing forward for a brighter day. They did this so through music, song and dance known as the Vernacular Tradition. These were forms of expression, which enabled them to make it through those hard times and gave a voice and a form of self -awareness and endurance.
Eventually Truth became a mother to numerous children, most of whom were sold as slaves to various families. In 1826, when her master refused to honor his offer of freedom in exchange for her hard work, Truth took her youngest child and fled. In 1827, she attained legal freedom pursuant to a New York statute. Truth moved to New York City and became involved in organizations assisting in the attainment of rights for both blacks and women. Though it was well known that Truth could neither read nor write, she overcame such limitations by becoming a powerfully adept activist fighting racial discrimination, and persuasively championing for blacks' rights to vote.
“To Kill A Mockingbird“: Literary Analysis Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird portrays life through a young girl’s eyes as she grows up and begins to realize that everything is not black and white. During a time where blacks were basically thought of as dirt and little girls were expected to sit still and help out around help put around the house, it is evident that that the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is being put top good use. The basic theme of the novel is civil rights. What happens to Tom Robinson is an injustice, and could only happen to a black man in the South during the 1930s. It could even be said that the predominantly white justice system killed Tom Robinson.