...Famous Creative Thinkers PHL/458 August 12, 2013 James Hal Cone and Cornel Ronald West are two individuals famous for using creative thinking to impact society and history. Hal Cone is a black theologian and Cornel West is a philosopher. This paper will focus on each individual’s unique contributions to society, ideas used to solve a specific issue, how the ideas were applied, personal and political background, creative thinking process, and a critique of their thoughts. From religion, oppression, educational segregation, and the Civil Rights movement, Hal Cone and Cornel West made a remarkable amount of progressive contributions to society. The contributions made by Hal Cone and Cornel West are often over-looked by today’s youth. Black American youth and young adults in particular have become somewhat distant form Black history because the way things appears in today’s society. What is overlooked, and should often be recapped is; without the endurance and dedication within the creative minds of these two creative thinkers, it’s possible that oppression and segregation would still remain a part of our society. Many Civil Rights leaders are responsible for the equality growth in our culture, and Hal Cone and Cornel West has been influential in ensuring Blacks continued to advance in America’s society. Both men contributed an important view to Civil Rights, and is known as leaders who changed the way...
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...towards the end of the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that those who were once slaves were to be set free; however much more than a document would be needed to diminish the ideas and attitudes white people continued to hold onto. Into the 1960’s, one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclaimed was written, African Americans were still suffering from inequality and discrimination. The need to end racial segregation and discrimination sparked the build up to The Civil Rights Movement. Like society, literary trends started to focus on racism and prejudice. In particular, the principled southern-bred writer Langston Hughes shows social injustices and racial prejudice in his writings because he experienced the culture first hand. His poems became the voice for African American’s because he clearly depicts the emotions they felt during this time. Literature as a whole grasped the public’s attention towards The Civil Rights Movement to show the importance of social equality. Langston Hughes’ poems “Merry-Go-Round” and “Dreams” express how necessary it is to put segregation in the past, and encourage African Americans to stay hopeful in order to reach their dream of living in a racially equal America. The Civil Rights Movement was victorious because many African Americans did not get discouraged and lose spirit, but instead properly fought to change the peoples’ mindset by demonstrating unity and nonviolent tactics. During the Civil Rights Movement, it was easy for African...
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...time, then when would it be considered a wise and timely point in history to do so? African Americans experienced over 340 years of oppression, segregation, and utmost hatred toward their race in America. In Birmingham, Alabama, the most segregated community in the country, Dr. King viewed more hatred toward his people than anywhere else. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” he did not seek to solve all issues through writing, but to give the “white man” a general consensus of the situation and seek their understanding, not only as a civil rights advocate, but as a “Clergyman and Christian Brother.” The African-American community sought to negotiate peacefully with the city fathers, but they refused. The question then arose: Why they did not turn to violent action after the constant failure of nonviolent negotiation? Dr. King understood that, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue,” otherwise meaning that the only way civil disobedience can be successful is if the oppressor recognizes it as a volatile action against their past actions. If the African...
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...The United States has a disappointing history of treating minorities, or non-whites, with apathetic behavior. The Civil Rights Movement, which has roots in the 19th century and peaked in the 1960s, reversed the trend and granted African Americans with anti-discriminatory legislation. Because of this, almost every minority within the country has followed the Civil Rights Movement as a guide for achieving equal treatment. In her essay, “Speaking in Tongues”, Zadie Smith outlines the differences of those with a single voice, or the native dialect, versus people who utilize a multitude of voices. Furthermore, this relates to the Civil Rights Movement because the leaders who were “lettered” had their own voice in addition to other voices which provided...
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...The Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that began in the 1920s, brought an excitement and a new found freedom and voice to African-Americans who had been silent and oppressed for a long time. In Harlem between the 1920s to 1930s the African American culture flourished especially in arts and music. The Harlem Renaissance helped lay the foundation for the post-World War II protest movement of the Civil Rights Movement. During this period, Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith were a few of the new, up and coming, artists during the Renaissance period. Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Pops" emerged in the 1920s and became an...
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...African-Americans were singled out and isolated in the southern part of the United States. He enrolled and graduated from a public school at the age of fifteen and earned his diploma in Sociology from Morehouse College in 1948. He later enrolled at a graduate school in Boston where he met his wife, Coretta Scott, who understood Martin’s purpose in the African-American society. Martin continued the legacy of his father and grandfather and joined the Ebenezer Baptist church, serving as co-pastor alongside his father. In this little Baptist church is where Martin Luther King Jr. began to instill has beliefs and values amongst the African-American society. As an African-American minister and belligerent leader, people looked up to him as he fought for the rights of the African-American society. Cornel West was born on June2, 1953 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He attended Harvard and received his graduate degree from Princeton. His influential book, Race Matters, was published one year after the Los Angeles riots. He was admonished by Harvard president Laurence Summers in 2001 for his political pursuits. He eventually resigned his position with Harvard and moved to Princeton. He has garnered many enemies through his advocating of the black, brown, poor and working class people. Martin Luther King Jr....
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...published in 1962 and received with immediate success (SparkNotes.com). Section 2 – Biographical Information La Junta, Colorado is the birthplace of novelist Ken Kesey. He was born in 1935 and grew up on a small farm in Oregon and Colorado with his family. He married his high school sweetheart in 1956 and they had three children together (Lone Star College). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon where he participated in wrestling and theater in 1957 (Lone Star College; SparkNotes.com). In 1959, Kesey enrolled in a creative writing program at Stanford University, the same year where he began volunteering with the Stanford Psychology Department (CliffsNotes.com; Lone Star College). The Stanford Psychology Department was conducting experiments with the hallucinogenic drug, LSD. He became interested in how the drug gave him an alternative form of perception (SparkNotes.com). After his creative writing course and the Stanford experiments he became a volunteer in the U.S. government’s experiments with the psychotropic drug, LSD and hallucinogenic drugs psilocybin (mushrooms) and mescaline...
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...Frederick Douglass, a slave whom evolved to editor, public speaker and a leader in the abolitionist movement, expresses his own struggles of learning as a slave in the early 1800s in his piece “Learning to Read and Write”. As a slave, Douglass studies how to read and write with the help of those around him. He eventually succeeds in achieving his ambitions, yet, remains with the desire to become a free man. As he gains more knowledge, Douglass has to change the methods he acquires his education to elude the punishment from the slave owners; he resorts to enticing children to assist him in learning during his free time. Douglass uses complex vocabulary, strong diction and unique metaphors to provide his audience with a clear and undisputed perspective of his opinion on slavery. His determination, through his writing, encourages the audience to support the abolitionist movement to cease the horrid practice of slavery. Uniquely, Douglass uses metaphors to help convey a heightened sense of emotion and imagery to his piece. He has effectively expressed his inspiring devotion to acquire knowledge, and his undying determination to become a free man; however, his achievements became a dark pit of despair upon his realization of his grim reality....
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...Individualism Individual is the moral stance, Political Philosophy, Ideaology, or Social outlook that enfaces the moral worth of the individual. Individualist promote the exercises of one’s m goal’s & desire and so value Independence & Self reliance & evocate that interest of the individual should achieve precedence over the state or a social group, while opposing external interference upon once on interest by society or institutions such as the government. Individualism makes the Individual its focus and so starts “with the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation” Liberalism extentionalism and anarchism are examples of movements that take the human individual as a central unit of analysis. Individualism thus involves “the right of the individual to freedom & self realization”. It has also been used as a term to denoting “The quality of being an individual; individualility “related to processing “an Individuals characterstics; aquirik “.Individualism is thus also associated with artistic and bohemian Interest at lifestyle where there is a tendency towards self creation and...
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...In the mid-1950s, Martin Luther King Jr. began fighting for the rights of Black Americans as a civil rights movement leader. King went to Birmingham, Alabama because he saw it as the most segregated city in the entire country. While attempting to end segregation in Birmingham, King was jailed along with 3,000 other men. During his time in jail, King wrote “Letters from Birmingham City Jail” (Batten 165). Although King made much progress in the fight for the rights of Black Americans, Black Americans are still not treated equally today. In 2012, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old high school student, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a police officer in Florida. Despite taking the life of Martin, Zimmerman was not charged for his murder. It...
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...penetrating racial discrimination to encourage socialistic help of art and literature. As to be significant in the Harlem Renaissance the writers used poetry to present the African American experiences. Grabbing the attention between both black and white readers around the world. One Poet that set that bar really was Langston Hughes he was one of the most popular black poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was great at his job with more diversity in his choice of writings. He had written Plays, Novels, Poems, and Short Stories, Most of his writings were the real situations that really happened in black cultures. Movies were highly looked up upon in the Harlem Renaissance. D.W. Griffith directed “The Birth of a Nation” the film was over African Americans directors who countered negative stereotypes promoted in majority of the mainstream movies. Then released films in The Harlem Renaissance showcased the struggle of the African Americans in the U.S. alone. Musicians during the Harlem Renaissance developed a style and movement that simply took Americans by storm. Musicians such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong have inspired others all over the country. The renaissance itself was not only an observation towards life of Americans that they have a place in society. All of the Musicians shared a common...
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...essential is in the hospitality industry. Hospitality generally involves accommodating people at a given place. Accommodation in this case involves providing, comforting, guiding, and instructing people on the type of food, entertainment, and recreation facilities available for them. This paper investigates a reputable leader. The leader in consideration is Maya Angelou. The consideration involves an analysis of her biography and application of her leadership style to the hospitality industry. The analysis draws data from various literatures available for the same. Reasons for Choosing Maya Angelou Maya Angelou is a renowned writer and an activist of her time. She has been involved in several occupations and professions. Her writings and public sharing of...
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...test will review the previous chapter you have read so far. In language arts if you happen to fail a test you can stay after on language designated clinic days to repair the grade to at least a seventy percent. One of the Language Arts teacher at Gulf Coast Charter Schools says, “The best book the incoming sixth grade class will be reading is The Watson’s go to Birmingham, because it teaches you a lot about the civil rights movement.” You will have many writing assignments. One of the...
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...that I will make something good out of myself. I have managed to complete ESL classes, which many people doubted. I feel that through my experience of this English course, I have gained the knowledge and confidence it takes to step out into the real world. My writing strength is the ability to use rhetorical strategies in a narrative essay to develop an academic prompt, but I still need to polish on how to demonstrate the facilities like improve my tone, how to persuade my reader, and how to organize...
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...the knowledge, perspective, skill and professional acumen that is necessary to become thoughtful and responsible citizens and leaders in an increasingly complex world. The General Education curriculum is focused on fostering urban leadership by developing the cross-curricular emphases of writing effectively, thinking critically, managing information successfully, valuing diversity, practicing social justice, presenting orally and visually and learning to learn. Curricular Emphases: To accomplish these goals the general education curriculum, through its cross-disciplinary approach, provides exposure to a wide variety of disciplines while focusing on developing the essential, broad based, intellectual abilities of problem solving, decision making and leadership with a commitment to lifelong learning. The general education program emphasizes the development of oral and written communication skills; knowledge of the arts, sciences and technology; the effective use of information and critical thinking skills; the value of diversity; the promotion of social justice; and the interrelationships among academic fields. Writing Effectively Writing is essential. Effective writing encourages logical thinking and enables you to influence your audience. At Marygrove‚ all general education courses provide...
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