...September 2, 2013 Reading Reflection: The Welcome Table This short story captured my attention because the woman described in the opening of this story and throughout this story, reminded me of my grandmother and some of the stories she shared with me telling of the prejudices she suffered as a child that carried over into her adulthood. As I began to read, The Welcome Table, I began to visualize or imagine a “grandmotherly” type woman preparing to get ready for church. As she put on her “Sunday’s best”, it was apparent that her clothes were old and worn. Not only were her clothes old and worn, the features of her face told the story of her life. As the woman approached the steps of the church, she is met with people who whispered unspeakable things about her and stares from those same people. There were stares filled with fear; fear of her color, fear of the known and the unknown. This woman was not welcomed in the church as she soon found out when she was asked to leave and when she didn’t leave, she was physically removed. Alice Walker was born during an era long before the Civil Rights Movement. Though not clearly stated, one can deduce from her writings in this story and in her book, The Color Purple, that she was met with prejudicial whispers and stares. “Issues of race and gender form the center of her literary work and her social activism, which included participation in civil rights demonstrations led by Martin Luther King, Jr.” (Clugston, R.W. 2010)....
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...Rosa Parks: Giver of Equality "Memories of our lives, of our works and deeds will continue in others." The woman who created this inspirational quote was none other than the astounding Rosa Parks. She is stereotypically remembered as a black lady who refused to give up her seat on a racist bus. This statement is only part of what Rosa accomplished; there is much more depth to her story than the common person is exposed to. Her achievements continue to impact the world today, decades after her story occurred. Rosa Parks was a powerful figure who benefitted society by engaging people in the actions of the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring others to stand up for what they believe in, and providing a positive example for women of color to follow....
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...“Battle Royal” was first published as a short story which later became the first chapter of the well-received first novel of Ralph Ellison(1913-1994), Invisible Man. “Battle Royal” is the story of the unnamed protagonist, a Black youth who just graduated from high school brought to a meeting of the town’s elite leaders to give his eloquent speech because he is the smartest boy in his school. The youth is proud and eager to give his graduation class speech and prove his ability. The problem is that the audience is composed of White men of the South during the time prior to the struggle for civil rights. Each plays out his part, leaving the horror of racism for all to see. The youth narrator takes on the typical Black role of the time, that of a submissive pleaser. The White men also take on their expected roles. They humiliate the narrator and the other youth who have been invited to the affair. But in so doing, they unwittingly humiliate themselves as well. The youth’s grandfather, lying on his deathbed admits that he feels like a traitor, but prompts his son to give the Whites what they want. Throughout the story, Ellison’s symbols give layers of meaning. The White woman is used just as the Black youth are, to humiliate and denigrate them, and keep them in their places. The woman is symbolic of the thirst the youth has for America and its opportunities. The youth are made to fight a battle royal, a fight between several who struggle until the end. Through all this turmoil...
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...The best source to understand the personal experiences is of civil rights activist is “1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Campaign” because it is a primary source so like you are hearing it from someone who has actually experienced it, and someone who has a memory of it and can tell their story of being in the civil rights movement. Also it shows neighbor brutality because a woman named Barbara Sylvia Shores. She had two dogs and her neighbor was white and didn’t like black people, so while she was gone out of her house and came her one of her dogs was missing, and the other one was blown into pieces in a bag. You can tell this real because when she was talking about it she had sadness in her voice, and if you wanna get more into her story and look...
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...world.” Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi parallels a young African American woman named Anne’s personal growth with the development of the Civil Rights movement. Anne chose to become the change she wanted to see in the world by taking a leadership role in the controversial Civil Rights movement. Anne, who starts out the novel with the name Essie Mae, grows up in a poor, southern family that is still having trouble adjusting to their new rights. Moody tells her story via an autobiographical perspective, which allows the reader to better relate to certain events in her life. As Anne grows older, she becomes more aware of civil rights issues and segregation. Family is a reoccurring theme in the autobiography as a cause for Anne’s struggle to integrate African Americans into society. Anne’s growing racial consciousness along with the family experiences she encounters represents the progression of the Civil Rights movement. After Anne graduates college, she decides that becoming a Civil Rights activist is her dream. At one point she even states “It no longer seemed important to prove anything. I had found something outside myself that gave meaning to my life” (Moody 288). Her desire to see African Americans overcome segregation outweighs her family’s desire to see her utilize her degree for financial success. Anne prefers to be hungry and poor if it means she can contribute to the Civil Rights movement. This exemplifies her extraordinary leadership which is contrasted to her...
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...African-American lawyer and author in the 19th century. He mostly wrote short stories that were collected in in his two most famous books, The Conjure Woman and The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line. The Conjure Woman is a collection of Stories where slaves mainly escape to the north by using the powers of voodoo. The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line is a collection of stories that explored slave behavior and culture. Chesnutt and his works are important because Chesnutt was the first recognized black American author, he used slave diction and culture, and he wrote about social problems from the different races. Chesnutt was the first recognized African-American author. His short story “The Gophered Grapevine” was...
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...Barton and Her Contributions to the Civil War Clara Barton was a shy child who grew up with only one close friend. She excelled in school, but not in socialization skills. Her family relocated to help the wife and children of a family member who had passed. The house needed repair. Clara quickly jumped in to assist. She began to play with her male cousins and was able to fit in. Clara grew up to become a teacher and eventually opened a school in New Jersey that became the first free school to be opened in that state. Clara’s father was a former Captain. When she spoke with her Father regarding the war effort, He strongly encouraged her to help the soldiers. That was all the encouragement she needed and gathered medical supplies. Ladies’ Aid society contributed bandages, food and clothing to also be distributed to the soldiers. It is apparent the Clara was very active in providing aid to the soldiers. She fought to gain access to work on the front lines. She would continue to deliver medical supplies and provisions to the front line soldiers. There are some heroic stories associated to her time on the front line. One stated that a bullet went through the sleeve of her dress without even grazing her, but killed the man whom she was taking care of. It is stories like these along with the fact that Clare was a woman that would exaggerate her services during wartime. With any account, there is some truth behind the story. Clare was truly a humanitarian...
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...Struggle. Hope. Change. Since the colonial period, and even many years before this time period, African-American people struggled with inequality, lack of rights, and racial injustice. This struggle came to a historical high during The Civil War in the 1860’s. With much effort and persistence, the war ended and slavery was abolished in the nation. The result brought hope to black people in the United States. This newfound faith amongst black people was captured in many different forms, such as propaganda, literature, and most importantly, art. Two black, female artists portrayed this spirit in the forms of sculptures. During the Post-Civil War era, Edmonia Lewis and Meta Warrick Fuller created works that symbolized the struggle for freedom, hope for the future, and a need for change for African-American people. The American Civil War was arguably one of the most deadliest and important events in the nation’s history. Political tensions came to an all-time high and caused a split and war amongst the States from 1861-1865. Slavery was a root cause of the war. The North, also known as the Union, was fighting for the abolishment of slavery while the South, also known as the Confederacy, was fighting to preserve slavery laws in the nation. In the end, the North prevailed and laws were made to end slavery and give black people the rights and privileges they deserved. The end of the war brought about a new attitude for black people. As laws were being passed and slaves were being set free...
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...suffered greatly at the hands of her masters, even so much as suffering significant head injuries from violent beatings that handicapped her for life. Despite this, she was running. Her master, a man by the name of Brodess had died, and his wife, seeing her skills diminishing and finding her more and more useless, sought to sell her. So she ran. Although she successfully escaped, she went back, only to really escape the second time. Along with a third, and a fourth. In total, this woman would save around 70 of her friends and family, along with being a nurse, and spy for the Union during the Civil War. After the war, she would go on to become a women’s rights activist. Also, she...
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...help. The help we had back when I was growing up was a more gentrified one than is shown in this production. We were refined southerners, not taking to that institutional racism that we heard so much about in the history books, but we had help all the same. Men and women who cleaned our houses, our school, and even our streets. We would smile cordially at them, and pass them a kind hello but never stop for long, never chatting, and of course never get to know...
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...Episode 1 of the Eyes on the Prize was compelling in so many different ways. There are numerous discussions, scenes and stories that are thought provoking, sad and disturbing the documentary as a whole brings me to a great range of emotions. The story of Emmitt Till and how he was murdered really brought to life the horrific conditions of the blacks in the south. Just to think that someone could knock on the door of a home take and kill a 14 year old boy for simply saying “bye babe” to a white woman and then get away with a crime that the entire town knew was committed is simply absurd. To view the photo of young Emmitt Tills body after what had been done to him was so heart wrenching I can’t even begin to imagine what his mother must have had felt. She displayed so much courage by allowing Tills body to be publicly viewed and printed in news publication. I believe her courage was one of the great catalysts in the civil rights fight. The trial they had for the defendants was a mockery of justice and further emphasized that there was no true justice for blacks. “Desegregation is against the bible”! I am utterly dumbfounded by the levels of ignorance and the ability of these white people to convince themselves that they are better than blacks. I mean I know how deep racism was in the south but just to hear the ignorance these people spew baffles me beyond belief. The reaction of the southerners at learning that they have to finally abide by the 14th amendment is insane...
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...Literature Instructor: Wanda Deffenbaugh October 8, 2012 A “Welcome” Read The Welcome Table, by Alice Walker is an image-filled short story that restores the past and reveals human nature. As an avid reader, I look for a story to capture me in the first several paragraphs. This story did just that. Immediately, Alice Walker establishes a graphic picture of a scenario that takes place during the racial segregation period. She creates a sympathetic mood that captivates the reader throughout the story. She truly illustrates the ideas of hope and change. Literature must hold up to a plethora of standards to be considered a successful piece of work. A formalist approach focuses on the actual form of the literature. It takes note of the development of the storyline and analyses the very features of the story itself. Our text points out “Every writer chooses particular literary tools to create a representation of something that exists in his or her imagination.” (as cited in Clugston, 2010. section 16.2, para 3.) A formalist approach can identify these literary tools. Alice Walker used a plethora of these literary tools to express her imagination and form her touching literary tale. The Setting The setting for a story to denote such magnitude must be clearly defined. The story is set in the South during the Civil Rights movement. This was a time when public places (including restrooms and churches) were still segregated. The war was over, but yet it wasn’t...
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...Wanting Liang (Fanny) WSEM 196-002T Professor Mary Richardson 14th December 2012 Influence of The Civil Rights Movement On Black/White Marriage INTRODUCTION Nowadays, interracial marriage exists in almost the whole world and is more acceptable than it ever has been. In the United States, which now has its first biracial president-Barack Hussein Obama II. Absolute numbers tell us the fact that interracial marriage between black and white has increased -- the U.S. Census reported that there were 51,000 Black/White marital couples in 1960, which was legal in whatever many states. By 2002, it rose to 395,000 Black/White marriages (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2004). By 2010, it grew more to 540,000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2012. However, before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, this would have been unimaginable. It was illegal for people with different race to marry before the Civil Rights Movement, which we called “anti-miscegenation laws”. This paper will examine how the Civil Rights Movement helped make marriages between blacks and whites and mixed-race families acceptable to society and more common. In this paper, I am going to provide the background about the Civil Rights Movement. Such as ways this movement affected Black/White marriage, and the Loving vs. Virginia (the Supreme Court Case). Then, I will introduce some family stories in biracial families during 1960s and a number of findings about Black/White marriage. At last, I will present the difference...
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...are conducive to a progressive society. In regards to the reader response approach Clugston (2010, section 16.2) states “you must account for your feelings by finding specific aspects of the literary work that make you feel as you do.” (P. 413). What grabbed my attention to this story was the imagery “She was angular and lean and the color of poor gray Georgia earth, beaten by king cotton and the extreme weather.” (as cited in Clugston, 2010, Section 3.1) that made me wonder about the old woman’s story. The metaphor Alice Walker uses to describe the old woman’s face “on her face centuries were folded into the circles around one eye, while around the other, etched and mapped as if for print, ages more threatened again to live.” (as cited in Clugston, 2010, Section 3.1) leads me to believe she has lived a difficult life. Her age and appearance don’t come from her hard work alone but from something much deeper. In her case her race played a part in her discrimination and it reflected in her face, and I am reminded of the times I may have not been cordial to someone not because of race but based on appearances. The old woman’s story reminds me that prior to 1964 and the passing of civil rights laws many were denied certain privileges (Blank, 2004). The simple act of going to church service...
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...Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. In May 26, 1956, a few Florida A&M students got on the bus to a short trip to downtown Tallahassee, where these two young black woman wanted to seat in front of the bus rather than stand, for the bus was full and no seats were available in the back. When the driver notice that these to black woman were sitting in the front of the bus beside a white woman; he immediately pulled over the bus and told them to get up. When the young ladies kindle said if you refund us we will get off the bus, the driver said no and called the cops, though the white woman they sat next to made no objection. Which further leads to them being arrested and charged with incite a riot, After this story made headlines in the Sunday paper many people such as minster Metz Rollins was hoping for the black community to act with determination and sprit as others did in Montgomery, Alabama a few months prior. (Rabby,10-11) Rev. C. K. Steele and Robert Saunders representing the NAACP began talks while blacks started boycotting the city's buses. This boycott was similar to that in the Montgomery Boycott with Rosa Parks. Former bus patrons began a car pool lasting through May 26 of 1957, several...
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