...African American Movie Paper HUM/105 November 19, 2012 Danielle Jones Out of all the great African-American films out there, I decided to write on a film, which is still considered to be a classic to this day, “Cooley High.” The film takes place in Chicago, 1964, and centers on a group of lower-class black kids, including Preach, a smart student, and his close friend, Cochise, a great athlete who's on the verge of getting a scholarship. This film has been compared to be the black version of George Lucas' "American Graffiti"; the film has a lot of energy and substance to easily overlook that fact. There are many funny moments, including a scene where the boys joyride with Preach behind the wheel; a scene where the boys cut class and head to the zoo, ending with a hilarious encounter with a gorilla; and a scene where Preach hides from some hoodlums in an bathroom that is occupied. There's also romance in the film, as Preach attempts to woo classy beauty Brenda; the two even lose their virginity together in a truly tasteful scene. The movie ends in tragedy, and since the characters have depth, we feel the loss. “Cooley High” set the standard for African-American film excellence when it was made. This film plays on various emotions, and you definitely feel for all of the characters. Sure, some of the acting is a little wooden, but fortunately, those parts aren't pivotal. The music is sensational, with classic songs from Motown and...
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...African Americans are among the quickest developing entrepreneurial minority group in the United States; however they struggle more than other groups with managing new business ventures. Studies propose that African American entrepreneurs encounter a higher failure rate with a 4-year survival rate of 39%. Diminishing the failure rate would considerably add to the U.S. economy (a probable estimation of $2.5 trillion) and generate almost 12 million more new hires. There are more than eight hundred thousand organizations owned and overseen by African-Americans presently in the United States (see Bureau of the Census site page: www.Census.Gov/pressrelease). This paper concentrates on the relationship between the ownership qualities suggested before, and to be elaborated later, and the abilities essential to fulfill the main objective of the business enterprise, to expand the financial worth of the business. Moreover, the talents and abilities, presumably broadly held by African-American entrepreneurs, will be analyzed as influences or impairments to value creation....
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...This paper will examine how society has influenced African American women’s perception of their natural hair. Advertisement reflected and influenced African American women’s negative perception of their natural hair. The stages as to why they are starting to go natural are coming back in style. The issue is examined throughout history from slavery to present day with a visual analysis of hair care advertisements. Natural hair is gaining more positive implications; this can be affected by creating more positive images with natural hair. Image is part of the problem, image can create the solution. Loving yourself in your natural state; there is nothing like it! If people believe on the opinion based beauty tips in advertisements, they often...
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...History of African Americans and the Police The relationship between police officers and the African American communities can be understood by first understanding the policing history in the United States. Blacks were reminded of their inferior social standing through public spaces during segregation (Berrey and Foley, 2006, p. 81). African Americans were clearly suppressed by the justice system. It protected White male landowners. Experiences of African Americans led to their resistance that challenged the Jim Crow perspective of separate being equal (Berrey and Foley, 2006, p. 82). Separate but equal was merely a theory. However, in practice, the government treated Black individuals in the country as second class citizens in various settings,...
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...Diversity within African American Families This article shines a lot of life on some of the conditions and based on a prejudiced mental picture representation of African American families. Some of the views described in this article not only holds African Americans in a negative and disrespectful light but implants a label of inability to do something and shortcoming. There are a lot of African American families experiencing poorness, limited education and employment opportunities but not all families. All family and cultural characteristics have families within the population who experience these situations, but the facts or conditions that surround someone are the main concern. Community of people in the world and newspapers, web sites, and...
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...INTRODUCTION A number of African American women are succeeding on the long road to career advancement and leadership positions. Nevertheless, racism and sexism still hinder their efforts for career advancement and leadership positions. Black women are facing an intense combination of discrimination in American institutions. Because we live in a white male-dominated society, it is easy to underestimate African American women’s leadership potential and abilities. African American women are looked at as inferior beings, rather than as equals capable of accomplishing any and everything a man can. The purpose of this research will be to investigate how education influences career advancement and leadership positions of African American...
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...Dr. Margaret Burroughs founded the DuSable Museum of African American History, in 1961 on the south side of Chicago. Unlike other museums, the DuSable Museum in an independent institution dedicated to preserving the history of Africans and African Americans with numerous exhibits for visitors to enjoy and experience. Throughout, the DuSable Museum, visitors are taken though varies time frames in history, all which encompass the African and African American history. One can find beaded necklaces, tribal pieces, bow and arrows, and numerous other artifacts that can be dated from all five regions of Africa. This museum also has an exhibit that tells the life story of slaves, beginning from the voyage to American and other colonies, to the very...
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...Have you ever wondered why African Americans are much more likely to be incarcerated? Be killed by the police? Live an impoverished life? Live a shorter life than their white counterparts? Have a lower IQ than other races? Some may attribute these disadvantages to the injustices of the past. It can be argued that the effects of the transatlantic slave trade continue to reverberate today. Does the United States owe African Americans reparations for the injustices of the past, and the aforementioned disadvantages they experience today? Yes. There is no doubt in my mind that the United States owe a form of reparations to African Americans. But why do they deserve it?History does not erase itself with each passing generation, so the fact stands...
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...Going through chapter three, I find most of the information is belonging to how African American life and how they get their education in the US. We are living in a world that is constantly engaging in efforts to integrate diverse cultures in education and communities. In education, they have a variety of different methods in how students learn and how the basic styles help individual learners such as African American. I would like to discuss this question that says African American possess certain learning which enable them to learn more efficiently. I will discuss this question from different points of view. It could be the true that African Americans tend to learn efficiently but still everyone has potential to learn whatever he/ her wants. Learning process it depends on the person him/ her self. I will outline a plan, discuss that everyone has a potential to learn. Moreover, the economic statues can play an...
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...Even though we are starting to teach more about history and culture of African Americans in schools, it is rather difficult to truly understand the hardships, both mental and physical, that were faced by slaves. They had an unstable family life and withstood abysmal living conditions. As with any circumstance in which a person is faced with this level of abuse, the slaves developed different ways to cope and revolt. Some forms of resistance were less than subtle. In some cases, out of self-defense or defense of others, outright violence and resistance was used as a form of protest. Other times, the protesting was not as direct. For example, Martha Harrison said that when she was supposed to be taking care of babies, she would act like she fell asleep and dropped the baby on the floor just so she could get outside and play. In another anonymous account, one of the adults tried to sneak food to the children, and the children stole hens for food....
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...The Treatment and Family Life of an African American Slave By Hershey Jamla Life in the 18 century was a gruesome and horrifying time if you were enslaved. African American slaves were treated atrociously by their owners, considered property, and had to face such turmoil it seems unreal. This era truly is one of the most sinful part of U.S history because of how slaves were treated. Slavery was legal in the South. Therefore “Most of the agricultural output of the South was produced on large plantations”, according to Life for enslaved men and women (article)| Khan Academy. In the early 19 century men worked till sun-rise and sun-set in the plantation while women worked as a midwife. Cooking ,sewing,cleaning, taking care of the house and their owner. “They didn’t stop there women had to work late at night to take care of their family”,...
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...Throughout history, African American women have struggled with accepting the hair that grows from our very own scalp. But why? Why don’t African American women embrace their natural curls? I identify with this topic because at one point I did not believe my natural hair was beautiful, instead I desired for my tresses to be long and straight. This misconception that I had learned from those around me led me to getting a relaxer until I finally realized I did not need to have straight hair to be beautiful and the same for other African American women. I know that since our childhood years we have been influenced to believe that long, straight, and silky hair was beautiful and that if our hair wasn’t straight or naturally curly ,it was “nappy”. I also know that there is a notion that to have “good hair” is to have loose curls or wavy hair and “bad hair” is considered as coarse, less defined curls that are often called naps. At a young age, we are accustomed to sitting between our mother’s knees while she combs out every “nap” until it is semi straight and easier to braid or twist. As we got older, we would go to the same salon as our mothers to get our hair “hot combed” until we are old enough to get a texturizer and then a relaxer by the time we are in our mid-teens. Although, the...
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...Racism is one of those issues in United States of America that does not seem to go away, no matter how many laws or regulations are passed for it. On top of it, the mainstream media does not seem to make the situation any better as they continuously take sides in instigating the issue further. One such issue is of 7 African-American fliers who were kicked out from the plane due to racism (Lamont, 2012). The NY Daily News (NYDN) reported the situation showing that fliers were kicked out because of racism from the flight attendant in the plane. The story does have a slant to it in the sense that the NYDN was keeping its focus on the fact that racism indeed took place (Byrne, 2012). The writer indeed portrayed that racism was taking place and...
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...The airmen were the first military aviators to be African American in the U.S. Army Air Corps. They were trained in Alabama at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. The Airmen flew in Europe and North Africa during World War II. Their flying earned them many flying crosses and this lead to the integration of the armed forces. During the earlier years many African Americans wanted to pursue the dream of becoming a pilot. Although, obstacles were always in the way of that dream. There was a racist widespread belief that African Americans could not learn to operate or fly an advanced aircraft. However, in 1939 the government decided to establish flights schools at college, but refused to do so at black colleges. An African American student soon lodged...
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...RACIAL DISPARITY IN SENTENCING African American men face several challenges within the United States. One of those challenges is the probability of being incarcerated. Travis and Western (2014) defines incarceration as legal removal of citizens from personal liberties- specifically to house them in a facility designed for that purpose (p.19). Government policies implemented to control and reduce the possession and distribution of controlled substances, has contributed to the mass incarceration of African American men. One of the harshest penalties implemented in American government for illicit substances is the War on Drugs (Winterbourne, 2012). According to Mauer and King (2007), the War on Drugs has been a prominent contributor to the massive...
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