...aware citizens completing sit-ins and boycotts challenging the societal norms of segregation and racism, but ignorant citizens demanding rights already given. Many revere the Black Lives Matter campaign as the birth of a new civil rights movement. To others the movement simply negates the substantial progress the civil rights movement made for the black man in America. The Black Lives Matter Movement emerged in 2012 shortly after a Florida teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed by a white male, who later was found not guilty. The movement was first formed to combat and oppose police brutality that targeted the black community. However, the movement’s leaders released a list...
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...Take back the night, held on Thursday, April 9th, encapsulated the essence of unity, belongingness, liberation, expressivity, and audacity. Opal Tometi, one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matters movement, spoke about her movement and other controversial topics, in front of the Franklin and Marshall student body and faculty. She reiterated numerous sociological elements by addressing the different “isms”, including racism and sexism. She began and ended her speech addressing a quote by Martin Luther King Jr: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Tometi expressed the importance and the power of the Black Lives Matter movement. She projected race from a subjective dimension; a dimension that we created and positioned ourselves to extrapolate meanings about different elements concerning race, class, gender, etc (Tatum, 1997). She conveyed her love for each and every body, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, religion, and age. While she talked...
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...information from MLK Jr.’s speech along the lines of the Civil Rights Movement to show that racism still divides us as a country. Thus to prove to her readers as well that inequality of blacks versus whites in America still persists even after all that has changed for African Americans...
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...They were then forced to work on plantations as a slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America. Slavery existed more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776. In 1865, following the American Civil War, slavery was outlawed in the United States and slaves became emancipated or freeman. The first English colony in North America, Jamestown, acquired its first African slaves in 1619 by the Dutch. Slavery was a one of the key factors which contributed to the American Civil War which lasted from 1861 to 1865. Once slaves became freeman, many states developed laws which were created to disenfranchise African-American’s from voting. A group of African-American women decided to establish the first national black organization in the United States. From the time of slavery, children were bought and sold into slavery. Many times, white masters and owners would beat and force their enslaved women into having intimate, sexual relationships. Almost all slaves were of African descent and from the 16th to the 19th centuries; an estimated 12 million Africans were shipped as slaves to the Americans. The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation...
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...Race and racial inequality has powerfully shaped American history from its beginnings. Racial inequality has integrated into American culture and simulates a false presence of true freedom and equal justice for all. From the assassination of early Native Americans, slavery, black codes, Jim Crow laws, segregation, the civil rights movement, mass incarceration, to present day black lives matter movement, racial inequality is a hard barrier for the United States to overcome. The true impact of racial inequality in America is belittled. Racism in America is the unjust treatment of collective individuals based on the color of their skin due to historical contexts and systematic oppression (Baber 1). Racism roots from the belief of one race has qualities that defines it as inferior or superior to other races. Inequality is the...
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...African-American civil rights movements have been the post-Civil War constitutional amendments that abolished slavery and established the citizenship status of blacks, and the judicial decisions and legislation based on these amendments, notably the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision of 1954, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These legal changes greatly affected the opportunities available to women, nonblack minorities, disabled individuals, and other victims of discrimination. The Brown decision demonstrated that the litigation strategy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) could undermine the legal foundations of southern segregationist practices, but the strategy worked only when blacks, acting individually or in small groups, assumed the risks associated with crossing racial barriers. Thus, even after the Supreme Court declared that public school segregation was unconstitutional, black activism was necessary to compel the federal government to implement the decision and extend its principles to all areas of public life rather than simply in schools. The initial phase of the black protest activity in the post-Brown period began on December 1, 1955. Rosa Parks of Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat to a white bus rider, thereby defying a southern custom that required blacks to give seats toward the front of buses to whites. When she was jailed, a black community boycott of the...
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...At the time of her career, major movements included Abstract Expressionism (emphasized an artist's liberty to convey attitudes and emotions through nontraditional and usually non-representational means, merriam-webster.com), The Black Power Movement, 1968-1980, and some of the countries she visited, Senegal, for example, gained their independence in the 1960s. Her work influenced dancers such as Donald McKayle and Alvin Ailey(American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), who continued to go deeper into the expressive dances of black culture. Dunham had a major impact on 20th/21st century society and culture because of her new dance techniques that incorporated tradition and...
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...literature, politics, arts, music, abolitionism, and entrepreneurship. But what people have had a huge impact in this era of Black excellence? Let’s list a few. Phillis Wheatley. She was the first ever published African-American female poet....
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...The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s All forms of Black music, from jazz to rock and roll, played an important part in the Civil Rights Movement. The songs were sung for multiple purposes and played a critical role in inspiring, activating, and giving voice to the people involved. The evolution of music during the early 1950’s and 1960’s in the Black freedom struggle reflects the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement itself. The progressive thought of the 1950s nurtured new ideas and cultures including the Civil Rights Movement and the fast spread of rock and roll. One such cultural revival occurred after the end of World War II during a time of change, prosperity and restoration. The “Puritan dicta” outlined by Baldwin represents the American ideology before the Second World War. As the first settlers of this nation, the Puritans set the mold for many common American ideologies. In the Puritan view white represented good and black represented evil, including Africans and their culture. After the war, Baldwin states that the former puritanical views of whites will be challenged. Musicians such as Elvis Presley were the first to issue this challenge to white society. Early rockers like Elvis would pave the way for social commentary in music that would add much fire to the Civil Rights Movement. To fully understand the explosion of popularity of Black music in the years following World War II, one must understand the social conditions in which Blacks and Whites lived...
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...subject-Existonalism but he did not use the term Existonalism but rather described that a human is solely responsible for giving motive and finding ways to make his life purposeful and the society and religion have got no shares to play authenticity. An odd movement it was, because to all those most practical and intellectual thinkers in the world claimed existentialists, denied it almost all the times. Existonalism out of no doubt is one of the most arduous terms to outline and comprehend. The movement is termed odd in relevance to the following delegates- Soren Kierkegaard and Fredrich Nietzsche whom everybody claims and points to be important to the movement, they denied as the members of the movement. It was not only these big figures who denied being the part of the movement but also some really big names like Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and few other names also come to the list of all those who at least once, denied on being ever a part of the movement. The basic philosophy of existentialism is discussed below with concern to the following terms and points. 1. Freedom- freedom and choice are very much emphasized under the philosophy of existentialism. Every human is free to make choice of his matter regardless of social and relational barriers the society offers him. Human try to give their...
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...The rise and emergence of rock ‘n’ roll in American society in the 1950s and 1960s partially broke down the color barrier, allowing people to begin looking past the issues of racial inferiority and superiority. This breaking down of the color barrier and easing of racial tension was not complete, however, leading to a heightened need for civil rights and equality. This new music form allowed blacks and whites to work together in a professional setting and intermingle like they never had before, increasing white appreciation and acceptance for blacks. Without rock ‘n’ roll and the social benefits included, the civil rights movement may never have been as powerful as it was. The origins of rock ‘n’ roll had its very roots in the African-American culture. Rhythm and blues, jazz, and gospel music, once confined solely to black culture, now found their way into white society, as “race records” became popular, not just in the black community, but in the white community as well. These “race records” were, at first, aimed only at the African-American audience, and were distributed by door-to-door salesmen and newsboys for “lovers of music everywhere and those who desire to help in the advance of the Race.” Bessie Smith, a black singer in the 1920s, became so popular within the black community, that she was cast in an early sound film—one of the first to include black performers. Eventually, “race records” expanded to include comedy routines, recorded sermons, and spirituals. In the 1940s...
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...A Fight For Segregation It was long until colored people were able to play with the white people. Jackie Robinson helped fight for segregation and civil rights. He thought everyone should be treated equally. He thought that a person shouldn’t be underestimated by one’s background, for they can change the world and our perspectives. One’s race shouldn’t be determined by what they are capable of accomplishing. Jackie Robinson demolished the racial barrier when he showed everyone that it didn’t matter if he was colored, that he was also capable of playing the same way as the white baseball players. Fighting for his dreams, Jackie received many death threats. He had to overcome the fact that most of the world was against his race, African American....
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...Over time there were many people that helped create defining moments in history, these individuals helped not only shape their communities but also the ideas of the people within these communities, one such person was Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th 1929 and originally given the name Michael Luther King by his mother, before having his name changed at a later age, went on to become a advocate for the civil rights of the back people. He participated in various protest followed in the footsteps of this father and grandfather by becoming the co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. His belief in using an approach based on non- violence and peaceful protests was something that impacted many around him, and despite his being treated like an outcast, being arrested, having his house bombed and ultimately being assassinated, he worked to make the world a better place and to change the minds of society about persons of other races and ethnicities and cultures and his sole goal in life was to create peace and harmony within the bounds of unity. Martin Luther King attended Morehouse College in Atlanta in a program for gifted students and received his Bachelors of Science for Sociology in 1948. As an undergraduate he wanted to study fields such as law or medicine but in turn decided by his senior year that he would enter the world of ministry and continue his family’s level of the church. He then went on to Crozer Theological Seminary to receive...
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...Over time there were many people that helped create defining moments in history, these individuals helped not only shape their communities but also the ideas of the people within these communities, one such person was Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th 1929 and originally given the name Michael Luther King by his mother, before having his name changed at a later age, went on to become a advocate for the civil rights of the back people. He participated in various protest followed in the footsteps of this father and grandfather by becoming the co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. His belief in using an approach based on non- violence and peaceful protests was something that impacted many around him, and despite his being treated like an outcast, being arrested, having his house bombed and ultimately being assassinated, he worked to make the world a better place and to change the minds of society about persons of other races and ethnicities and cultures and his sole goal in life was to create peace and harmony within the bounds of unity. Martin Luther King attended Morehouse College in Atlanta in a program for gifted students and received his Bachelors of Science for Sociology in 1948. As an undergraduate he wanted to study fields such as law or medicine but in turn decided by his senior year that he would enter the world of ministry and continue his family’s level of the church. He then went on to Crozer Theological Seminary to receive...
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...that he or she wants to say, with little to no repercussions. Music continues to fully express the feeling or thoughts of individual cultures or a society as whole. Racism continues to be a major focus of music. “Say it loud” (I’m black and proud) by James brown (Brown, 1968) Brown uses a “call and response format in this song. The name of the song is a call to power. It is a call for blacks to embrace the fact that they are black. The song came out in the perfect time. The civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965 had just been passed, much to the dismay to many whites. That is very important when analyzing this song because James Brown was standing up to the views and opinions of his white counterparts. Brown seemed to portray through the lyrics of this song that just because blacks were told they had equal rights and blacks could vote, didn’t necessarily mean they were equal . This song also addressed issues about an overwhelming number of blacks continuing to live in poverty, James calls blacks to rise up and become economically, self-sufficient. What very interesting about this song is the fact that James Brown knew that this song would be very controversial, for the simple fact that he was demanding that other blacks demand what they deserved and fight for equal rights. This greatly hampered the ability for his song to have a “crossover affect” because many whites simply , just did not want to hear this message. “Fight the power” by public enemy...
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