Abstract This paper will discuss "Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois and uncover the major ideas put forward by Dubois - finding the black soul. He uses many ideas to categorize his meanings, while giving a clear representation of blacklife in America. Examples from the book will explain what he meant in writing the book and how this was achieved. By analyzing three themes in this book, we can see how Dubois covered many aspects of black thinking and helped to change the way of life for blacks in America.
Abstract The paper relates the history of black Americans starting from the pre-Civil War period. It includes a description of the life of free blacks in the pre-civil war period, the life of a southern plantation slave, the roles of free blacks and slaves during the civil war, and the reconstruction period.
From the Paper "Although numerous discriminatory laws restricted their lives even in the colonial period, freed African Americans, particularly in the North, were active participants in American society. Black men enlisted as soldiers and fought in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Some owned land, homes, businesses, and paid taxes. In some Northern cities, for short periods, black property owners voted. A very small number of free blacks owned slaves. "
Abstract The paper looks at "Life on the Color Line" by Gregory H. Williams, which is an autobiographical story of a man who found himself trapped between two different racial worlds. The paper describes how Williams, a white man with one-quarter black heritage, decides to consciously attempt to embrace a black racial identity. The paper addresses the question of race construction, how certain people might live the life of one given race or another based upon different influencing factors. Finally, this analysis considers how Williams' life might have been different in sports and education had he been fully accepted as white.
From the Paper "Growing up in suburban Virginia in the 1950s, Gregory and his brother Michael find themselves at the mercy of their troubled and abusive father, who despite having achieved a respectable amount of success as a businessman and owner of a roadside cafe, repeatedly sabotages his life and that of his family due to his alcoholism and related dysfunctional behavior. Though taken for a dark-skinned "Italian," by the time their father's businesses fail, Mike and Greg discover to their shock that their father has been deceiving them all their lives, and is in fact half-black: the product of a white Kentucky man and his black mistress. (Their mother, who was also white, obviously was in on the deception, but by the time of the move to Muncie, Indiana, she had already left.)"
Abstract This paper explains that stars have a life cycle that is simply too long for human life to perceive directly and even too long for all of human history to record. The author points out that astronomers have been able to categorize stars to show the different levels of development reached by different groups of stars. The paper relates that, over billions of years, the star slowly contracts, compensating for the heat and light energy it has lost. The author underscores that, as this contraction continues, the temperature, density and pressure at the core of the star increases. The paper tells that, as the temperature at the core rises and the star contracts, the tension between gravity pulling in and gas pressure pushing out determines the life of the star. The author describes this process through the star's life cycle from protostar to black holes.
From the Paper "At this stage, the star is called a planetary nebula. The core of this star becomes a whiter dwarf, an extremely dense star now the size of a planet. Once the white dwarf uses all its energy, it stops shining and becomes a "black dwarf," or a dead star. Astronomers see this as the final stage for our own Sun. however, for stars with higher masses than the Sun (up to about 40 times greater), the outer layers of the star may be thrown off with much more force in a supernova, an explosion leading to the collapse of the star down to a very compact size, producing what is known as a "neutron star."
Tags: protostar, black holes, white dwarf, infrared satellites, supernova
Abstract This paper examines the life of Frederick Douglas, a leading spokesman of African-Americans in the 1800s who was born a slave and who later became a noted reformer, author and orator who devoted his life to the abolition of slavery and the fight for black rights. It reviews his autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" based upon his experiences as a slave and concerns issues such as freedom and human rights. It looks at how his story was a testament to the evils of slavery, detailing its dehumanizing nature and its attempt to crush one's spirit. It evaluates how even though Douglass's story was written many years ago in a very different time, it still relates to many issues of today.
From the Paper "Douglass's story also deals with allusions and aesthetic power. This reference refers to a deep emotion or desire that serves to link Douglass with his readers through sentimental electricity. His story of liberty serves Douglass with "the ability to make people feel right" (Gilmore, 2002). The Narrative, tells how people felt by not knowing how to read and write and how they also told their stories through songs of bondage. This information is still relative to today's world in the fact that all are given the opportunity to become educated. However, many students struggle with learning to read and write thus suffering the difficulties that come with the inability to achieve academic success. The concept of no freedom without education is relevant to Douglass's speeches. Many fear that if men of color become educated that they may learn how to perform the better paying jobs, and will become hired before a white man."
Abstract This paper describes the daily lives and culture of the black American Muslim and Nation of Islam communities. The paper defines these groups and their customs and religious rituals. It illustrates the historical leaders of the black Muslim movements, including in depth biographies of Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. The paper discusses the missionary and racist elements in these movements.
From the Paper "Religion is important to many Americans not simply because they believe that their faith will bring them to a better world in the afterlife or because it will guide their actions as a moral and good individual here on earth but also because it provides them with a sense of self-identity. Religion tells people who they are, how they are different from other people, to which community they belong. This may be especially true for black Muslims. This paper examines the black Muslim and Nation of Islam movements within the larger context of religious life in contemporary America and the context of the daily lives of black Americans as we enter the 21st century.
It may be helpful for us toe begin with some basic definitions. Black Muslims are simply those followers of a predominantly black religious movement in the United States who profess Islam as their faith. Not all of the followers of this movement are in fact black, although nearly all of them are black or have a black member of their family (such as a spouse or child) who is involved. The movement encompasses not only spiritual and liturgical aspects of life but political and wide-ranging cultural as well, including an emphasis on economic cooperation and self-sufficiency for black communities and individuals. "
Tags:black, muslim, nation, islam, regilion, contemporary, america, identity, 21st, century, united, states, spiritual, political, cultural, farrakhan, malcom, x
Abstract This paper provides an insight into the Black Power movement, a potentially explosive force in late-60s and early-70s American politics and life. It seeks to illuminate both the positive and constructive, community-empowering aspects of the Black Power movement as well as the negative aspects which ultimately led to its demise (and in turn, the decline of the African American community in major cities across the U.S.). It reviews the works of famed civil rights leaders Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton, Ira Katznelson's eminent treatise on urban politics "City Trenches" and the work of more conservative political pundits Ricahard Piven and Frances Cloward.
From the Paper "It is clear from these goals that Black Power was not, for the most part, designed to play into normal patterns of the dominant political game, that of urban trenches. In fact, Carmichael and Hamilton specifically reiterate the sentiment that?[t]he price of going along with the "regulars" is too high to pay for the so-called benefits received? several times (175). And yet at the same time, the movement was surprisingly practical. Carmichael and Hamilton cite as an example of successful community control the white suburban neighborhood (171) ? a concept that concurrently serves as a glaring example of almost all that is wrong with America according to black militants."
Abstract This paper consists of an interview with a woman who was born in Los Angeles in 1932, during the Depression to a black mother and a Mexican citizen father who had immigrated to the United States. In the paper, the interviewee speaks of her life growing up in Los Angeles and some of the challenges she faced due to her unusual parentage. She also discusses some information about her father Renaldo and how he came to America, and the experiences he had here and how he ultimately met and married her mother, Violetta. The paper also includes some discussion based upon what the interviewee learned in her studies of race and ethnicity and how one distinguishes different aspects of one's background and culture, and how this affects one's relationships with other members of the community. Finally, the paper includes a brief discussion of her siblings and her own grown children, and the decisions they themselves made in terms of selecting what they felt to be the most appropriate genetic matches for themselves, taking into account the experiences of their mother.
From the Paper "Mrs. Diaz notes that her own reading and study has taught her that "Latin" is not a racial designation, but a language designation. While her Mexican father spoke Spanish, racially he was known as a mestizo, partly of Spanish descent and partly of Aztec descent, but, she tells us, "even he could not say in exactly what proportion," since an exact genealogy was long ago lost to memory over the generations. Like most mixed Mexicans, he did not fare as well in his country as more pure-blooded Spanish, who tended to rise to the upper castes; so, he emigrated to the United States. He worked in Arizona cotton fields, then migrated to California to work in fruit orchids; after saving some money he moved to Los Angeles to get involved in a small grocery store with a couple of partners. This would have been shortly before the Depression."
Abstract This paper examines two versions of the film "Limitation of Life", by John Stahl and Douglas Sirk. The paper presents the way in which each director creates a different form of resistant black spectator and discusses the issues of gender and race and aspects of resistance.
From the Paper ?In both of their versions of Limitation of Life, John Stahl and Douglas Sirk create a world in which we as the audience are asked to examine the nature of agency and passivity as we ask ourselves what it is like to be looked at. Each film poses questions about the nature of the viewer's gaze, about what it is like to be looked at and what it feels like to be continuously aware of the judgment of others. The characters in these two movies react differently to such judgments about their beauty and their overall worth, in each case resisting at least to some degree the judgment and therefore power of others. What makes the work of these two directors especially compelling in that in each case they engage themselves and the audience with the issues of gender and race and how both are involved with aspects of resistance. This paper examines the way in which each director creates a different form of resistant black spectator, especially in the person of Sarah Jane.?
Abstract This paper analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story about a minister's life. This minister preaches his regular sermon in church usually in an uninspiring way until one Sunday, he shows up with a black veil on his face. This paper discusses the effects this had on his congregation and its symbolism. It details how Hawthorne's story, and the veil itself, is a metaphor for all of our sins and transgressions.
From the Paper "Hawthorne's short story is deceptively simple. He tells the tale of a minister, Parson Hooper, who comes to church one Sunday wearing a black veil over his face. Nothing else about him has changed, but this veil frightens the worshippers, and sets off all kinds of rumors, including that Parson Hooper has gone mad. ?Such was the effect of this simple piece of crepe, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meetinghouse. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.? As he preaches his sermon, the congregation seems to find this sermon special, and somehow it touches each one. Hawthorne says that Hooper was normally a rather "uninspired" preacher, and today was no exception, but the people perceive his words differently. They frighten many of them. ?Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought.? Perhaps Hooper's words are hitting a little close to home, and people are seeing some of the things they cover up in their own lives, as Hooper covers his face with the veil."
Tags: minister, black, veil, Nathaniel, Hawthorne, congregation, preach, sermon, sins
Abstract The following discussion focuses on black youth subcultures. It identifies their predominant types focusing on links to popular music and finds their source in the experience of unemployment and racism. Their inherent male chauvinism is also examined. Their ultimately destructive consequences and their interference with life course are also outlined.
Abstract This paper looks at the spread of the black plague from China through Europe in the 14th Century. The writer discusses how the plague was carried from Asia to Europe. Further, the writer looks at the impact of the plague on society.
Tags:Black, Death, fourteenth, century, medieval, life
Abstract This paper discusses how the veil metaphor according to Du Bois represents discrimination based on color and race in all aspects of the African-American's life: socially, economically, educationally and religiously.
From the Paper "Du Bois borrows the veil notion which belongs to the religious women who cover themselves from strangers; cover their intelligence, beauty, souls and energies. They become not known or realized by others, and some of them may only wonder what's beneath the veil might be but without seeking to discover it. Du Bois uses of the metaphor Veil throughout the various chapters of his book to refer essentially to what separates blacks from whites, but he goes deeper and deeper to make us figure out the ugliest discrimination that based on color or race in the history. They didn't bother themselves to wonder what's beneath this veil, or seek to discover that marvelous beauty of their souls, intelligence, and their humanity; the veil prevents the whites to see the real blacks. "
Abstract "This study will examine the theme of the harshness of blacklife in the South, focusing on the experiences of Maya Angelou in her autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou suffered poverty, racism, child abuse, rape, abandonment, and a self-hatred born of a society dominated by white images of beauty and worth.
From the Paper "This study will examine the theme of the harshness of black life in the South, focusing on the experiences of Maya Angelou in her autobiographical I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Angelou suffered poverty, racism, child abuse, rape, abandonment, and a self-hatred born of a society dominated by white images of beauty and worth. Angelou eventually learns her own worth as a black woman, as a creative speaker and writer, and as an individual human being, but, unfortunately, those beautiful and redemptive truths comes only after a youth full of suffering.
As McPherson notes, "Angelou's initial crisis" involves "her acceptance of herself as an outcast (because of her rejection by her parents" (McPherson 16). Angelou returns to this crisis as the crux of her predicament and that of blacks in the South: "Why did they send us away, and What did we do so wrong? So Wrong?""
Abstract This paper compares two of Gwendolyn Brooks' books of poetry: "Street in Bronzeville" and "Bronzeville Boys and Girls". It examines the way in which each poem depicts blacklife and the influence of Bronzeville on Brooks' writing.
From the Paper "With her stunning use of form and language, Gwendolyn Brooks is often considered one of the most innovative American poets of the twentieth century. More importantly Brooks stands out as a post-Harlem Renaissance writer who speaks honestly and passionately .."
