The setting of a rundown house in a poor neighborhood gives the impression of their struggle to survive as African Americans. The shabbiness of the exterior suggests their low social status. “A relatively recent addition to the house and running its full width, the porch lacks congruence. It is a sturdy porch with a flat roof. One or two chairs of dubious value sit at one end where the kitchen window opens on to the porch. An old fashioned ice box stands silent guard at the opposite end” (Wilson, setting description). While the newly added porch may represent an attempt to
My hometown of Eldersburg, Maryland is fairly indistinguishable from the majority of towns in the rest of the United States. Eldersburg closely strattles the line of being the town mentioned in an All Time Low lyric, and that being placed in the crosshairs of somewhere. The main points about Eldersburg probably stem from the influx of supermarkets we have such as Food Lion, Martin’s, and Safeway, to name some of the larger ones, and the location of Liberty High School. However, despite this inability to have any truly positive distinguishing features, I have always found Eldersburg to be quaint enough to learn the lessons of growing up in a safe, community driven environment. Home is a place where you grow as an individual, flourish into what
In the early twentieth century, East Liberty was a flourishing business district with affordable housing for its residents. Decades later, this neighborhood’s prosperity declined as residents began fleeing to other areas and businesses were forced to shut down. This left East Liberty in diminished conditions, like the conditions depicted in John Edgar Wideman’s story of Homewood in Our Time. Urban renewal efforts were quickly adopted for East Liberty, but these efforts failed. Today, the area is in a state of continuous revitalization, which is beneficial for the economy and some citizens, but African Americans don’t always benefit from these changes. Chris Ivy explores this division in his documentary Easy of Liberty. Failed urban renewal efforts of the sixties and continuing gentrification have transformed East Liberty’s booming business district into a racially divided neighborhood.
In Brown's Battleground: Students, Segregationists, and the Struggle for Justice in Prince Edward County, Virginia (2011), historian Jill Titus argues that embedded racial hierarchies, race-based salary discrimination, and political discontent in the African-American community with the Farmville Town Hall leadership created a state of social ferment in Farmville, Virginia during the early 20th century. According to Titus, “Jim Crow set the parameters of life in Prince Edward County” (Titus). She later writes, “privileged white men controlled the banks, the businesses, and the schools, as their fathers had before them. Raised in a world defined by the principle of separate and unequal, they reserved the best jobs and schools for whites, congratulating themselves for their generosity in laying aside the leftovers for blacks” (Titus). In sum, the racial, economic, and
Problem Identification: As African American moved to Prince George’s County to be part of a phenomenon that has been rare in American history: a community that grew more upscale as it became more black. “The county became a national symbol of the American Dream with a black twist” (Michael, 2015). However, their dreams were shattered.
Growing up in rural North Carolina was both a blessing and a curse. My hometown, Fallston, North Carolina, is a tiny town way off the beaten path. Most people speak with a southern accent, are devout christians, vote Republican, think camouflage is a normal fashion pattern, and adore country music. But while I was a child, none of these things were a problem. I never realized how close-minded everyone was or how there were no opportunities for success; I was too concerned with the three most important events of the year: the Fallston FunFest, the Belwood Tractor Pull, and the Cleveland County Fair. However, as I grew older, zeal wore off and reality set in. I started to realize how conservative and restrictive it was. What little Fallston offered,
These families have struggled with poverty, domestic violence, drugs, and unemployment. One of those families was J.D. Vance’s family. Vance grew up in the “Rust Belt” of Ohio, into a struggling, poor, abusive family. Vance escaped his hardships by enrolling into the Military and going to school. However, other people weren’t as lucky as he was to get out, other families were still stuck in “Hillbilly” Middletown. Things were going good for these families until the 1970s and 1980s came along. This is when things took a toll, industrial jobs were cut, causing a down-ward spiral for everyone in Ohio. This is when the alcoholism, drug use, and domestic violence became a norm. For about a century, the region seemed to be on a upward spiral. Middletown’s streets today are full of “shuttered storefronts and drug dealers, (Rothman,New Yorker).”
Growing up in small-town Pflugerville, I never imagined what life would be like outside of a "country" area - until I moved to Killeen, Texas. Killeen is a town full of hot-headed, military, city-slickers that clog up the highway like ants. Often, I think of times when I was younger - looking up at the clear, blue, open skies; the smell of fresh-cut grass always awakened my senses. Now, I look up and I see wires, buildings, cars, and smog. They always say "There is no place like home," and in this case, there are no two places that differ more than my hometown and the town I live in now. The speed of life, the buildings, and most of all, the crime rates are all very new to me. The world is like bowl of fruit, sometimes the taste of each point on a map can differ as greatly as apples and oranges.
Sometimes a person may feel that they have no purpose in life. Finding out who you are just takes the time of sitting down and thinking of the importance in your life. Who am I? I am Mercedes Kimberly Kingston, and I am a person with different personalities, characteristics, and identities. The many ways, in which I identify myself, in fact, are the ways that define who I am. My Identity is something only I can fully define. I have a little brother, which makes me a sister; I have two loving parents, which makes me a daughter; I am in college studying medicine, which makes me a student; and I have wonderful friends in desperate need of support, which makes me a wonderful best friend.
There are many personal characteristics that can affect a person as an individual and his professional success, namely openness, ability to learn and adapt etc. These personal characteristics can sometimes make a person successful and sometimes doesn’t. As I spend more and more time as a professional, I perceive that there are few characteristics that are essential for professional success: namely ambitious, creative and adaptable. These characteristics come out in many different ways. Have you set your goals? Have you decided the path you have to take to pursue your goal? What are the sacrifices you can do to achieve your ambition? How much can you think out of the box to resolve a particular issue or bring new idea to the table? How
Over the course, I have learned that all people are unique and have their own personal traits and qualities. One person does not just simply fall into one category, but various categories. What is beautiful about all of us is that we all have diverse personalities, traits and qualities. I have learned that we should be proud of and embrace these unique qualities of ours.
When asked to describe myself I never know what to say, but I should know myself the best, right?
School, to me and among many peers of my age, is not a distant term. I have spent one-third of my life time sitting in classrooms, every week since I was seven years old. After spending this much time in school, many things and experiences that happened there have left their mark in my memory. Some are small incidences while some have had a great impact on me. However, regardless the degree of significance, things that happened all contributed to shape the person that I am now.
There are three very important aspects that play a major rule in my life. They can be categorized as intellectual, social, and spiritual. My intellectual self is interesting because I am mainly right-brained which means that I tend to use my creativity more than my mathematical skills, also making me a visual learner. My social self consists of friends, family, and my surroundings. I spend most of my time at home with my family. Whenever I am with my friends, I observe their behaviors and listen to their opinions. I am more of an independent type of person. Being with different people has influenced me into appreciating different cultures and beliefs. I have learned things that have now been incorporated into my own set of beliefs and
When I look in the mirror I know whom I am, but society makes it difficult to understand who I am, because I was born to immigrants of Nigerian descent, and I am a first generation American, that term is sometimes used so loosely. By looking at my name they assume that I am from some island, but I am so quick to tell them that “I am Nigerian”, there is another statement that normally follows this. “You do not have an accent”. I wonder if I had an accent would I be considered Nigerian and not American; then I say that “My parents are Nigerian” and then that changes, so to them I am just associated with the Nigerian culture it does not make me Nigerian, there has been many discussion between my friends who are the same like me confused to