Acceptance Speech In Oprah Winfrey

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

Oprah Winfrey, the first African-American television correspondent in Nashville, Tennessee, was born into poverty and struggle and lived a childhood of abuse and neglect. Everyday, Winfrey had obstacles to conquer, similar to how everyday “from the time the Joshua tree was a tiny sapling, it had been so beaten down by the whipping wind that, rather than trying to grow skyward, it had grown in the direction that the wind pushed it” (21) because of it’s rooting. Winfrey's capacity to remain humble all through each and every crack and crevice of her life show how much of a hard-worker and how determined she is to grow and prosper, which earned her the title of being one of the richest women in the world with a net worth of three billion dollars. This compares to the Joshua tree’s toils of how it stayed alive and prospered for many years which, in the end, symbolizes perseverance and diligence to accomplish peace and balance in one’s

The time has come again to celebrate the achievements of all black men and women who have chipped in to form the Black society. There are television programs about the African Queens and Kings who never set sail for America, but are acknowledged as the pillars of our identity. In addition, our black school children finally get to hear about the history of their ancestors instead of hearing about Columbus and the founding of America. The great founding of America briefly includes the slavery period and the Antebellum south, but readily excludes both black men and women, such as George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, and Mary Bethune. These men and women have contributed greatly to American society.

The arrival of African slaves, sold in the plantations of colonial America, definitely triggered a superior-inferior relationship and mentality between “the whites” and “the blacks”. This present-day culture, resulting from a society of masters and slaves, has struggled against central concepts deeply rooted in the nations past .With strong cultural values on racial discrimination, the path towards the concept of racism in America was a vital moment in the course of the nation’s history. Social concepts and attitudes could not be altered overnight, but it can be altered. Indeed, in the quest for social progress, the struggle for equality has gone a long way, with black Americans now holding high-ranking

Elie Wiesel, the author of the memoir, Night. As well as receiver of a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Where he also gave an acceptance speech. Uses many different aspects of writing/speaking to persuade his audience of the importance of speaking out against injustice. In one part of his acceptance speech, Elie talks about the holocaust and how all of the people in the world are bystanders. His word choice really helps to create a big impact in the meaning of his speech. He really appeals to people’s pathos. “...And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

This paper reflects Dorothy Dandridge the first African American actress to achieve a leading-role status. Mrs. Dandridge also had a deeply troubled life, marked by the scars of a miserable childhood, a string of failed personal relationships, numerous career setbacks, and ongoing struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. Racism was also one of the demons with which she had to deal with.

Discrimination has afflicted the American society since its inception in 1776. The inferiority of the African American race – a notion embedded within the mindset of the white populace has difficult to eradicate – despite the efforts of civil rights activists and lawmakers alike. Many individuals are of the opinion that discrimination and racism no longer exist and that these issues have long since been resolved during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However such is not the case. Discrimination is a complex issue – one that encompasses many aspects of society. The impact of discrimination of the African American race is addressed from two diverse perspectives in the essays: “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King .

The first episode of “Eyes on the Prizes” continues our study of American culture and politics by revisiting the plight of the African Americans in the United States. Their struggle to claim the freedoms and equalities outlined in the constitution was a daunting task. The period of Reconstruction following the Civil War was scrapped and labelled a failure by Northerners and Southerners alike. Both parties clung to myths that African Americans had been irresponsible with the freedoms provided to them by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Amendments to the Constitutional.

In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize as well his novel Night Elie Wiesel asserts “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” Elie Wiesel clearly demonstrates that his opinion with the listed statement.

The United States has long been a country that has accepted that change is a necessity for prosperity and growth. However, each change within the nation's history was hard fought against those who resisted such change either through racism, bigotry, and blatant discrimination. African American cinema is enshrouded in history that depicts these themes of racism, struggle, and deprivation. Yet, this same cinema also shows scenes of hope, artistic spirit, intellectual greatness, and joy. Black actresses, actors, directors, producers, and writers have been fighting for recognition and respect since the great Paul Robeson. The civil rights movement of the 1950's and 60's was fueled by black cinema through films like A Raisin in the Sun.

Jordan utilized an allusion to 1832 when “during that time it would have been most unusual for any national political party to ask a Barbara Jordan to deliver a keynote address ( Jordan).” A ‘Barbara Jordan’ would be considered any woman or African American. In 1832, slavery was a tremendous debate and most African Americans during this time period were slaves. While during the time of Barbara Jordan’s Keynote Address, the Equal Rights Amendment was just passed, and the American Dream establishes a new found respect for African Americans. As Jordan uses optimistic allusions to historical events, she validates to the audience that she is well informed and well educated in the subject of segregation. Barbara Jordan alludes to past events in relation to the ongoing changes reassuring the audience change is happening and will continue to happen. This argument is significant because African American rights are finally starting to become equal after having prejudice treatment only because of their skin color. Furthermore, Jordan’s speech opens the eyes of today’s society of the struggles African Americans went through and still face today only because of their skin color. Therefore, we should care about this argument because Barbara Johnson uses her optimistic allusions to inform her audience if we do not

For years, African Americans had experienced harsh ridicule amongst their peers. Not only in the work place, but in school and commonplaces. Thankfully, multiple changes have occurred to help better the lives of African Americans in society. Unfortunately, when changes occur they tend to have positive and negative consequences; as you can see in the film, “Having Our Say”, most of the changes tend to be positive when you reflect them on United States today, although, there are still a few negative changes as well. The film portrays the current and past lives of Annie Elizabeth “Bessie” and Sarah Louise “Sadie” Delany, what they have been through in order to live an extensively eventful life to the ages of 104 and 109. Their father, Henry Delany,

The poem Acceptance Speech by Lynn Powell is about a housewife who feels undervalued by her family and by society. The title of the poem suggests that the character has received an award for achieving something brilliant, but in fact she is being sarcastic and conducting an imaginary award ceremony for herself in her kitchen, since no one else is willing to appreciate her hard work. The poet uses irony and personification of kitchen utensils and ingredients to add humour to the play. She uses the In this poem, the character deals with her desire to be appreciated by propelling herself into an imaginary scenario in her kitchen where she is in the spotlight and humorously personifies ingredients in food who are just as under appreciated as

The film focuses on African American historical events, with special concentration on the civil rights era. With the White House segments of the film starting in the oppressive Eisenhower years, it offers a presidential level insight into the historic freedom movements of the 1960’s, all the way through until the day that Barack Obama is elected president in 2008. I am going to argue that Daniels’ representation of history and race are much more than a ‘parody of historical drama’, as he defies the ‘conventional’ stereotypes of Hollywood (Martin 2013) through the focus on individual character depictions and rejection of generalisations seen previously in African American films.

Over 400 hundred years there has been slavery, racism, and discrimination in America with blacks, and other minorities. A famous man once said “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word” – Martin Luther King Jr (brain quote). The movies ‘Miracle at St. Anna’ directed by Spike Lee, and ’12 Years a Slave’ directed by Steve McQueen both show the struggle African Americans went through during a tough racial period in American history. Even today in Modern society African Americans still deal with racism. Spike