Analysis of Slim in Hell by Sterling Brown and Power by Audre Lorde

Erik Larson has organized The Devil in the White City chronologically, alternating between the construction of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the evolution of a serial killer. In doing so, Larson is able to explore the details of the fair in-depth, while keeping the interest of the reader. By using this organizational structure, Larson is also able to tell the gruesome tale of a serial killer without scaring away his audience. Overall, the pairing of these two stories helps to balance out the novel.

The film reminds us that “slavery and its aftermath involved the emasculation-physical as well as psychological - of black men, the drive for black power was usually taken to mean a call for black male power, despite the needs of (and often with the complicity of) black women. That continues to result in the devaluing of black female contributions to the liberation struggle and in the subordination of black women in general.”4

Have you ever wondered how far back in our history the world has been full of hate, prejudice, and rage? It has been seen in the form of war, mass genocide, enslavement, and even something minimal compared to the others, like riots and looting for centuries. Despite this common knowledge, there are many forms of violence, injustice, and rage that go unseen. Carol Anderson’s, White Rage, dives deep into the idea that maybe the worst forms of rage do not come from the most obvious and attention-capturing events, but the ones who stay hidden and subside deep in their privileged and ‘noble’ positions. She wants to show you, through the eyes of a minority, what it is like to constantly be looked past and looked down upon. Anderson argues the fact that no matter how many laws and regulations are put into place to cease the existence of racism, the rage in America continues to thwart African American advancement. Through precisely compelling choice of words and a structural design that pulls everything apart only to piece it back together to form a much larger picture, Anderson brings rage, the white rage, into a new and different light. This shows readers the depth of the racial problems in our country through a recap of groundbreaking historical events, advancing or obstructing African Americans, along with the white backlash.

The Devil in the White City, written by Erik Larson, it is a book about the events of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 that happened in Chicago. It was the perfect opportunity to display the strength of America to the world. Larson recreates the Fair with an thrilling tone, allowing us to experience its magnificence as the visitors would have in 1893. Larson describes the fair as "perfect", a "fairest dream", and "beautiful.” At the same time, Larson uses a somber tone in his descriptions of Holmes and his castle. He recreates the macabre, choosing to put emphasis on words like "possessed", "woefully and gruesomely.” It is quite an obvious contrast from his cheery descriptions of the White City. Larson uses compare and contrast and irony throughout the story White and Black city.

The beginning of black militancy in the United States is said to have begun with the chants “Black Power” demanded by Stokely Carmichael and Willie Ricks during the 1966 March against Fear. While Carmichael and Ricks may have coined the phrase “black power”, the roots of the movement had been planted long before by Mr. Robert F. Williams. In Timothy Tyson’s book: Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power, Tyson details the life of a remarkable man who had the audacity not only to challenge racial injustice in America but also to contest the rarely disputed strategies of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Establishment.

In The devil in the white city pages 385 through 388, Eric Larson depicts the trial of H.H Homles and the dangers of him. Larson supports this picture through diction and strong metaphores painting Homles as inhuman. Due to his malicious tone,Larson is writing with the intent to bring closure to his audiance of millenals wondering about the ChicGO fair.

i. Huey Newton once said, “Black power is giving power to people who have not had power to determine their destiny”

Ever since our first arrival to the new world, black thought and way of life has been under attack from outside forces whose only goal was and is to keep the African American community from progressing. Imprisonment, murder, deportation, bombings, illegal wiretapping, and fraud are just some of the schemes that have been leveled at black power organizations since J. Edgar Hoover first took the helm of the Bureau of Investigation, the predecessor to the present day FBI. Examining what happened to the Black Panthers, particularly the murders of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, and Marcus Garvey and the UNIA, will give us a clear picture of the strategies used to destroy black political and social organizations in the United States of America.

Author Jonathan Edwards uses metaphors in the story to strike fear and hatred in the reader's eyes and minds. Each sentence that i choose symbolizes his work and ideas to bring fear to life. Throughout the story, sinners must face a fearful judgment with an angry God. “Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth; yea doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames in hell.” The purpose for this sentence was that god uses a group of people to spread his hatred on the earth.

Cone tells us that blacks would rather die than surrender to some other value. “When the black man rebels at the risk of death, he is forcing white society to look at him, to recognize him, to take his being into account, to admit that he is.” Black Power is really an attitude, an inward affirmation of essential worth of blackness.

Black Power, the seemingly omnipresent term that is ever-so-often referenced when one deals with the topic of Black equality in the U.S. While progress, or at least the illusion of progress, has occurred over the past century, many of the issues that continue to plague the Black (as well as other minority) communities have yet to be truly addressed. The dark cloud of rampant individual racism may have passed from a general perspective, but many sociologists, including Stokely Carmichael; the author of “Black Power: the Politics of Liberation in America”, have and continue to argue that the oppressive hand of “institutional racism” still holds down the Black community from making any true progress.

Paul Robeson’s chapter “The Power of Negro Action” is rather straightforward from the outset. Robeson is presenting an empowering piece, which has several subsections relating to the central theme of collectivized action on the behalf of black people. One of the more interesting aspects of this chapter comes from the way in which Robeson calls for black people to use their agency to better their position. From the outset Robeson states, “I say that Negro action can be decisive. I say that we ourselves have the power to end terror and to win for ourselves peace and security throughout the land” (Robeson, 90). The interesting aspect of this quote is the fact that the paragraph proceeding it establishes the historical precedent of blacks not necessarily enacting the full degree of their agency. However, Robeson’s call proclaiming the power of black agency contrasts this and shows a progression toward the growing sentiments of blacks having more power than dominant society would like to portray. Robeson exclaims that the power that

In the article “The James Brown Theory of Black Liberation”, Adolph Reed argues that the modern neoliberal interpretation and definition of black agency is both historically inaccurate and disparaging. Reed warns his audience that the reduction of historical narratives leads to detrimental politics that strays further away from democratic principles that enact positive changes. Although the illustration of self emancipation and black agency depicts history in an appealing lense, it actually minimizes the coalition of black and white people who fundamentally changed the nation.

Audre Lodre is a Caribbean American born poet and feminist. The lesbian woman of colour is well known for her poem called, “Who Said It Was Simple” (1973). The poem addresses two major issues, namely racism and gender equality. In her poem she argues that people of colour accepted sexism because it seemed better than racism. The aim of this essay is to explore how the speaker uses certain images and tone to portray racist scenery.

Since the admissions officers only spend a brief amount of time reviewing stories, it’s pivotal that you engage them from the very beginning.