Angela Weld Grimke: Agent of Change

The complexity of Rachel’s character differs within the play. On the one hand, Rachel is portrayed in a male disguise showing she has independence as she has taken matters into her own hands, her successful manipulation through disguise perhaps demonstrating her intelligence and how easily women can dupe men. This could also suggest that she is not acting according to the social ‘norms’ for women in the 60s demonstrating that she doesn’t fear people’s views of her although she is a woman. She demonstrates her strength and independence as she takes matters into her own hands ‘I’ll take two hundred in cash’ and acts in a violent way ‘Rachel slaps Francis’, portraying the growing power of women. On the other hand, Bean could have done this to project the message that women cannot hold any power without the help of a man. Although she has decided to solve her problem herself, she has had to dress up as a man to do so, thus showing that women’s roles are often tokenistic. The motive behind her plan was also for a man illustrating the length a women will go for a man. Had Rachel not dressed up as a man maybe she would not have gotten so far, her success in doing so

My grandfather’s eyes are this color. I’ve lived here mostly my whole life. I’m black. I’m black, I know” (148). Due to the complication of her racial identity she decides that it is easier to ignore it and suit what other people perceive her as. Rachel feels the need to find ways to hide the white aspects of her because other people believe she is simply black. She even hides her “whitest” physical characteristic when she says, “My grandfather’s eyes are this color.” She feels the need to hide the fact that she has a white mother because when people look at her all they can see is the color of her skin which provides her with a feeling of belonging to a societal category.

Beyond racial divide, Kingsolver portrays how Rachel’s self-obsession leaves no room for her family in order

When thinking about black actresses in the 1930s through 1950s, a few names may come to mind like Nina McKinney, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, and Hattie McDaniel. However, many other black actresses have graced the big screen including Suzette Harbin, Theresa Hams, Ethel Moses, Mae Turner, and Hilda Simms just to name a few. Many of these talented actresses differ in their career paths, but they all endured some form of racism and sexism which made it laborious for them to thrive in their careers. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark represents the hardships of black actresses during the 1930s through 1950s. The protagonist, Vera Stark, persistently tries to prove to the people around her that she has star quality for show business. However, she does not reach her potential because of her race. Although she obtains some gigs, the gigs demean black women during that time. The offensive parts for black actresses vary from mammy to slave woman to seductress. The following roles offered black actresses’ opportunities to one day acquire star making roles. Unfortunately, those roles did not apply to black actresses. Only white actors and actresses experienced that fortuity. By the Way, Meet Vera Stark exposes Hollywood’s misconduct of black actresses and further explains the lack of black representation today. Indeed, roles for black actresses have increased since the 1930s through 1950s; however the roles have become more stereotypical like the obnoxious black woman, the token black

In the play, how does Manners give bearings for his cast individuals on the off chance that he doesn't hear you out? Wiletta Mayers uncovered Manners' sustaining bigotry as she seeks after her lines in the play, Chaos in Belleville. Regardless," they were dragged… they go with weapons and dragged them out. They weren't send to be executed by their mom. The author needs the damn white man to be the holy person and I'm the villain"(220). What does that mean? It implies she understands that customarily a mother would successfully shield her family from any savage exercises. It is startling to express that Manners' play is an antilynching play, yet there is lynching in the story. How does Manners react to her worries?" Quiet please. She's confounded and I'd similarly as soon have everything clarified. For what reason does he react to her like that? He doesn't need her to express her worries since he realizes that it bothers her. Since she's dark, he tries to shroud her worries so she will get over it. As a result of Manner's way to deal with Wiletta, his perpetuating racist wind up noticeably clear that he is a supremacist.

The inclusion of Black women and their vital roles within Black press also improved the film’s

This further impacted the children Rachel and Leah, being the oldest daughters in the family. Rachel was a daughter that loved her father and she at first felt that he was the best person in the world. She would always follow him around and be his little princess, that was until she started to see the bad things that he started doing in the dark, mysterious place they were living in. She started to see how arrogant and defensive he became throughout the community and how he threw hissy fits. She realized that enough was enough and she needed to grow accustomed to this new place by herself, just like the narrator did in the poem. This is because she knew that her dad was just going insane and he wanted too much power. She now felt bad for her mom and what he had done to her, and wanted to side with her mom to get out of the community that they were in because they had enough of it. Another thing that happened in the Congo while she was there was something absurd and scarring to say the least. Her sister had started to hunt with the men for meat and Rachel saw what they did when they killed the poor animals lives. Rachel was so startled and appalled that she had to become a vegetarian for a short time while they were there. This just shows that she had to adapt to a new lifestyle because she could not think of eating a poor animal that had an innocent life, but her sister Leach could have cared

the play are ―rich symbol[s]‖ that convey the barriers of a ―racist society‖ (Kenny par. 18). The

Angelina Weld Grimké, besides working as a teacher in the capital, was also a well known playwright, essayist, and poet. Her work has

Though there was a heightened sense of tension over civil rights in the late 1950s when A Raisin in the Sun was written, racial inequality is still a problem today. It affects minorities of every age and dynamic, in more ways than one. Though nowadays it may go unnoticed, race in every aspect alters the way African-Americans think, behave, and react as human beings. This is shown in many ways in the play as we watch the characters interact. We see big ideas, failures, and family values through the eyes of a disadvantaged group during an unfortunate time in history. As Martin Luther King said, Blacks are “...harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what

Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were

The production spearheaded with a solemn poem by Langston Hughes entitled "Harlem." Preparing for an emotionally empowering theater piece, the poem quieted the audience and placed a serious blanket over us. While appropriate for me, I found it extremely coincidental that the poem's title, ties in directly with James Baldwin and his extensive writings on the 1943 Harlem race riots. With the lights off and just a solitary voice reciting the poem, it gave us, the audience, an immediate notion of play's melancholy style.

With such an opening to the play, the reader is controlled to read it as a text that is filled with racist beliefs common in Shakespeare’s time. But what is most surprising is that in many ways this is not a racist story at all. As the play advances

Throughout the play Hoke acts a bit clumsy and too much. In modern day society that would not be normal or even endorsable. But during the 1940s being a colored person that was expected of you. Conversely, this was normal back then. On an account of the Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights movement starting Hoke has an extra part to play and a role to act.

Black or white? One of the children in this play is going through an emotional and situational conflict with his self. He is not white and he is not black. He wants to be accepted, but he does not want to be considered as just another darkie. Cora begs her son to accept that he is not white, but he refuses and causes nothing but hardships for himself. In the 1930s there were only two races, white or “the other kind“. Being a mixed child brought nothing but pain and sorrow. They knew they were different and they wanted other people to accept it. Unfortunately the 1930s were filled with some very cruel and stupid individuals who saw only color and nothing else.