After completing a busy day of work yesterday afternoon, I cleared the rest of my schedule to meet with a church member who happened to hold the managerial position in Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee’s office. Congresswomen Sheila is not only an accomplished African American woman, but she also represents the 18th district of my birthplace, Houston, TX. There I was, pivoting in the middle of Congresswomen Sheila’s office admiring each photograph hung around the room of her standing side by side other influential leaders. Unfortunately, Congresswomen Sheila was absent when I arrived, however, I had the pleasure of introducing myself to rest of her staff, and later, listened to their advice. Their advice was given as an aid to transcend in
The readings for this week were an interesting mix of journal articles and a New York Times magazine article. The New York Times article; “The Case of Marie and her Sons” is about a Puerto-Rican mother’s battle with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) to regain custody of her five sons. The journal articles; “A Social Worker’s Reflections on Power, Privilege, and Oppression” by Michael Spence; “Pregnant With Possibility”, Merlinda Weinberg; and Racial Macroaggressions in Everyday Life”, Derald Wing Sue, et. al.; have illuminated some common issues that can occur during my career that will have a profound effect on the power and control the profession can have in the public sphere.
These three perceptions are distinctly different, but ultimately speak to the contextual nature of Black theology—rooting worship, adoration, and discipleship within the notion a (conscious) living G-d. The first perception explored is the image G-d adored through the lens of Sister Sweet and Mother Darling. At first glance, these women appear different in life style and theology—different churches, different abilities, and different approaches to discipleship. But upon further examination, one discovers the same paradigm at work. Both have lost children to AIDS. Both have committed themselves to a praxis centered theology to process their loss. Mother Darling is street missionary and Sister Sweet is a disabled woman confined to a wheel that feeds the birds and attends to the needs of the Little piece of Heaven Church. Both have found peace in their personalized work for the Lord. Their G-d is a “shelter in a time of storm.” The second perception is the image of G-d as seen through Deacon Zee. This G-d is one of salvation and complacence for Deacon Zee. The “White Jesus” he prayed to for his assistance in finding his copy of the Wall Street Journal—a nuanced symbol for prosperity. This G-d speaks to the corporate nature and element of
“Everything is not what it seems,” while this lyric may seem trite, it holds great truth. People, places, activities, each can be viewed in more than one way depending on the circumstances. From these viewpoints spring complexities and mystery in the shape of differing facades.
discussed. One can sense her urgency for the unity of black people and how her past experiences
The first time I heard “Ar'nt I a Woman?” was freshman year of high school, during our annual African-American Heritage assembly. The crowd, always restless and inattentive, chattered and snapchatted away as the speech and presenter were announced. A lanky girl shuffled on stage, folding in on herself as she walked, arrived center stage, and began to speak. As she went on, her spine straightened, her murmurs turned to phrases enunciated so clearly her tongue seemed to be working three times as hard as a normal person’s. By the end of the speech, she had the undivided attention of the audience, all holding their breath because of how passionately and honestly she presented this glimpse into life as a black woman. Both Chapter 4 of A Shining Thread of Hope by Darlene Clark Hine and Kathleen Thompson, and Sojourner Truth’s “Ar'nt I a Woman?” speech serve the same general goal: showcasing the mistreatment of African American Women by society . While Truth’s speech is from her perspective, full of rage and frustration, A Shining thread gives her experiences important context. .
Throughout the short story, Sheila can be characterized as self-centered and selfish. First, Sheila can be characterized as self-centered. First detail, she lectures about what she is interested in more than the interest of the boy. She talks about a guy that the boy is having no idea on and did not even notice. For example, Sheila asked “‘What kind of band?’
he facts that the Egyptians were able to build the pyramids is quite impressive given the simple tools they had to work with was.
African American women have long been stereotyped, discriminated against and generalized in this country. They have had to face both being black in America while also being a woman in America. African American women encountered and still do encounter double discrimination of both sex and race (Cuthbert, 117). Women like Elise Johnson McDougald, Marion Vera Cuthbert and Alice Dunbar-Nelson all tried to shed light on what it was like to be an African American woman living in the 20th century yet literature often portrayed them as emotional, hypersexual, unintelligent and of lesser worth. The literature highlighted that African American women have to serve both their employer and their husbands and families. They are not supposed to have an opinion or stand up for themselves, especially to a white man. ***Concluding sentence?
The Pantheon, whose name gets from the ancient Greek and signifies “common to all the gods”: Pan means “all”, and Theon means “gods”, is the best preserved building from ancient Rome. Its magnificent dome is a lasting testimony to the genius of Roman architects and as the building stands virtually intact.
Over the last one hundred and thirty years African Americans have little by little-gained freedom for themselves as slaves and domestic servants. Now as a culture they are legally capable of obtaining jobs and positions in all areas of private and public organizations, (Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J., 2010). This particular ethnic group are known to be instrumental in holding their cultures together through times of constant struggle. They have used rallies, protests, silent marches and received help from volunteer organizations to fight for rights as well as obtain justice in a racist and sexist society. This work explores the troubles African Americans face in Americas society today, through stereotypes and how gender roles as African Americans differ from each other as well as the American population.
Many of my life experiences have given me a glimpse of what it means to be in the margins of society. My family’s history of racism and poverty, my father’s physical disability, my experiences as a woman, and growing up in the diverse Bay Area with friends, mentors, coaches, and teachers from different backgrounds has opened my eyes to the disparities in society. When I was sixteen I had a particularly salient experience that awoke my heart and mind to the ideas of social justice. I was in Memphis, Tennessee for a basketball tournament and on our day off we went to the Civil Rights Museum, which was built around the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. We saw the counters from sit-ins, buses from the Freedom Ride, and learned about the systematic oppression of Jim Crow. I was confused by the hate and anger I saw but found myself clenching my fists with rage at the injustice of it all. Yet, what was even more powerful was sitting in the parking lot with my team and listening to our assistant coach, who was an African-American man, share his experiences of racism, how it shaped his identity, and his fears for his two sons. Our head coach then shared about her experiences as lesbian and the ways in which she was continually denied rights because of her sexual orientation.
According to Sojourner Truth, women are just as equal to men and they should have just as many rights and privileges as any man. She draws a picture of her equality to men by professing her strength and hard-working efforts. Right away, Truth’s first goal is to establish a sense of identity and relationship with her audience. She describes events where she has faced discrimination as a black woman to trigger an emotional response. Truth juxtaposes the ideal way man says women should be treated with her own personal reality saying, “Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me the best place!” By pointing out the existence of hypocrisy, Truth invites the audience to realize possible injustices in their own lives, which should encourage them to want change and seek to take action against discriminators. Sojourner plays on the emotions of her audience to their attention and their willingness for change by shedding light on her own vulnerable experiences to which they can relate. With the successful use of rhetorical devices, persuasive techniques and Biblical allusions, Truth effectively persuades the audience that there is a difference in the treatment of women, especially in comparison to women of color.
for putting on airs and that if we've any sense we wont try", and "And
Moreover, Sheila is portrayed as the product of her wealthy family and, therefore, the capitalist environment so eventually, she is less likely to take responsibility for her actions than others. Maybe, besides her childish nature, this another reason why she used her power and status to sack Eva Smith from her job in the shop Milwards ultimately giving Eva another cause to commit suicide. However, as the play progresses the audience can obviously see that Sheila is quite acceptive towards social responsibility since, unlike Mr. Birling, she does feel remorse and she does feel guilty for Eva’s death and, more importantly, she does accept her role and responsibility.
Growing up I didn’t understand the meaning of a struggle. I had no idea what it was like to wake up with nothing, to have no one understand you, and to go to school with pure happiness because you’re no longer alone. I didn’t even think that it was possible to feel that way because I was spoiled and got what I wanted. Throughout the years, kindergarten through seventh grade, I spoke what I felt. I told people exactly what I thought of them not caring what the outcome would be. I thought that being honest was the best way to go about things until I came to realize that it wasn’t. Being honest wasn’t only about telling the truth. It was about me expressing how I felt about that person picking apart everything I disliked about them; without knowing what their situation was or the life style they had lived. The opinions I expressed would range from calling them fat, to expressing their flaws, ending with telling them to simply go away because I didn’t want their presence. Knowing how self-indulged I was didn’t bother