Demanding Rights from the Beginning: Franklin and Caillat Fight for Respect
We hear all the time that we learn from our past, but is that true? Inequalities have been around for thousands of years; we are still surrounded by prejudice and differences every day. So do we truly learn from our past? Women’s rights and women’s equality issues have been around for a long time because of the need for respect, equality and voting rights. Two songs relating these issues include “Respect” by Aretha Franklin (1967) and "Try" by Colbie Caillat (2014). "Respect" was originally written by Otis Redding (1965), but the reason I chose the Aretha Franklin version (1967) was to use her voice and her style of music to set and relay the theme of women 's rights. "Try" is a Colbie Caillat (2014) original which is about being yourself no matter what society thinks of you. Most women obsess over their image because of how society has shaped us to think that we, as women, should wear makeup and conform to society. Society has lowered women’s confidence levels because “social norms” consist of women wearing makeup, curling or straightening our hair, or painting our nails. When we conform to the “social norms” we are lowering our confidence because we feel as if we cannot go out in public without “making ourselves up”. Both songs speak about the same issue of women’s rights; they also have the same tone of being respected, being worthy, and being confident.
Some people think that respect is a value
American history was radically changed when President Abraham Lincoln gave the very famous Emancipation Proclamation. This lead to the freedom of millions of African Americans who sought the same liberty and equality that was promised to everyone under the United States constitution. These liberties, of course, were not achieved right away. During the Reconstruction era, which is the decade right after the Civil War, many of the recently freed slaves did not have money, property, or credit. They could not buy the necessary things to enjoy their freedom, which lead to sharecropping, a glorified form of slavery. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner lets a tenant use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on their portion of land (Sharecropping).. Added on to this, facilities were segregated to prevent the black man from enjoying the same things as the white man due to Jim Crow laws which were enacted after the Reconstruction era. The struggle for equality and rights continued during the Gilded Age (1873-1900), the Progressive Era (1900-1920s), the Great Depression (1930s), WWII (1939-1945), the beginning of the Cold War (1947), up until the Civil Rights movement (1954-1968). At this point in history, African Americans fought for their rights and changed the course of American history. Music was a very important tool used by African Americans that helped achieve this. Ever since the slavery times, music was a big part of their culture
Combining with the motif of protest was the issues of women rights. Women celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 19th amendment, and liberal abortion laws in the year of 1970. No longer merely entertainment, popular music became a powerful means of protest and an effective force for social change. The whole feeling of fighting for what is right was often found in lyrics and music of the time. Although women had been in the music industry for centuries the song of the seventies that backed the idea of woman’s push for power was “I Am Women,” by Helen Reddy. The first line simply stats the mood of the whole song by stating, “I am women, hear me roar.”
In Civilities and Civil Rights, William H. Chafe analyzes Greensboro, North Carolina in order to understand how the city’s progressive mystique operated when approaching the stages of crisis with black protests demanding integration for educational, working, political, and social purposes over a span of thirty years. Greensboro, North Carolina in the twentieth century carried a reputation for being progressive especially when dealing with racial relationships, but the social and economic statistics countermanded the complexion presenting inconsistency with civility reports. The city of Greensboro acknowledged benign order rather than facilitating the demands for racial integration and equality which exhibits civility being discordant with civil
In the Voices of Freedom, the passage explains the idea of American imperialism during the 1890s. It was written by a Filipino revolutionary and politician Emilio Aguinaldo. He was writing about the how the United States are taking over countries and limit their freedoms. Emilio's document was specifically describing the United States' occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish American War. The Question is that "Why does Aguinaldo think that the United States is betraying its own values?". Emilio thinks that the U.S is betraying its own value because they follow the practice of imperialism.
Freedom is a fundamental human right that all Americans enjoy today. Foner defines freedom as the ability of an individual to do as he/she wishes as long as long as the actions are within the law and respect the right of others (2). Accordingly, freedom is among the rights that are anchored in American constitution to protect the civil liberties of all Americans. Today, America is regarded as a democratic country that operates within the rule of law partly because of its respect for human rights (Romano 3). However, history shows that the freedom that African Americans enjoy today did not come easily; rather came after a long and enduring struggle by Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). It is noted that, unlike white Americans who enjoyed freedom to do as they wished in the early 19th century, African Americans were denied the freedom to operate freely like their white counterparts (Foner 6). Therefore, because curtailing the freedom of African Americans were denying them the opportunity to advance socially, economically and politically, the Civil Rights Movement was formed by Martin Luther King Junior and colleagues to fight against racial segregation and to ensure that African Africans gain equal rights as the whites. This essay seeks to explore the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) struggle for freedom and
Starting as a receptionist at a tanning salon, Colbie Caillat became an uprising artist. It all begins when she was eleven years old. She picked up singing and playing guitar in order to express herself. As everything progress, Colbie started writing her own lyrics. She recorded herself and her friend helped Colbie deliver her messages in her music on the Internet. Colbie friend started posting her music on Myspace to share her wonderful voice and powerful lyrics. Four months later, Colbie had more than 44 million hits on her music. It all escalated from there. According to Ellen’s interview with Colbie Caillat on the talk show “ The Ellen Show”. Colbie Caillat love writing song about herself dealing with women generally. About women insecurities, imperfections, self-confidences, and higher expectations as a woman in today’s society, Colbie told Billboard Magazine. That’s where the empowering song “Try” was written to be. An expression of how women should be more happy with their natural beauty verse being unhappy with their given looks.
The struggle to achieve freedom during the Civil Rights Movement was slowed and stifled due to governmental agenda and white political discomfort. America cared more about the civil liberties in other regions of the World, while maintaining a hypocrisy against African Americans here in the states.
On January 21, 2017, an estimated 500,000 Americans marched on the National Mall, continuing a longstanding tradition of protest on this public space. On this particular day, protesters sought to send a message to President Donald Trump regarding women’s rights. Known as the Women’s March, this event is only one of the more recent examples of large-scale protest and dissent on the National Mall. Throughout American history, protest movements have often made their way to Washington, D.C., the capital city and political center of the United States. Although the National Mall was not necessarily designed in a way that fosters protest, it quickly became the foremost venue for American demonstration. As AIDS activist Cleve Jones once stated, “the
Civil liberty and social inequality has been one of the most protested and talked about subject, even before the civil rights movement that began in the mid-50s. Many different people find the courage to bring these injustices to light and speak out against the subject, creating a more equal and truly bringing justice to all, no matter race, religion, ethnicity, or gender. Whether it be through a peaceful protest or moving speech, courageous minorities help resolve civil issues within America and demand change. Civil liberty issues have been, and still is being, resolved through vocal advocates willing to protest and use the first amendment to speak out against discrimination and unfair treatment towards minorities.
Billions of people all over the nation and world have heard of the ideal American vision to be defined as a perfect set of rules and regulations that provide the ideal conditions for living life. Though many people to this day may still argue their understanding of these idealistic views, there is an ideniable truth that it was two most influential figures in history from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Benjamin Franklin and John Winthrop, who helped shape this vision through their strong and very different opinionated perspectives. God’ role and form of government, social classes gradation, nature and moral laws, individualism or collectivism and virtues of success are all important aspects that have helped shape the American vision, in which also the opinions of Franklin and Winthrop stand divided between the leaders. Franklin emphasized the importance of the science and reason, which explains the structure of the world its affect of life on every nation. Winthrop presented his “a City on a hill” model, where everything depends on God’s will.” (The Puritan Vision Altered, John Winthrop, “A Model of Christian Charity”, 1630, pp. 6-7). Unlike Franklin’s democracy and liberty, he believed in state of brotherhood. However, Winthrop shares Franklins’ nature norms in relationship between people, but Winthrop also builds his vision
Who is Franklin McCain? Franklin McCain is a “lesser known” individual who played a part in the Civil Rights Movement. Franklin McCain was born in Union County, North Carolina on January 3, 1941. Franklin McCain was known for the First Lunch Counter Sit-In. In 1960, four African American college students made history by sitting at a white only lunch counter at the Woolworth’s Dinner located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The four African American college students were Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, David Richmond and Joseph McNeil who were students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin seem to prove to everyone how articulate, intelligent and sophisticated this man was. He wrote about the trials he underwent to become the writer he is known as today. He even was so intelligent he sought out to publish in his autobiography what virtues would have you “arriving at the door of moral perfection” (90). He wanted to show everyone that becoming perfect wasn't as arduous as everyone had thought. Benjamin Franklin was true Renaissance Man born at a different time period, Non-Religious and he indeed was being a sharp-witted mind that believed slavery was inhumane. Benjamin Franklin’s three personality traits that he exhibits are exhibited in Frederick Douglass.
Though Newton¡¯s idea was very influential over the minds of the people in the 18th century, the Calvinist beliefs and tenets that man was, since the Fall, basically evil and enslaved by his sense of sin, and that God was all, and would in His mercy and love work for man¡¯s salvation, but as for man. All he could do (if ever there was anything he could do)
The initial intent of the lyrics showed a bad dynamic between a relationship, but Aretha Franklin tweak and the emphasis on the word RESPECT sang by the chorus led for the initiation and was an inspiration for the feminist movement.
Across all nations and cultures, the enduring pursuit of equality in life seems global and timeless. Some would believe that their own country has achieved a true democracy with no residual inequalities of which to speak, while others know they are at the other end of the spectrum, enduring unjust laws that should not be bestowed on any human. Through the course of history many countries have fought for that democracy and all the equality that it implies. While some believe they have reached that goal, others continue to fight for the most basic human rights, even in this time of enlightenment. The journey each country takes on its road to that place may vary by origination, length, severity and outcome, but the goal seems to be the