Lalee's Kin The Legacy Of Cotton Analysis

The black race has faced many hardships throughout American history. The harsh treatment is apparent through the brutal slavery era, the Civil Rights movement, or even now where sparks of racial separation emerge in urbanized areas of Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. Black Americans must do something to defend their right as an equal American. “I Am Not Your Negro” argues that the black race will not thrive unless society stands up against the conventional racism that still appears in modern America. “The Other Wes Moore” argues an inspiring message that proves success is a product of one’s choices instead of one’s environment or expectations.

Part two of the documentary which was labeled as “High and Low” struck out to me the most. This part brought up issues that we can all for the most part say we have at least saw in our daily lives. This section also brought up some of the many struggles that African-Americans have to deal with every day. For example, two women brought up the point that the label “Bourgeois” is a constant problem within black America. If a black person works hard to make a lot of money, get a good education and become successful, the black

The PBS Frontline documentary “Two American Families”, produced by Bill Moyers, follows two middle class families in Milwaukie, one black and one white, for over a decade as they struggle to achieve the “American Dream”. This documentary mirrors the struggle of so many American families who work hard and play by the rules, yet fall victim in a struggling economy to a series of policy decisions made. The hand of policy ineffectively steered the lives of the two families featured, the Neumann’s and Stanley’s, despite their hard work ethic and sincere determination to succeed. Many policy implications played a role in the documentary, including those around education, institutional racism, taxation, overseas jobs

The journal article begins by introducing an African American couple who resided in Russellville, Kentucky. James Wright held an occupation as a corn cutter while his wife Gladys worked as a cook in a white home. The time span of their journey occurred at the beginning of the great depression all the way through World War II. Seeking better employment opportunities, James traveled to Louisville. Although, his first couple trips were in vain. His resilience and determination eventually lead to a job working for International Harvester. During an era of many trials and tribulations, James found a way to support himself and his family by migrating from a rural to an urban area. By sharing this anecdote the author establishes a mood of hardship

The presentation of a 150 year timeline of Black newspapers: from their roots during the Reconstruction period, to their “deaths” shortly after the Civil Rights Movement through various aids proved the film’s strength. The use of actual photographers, journalists, and editors from the Black newspapers solidified this film’s sincerity; it allowed the people that actually lived through those changes and events to recount their stories. Even when it profiled different people from the past, the filmmakers used voiceovers that fit each character, facilitating the film’s narrative. These qualities elevated the movie and enhanced the understanding of it overall.

Document L is about a speech made by a young African American Valedictorian in 1819 asking of to why he is striving so hard to work if he is treated as inferior and

When Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1794 there was not much of an impact at first, but once the 1800’s came around the cotton gin gained popularity. The cotton gin was used in the south by slaves to separate the cotton fiber from the seeds. It had teeth that pulled the fiber apart and let the seeds fall out. The north and south, both, were impacted by the cotton gin, but depending on who you ask; workers, slaves, slave/ plantation owners, mills owners; people would have different opinions.

In Sven Beckert’s book, Empire of Cotton: A Global History, Beckert explains what he believes truly led to the growth of the industrial revolution and capitalism. The majority opinion is that the rise of capitalism was a consequence of the combination of free trade and want for democracy. Beckert argues that without the commodity of cotton, these things would have become obsolete, because this object is what truly shifted war capitalism into industrial capitalism.

John Lewis begins his remarks by revealing his attitude that civil rights leaders should not congratulate themselves yet and that there is still a long road before Africans Americans have true freedom. To immediately complicate the notion of being satisfied with the progress of the civil rights movement that other speakers proclaimed, he announces, “We march today for jobs and freedom, but we have nothing to be proud of” (para 1). The essence of Lewis’ argument is that the leaders of the civil rights movement are marching for workplace fairness and equality for African Americans, but they should not stop and congratulate themselves. Significantly, this opening statement reveals the difference of beliefs that Lewis had compared to some of the older leaders in the movement who wanted to discuss how far civil rights have progressed. To further demonstrate this idea, Lewis states, “While we stand here, there are sharecroppers in... Mississippi...working for less than three dollars a day, twelve hours a day. While we stand here there are students in jail on trumped-up charges” (para 1). In this illustration, Lewis highlights the dissimilarities between those at home who are experiencing low wages and unfair hours or are imprisoned on false charges to those who are standing there in

The documentary, “Hoop Dreams” depicts the structural, psychological, and environmental issues that perpetuates poverty in America through a cohort of individuals, Arthur Agee and William Gates. Agee and Gates’s lives are chronicled through a longintudinal study of four years, from the summer they enter high school, to their entry into college. Both African-American teenagers are recruited from different parts of Chicago, but they came together to begin their freshman year at St. Joseph’s High School, the institution that built Basketball superstar Isaiah Thomas. Both Arthur and William begin their journey in a similar manner, but were exposed to the complexity of their dream, their education, and negative societal factors that ultimately change the course of their lives.

Blacks in the United States have had to persistently fight against torture, racism, and segregation and still do. For years, in the United States people of color were not given the same rights as white men. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., “Graduation” by Maya Angelou and “A Homemade Education” by Malcolm X, the authors discuss their experiences and fight against inequality. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Maya Angelou were just a few of the hundreds of thousands of blacks who restlessly fought for civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Maya Angelou showed that in the face of adversity to persevere you must always remain strong and steadfast if you wish to succeed. Even with Malcolm X and Maya

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.

The Strange Career of Jim Crow is a book that opens reader’s eyes to obstacles that black people faced during this period of time. Van Woodward does an excellent job in this book illustrating history. He provides factual and vivid examples of the racism that blacks faced in their fight for equality. It is obvious that this is a well written book in that it is still being published

Bruce Watson’s novel, Freedom Summer, recounts the 1964 civil rights event in which hundreds of college students traveled to Mississippi in order to help register African American voters and create Freedom Schools—schools that would better educate African Americans so they could achieve political, economic, and social equality. Watson argues that oral histories created social change during the Civil Rights Movement because stories show people the harshness of white supremacy and the difficulty in attaining civil rights for African Americans. The oral histories leave the audience with emotions of anguish that they feel obligated to act on because they do not want to see the continuation of this anguish among others. The stories that Watson narrates

Entering the early sixties, civil rights activist Martin Luther King made a controversial speech in 1963 called “I have a dream” which addressed the situation America was going through in that period. He spoke about segregation of whites and blacks among the American people, and how, one hundred years after the emancipation proclamation which “promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be granted the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (King 39). Comparing, the 60’s to today, America has full filled the promises from the emancipation proclamation and for the most part has become that land of opportunity. Today we all have a change to make something of ourselves. It is the year 2017 and jobs are no longer segregated by gender, race, and even sexuality. Employment requires some form education and experience, and those are the main qualifying factors in our current