The Escape Of Freedom

A brief summary about A Stride Toward Freedom: It gives a timeline of events ranging from Dr. King’s arrival to Montgomery, a journey that covers the bus boycotts through December 1, 1955 – December 21, 1956 of the South and then concludes with asking the important question located in the last chapter, “Where Do We Go From Here?” It focuses on MLK’s perspective of the people, events, and bus boycott procedures. A Stride Toward Freedom touches on not only a huge part of African American/Negro history but also American history with one of the first applications of nonviolent successful protest

All day long Orloff had paced his cell. The blackness of the sky outside was equaled only by the blackness of his thoughts. The deep rolling of the thunder reverberated through the thick stone walls of his prison, and every now and then a fitful gust of rain swirled through the tiny broken window, wetting his face as he stared out into the night. Orloff cursed, wiped the water from his face with his grimy fingers, and turned to pacing his cell once more.

Shad Helmstetter once said, “Choosing to live your life by your own choice is the greatest freedom you will ever have.” It is important that people are able to choose the paths of their own lives. As the quote suggests, the ultimate freedom is choice. Nonetheless, many people are denied this ultimate freedom. In relation to Afghanistan, many women are denied the ability to choose the course of their lives. The oppression of women in Khaled Hosseini’s, A Thousand Splendid Suns, subjects them to total control by men, however, when the prominent woman characters in the novel, such as Mariam and Laila, are able to maintain a sense of control, they pave the paths of their own lives.

“I am self-propelled; fueled from within. I appreciate people’s opinions, but I am not attached to them. I learned a long time ago that if I give them the power to feed me, I also give them the power to starve me.” -Dr. Steve Maraboli. When I read this quote I thought he was describing that no one can hold him back and he is going to be free. My question is what does it mean to be free? Does it mean not caring what others think about you? Or is it being free to accomplish your dreams with no regrets and nothing holding you back? Being free means different things to different people. In the poem “Caged Bird,” by Maya Angelou, she talks about two types of people one being caged and one being free. In his poem “Mother to Son,” Langston Hughes talks about there will bumps in the road of life, but you have to forge your path to be free. In the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost discusses the two roads a person can take, either you can be free and not care about other's opinions, or you can be trapped by everyone’s thoughts about you. You can be free by not caring about others opinion’s on you, but by making your own path. So will you choose to be free or will you choose to be dragged down by other’s opinions about you?

In For Freedom’s Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Chana Kai Lee resurrects the compelling narrative of one of the most dynamic black women leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Lee provided the reader with an extended list of primary and secondary sources, providing intimate details that ultimately revealed Hamer as an exemplary individual who was chosen as a symbol of hope for Black Americans subject to constant injustices. Lee equally exposed Hamer’s pains along with her strengths and providing that balance gave the reader the opportunity to understand Hamer as the historic icon and the sharecropper’s daughter; “In any case, it is important to probe behind the fearless public figure to reach her private thoughts and feelings” (Lee, pg. 60).

From the import and enslavement of Africans to the mass movement and genocide of a multitude of Native peoples, the captivity and enslavement of these peoples are among the worst travesties in the history of the United States of America. In Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, she writes autobiographically about the Native American raid on her village, the capture of herself and others including her children and other relatives, the way she was treated by her captors, and her eventual release back into English custody. Next, we have excerpts from “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass. Douglass’s account of his life as a slave in the American south showed how horrendous

At a young age the free African-American slave faced difficult situations. He became an orphan before the age of 8. Two years later his uncle sent him off to work for a plantation owner named “Captain”. At the age of 18 he attempted to run away, but Captain found him. The author had voilated the contract by running away and was whipped. At age twenty-one he signed a contract with Captain under the circumstances that he would be treated better. He married Mandy, one of the maids. It was not until the death of Captain, five years later that things went downhill. Captain’s son, which was now a Senator that took control

“The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is notable for such analysis because he was an African American, a trait that has been of controversy for decades back in time. In this text, we are able to get a feel of life as a slave and how difference and identity were then verses how these were perceived once equality was established in the United States. Once freedom and equality were established, there then was a clear distinction in the difference of the two. Frederick Douglass, once enslaved, tells his story of his journey from being a

After reading Douglass’s The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, I have a better understanding of what it meant to be a black slave in the antebellum era, and have a better understanding of what form of oppression that they had to face. The fact that black people were oppressed into slavery created their own cultural identity. During this era, Douglass was able to pull himself out of terrible circumstances and taught himself how to read and write. As a writer capable of telling his own story, Douglass wrote an influential autobiography showing how he triumphed against prejudice, and he also offers a positive image of black people in a world where slavery was justified on the basis of race.

The autobiography “Narrative of the life of a slave” written by Fredrick Douglass reminds me of my own personal life. When I was in the third grade I was forced to move, I move to Ohio with my mom. I never was given a choice on the matter. My experience reminds me of when Douglas was sent to live in Baltimore. He was only 10 years of age; the same age I was when I was forced to move.

During the eighteenth century African people were considered “property” of their slaveholders and had no control over their own life. They were victims of psychological and physical brutal treatment. This story represents confinement, slavery and the lack of power African people had in such a racist society back in those days. African talents were absolutely wasted and they were considered inferior to white individuals. The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” simply addresses that white society was causing negative effects to itself and that slavery must be abolished in order to shape a better world.

In our modern era, over 150 years after the Civil War took place, we are a nation that has become numb to the tragedy that was slavery. However, three stories have shed some light on the reality of the struggles of enslaved people. From a firsthand experience, these narratives: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano give the reader a peek at what slaves suffered through, and help the reader relate to their all too real situations. These slave narratives served the purpose of informing white people of the time of slave life and revealing the evils of their slave holders. Many slaves

“For many others not even liberation prevented their eventual deaths. For those who did survive, liberation proved to be a joyful and a sorrowful experience”(White Rose 1). Liberation takes place when the Americans or any member of the allies comes and frees those who were imprisoned in the concentration camps. Whether this experience is good or bad is the question. Many believe that liberation was a symbol of freedom, but others think maybe liberation is not a great time. There is the fact that many people lost their loved ones during the holocaust and don’t want to live life without them or maybe some feel just too weak to try and start over. Liberation was not gratifying for many prisoners and life after liberation was less than satisfactory.

Independence could loosely be defined as the state of not relying on others. It is becoming more and more prevalent in modern societies. As a teenager reaches adulthood (in most countries, at the age of 18), he or she faces more responsibilities and more decisions to make on their own. Ideally, the one approaching adulthood comes to possess, through trial and error, the ability to take care of one’s self. In my case, this progress of gaining independence started a bit earlier than usual in relation to the usual customs of my culture. My dad’s philosophy on self-reliance and “manhood” transformed me into an independent teenager which in turn led me to find a more rewarding path studying abroad in the US.

After reading “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin the reader can see that the text reveals a major theme about freedom with the use of a few characters, a basic setting, and plot. This text was written to address the crisis of the restricted lives women were forced to live during that time period. In the beginning of the story, the narrator is discussing how they were being careful to break the news of Louis husband’s death because she had a heart problem. In the middle of the text, we learn how the news was accepted. Finally, in the end of the text, the author adds an interesting plot twists that brings the meaning of the story together. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” is the best story because it developed the theme of the loss of freedom can be detrimental through her use of plot, setting, and character.