Al Jolson

Al Jolson was a famous actor and comedian during the early 20th century. His filmography includes works such as “Swanee”, “Sonny Boy”, and “April Showers”. However, he was very well known for using blackface in his acts, meaning he used makeup to give himself the appearance of being African American. Critics claimed Jolson to be a racist while others saw no harm in his acts. This debate over media stereotypes still lives today. Media stereotypes are when mass media portrays racism, sexism, or prejudice

in her songs” (Guo). Al Jolson was an American singer and actor best remembered for his performance in the movie The Jazz Singer – the first talking picture. However, in the movie he performs the song “My Mammy” in blackface which is something that would not happen today because it would be horrendously racist. What Al Jolson did back then is basically the equivalent of what Iggy Azalea is doing now. They are both singing and mimicking a culture not of their own. Al Jolson puts on blackface while

interesting facts with detail proving how these events took place. Al Capone was a figure in the Chicago society being known as the great American gangster who had an illegal booze business and caused terror and corruption in the community. Every one of the authors chapters shows the significances in each situation he talks about. Bryson lets the readers know the histories of the prohibition, crime, government, and politics. The Jazz Singer Al Jolson’s film “Talking Pictures,” forever changed motion pictures

Al Jolson Blackface Minstrel Show: Initially, I was very surprise to see this show. Without first understanding the context of the video with respect to the definition of minstrel, one would assume that this was making fun of African Americans. After watching the entire video and knowing the significance of the video, it was still uncomfortable to watch. Al Jolson painting his face black and dancing while singing essentially explained what Minstrels Show were. These shows were not only crude, but

Great American Composers Over the course of history, the arts have played an important role in aspects of people’s lives. More specifically, music is something that has been around for centuries and will continue to play a part in shaping people into who they are. There have been numerous talented composers in America, but some worth mentioning are Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin. Though music has been around for generations, during the 1900’s, Duke Ellington was a famous composer

Valentino and Al Jolson are immigrants from Europe. And because of that, Valentino has trouble finding jobs at first so he started acting as villains; Al Jolson invested his early career in Burlesque and Vaudeville, which greatly affected his acting style in the movie, The Jazz Singer (1927). The brief acknowledgement got me interested in more research on what effect immigration played on both stars’ paths to stardom. After examining the childhood and diverse background of both Al Jolson and Rudolph

During the prohibition era of the 1920's, if one wasn't an enemy of Alphonse (Al) "Scarface" Capone, was he, in many eyes, a hero? Due to his savvy street smarts and the corrupt rebellion of the decade, Al Capone was not only a popular commentary of the time, but is now a legend. His classic boy from the ghetto turned generous multi-millionaire story only adds to the heroism seen in this most famous Chicago mobster. Chicago's industries, open spaces and four seasons were an enormous magnet for the

The September 11 attacks were set of four terrorist attacks controlled by al-Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group. On September 11, 2001, four aircrafts were hijacked by the terrorists; two of the planes hit Twin towers in New York, third hit the Pentagon and the fourth one crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (“9/11 Attacks”). The September 11 attacks had several long-term negative effects that include Social effects, Psychological effects, Physical health effects, Economic effects and

On September 11th, 2001, the Islamic Extremist group, Al-Qaeda, had sent 20 terrorists to hijack three airliner jets to crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth jet was on route to the white house, but it crashed in the fields of Pennsylvania. Over three thousand people were killed during this tragic event. This major world event is referred as 9/11, which resulted in a major crackdown on terrorism. Jennifer Caverly, an 11th grade math teacher, thought 9/11 was a terrifying event

Article One: Dainel Byman, in his article Why Drones Work: The Case for Washington’s weapon of Choice in an August 2013 article in the Brookings Institute, identifies the positive impact of US drone strikes. Byman contends that US drone strikes are extremely efficient, at little financial cost to the government, and protect the lives of American soldiers. For these reasons, Byman believes that US drone strikes are necessary to the war on terror. Byman’s first argument is that US drone strikes are