Take back the night, held on Thursday, April 9th at Franklin and Marshall College, encapsulated the essence of unity, belongingness, liberation, expressivity, and audacity. Opal Tometi, one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matters movement, spoke about her movement and other controversial topics, in front of the Franklin and Marshall student body and faculty. She reiterated numerous sociological elements by addressing the different “isms”, including racism and sexism. She began and ended her speech addressing a quote by Martin Luther King Jr: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Tometi expressed the importance and the power of the Black Lives Matter movement. She projected race from a subjective …show more content…
It is easy to just remain static on the walkway and to allow the walkway to take one to one’s destination, however it is extremely difficult to contravene the path of least resistance and walk against the walkway. By doing so, one bumps into numerous obstacles and barriers like other individuals and their luggage/objects (Tatum, 1997). This representation of the walkway symbolizes both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tometi’s approach of participating in what they morally believed in. Both ran into numerous obstacles, including those who disagreed with their fundaments and fought to abolish their ideologies. Tometi also emphasized that even though slavery has long been eradicated, the maltreatment of colored individuals continues to prevail in our society, as exemplified by the Mizzou threats and the Ferguson shooting. Therefore, even though by law, the castigation of racial minorities is illegal, the legacy or the mentality behind it remains and continues to operate. Therefore, legalistic fallacy remains untarnished. Not only legalistic fallacy, but there is also an emergence of fixed fallacy. Some racial aspects and categories are universally stigmatized and remain stagnant (Desmond and Emirbayer, 2009). In Tometi’s speech, she elucidated that some aspects of herself, her body, her phenotypic features, and other superficial elements shape how she is categorized, …show more content…
We represented solidarity during the march by speaking out against things that mattered to us. We manifested solidarity by possessing ideologically aligned ideas regarding different issues, whether racial, sexual, or familial. The most iconic portion of the night was the vigil towards the end where individuals had the opportunity to personally and deliberately vocalize for what they were taking back the night. I realized that it was crucial to go in with the mentality that anyone can be a survivor. By grasping the concept of sociological imaginings, it was feasible to empathize with those who have been afflicted by pain and other tumultuous situations. In order to understand their experiences as well as our own experiences, we must locate ourselves in that certain time period because generationally, things are dynamic and constantly changing (Johnson, 2010). Over time, they lose their initial value just like Dr. King’s Legacy; we now celebrate Martin Luther King’s day not necessarily championing his success, but by buying novelty items on
McGuire, Danielle L. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance- A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power. New York, New York: Vintage Books. 2011.
The issues of how technology is influencing our nation today has come into play with social media and surveillance in our personal lives. We use twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. to express our opinions on things and as a voice to inform people on what’s going on in today’s society. We have learned how to use the tools we’ve been given to change our lives forever; our government has access to all of our personal information in exchange for our protection against terrorism. In Bijan Stephen’s article on “Black Lives Matter” and Rebecca McKinnon’s chapter on “the Arab Spring”, they both touch on the power of technology in negative and positive ways.
As both Tracey Reynolds and Audre Lorde have emphasized, Black women are not perpetually passive victims, but active agents. It is totally possible for Black women to seize a form of empowerment, whether that be alternative education, or the creation of organizations that weren’t situated in either the Civil Rights movement or Women’s
Historians offer different perceptions of the significance of Martin Luther King and the 1963 March on Washington. Without examining this event within its historical context the media publicity and iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech can easily overshadow progress that was already underway in America. It was insisted by prominent civil rights activist Ella Baker, ‘the movement made Martin rather than Martin making the movement.’ What is important not to overlook is the significant change that took place in the United States during the previous 100 years. Such that, many influential figures in support of racial equality opposed the March. The Civil Rights Act proposed by President Kennedy in 1963 was already in the legislative process. Furthermore the Federal Government was now reasserting power over the entire of the United States by enforcing a policy of desegregation. It is important to note that these changes all took place less than one hundred years after the Thirteenth Amendment in 1965 abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth amendment in 1968 acknowledged the rights of former slaves to be acknowledged as U.S citizens. With this level of progress Kennedy was against the March going ahead due to the argument that it was limited in what it could achieve. Today, King’s 1963 Speech is viewed as one of the most iconic speeches in history. However, was it a key turning point in African Americans achieving racial equality? Federal endorsement would suggest yes after decades of southern states being able to subvert the Federal law designed to break down segregation. This support built upon the corner stones of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth amendments in the nineteenth century. Therefore looking at the national status of black Americans fro...
When the call went out in the summer of 1961 for volunteers to ride buses throughout the South to help integrate public transportation, a large percentage of the people who made a commitment to take on this dangerous assignment were Jews. To be exact, nearly two-thirds of the Freedom Riders were Jewish which is “quite an amazing feat for a minority which made up less than 2% of the entire American population” (Weinblatt 5). Although Jews and African Americans are two very distinct, and often opposing, cultural groups in our society, the great struggle to end racism in America meshed these two groups tightly together. Their shared motivations, expectations and experiences in dealing with white racists during the civil rights movement are amazingly similar, especially when they are compared in the writings of African American essayist and activist James Baldwin and the personal recollections of the Jewish Freedom Riders.
People are marching in the streets, some holding signs, reading slogans that help defend the rights of the discriminated. This happened in both the African American Civil Rights Movement and in the Women’s Liberation movement. Two movements, one cause; to get equal rights. In the African American’s case, they were discriminated against due to their race. They were oppressed by the Jim Crow laws that were molding a unequal lifestyle for the blacks. Women’s Liberation, however, was about women who were forced to stay at home, because that is where people thought they belonged. Women were also granted unfair wages as compared to men. African Americans and Women were both fighting to get equal rights, which creates similarities and differences
Similar to King’s quest to non violence, there was need for role models to thrive. My delayed development and special needs were often left unnoticed by my parents. This alarmed and infuriated my brother who was the only one to recognize it first. For 13 years I never understood the reason for his consistent anger towards me and my family. The reason for this is clear as my brother deeply cared about me. King himself possibly had a similar childhood only to be treated softer in his family. The positive reinforcement of heart to heart talks brought me to take on different approaches to a situation I did wrong. Although I was perceived often to never process a misunderstanding completely. I feel for King’s hardships similar to mines where he went through several trial and errors to develop the Civil Rights Movement.
Political protesting within today’s society is often relegated to mass marches, social media usage, and other large acts. Unfortunately, small and simple everyday acts of protest are often overlooked or deemed useless in the long run. Sadly, this diminishes most of the protests that take place within America. However, this is not a new trend, but one that can be seen throughout American history, specifically within Jim Crow laws and segregation Deep South during World War II. Within Robin Kelley’s “Congested Terrain,” the way lower and middle-class black citizens fought for their rights to the public spaces within Birmingham Alabama are explored. Because the space in buses was much less defined that other public, segregated spaces, black
Aziwike, Abayomi. "The Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King: Continuing the Legacy of the Great Walk to Freedom of 1963." Global Research. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Recently you have received a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” In Dr. King’s letter he illustrates the motives and reasoning for the extremist action of the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960’s. In the course of Dr. King’s letter to you, he uses rhetorical questioning and logistical reasoning, imagery and metaphors, and many other rhetorical devices to broaden your perspectives. I am writing this analysis in hopes you might reconsider the current stance you have taken up regarding the issues at hand.
King peacefully pleads for racial tolerance and the end of segregation by appealing to the better side of white Americans. His attempt to persuade America about the justice of his cause, and to gain support for the civil rights movement was emotionally moving. He spoke to all races, but his rhetoric was patriotic, and culturally similar to, and focused on African-Americans. He was able to make practical use of a history many Americans are proud of. The use of repetition reinforced his words making it simpler and more straightforward to follow. His speech remains powerful because it is still relevant today, like economic injustices and stereotyping. This reading can be applied to remedying current issues of stereotyping, racism, and discrimination by changing white racial resentment and eliminating racial
Langston Hughes was a pioneer for human rights. Not excluded from his cause is the poem Subway Rush Hour. The poem describes this subway car carrying so many lives barreling towards it destination. The people on the subway for a short time are equal. The reader discovers that just as the little pockets of peace branch off throughout the city that so should the equality in each car. These niches of harmony rush forward to take over the future and pervade through the entire United States. The speaker “Subway Rush Hour” argues that forced unity will spread equality through the use of equalizing diction, the title, and change of tone from uncomfortable to hopeful.
THE WAYS OF MEETING OPPRESSION IS AN ESSAY WRITTEN BY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., ADDRESSING SEGREGATION THAT IS SPECIFICALLY DIRECTED TOWARD THE AFRICAN AMERICAN AUDIENCE. King’s primary audience is the African Americans, but also he has secondary audiences that he addresses, which are a combination of Christians or those who know of, or believe in the Christian views, as well as people in the legal system. He gives examples through his text that will demonstrate how he addresses mostly the African Americans, but also the various other audiences he is trying to reach to through his memorable speech. In his writing, he tells of three ways that they deal with oppression, and based on these he sends out a message to all who have read or heard his words. This message states what has been done in the past, as well as what should be done based on these past experiences. King chooses to speak to certain people through certain contexts and key phrases. In choosing certain phrases and also on how he states his words, he is successful in influencing all his audiences that he intended to persuade. The words that he carefully chose will tell how and why he wanted to focus on the primary and secondary audiences of his choice.
Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...