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African american contributions to america culture essay
Essays on african american history
African american contributions to america culture essay
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Have you heard of any famous African Americans who contributed greatly to the United States of America? Whether you answered the question yes, or no, I know of one African American who did great things for America. Gwendolyn Brooks was an African American poet who wrote about the lives of an every day African American during the 1900’s. She struggled in her lifetime just as everyone else in the world. Only, she did something about her struggles. Whenever she saw something interesting and/or shocking, she would write her poetry about the very thing. People all around could relate to her poetry, therefore having a great impact on their lives.
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was born on June 7 of 1917. Even though she was born in Topeka, Kansas, she grew up in Chicago. As a part of the Great Migration, her family moved over to Chicago. As I said before, Brooks’ writing was mostly influenced by the rest of the world. From going to three different high schools, Gwendolyn picked up on so much racial prejudice that it shaped how her writing would later be. At the age of thirteen, G...
Throughout the course of American history, there have been many historical figures who have been responsible for, or were a part of the gradual change of our nation. In the early to mid 1900's, the United States was racially segregated, and African Americans were looked at as second class citizens. In the mid-1900's, a time period which is now known as the Civil Rights Movement, there were a number of different people who helped lead the charge to desegregate the United States. Some of the historical figures, who's names are synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement, include political activist Martin Luther King, NAACP officer Medgar Evers, Baptist minister Malcolm X, and normal citizen Rosa Parks. All of these people were a very large part of the Civil Rights Movement and attempted to recognize African Americans as equals to Whites.
Throughout the 19th and 20th century there were many African American civil rights leaders who have pushed our nation to where we are today. These leaders have been pastors, professors, and slaves such as Martin Luther King, W.E.B Dubois, Malcom X and many more. Although there are many important leaders in our nation, we have lacked the roles of strong black women in leadership positions such as presidents, governors and even owners and CEOs. Not only were black women mostly in the background during majority of past events including the Civil Rights movement but, all women are constantly looked down upon as leaders in society today. Among the few black women whose voices were heard throughout history, two of them are Sojourner Truth and Maria
David Walker (act.1828-1829), Frederick Douglass (act. 1852-1880), Booker T. Washington (act. 1895-1915); and W.E.B. DuBois (act. 1895-1968) are some of the most important African-American jeremiads in our history.
More of our children should be aware of these great historians. African Americans that have made major contributions in the field of science that should be discussed, studied and taught to our society to educate new generations of the vast majority of these great scientists. There are a variety of areas in the science field that African Americans have participated in. There were Chemists, Biochemists, Biologists, Physicists, and many others. There were people like Herman Branson, an assistant professor of chemistry and physics at Howard University, who helped prepare many young students for the science field.
She makes you think about the wrong doings that were going on in this time period. It was very brave of her to talk about the things that she talked about especially while being a slave. During this time period she probably faced a lot of criticism of her works and many believed that someone was writing her poems for her because they were so good and it was uncommon for a black lady to write a poem as well as she did. As a young black lady who has to go through slavery and other adversities this was a very hard time period for them but Wheatley stood strong and followed in what she believed in. She fought for equality and freedom for African American men and women.
In “We Real Cool,” by Gwendolyn Brooks, one can almost visualize a cool cat snapping his fingers to the beat, while she is reading this hip poem. Her powerful poem uses only a few descriptive words to conjure up a gang of rebellious teens. Brooks employs a modern approach to the English language and her choice of slang creates a powerful jazz mood. All of the lines are very short and the sound on each stop really pops. Brooks uses a few rhymes to craft an effective sound and image of the life she perceives. With these devices she manages to take full control of her rhyme and cultivates a morally inspiring poem.
African Americans were among the worst treated races in the US; however, this did not stop them from fighting for the rights that so many had died for. It seemed as if black people would never be treated respectfully, but just like in comic books, there is always a hero that will fight for his people. This hero soon came to the scene and he was fierce enough to change the lives of many people. Most importantly, he broke the color barrier and created a path that would allow others to follow. However, something that was inevitable was the threats and racial remarks they had to face.
There were many important battles the African Americans fought in and they really helped humongously. Some of these important battles were like the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina by the 54th Massachusetts ...
Wonderful black people like Sojourner Truth and James Wormley who was a successful hotel owner, were a very essential component to black’s rise in DC. They gave hope to hopeless black people. Their lives demonstrated that black people could rise above the turmoil and uproar.
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) absorbed America. In doing so, he wrote about many issues critical to his time period, including The Renaissance, The Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, the Black Power movement, Jazz, Blues, and Spirituality. Just as Hughes absorbed America, America absorbed the black poet in just about the only way its mindset allowed it to: by absorbing a black writer with all of the patronizing self-consciousness that that entails.
The time has come again to celebrate the achievements of all black men and women who have chipped in to form the Black society. There are television programs about the African Queens and Kings who never set sail for America, but are acknowledged as the pillars of our identity. In addition, our black school children finally get to hear about the history of their ancestors instead of hearing about Columbus and the founding of America. The great founding of America briefly includes the slavery period and the Antebellum south, but readily excludes both black men and women, such as George Washington Carver, Langston Hughes, and Mary Bethune. These men and women have contributed greatly to American society. However, many of us only know brief histories regarding these excellent black men and women, because many of our teachers have posters with brief synopses describing the achievements of such men and women. The Black students at this University need to realize that the accomplishments of African Americans cannot be limited to one month per year, but should be recognized everyday of every year both in our schools and in our homes.
...t social injustices (Weidt 53). Because of her quest for freedom, she gave way to writers such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Countee Cullen. Countee Cullen wrote "Heritage," which mixes themes of freedom, Africa, and religion. It can be said, then, that he gave way to writers such as Gwendolyn Brooks wrote "Negro Hero," which is about the status of the African American during the 1940s. Clearly, these poets followed the first steps taken by Phillis Wheatley towards speaking out against social issues, and today's poetry is a result of the continuation to speak out against them
The poem “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes in 1958 where it was a time of African American development and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes, as a first person narrator tells a story of what he has been through as a Negro, and the life he is proud to have had. He expresses his emotional experiences and makes the reader think about what exactly it was like to live his life during this time. By using specific words, this allows the reader to envision the different situations he has been put through. Starting off the poem with the statement “I am a Negro:” lets people know who he is, Hughes continues by saying, “ Black as the night is black, /Black like the depths of my Africa.” He identifies Africa as being his and is proud to be as dark as night, and as black as the depths of the heart of his country. Being proud of him self, heritage and culture is clearly shown in this first stanza.
Colonialism was when Europe took over most of Africa and Asia, and then Post-Colonialism followed. During Post-Colonialism people from Europe began to question the way European literature talked about people of color (Africans, Asians). This lens allows people to see the racism behind what they are reading, that it be intentional or unintentional. It questions poetic ideas like (darkness = evil) and (light = goodness, purity). It all gives you a different perspective on parts of the book to realize what is happening. OMAN tells the story of two friends during the Great Depression who go to a farm to fulfill their wish of owning a farm. Lennie has makes the whole dream harder because he must always watch out to make sure he doesn’t get in trouble. He has already gotten in to trouble in the past, and now he is too in this new farm.
Over the course of the century chronicling the helm of slavery, the emancipation, and the push for civil, equal, and human rights, black literary scholars have pressed to have their voice heard in the midst a country that would dare classify a black as a second class citizen. Often, literary modes of communication were employed to accomplish just that. Black scholars used the often little education they received to produce a body of works that would seek to beckon the cause of freedom and help blacks tarry through the cruelties, inadequacies, and inconveniences of their oppressed condition. To capture the black experience in America was one of the sole aims of black literature. However, we as scholars of these bodies of works today are often unsure as to whether or not we can indeed coin the phrase “Black Literature” or, in this case, “Black poetry”. Is there such a thing? If so, how do we define the term, and what body of writing can we use to determine the validity of the definition. Such is the aim of this essay because we can indeed call a poem “Black”. We can define “Black poetry” as a body of writing written by an African-American in the United States that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of an experience or set of experiences inextricably linked to black people, characterizes a furious call or pursuit of freedom, and attempts to capture the black condition in a language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm. An examination of several works of poetry by various Black scholars should suffice to prove that the definition does hold and that “Black Poetry” is a term that we can use.