African-American Resistance

African-American resistance against limits imposed by society has been a prevailing theme in America. The novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and the Black Lives Matter Movement are two different voices in the debate over racial equality in America, spanning across a time period of fifty years. Though the main character in Invisible Man attempts to promote the stance of African-Americans through a centralized and “scientific” organization, and the Black Lives Matter Movement is decentralized and more like spontaneous bursts of emotion, both face controversy, demonstrating the irony of resistance: that differing approaches individuals have towards accomplishing a common goal often hinders progress. In his 1952 novel Ellison explores several possible methods of black resistance. His main character, Invisible Man, trying to raise black status in society as an orator of the Brotherhood, is questioned by Ras the Exhorter, “Are

While on one hand figures like African-American journalist Mark S. Luckie believe “the rise of the BLM movement shook us out of our defeatedness,” others, like Civil Rights Activist Barbara Reynolds condemn the movement as “peppered with hate speech, profanity” and “rejecting methods proven” by history. Basically, Luckie and BLM supporters are confident the BLM will rally up enough support to change society once and for all, while opposers argue that BLM Movement is ineffective in bringing about meaningful change. Some blacks are even eager to put an immediate stop to the movement. Therefore, the controversy over the BLM Movement, like Invisible Man, demonstrates that it is difficult for supporters of a resistance to come to a consensus because everyone has varying degrees of ideals, and envision different approaches to accomplishing a common