African American literature is the creation and outward manifestation of the African American experience living in America, described through writing. African American’s used writing as a means to communicate their lives and struggles. The Blacks wanted their stories to be heard across the world. Even the stories that the oppressors wished would stay on the hush. To truly understand African American lit in the states and how it helped mold modern American culture, we must take a glimpse into their history here. Blacks have been in this country for many years, as slaves.
The Dutch brought the first slaves from African soil into Jamestown in the early 1600’s. Blacks weren’t originally meant to be citizens with rights. They were seen as property …show more content…
The first movie was “The Butler” and the second was “The Help”. The Butler, was based on the backstory of a former slave, who became a butler, and his unwillingness to stand up to white oppression because of fear. His son however, who grew up free, was a true revolutionary at heart. He eventually joined the Black Panthers and was bashed and discouraged by his family. A common conflict for many black families during the times of Dr. King and Malcolm X’s era of the civil rights movement. The Help was based on the life of black house maids. House maid jobs for black women was a common theme in the 1950s and 60s. Women weren’t taken very seriously at a corporate of university level in these times anyway. Combine that fact with the fact that your black, and many of your career opportunities go out the window. In the Help, the maids experienced racial tension from the families that they helped in assisting to raise their white children. Many of the maids would often find themselves attached. The main protagonist in the film was raised by a black maid, and she sought to write and publish the life stories of black maids experiences living under jim crow and
The Dutch brought the first slaves from African soil into Jamestown in the early 1600’s. Blacks weren’t originally meant to be citizens with rights. They were seen as property …show more content…
The first movie was “The Butler” and the second was “The Help”. The Butler, was based on the backstory of a former slave, who became a butler, and his unwillingness to stand up to white oppression because of fear. His son however, who grew up free, was a true revolutionary at heart. He eventually joined the Black Panthers and was bashed and discouraged by his family. A common conflict for many black families during the times of Dr. King and Malcolm X’s era of the civil rights movement. The Help was based on the life of black house maids. House maid jobs for black women was a common theme in the 1950s and 60s. Women weren’t taken very seriously at a corporate of university level in these times anyway. Combine that fact with the fact that your black, and many of your career opportunities go out the window. In the Help, the maids experienced racial tension from the families that they helped in assisting to raise their white children. Many of the maids would often find themselves attached. The main protagonist in the film was raised by a black maid, and she sought to write and publish the life stories of black maids experiences living under jim crow and