African diaspora

political commentary through real-life anecdotes and poems on the modern day treatment of African-Americans. We know from the text and from current events that race is a heated topic of debate, and by including both everyday instances and overarching stigmas, Rankine is able to illustrate individual African-American experiences. Rankine’s constant shift in the race of the speaker between Caucasian and African-American people greatly influences how we may interpret a given situation. I am…

Let’s Get in Formation for a Revolution In Beyonce’s “Formation” music video, Melina Matsoukas’ visual choices construct a powerful portrayal of black culture and issues in New Orleans. More specifically, Matsoukas’ use of composition, angles, and mise-en-scene portrays the racial and gender inequalities in society and the need to unite black female power to rise against oppression. Through composition, Melina Matsoukas portrays the capability of black women to reverse patriarchal standards.…

The author’s details suggest the ability to change the world through your beliefs and what you know is true. Jefferson and Grant’s realization helped to spark the country’s awareness to how wrong the oppression the majority of people were giving to African Americans everywhere. Jefferson’s realization that he could die a man and a martyr, Grant’s refusal to be a bystander to the constant racism, and the society’s reaction to victories similar to these helped carry out the civil rights movement…

Racism, the reoccurring struggle for equality Most of the African Americans are still facing racism. In 2008, an Oregon archives exhibit stated that “African Americans, both nationally and in Oregon faced continuing discrimination and segregation during World War II.” During this time discrimination in employment continued for African American. Prior to the war, many blacks found jobs as hotel and train waiters and porters along with a handful of other unskilled positions. Thus, blacks…

Uriah Brown, published The Black Bubble on December 11, 2015. The Black Bubble was a term he created to portray the bubble that the African Americans had been placed in as well as known as “the black experience.” “The Black Bubble is a term I created. It means, that black people have been placed in it and this bubble represents a barrier to success where African Americans cannot move up the ladder to become successful CEO’s, managers, directors,” said Brown. “They can’t move up in an…

Hip hop culture is connected with oral rivalry called “playing the dozens”, which joins diverting put-down and oral aptitudes in a battle to shock and finally quiets one's enemy. An extraordinary ace of this expressive test was Muhammad Ali, who utilized short rhymes to demonize his opponents and paralyze intellectuals. In hip hop the "humble groups" framed into the custom known as "engaging," in which rappers conflict against each other to see who has the best verses and grow stream. Engaging,…

As an African American woman and one who comes from a family of immigrants, I often didn’t see enough people who represented me in film. The depiction of African Americans in film were either slaves or poverty-stricken. I saw a plethora of ‘token’ characters and punch lines of various jokes but never just people. The women I saw were either damsels in distress or the subjects of men’s manic pixie dreams. They were neither strong nor independent, the person I was taught to become. As a result,…

In the poem Ode to the only Black Kid Class, the author who is Clint Smith, uses many forms of literary terms. Speaking of the author, Clint Smith is an African American writer, teacher, and Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard University. He also won the Poetry Slam Competition. In the poem Smith uses literary terms such as metaphors, similes, and allusion to question or challenge the racial divisions. Smith uses allusion by referring the only black kid in class to the famous case which was Brown vs…

Gawain Powell E.A.1.1 What does culture mean to you? When people say culture, what do you say? How do you respond? Do you say the color of your skin? Do you say your race? Or are you actually defining your culture! Well let me tell you my culture. When people say Gawain what your culture? I usually respond with black. I mean at the end of the day i'm just a regular black kid who wants a better life than the one he has now. But my culture is a little obvious. My culture is food, the…

How you’re raised can impact the way you view the world. The authors of these three short stories, “Thank You Ma’am” “King of the Bingo Game” and “Am I Blue?”, are African American. All three of them were raised in a society where, to a lot of people, being African American wasn’t a good thing. African American’s were called horrible things, and were still being discriminated against, but some communities were close, and others were not. This affected how they saw the world, and the way they…