Gare du Nord

discrimination while trying to look for a job in Florida. In New York Asa worked odd jobs, while taking classes as the New York city college. While in New York, Asa found himself picking up a book called “The souls of black folk” by William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. This book talks about William Edward’s experience as an African American living in American society and the racial discrimination he faced. It was until Asa read this book, that he was convinced he had to be apart of the fight for…

Within his collection of short stories, The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois writes a story of two Johns in chapter thirteen, “Of the Coming of John.” This chapter is significant within the book because it presents the dilemma that blacks faced in society even after the abolishment of slavery. Du Bois portrays how being white corresponded with being privileged and how despite the effort blacks put into becoming something other than what society intended them to be and aspiring for greater…

Urbanization and industry transformed Midwest from agricultural to urbanized economies with trading hubs in cities like Chicago. This transformation from rural to urban sparked the Great Migration, a mass movement of African Americans from the South to industrialized cities in the North. This influx of African American communities challenged the existing racial constructs in the metropolis and gave rise to new socially constructed identities and means of self-expression. Davarian L. Baldwin…

The Free, Un-freed W.E.B Du Bois analyzes the social constructed, racial structure built against Blacks in the nineteenth century. Du Bois, depicts the struggles and disenfranchisement that the Black community continued to face after Emancipation. Du Bois mentions that “the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land” (7.) The economic system barred Blacks from completely inheriting the rights and protections that were promised after Emancipation. This paper will argue, the lack of…

Booker T. Washington”, W.E.B. Du Bois writes that “the time has come when one may speak in all sincerity and utter courtesy of the mistakes and shortcomings or Mr. Washington’s career” (695). The mistake that Du Bois refers to is Washington’s beliefs of how African-Americans should live their lives. Du Bois believed that African-Americans should aspire to get an education since that is the most powerful tool one can…

Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. was born on August 17, 1887, in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica. He is regarded as a significant figure in American history due to his lifelong focus as an advocate of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements He was a social activist who inspired the Nation of Islam and the Rastafarian movement. Garvey established the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. He advanced a Pan-African philosophy which inspired a global mass movement, known…

James Mercer Langston Hughes was born on the 1st of February, 1902 in Missouri. His parents got a divorce when he was young, and he was raised by his grandmother till the age of thirteen. He worked odd jobs such as assistant cook, launderer, and busboy. In 1930, he won the Harmon gold medal for literature. He wrote several novels, short stories, plays and poems, and he was well known for his interest in Jazz and how it influenced his writing. His life and works helped start the Harlem…

As a result of the multitudes of eye-opening written works describing the African American plight, modern day society has become more progressive and determined to fight for racial equality. By recounting the persecution of African Americans, the poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Maya Angelou’s autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” contribute to the quest for equal rights. Moreover, these pieces of literature share a central idea as they both focus on the African American…

Harlem, New York City, is known for the renaissance movement of art and music that emerged during the early 20th century. The “New Negro Movement” embraced African American culture and pride in opposition to the institutionalized and popular racism that followed many black people from the south. Extremely high rents kept tenants in Harlem poor and in this atmosphere, the cycle of oppression and violence was nearly impossible to escape. In the novel The Street, author Ann Petry illuminates the…

Pache Vang INDIVIDUAL ORAL PRESENTATION For my Individual Oral Presentation, I will be exploring Harlem Sweeties, by Langston Hughes, and explain the writing techniques used in Harlem Sweeties, as well as his embrace of the bi-racial realities in Harlem, more specifically, black women of different shades. Then connect it to his view of his own race, which is shown in his poem, My People. I will then, compare the poem, My People, to Zora Neale Hurston’s essay, How It Feels To Be A Colored Me,…