s assertions in his essay, "American Letters, American Voices". The main thesis of Gates's essay deals with the idea that a book or story can talk to its reader. ... There is little doubt that Douglass was testifying against the slavers and actually demonstrating the urge to be free and liberated. ... The voice that testified against captors and bore witness to the urge to be free evolved into a voice that testified against bigotry and bore witness to the urge to be equal Although Gates talks about the "black voice" throughout his essay, he leaves the question open as to exactly what ...

• Word Count: 1334
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

We younger negro artists now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame....We build our temples for tomorrow, as strong as we know how and we stand on the top of the mountain, free within ourselves."... Black owned magazines and newspapers flourished, freeing African Americans from the influences of the white society. ... The black philosopher Alian Locke published his most talked about essay "The New Negro", in his essay he urged that "Art must discover and reveal the beauty which prejudice and caricature have overlaid." His essays also proposed "smashing" all ...

• Word Count: 1369
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Within these published essays, Du Bois goes on to describe the disjointed identity of being "a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second sight yield[ing] him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world" (534). ... Especially when he claims that the black man is not even yet free – "The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins" (535) – for so many of the black community are still being persecuted simply for the color of their skin, the coarseness of their hair, or the shape and struct...

• Word Count: 1421
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Hughes ended his essay by saying that, "we build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.... In his speech, we see Douglass state that the fourth of July is not only meaningless to the slave but also to the freed African Americans. ... The holiday therefore can't be taken serious by the slave girl who still serves a master against her will while he celebrates how they have been set free. ... These here were freed slaves who had learnt to read and write and they were using that literacy endowment to shed light on what...

• Word Count: 1560
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Frederick Douglass began his life as a common slave but proved to be a phenomenon by breaking free of all boundaries placed upon him. ... At age thirteen Douglass bought his first book, The Columbian Orator, consisting of various essays and speeches having to do with democracy and liberty. ... Frederick Douglass would encourage many more African Americans to fight for the Union Army, "Who would be free themselves must strike the blow.... ... A header in Douglass" newspaper once read, "Right is of no Sex - Truth is of no Color."7 Frederick Douglass broke free from the shackles of slavery, and...

• Word Count: 1350
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Leigha Dalton Eng20, Sec 27 Essay 1 10/26/2003 Ultimate Power Today, freedom and equality are two virtues that Americans overlook and take for granted. ... Rufus had the power to control and threaten Dana despite the fact that she was a "free" slave. Even though she was free, the color of her skin designated her as an easy target for Rufus's manipulation. ...

• Word Count: 1258
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Richard Wright writes his essay, "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow," on this very topic. ... Although he never states this in his essay, Wright leads us to believe that a double role for an African American is playing into the stereotype of being a liar, a thief, and a brute. ... At the end of each segment of his essay, he includes quotes from all of his various Jim Crow-enhancing experiences. ... "The middle-class values by which we were raised. . . urge us toward participation in the American mainstream. . . toward a strong identification with the society. . . these values are almost rules...

• Word Count: 1958
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Berry, faith, Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond Harlem, Citadel, 1992 Langston Hughes spoke for most of the writers and artists when he wrote in his essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain- (1926) that black artists intended to express themselves freely, no matter what the black public or white public thought A number of factors contributed to the decline of the Harlem Renaissance in the mid-1930s. ... In the poem Dream Variations, Hughes demonstrates how nature helps celebrate and free the soul. ... The speaker's soul is free and liberated as he rejoices with nature. ... Th...

• Word Count: 1518
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In the twentieth century, many famous black leaders made great contributions to society and civil rights. One of the most influential of this time was William Edward Burghardt DuBois. DuBois was a sociologist and author that spent his life fighting injustice and for the equality of all people. D...

• Word Count: 1675
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Through Hughes" works that included: poetry, short stories, novels, and political essays, Hughes brought his words to life and educated many people. ... His mother according to Hughes, "who was always ready to do battle for the rights of free people," (Hill 15.) appealed to the school board in person. ... This title holds great significance because Hughes is stating that everyone born in America has the right to be free as an American. ...

• Word Count: 1483
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

The Heroism of Atticus Finch: Essay The racism which was prevalent in many small American towns in the 1930s is expertly illustrated in Harper Lee's classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. ... Finch is extremely resolved to see to it that Tom Robinson's trial is free of prejudice and racism. ...

• Word Count: 1341
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Native Son Chicago in the 1930's was split into two opposing views of life: the raw, tough life in the Black Belt of Chicago's south side ghetto and the awe astounding world of the distant white realm. These stark distinctions from the two dictate the ways in which Bigger Thomas conducts his beh...

• Word Count: 1638
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

In the 1920's African Americans were free under the constitution but they were not free from racism and their past was not far gone. ... However, literature was words of emotion, feelings of how life was during slavery, while free, and what they hope for the future of blacks. ... He published an essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," where he introduced to the people black literary identity. ...

• Word Count: 2368
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

To start the argument he makes a great point by saying five scores ago America signed the Emancipation Proclamation, "but one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free"(Rottenburg, 706). ...

• Word Count: 1285
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

While in jail, King wrote his acclaimed essay "Letter from Birmingham Jail", urging the white population of America to put a stop to segregation, asking them to see how truly unjust the punishment of African-Americans was and that African-Americans were people who only wanted to gain their full civil rights one hundred years after they became citizens of the US. ... The thought of being free from oppression, instilled excitement and a drive to study the teachings of the Nation of Islam. ... For him, the white race was an enemy to all others and the only way to stop was to break free and form t...

• Word Count: 2369
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

This essay will look at the origins of the Black Panther Party within America, taking in depth its ideologies and the leaders who saw to the creation of a black initiative during the late 1960's and early 1970's The Black Panther Party grew from a seed in Huey Newton's heart during his life on this planet. ... • We want completely free health care for all black and oppressed people. Point number six set the view that the government is obligated to provide a free system whereby medical advice, treatment, health education and research development programs are provided with...

• Word Count: 2373
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

This essay will describe segregation as an obstacle to human development, because it prevents human beings from expressing and pursuing their goals. ... Before the racial segregation law was enacted in New Orleans, Creoles were free and were part of the highest levels of New Orleans society. ...

• Word Count: 1609
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

DUBIOS died happy and free yet he died on the eve of the march on Washington it's a shame he wasn't able to see it. ... Literary notes and references During his long life he wrote many great books and informative essays, some of them are Dusk of Dawn, The Philadelphia Negro, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade, Soul of Black Folks, John Brown, Quest of the Silver Fleece, The Negro, Dark Water, The Gift of Black Folks, Dark Princess, Black Folk then and Now, Dusk of Dawn, Color and Democracy, The Encyclopedia of the Negro and his Autobiography, Words of Color. ...

• Word Count: 1586
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

King uses religious metaphors and imagery throughout his essay in order to show peacefulness. ... While constantly being told that the United States is the land of the free, black's in these times did not have all the freedoms they deserved. ...

• Word Count: 1513
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

So to the whole world america outward image is the land of the free, everybody got a chance to be let's say the next Tom cruise or Bill gates, okay who would you rather be. ... Throughout the book Moore tells the reader about more problems than can counted up in an essay such as this one, or at least they are so many, I don't really feel like writing them all up anyway. ...

• Word Count: 1514
• Approx Pages: 6

There was never a moment for her to sit down, undisturbed, to unravel her own private thoughts; never a time free from interruption "by work or the noisy inquiries of her many children. ... For example, on page 744 of Ways of Reading 6th ed In Walkers essay "In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens- Walker is talking about her mother, and then almost immediately jumps to the "anonymous- black woman who weaved the quilt. ...

• Word Count: 1418
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The three major changes in Malcolm X's life that will be examined in this essay are his life in Boston, his life in prison, and his pilgrimage. ... His mind opens up and he develops a sense of freedom, "In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life" (Haley 1992, 180). ...

• Word Count: 1903
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Perfect Society The world we live in today is far from perfect. As a minority, I see these imperfections first hand. There are inequalities between races and gender. I hope most people don't mean to be prejudice or racist but it seems that is how they were brought up. If the environment aroun...

• Word Count: 2007
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Abstract Hip-Hop has long been demonized for its militant language and outlawed narrative as a part of American society. But, despite its controversy it has remained a source of encouragement to many as its influence spreads across the globe. Hip-hop's origins are undoubtedly African-American, this ...

• Word Count: 1971
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In his essay "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," (The Nation Magazine) a young "Negro" poet said, "I want to be a poet-not a Negro poet." ... Therefore, African-Americans must be themselves and build a foundation for the future generations to stand upon so they can finally be free, and be proud of their individuality. ...

• Word Count: 1984
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School