McCoy’s Quest for Freedom

892 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: CULTURE. ESSAY

Due to the racial discrimination that limited their opportunities, Black Americans have developed diverse skills to connect their creative work with their political activities and culture through many intellectual pursuit, including arts, music, and religion. All African Americans share the experiences of the forcible uprooting of their people from the African continent, followed by the quest for their freedom and liberation. African-Americans’ idea of expressing their desire for literacy, longing for identity, pain of exclusion and the assertion of their right have been the key factor by which many Black Americans developed the use of their talents to contribute to the development of the Black race and the retention of their culture. Even though Black Americans, by environmental influences, used to do arts and other related works only, they are actually able to successfully do professional jobs in many fields. It is in this way that Elijah J. McCoy’s skills in mechanics contributed to the phenomenon of re-connectedness and the continued struggle towards freedom of Black Americans.

McCoy was born on May 2, 1844, in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, to George and Mildred Goins McCoy. He was raised by fugitive slave parents with his eleven brothers and sisters. McCoy’s interest in mechanics started at his young age. An article titled Elijah McCoy found in “The biography channel” points out, “Beginning at a young age, Elijah McCoy showed a strong interest in mechanics. His parents arranged for him to travel to Scotland at the age of 15 for an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering”. Being raised under slavery conditions and having interest in mechanics confirms the natural intelligence of McCoy. Because of his life conditions, McCoy s...

... middle of paper ...

...ere, before enslavement, they were good at everything within their native land.

Generally, McCoy’s invention contributed to the continuing quest for freedom of Black Americans. This is because his capability of inventing new things frees Black Americans from whites’ mindset of being inferior and unable of thinking or running their own business and then after aspires them to struggle for their full freedom by working hard as they are able of living without interference of white people’s control. Through hard working, usage of his talent and the refusal of giving up make McCoy a contributor to the phenomenon of re-connectedness and the continued struggle towards freedom of Black Americans.

Works Cited

“Elijah McCoy.” 2014. The Biography Channel website. Web. Mar 20 2014.

Bellis, Mary. “Elijah McCoy (1844 - 1929)”. 2014. About.com. Web. 20 March 20, 2014.

Show More
Related

  • Emory Douglas: All Power to the People

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Emory Douglas was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, until 1951 when he and his mother relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. At the time San Francisco was the hub of African American organizations that arranged events aimed at overthrowing the social injustices within the Bay Area’s black communities. As a minor immersed within the community Douglas became captivated by Charles Wilbert White, an African American social realist artist whom created various monochrome sketches and paintings, “transforming American scenes into iconic modernist narratives.” Not long after, Douglas was incarcerated at the Youth Training School in Ontario, California where he spent countless hours working in the penitentiary’s printery. It was not until the mid-1960’s when Douglas registered in the City College of San Francisco, majoring in commercial art and graphic design. Soon after, Douglas went to a Black Panthers rally, where he encountered Bobby Seale and Huey Newton; during ...

    Read More

  • Sara Smolinsky and Cultural Pluralism in Jewish-American Culture

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    George Schuyler’s article “The Negro Art Hokum” argues that the notion of African-American culture as separate from national American culture is nonsense. To Schuyler, all seemingly distinct elements of African-American culture and artistic endeavors from such are influenced by the dominant white American culture, and therefore, only American. The merit of Schuyler’s argument stems from the fact that it is practically impossible for one culture to exist within the confines of another without absorbing certain characteristics. The problem with Schuyler’s argument that Langston Hughes notes in his response article, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” is that it assumes complete assimilation of African-Americans by a singular national culture. Fundamental to Hughes’ rebuttal is the allowance of a unique African-American culture extant of the standards of a singular American cultural identity. For Hughes, this unique culture lies within the working-class, out of sight of the American national culture. This culture, while neither completely African nor American, maintains the vibrant and unique roots of the African-American experience. Schuyler advocates cultural assimilation, while Hughes promotes cultural pluralism, in which minority cultures maintain their distinctive qualities in the face of a dominant national identity.

    Read More

  • Simple Justice

    1367 Words  | 3 Pages

    This story was set in the deep south were ownership of African Americans was no different than owning a mule. Demonstrates of how the Thirteenth Amendment was intended to free slaves and describes the abolitionist’s efforts. The freedom of African Americans was less a humanitarian act than an economic one. There was a battle between the North and South freed slaves from bondage but at a certain cost. While a few good men prophesied the African Americans were created equal by God’s hands, the movement to free African Americans gained momentum spirited by economic and technological innovations such as the export, import, railroad, finance, and the North’s desire for more caucasian immigrants to join America’s workforce to improve our evolving nation. The inspiration for world power that freed slaves and gave them initial victory of a vote with passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. A huge part of this story follows the evolution of the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment more acts for civil rights.

    Read More

  • The Development of Black Playwright

    3230 Words  | 7 Pages

    African Americans’ ancestors were chained, shrouded in death and pain they were dragged on long journeys across the sea from their home to work till their very last breath on fields run by colonists. With slavery being the foundation for African Americans, what circumstanc...

    Read More

  • James Weldon Johnson

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    Johnson's primary concerns were with the black writer. This included what the black author needs to know and what he must do in order to produce quality work. Johnson's ideas on blackness and the black author can be summarized in four statements: (1) black people have made significant contributions to American culture (2) black writers, to achieve thier best results, should treat black materials in their works (3) black people possess a unique racial spirit which can best be represented in literature by black writers, and (4) black w...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Revolution Will Not Be Televism

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ever since Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492, white people have constantly oppressed and discriminated against minority races. In my original essay, I addressed how leaders of the Black Arts Movement believed that the establishment of a separate Black culture provided the best opportunity for change to occur. During the time period of the Black Arts Movement, many thought that two separate spirits divided American society—a Black spirit and a White spirit. In the minds of African-Americans, the White spirit unfairly dominated and controlled America, leaving the Black spirit with little impact or voice in society. According to Larry Neal, “Western aesthetic has run its course: it is impossible to construct anything meaningful within

    Read More

  • The Ethics Of Living Jim Crow Summary

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jim Crow laws, a serious blemish on America’s legislative history, were measures enacted in the South to impose racial segregation. Beyond this, they were a code that allowed, and essentially encouraged, the disenfranchisement and oppression of African Americans. With such a cruel ordinance in place, African Americans had to learn to adjust their mannerisms and lifestyles accordingly in order to survive. However, this learning process was far from effortless or painless, as evidenced through Richard Wright’s work “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow”. This piece is paramount in understanding the African American personality and response during the Jim Crow laws, as well as for comparing today’s society to those especially trying times.

    Read More

  • The Disco Dance Revolution

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

    For African Americans, gaining freedom has been a hard struggle. Through the Civil Rights Movement that continued well into the 1970s, African Americans fought to gain rights that would allow them the most basic privileges. Though not enslaved anymore, African Americans quickly learned that freedom was not as easy or what they thought it would be. “Freedom” was a white man’s life that included equality within all aspects of life and no discrimination. After returning from war, African American men began to want more equal rights and opportunities, they expected justice form the country that they had fought for. This included the right to vote, citizenship, and desegregation. For every black man and woman, no opportunity was simply given. If they were accepted, it was with criticism and discrimination. With the new freedom that disco music gave black artists, they began to have more options within society. With Disco, black men were given the opportunity to become more than the stereotype. They brought forth a new sophistication, masculinity and sexuality that allowed black “soul music” to create a stake for itself in popular culture and the music industry. “Disco provided a partial map of black America’s shifting relationship to masculinity, upward mobility, and politics in the post-civil rights era.” Their music, though many times seen as a form of conformity and a rip-off of pop music, gave them a presence. It allowed them to “move beyond stultifying racial categorizations that confined them.” No longer were they confined to the accepted stereotype of a male; they started be seen as smooth, lovable, and sexual, everything women wanted and began to respond to. While their music gave men new freedom, many people criticized thei...

    Read More

  • The March on Washington - August 28, 1963

    1353 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nabrit, James M. Jr. “The Relative Progress and the Negro in the United States: Critical Summary and Evaluation.” Journal of Negro History 32.4 (1963): 507-516. JSTOR. U of Illinois Lib., Urbana. 11 Apr. 2004

    Read More

  • Slave Resistance In African American Culture Essay

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    When slaves were brought from Africa to the United States, they were stripped of their human rights and forced into a life of oppression. The conditions of harsh labor led them to resort to different forms of resistance to help them cope with the reality of the situation. One of the ways the slaves found resistance was through their culture. Culture helped the slaves stay resilient because it was all they managed to hold on to after they had been removed from their home in Africa and were forced to develop in their new home. Besides this, culture was a way to secretly protest and criticize slavery without having the slave owners punish them. The songs, stories, and art by the Africans were all used as forms of resistance. Despite the traumatizing effects of inequality, African Americans were able to rise as a community within their workplace and spread the hope they found in their songs, their folktales, and in their artwork.

    Read More

  • Black conductors

    2278 Words  | 5 Pages

    West, Cornel and Salzman, Jack. Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History. New York: Schuster and Simon and the trustees of Columbia University Press, 1996.

    Read More

  • “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Boser, Ulrich. "The Black Man's Burden." U.S. News & World Report 133.8 (2002): 50. Academic

    Read More

  • Essay on Personal Freedom Song of Solomon

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    Knowledge is a primary factor in the attainment of personal freedom. This includes not only scholarly education but also awareness of historical heritage and familial legacy. The fact that African-Americans were held in human bondage cannot be forgotten; it has to be remembered and passed on through rememory. Moreover, literacy gives minority cultures a voice to reach out to others with encouragement and hope.

    Read More

  • Ron Karenga's Black Cultural Nationalism

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    The people of the black culture need a motivating force behind their community. They need a black aesthetic to motivate them and incline them to support the revolution. The black aesthetic itself will not be enough to motivate the people; they will need black art to help them understand what they are supporting. The art in the black culture needs an aesthetic to get the message across to its viewers and allow them to understand the meaning behind pieces of artwork. One of Ron Karenga’s points is how people need to respond positively to the artwork because it then shows that the artist got the main idea to the audience and helps to motivate them to support the revolution. In “Black Cultural Nationalism”, the author, Ron Karenga, argues that

    Read More

  • The Black Arts Movement

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Black Arts movement refers to a period of “furious flowering” of African American creativity beginning in the mid-1960’s and continuing through much of the 1970’s (Perceptions of Black). Linked both chronologically and ideologically with the Black Power Movement, The BAM recognized the idea of two cultural Americas: one black and one white. The BAM pressed for the creation of a distinctive Black Aesthetic in which black artists created for black audiences. The movement saw artistic production as the key to revising Black American’s perceptions of themselves, thus the Black Aesthetic was believed to be an integral component of the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of the Black community. The concepts of Black Power, Nationalism, Community, and Performance all influenced the formation of this national movement, and it proliferated through community institutions, theatrical performance, literature, and music.

    Read More

More about McCoy’s Quest for Freedom

Open Document