Arna Bontemps during his lifetime (b.1902-d.1973) was a poet, teacher, children’s writer, novelist and librarian. As a teacher in Harlem, he began writing poetry; winning many awards. In 1931, he published his first book, God Sends Sunday. Bontemps based the book on his uncle, telling the story of the adventures of a black jockey. After moving to Alabama, he continued working as a teacher and published short-stories. His children’s book, The Story of the Negro was a Newbery Honor Book in 1949. He believed that it was important to record history and to write books for children. After being dismissed from his teacher job for his political views, he wrote his second novel Black Thunder: Gabriel’s Revolt: Virginia, 1800. Sad-Faced Boy,
Annie Turnbo Malone was an entrepreneur and was also a chemist. She became a millionaire by making some hair products for some black women. She gave most of her money away to charity and to promote the African American. She was born on august 9, 1869, and was the tenth child out of eleven children that where born by Robert and Isabella turnbo. Annie’s parents died when she was young so her older sister took care of her until she was old enough to take care of herself.
When most people think of Texas legacies they think of Sam Houston or Davy Crockett, but they don’t usually think of people like Jane Long. Jane Long is known as ‘The Mother of Texas’. She was given that nickname because she was the first english speaking woman in Texas to give birth.
Ann Rinaldi has written many books for young teenagers, she is an Award winning author who writes stories of American history and makes them become real to the readers. She has written many other books such as A Break with Charity, A Ride into Morning, and Cast two Shadows, etc. She was born in New York City on August 27, 1934. In 1979, at the age of 45, she finished her first book.
This story was not only riveting, but also one that kept me on my heels for almost the entire time that I was reading it. Stephen B. Oates, a prize-winning author of thirteen books and more then seventy articles, is currently a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Some of his best novels have been 'With Malice Toward None: The Life of Abraham Lincoln,'; 'Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King. Jr.,'; and 'Rip Ford's Texas.'; His writing is riveting as well as courageous. His willingness to get to such length to capture the mind of the reader and hold them in suspense has earned him several awards throughout his lustrous career. Some of the awards that Oates has received are the Christopher Award and the Barondess/Lincoln Award of the New York Civil War Round Table. His work has gained worldwide notoriety and is currently translated in four different languages: French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
In his autobiographical work, Black Boy, Richard Wright wrote about his battles with hunger, abuse, and racism in the south during the early 1900's. Wright was a gifted author with a passion for writing that refused to be squelched, even when he was a young boy. To convey his attitude toward the importance of language as a key to identity and social acceptance, Wright used rhetorical techniques such as rhetorical appeals and diction.
“Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose… If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday”(“Wilma Rudolph”). Wilma Rudolph was an Olympic athlete in the 1960 and 1966 Olympics. Wilma Rudolph in 1944 at age four was diagnosed with Polio.Wilma Rudolph survived polio for eight long, hard years before overcoming it in 1952. And later in life became a great runner and an amazing inspiration to many.
African Americans history has been one of the most difficult yet grandiose parts of the human evolution. Their journey was long to reach the freedom they have today in America. One of the most important part of the afro American story is the Reconstruction period who took part from 1865 to 1877. Black literature also grew during that time and became more inspirational for future generations yet mostly descriptive of the shifts from slavery to some kind of freedom. Charles W. Chesnutt, an Afro-American writer, who lived during the American Civil War, was the first black American to publish fiction stories. Through many of his literary work, such as, his journal or The Wife of His Youth, Chesnutt left his mark on the modern society who still discusses his writing. Charles W. Chesnutt’ use of characters and themes and mainly trough the use of rhetorical devices such as examples and comparisons in his fictional stories or in his journals address the societal issues of the Reconstruction Period for the African American.
Jupiter Hammon was a distinct minority in the African-American community and was the first black to write and publish poetry. His personality was profoundly religious and conservative, unlike other slaves. Hammon studied the bible and preached to slaves—while teaching the sublimation of spiritual freedom for physical freedom. During 1786, New York City, Hammon addressed members of the African Society—asking slaves to submit themselves to their masters. Hammon conce...
“I was afraid to ask him to help me to get books; his frantic desire to demonstrate a racial solidarity with the whites against Negroes might make him betray me” (Wright 146) “It was not a matter of believing or disbelieving what I read, but of feeling something new, of being affected by something that made the look of the world different.” (Wright 150) Wright’s constant drive to read eventually leads him to a prodigious way of processing certain thoughts, and cultivates his writing skills, deeming to be a virtual gateway for his freedom. “Steeped in new moods and ideas, I bought a ream of paper and tried to write; but nothing would come, or what did come was flat beyond telling.” (Wright 151) “In buoying me up, reading also cast me down, made me see what was possible, what I had missed. My tension returned, new, terrible, bitter, surging, almost too great to be contained.” (Wright 151)
Out of bitterness and rage caused by centuries of oppression at the hands of the white population, there has evolved in the African-American community, a strong tradition of protest literature. Several authors have gained prominence for delivering fierce messages of racial inequality through literature that is compelling, efficacious and articulate. One of the most notable authors in this classification of literature is Richard Wright, author of several pieces including his most celebrated novel, Native Son, and his autobiography, Black Boy.
America's greatest and most influential authors developed their passion for writing due to cataclysmic events that affected their life immensely. The ardent author Richard Wright shared similar characteristics to the many prominent American authors, and in fact, attained the title of most well-known black author of America. Richard Wright created many important pieces of literature, that would impact America's belief of racial segregation, and further push the boundaries of his controversial beliefs and involvements in several communist clubs. Wright's troubled past begins as a sharecropper while only a child. His childhood remained dark and abandoned.
An important idea in the novel "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry" written by Mildred D Taylor is racism. This idea is important because it tells us how life was in the 1930s for a little black girl who matures with racial conflict around her.
One of the many nationalities in America that have made stellar achievements are African-Americans. Some citizens have overcome obstacles, and will always be in the history books. Sadly, many examples of greatness go unrecognized. One of the hidden figures in African-American history is Alonzo F. Herndon. He was the founder of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. (Statistic) Mr. Herndon was one of the first African-American millionaires in the United States. (Statistic) Today, I am going to talk about Alonzo F. Herndon: his childhood, businesses, philanthropy, and final years in life.
Alice Paul was born January 11, 1885 in New Jersey. She had 4 siblings and she was the oldest of them. Mother was Tracie Paul and her father was Mickle Paul. She was a part of a household that was raised in the Quaker tradition. “Quaker is a Christian movement which professes the priesthood of all believers. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, and conservative understanding of Christianity. The Religious Society of friends avoids creeds and hierarchical structures.” Quaker was a view of recognizing that women are separate people from men. Tracie, her mother was a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Alice’s father would at times join her mother. Being a part of the Quaker, is how Alice came to learn about the suffrage movement. Alice was the only child to graduate from college and with a Bachelor’s Degree in
Marla Runyan is an Olympic athlete that once said, “If I break a national record, maybe they will stop writing about my eyes” (LaFontaine 228). Marla Runyan is blind; or to be more specific, she has Stargardt's disease.