Dorothy Dandridge: The First African-American Dream

748 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Prejudice on woman

As an aspiring actress, I strive to reach my goal of lining the shelves of my multi-million dollar mansion with Grammys, Oscars, and Golden Globes. I dream of autographing pictures for my fans, posing for the paparazzi, and hanging out with other celebrities during after parties. I hope to work with top directors, accurately memorize scripts, gracefully dance to the rhythm of a song, and hit every high note in the recording studio. A dream of a lifetime would be selling millions of albums, performing in sold-out shows, and attending movie premieres where I have the leading female role. Before I walk down the red carpet, Dorothy Dandridge would show me the reality that happens backstage and behind closed curtains. Here I am, sitting on a vintage …show more content…

“If I were white, I could capture the world!”, she complained. Dorothy Dandridge was the first African-American to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and the first African American to be on the cover of Life. This did not exclude her from prejudice. Searching for strong leading roles in movies that fit her talents was impossible, but positions as extras and background characters were always available. Directors offered Dandridge supporting roles as a slave, servant, or savage, but Dorothy declined. When Dandridge performed there were strict rules she had to follow. For example, she was forbidden to speak to the audience, ride the elevator, pass through the hotel lobby, gamble in the casino, and use the bathrooms. At nightclubs, Dorothy was given a storage space as a dressing room and a dixie cup as a makeshift bathroom. After a long day of work, Dorothy was not given the chance to relax in the swimming pool or else it would have to be drained for “health issues”. Dorothy Dandridge proved that on the road of life, many people will try to stop or prevent you from reaching your goal. She advises us to ignore that and keep moving

Show More
Related

  • Hattie Mcdaniel

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    I know what it feels like to be too white for the black crowd and too black for the white crowd. I have people constantly telling me I am an Oreo because I speak properly and don’t like rap music and I am not the stereotype people want me to be. Obviously, Hattie faced it on a bigger scale, being an actress and facing racism and criticism from all sides. I think it’s truly admirable that even in that she stuck to what she was happy doing. At the end of the day, it isn’t about if you made other people happy, it’s about if you are happy. That is one thing I will take away from reading about Hattie and writing about her. She never let anyone tell her she wasn’t good enough. She stuck for herself too. When the director wanted her to say the N-word in Gone With The Wind, she straight up said no and she is the reason you never hear the N-word in that movie. She is amazing and it sucks that the black community back then didn’t see her full potential. They just wanted to look at the negatives. The NAACP disowned because she played a servant but she repeatedly said she wasn’t happy to play a servant. That was all she could play. Her playing a servant had nothing to with who she really was and people don’t really see the difference between what she played and who she was. She was a person and to quote Ms. Hattie McDaniel herself, “I am an actress, when you say ‘cut’ I am no longer

    Read More

  • Biography of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington: The First First Lady

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martha Washington was an amazing woman. She grew up in a slightly better than average lifestyle. Then she became a wife, mother, and then a widow. Martha also became one of the richest women in Virginia. Then she became George Washington’s wife and went on to become the first first lady. She lived to the age of seventy and managed to outlive her husband and many others. Martha Washington also was a part of the American Revolution and helped her husband throughout the war. She did all this and much more.

    Read More

  • Ira Aldridge: The First African-American Othello

    1913 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ira Aldridge’s early life is one of the reasons why Aldridge was such an important actor. Aldridge was born in New York sometime in 1807 (Evans). When he was a teenager, Aldridge acquired his education at one of New York’s African Free Schools, earning an education most African-Americans did not receive in Aldridge’s time (Evans). In essence, the extra schooling Ira Aldridge received helped him to advance his career, because most African-Americans at the time were still working in low ranking jobs and did not get the opportunity to further themselves as Aldridge did. Aldridge went even further to get into an acting career. The first taste of theatre Ira Aldridge got that sparked his interest was at The African Grove Theatre performi...

    Read More

  • JoAnn Marshall - The Roles of Southern Women, Black and White, in Society

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    JoAnn Marshall - The Roles of Southern Women, Black and White, in Society. Lillian Smith provides a description of the typical black woman and the typical white woman "of the pre-1960's American South" (Gladney 1) in her autobiographical critique of southern culture, Killers of the Dream. The typical black woman in the South is a cook, housekeeper, nursemaid, or all three wrapped up in one for at least one white family. Therefore, she is the double matriarch of the South, raising her own family and the families of her white employers: "It was not a rare sight in my generation to see a black woman with a dark baby at one breast and a white one at the other, rocking them both in her wide lap" (Smith 130). The southern black woman's duties extend far beyond rearing children, as she also serves as a family counselor, confidant, and nurse for the entire white family (Smith 129) and her own if time permits.

    Read More

  • REFERENCE AND INSTRUCTION ASSIGNMENT - Middle Class African American Women in the Upper South in the Early Twentieth Century

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are two ways to approach searching the manuscripts collection. You can use the site specific google search on the Manuscripts Department website, or you can search the library catalog and limit the results to the Manuscripts Department. I chose to use the search engine on the Manuscripts Department webpage because it includes brief snippets from the results that allowed you to quickly look at some description and rule out the results that are totally irrelevant to your search without having to open each one individually. As you look at search results, you will notice that the results have names like papers and collections. This is because archival and manuscript materials are organized by provenance rather than subject. What this means is that materials are grouped together the way they were received. All of an organization’s, individual’s, or family’s papers will be grouped together and as much as possible they will be kept in the original order that the creator stored them in. This means that most collections have materials related to a wide range of subjects and gathering all the material on a particular topic or person requires looking at multiple collections.

    Read More

  • Essay On Shirley Chisholm

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shirley Chisholm was a crucial figure in Black politics, and the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She defeated civil rights leader James Farmer on November 5, 1968, and served 7 terms in the House of Representatives till 1982. Also, she was the first woman and person of color to run for President. Chisholm is a model of independence and honesty and has championed several issues including civil rights, aid for the poor, and women 's rights.

    Read More

  • Margaret Walker and the Harlem Renaissance

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    when she speaks of and for her people older voices are mixed with hers- the voices of Methodist forebears and preachers who preached the word, the anonymous voices of many who lived and were forgotten and yet out of bondage and hope made a lasting music. (Benet 3-4)

    Read More

  • The Mixed Legacy Of The American Revolution For Black Women Essay

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.

    Read More

  • Phoenix's Determination

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eudora Welty establishes “The Worn Path” in the midst of the twentieth century – in an era where African Americans were not considered as equal to white Americans. Welty tells the story of Phoenix Jackson, an elderly African-American woman, who makes a lengthy voyage into town to get medication for her chronically ill grandson. For most people the journey from the countryside to a town in a city, would not be very difficult. However, the fact that old infirm Phoenix is faced with hindrances and some racist attitudes of people she encounters along the journey; she endeavors onward despite frequent hindrances in her path that include her own deteriorating health and the grandchild’s slim chance of subsistence.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Stereotypes Essay

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    For many years, African Americans have faced the challenge of being accurately and positively portrayed within mainstream media, such as American made films. They are often represented as people who are inferior to those of the Caucasian race, and are frequently presented with problems that are related to racial discrimination. The portrayal of African Americans in media such as movies has often been considered a large contributing factor to the racial tensions that still exist in our world today (Lemons, 1977). The movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, sheds light on the portrayal of African Americans in movies, and how stereotypes can greatly impact the lives of those who are not of the Caucasian race.

    Read More

  • African American Theater

    1967 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's ‘acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.

    Read More

  • African American History in America

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    In From Slavery to Freedom (2007), it was said that “the transition from slavery to freedom represents one of the major themes in the history of African Diaspora in the Americas” (para. 1). African American history plays an important role in American history not only because the Civil Rights Movement, but because of the strength and courage of Afro-Americans struggling to live a good life in America. Afro-Americans have been present in this country since the early 1600’s, and have been making history since. We as Americans have studied American history all throughout school, and took one Month out of the year to studied African American history. Of course we learn some things about the important people and events in African American history, but some of the most important things remain untold which will take more than a month to learn about.

    Read More

  • Founding Foreemothers Of Black Feminism Essay

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history and in present day, there has been a large neglect of Black Women in both studies of gender and studies of race. Combating both sexism and racism simultaneously is what separates Black Women and our history and battles from both white women and black males-combined with what is discussed as a triple jeopardy- race, sex and socioeconomic status provides black women with a completely different and unique life experience when compared to, really, the rest of the world. Beverly Guy-Sheftall discusses the lack of black feminist in our history texts stating,“like most students who attended public schools and colleges during the 1950s and 1960s, I learned very little about the involvement of African American women in struggles for emancipation of blacks and women.” (Words of Fire, 23) I, too, can agree that throughout my education and without a Black Women’s Studies course at the University of Maryland I would have never been exposed to the many founding foremothers of black feminism. In this essay, I will discuss the activism, accomplishments and contributions of three of those founding foremothers-Maria Stewart, Anna Cooper, and Ida B. Wells.

    Read More

  • First Ladies: The Role Of Martha Washington As First Lady

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the original First Lady, Martha Washington set an example for those who followed after her. Mrs. Washington was the leading woman of the country, and in being so took responsibility of most social events. Though most political deals and decisions were managed by Mr. Washington, Martha sometimes got involved. Martha's personality usually didn't effect her work, but it did set a precedent for other First Ladies. All of Martha Washington's actions as First Lady effected the way other head women such as Michelle Obama did their duties in the White House.

    Read More

  • The African American People's Fight for Equality

    2687 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Civil Rights Movement is the story of the struggle of African-American people and their fight for equality. Although exceptional leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ralph Abernathy fought long and hard and carried the burden of the movement on their shoulders, they were not alone. The struggle was fueled by the commitment and the hard work of thousands of everyday people who decided that the time had come to take a stand.

    Read More

More about Dorothy Dandridge: The First African-American Dream

Open Document