How Does Marilyn Nelson's Work Influence Fairness And Equality?

Marilyn Nelson was born in Cleveland Ohio, she is a three time finalist for the National Book Award, she is known to be a very good poet. She spent most of her childhood living on military bases and had lots of free time where she would write little poems. Nelsons parents were literary. Her dad wrote short poems and her mom composed music. She was inspired to write children's books after the Rasmussen project. She wanted to make a mark in her life through writing (poetry foundation). Marilyn Nelson influenced fairness and equality through her works “The Freedom Business”, “A Wreath For Emmett Till”, Carver: A Life in Poems.

Marilyn Nelson’s text “Honor among slavers” from “The Freedom Business” impacted people's thoughts on inequality and slavery. In the piece of writing, the slave catchers offered the young boys dad a deal, their freedom for livestock and money. They took the deal but it ended up being a lie and they had to run away to get there freedom (The Freedom Business). Through this poem the author, Marilyn Nelson writes, “Our captors offered my father a generous deal” the

author then explains the captors lied and “A few days later we were forced to flee past planted fields (The Freedom Business). The author is explaining that the captors offered the enslaved family a deal to get their freedom. But when the captors took what the slaves had to offer they didn't come through on their part of the deal. The slaves were forced to run away instead of being let free.This shows that just because someone is different they are being taken advantage of. They lied to them and treated them like crap just because they are a different race. This proves that inequality is unfair and not right.
Another one of Nelson’s text is “A Wreath For Emmett Till”, it impacted how people felt about inequality and suffrage.

This poem is about A young boy who was accused of whistling at a white woman and in return, was lynched. His young death influenced civil rights movement and made people realize the terrible things that were happening to African American people (Chideya, Farai). A touching phrase that Nelson included in this work is “she'd made him swear an oath to be careful around white folks (A Wreath for Emmett Till). In this quote, The mother of Emmett Till is telling him, don't trust the white people. She says this because of what the white people have done to the people of their race. This piece of writing impacted what people thought about inequality. It showed them that just because people are a little bit different they shouldn't be treated worse or different than anyone

else.
Marilyn Nelson’s text “Carver: A Life in Poems” impacted civil rights movement to end racial discrimination. In this short novel, there was this African American man by the name of George Washington Carver. He was born a slave in Missouri in 1864. He left his home in 1877 in search of education. He ended up earning a master’s degree. he devoted his life to helping black Tuskegee farms that were in poverty. He helped the farms enhance their crops to make the farms more successful (Nelson). Marilyn ads in “When we lose contact, we see only hate, only injustice, a giant so great its shadow blocks our sun(Nelson). The author is trying to show that once the white people took advantage of the colored people, the relationship between races just got worse. This text shows that even if you are different don't give up. In the book he was a slave but he worked through it and made life better for other people.
Marilyn Nelson was a very influential author on fairness and equality for all races through her works “The Freedom Business”, “A Wreath For Emmett Till”, Carver: A Life in Poems. Nelson helped change the world for the best with all her touching themes.