Human Family And Barack Obama's Speech On Race

Family; a concept that everyone can relate to. No matter where you grew up or how you grew up, whether you had an amazing family or a terrible family, anyone and everyone can relate to the idea of family. That is exactly how Maya Angelou, author of “Human Family”, and Barack Obama, former president of the United States, try to convey their ideas in their writings. In the texts “Human Family” and “Barack Obama’s Speech on Race”, both authors play on the concept of family to try and show how we as people are much more similar than we think we are.

In “Human Family”, Angelou writes about his worldly travels, talking about how he has never met one person like another. He then writes that “But we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike,”

He discusses how “the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution” and how “What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle….”
In using slavery and the Civil Rights movement in his speech, Barack Obama gives a feeling of being united and shows how when united together, we as a people can accomplish anything. This allows him to personally connect to his audience, which only strengthens his words.

While both authors express the same ideas in their writing, they go about it in very different ways. Angelou decides to write about the present, showing how in all of our unique selves, we are still very alike. He even goes to saying how “In minor ways we differ, in major ways we’re the same”, which only emphasizes his point. Obama goes about it by bringing up the past, showing how we changed our country for the better when we finally united together for change. He even says that “unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future….” This phrase brings a powerful sense to his speech, directly making the listeners feel empowered. Overall, Angelou has a very worldly