An African American Fight for Respect Essay

For thousands of years women have been fighting for many things, one of the most important being respect. Some people may think respect for a woman is simply holding the door for her as she walks through, pulling her chair out for her before she is seated, or maybe just standing when she leaves the table; but respect is so much more than that. Respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. Respect is a feeling that cannot just be given to someone, it is a feeling that must be earned, fought for, or rewarded. For the African American woman, respect did not come by so easily no matter how hard they fought or even if they earned it. Examples of the African American woman fighting for her respect, has once upon a time been one of the many themes during all literary periods. The two works that I chose have the similar theme of respect. The literary pieces are â€Å"Sweat† by Zora Neale Hurston and â€Å"The Color Purple† by Alice Walker. These two works show the same theme of respect for black women and the struggle for it from men. Though both stories have comparisons that could go on for days, they just as well have their differences by the way the handle the theme of respect. Alice Walker has been writing stories and poetry for many years. As a graduate of Spelman College she was given great opportunities and was given a solid education. Women’s rights and respect has always been two topics close to Alice’s heart. It has been said, that â€Å"Alice Walker expresses the struggles of black people, particularly women, and their lives in a racist, sexist, and violent society. † Her writings also lean more towards the roles of black women through culture and history. On March 3, 2008 Alice Walker was arrested on International Women’s Day for crossing the police line at a rally in front of The White House. Walker has set a standard and has never had any need or want to change it. Of the many stories that Alice Walker has written, the one that stands out the most to me dealing with the female struggle for respect is the story made movie and musical, â€Å"The Color Purple. † â€Å"The Color Purple,† is a story written in 1982 that has won multiple awards and recognitions for its not so classy taste and realistic views. Some of these awards being from the Blue Ribbon Awards, Black Movie Awards, Golden Globe Awards, eleven nominations during the Oscars, and plenty more. The main characters in â€Å"The Color Purple,† are Celie Harris Johnson and Mister Albert Johnson. Celie has been abused since she was just a young girl; she had two children by her father Leonard and she is forced to marry Albert, a young widower, by the age of fourteen. During her years of being married to Albert, she is taunted, disrespected, beaten, and abused up until she turns her life around when she meets Shug Avery, a well-known Jazz singer, who comes to live with the couple. Shug takes it upon herself to help Celie raise her self-confidence so she can not only stand up to her husband and demand respect, but to feel beautiful about herself inside and out. By the end of the story, Celie stands up to Avery and is finally reconnected with the family that was once taken away from her. Another great black female author who proudly carries the theme of respect in her stories is Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston, a graduate of Howard University, was a well-known author during the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston is most known for her famous literary piece entitled, â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God† which caught the eyes of readers around the world. Like Alice Walker, Zora Neale Hurston has also won multiple awards for her fabulous novels, short stories, and poems. The story â€Å"Sweat† written by Zora Neale Hurston takes place in a small all black town located near Orlando, Florida. This story, like many others with disrespect towards the wife, starts off with husband Sykes taunting his wife Delia by tricking her into thinking that the whip he throws over her shoulders is a snake, knowing she is deadly terrified of them. Throughout the story, Delia deals with infidelity, abuse, rumors, and taunting from her husband. Towards the end of the story, her husband buys a rattlesnake and refuses to take it back where he found it from, knowing his wife is terrified. In the end, that very snake gets loose, bites, and kills him; Delia stands their watching him die. The website articlemyriad. com states â€Å"The reader can speculate on whether or not Delia was too afraid to move to get help for her husband, but it is the general consensus that she purposefully let him die. While you could argue both, if you are going to contend that she was just afraid, you’d better take a closer look at the text before trying to defend your point. † One of the greatest comparisons in this story is the lack of respect the husbands have for their wives, a marriage is supposed to be filled with trust, respect, love, and honesty, all of which the two marriages in â€Å"The Color Purple† and â€Å"Sweat† lacked. Although there are many comparisons, there were also contrasts in the two stories, although not exactly easy to find with a closed mind. A contrast in these two stories to me that stood out the most were the personalities of the two wives in the stories. In â€Å"The Color Purple,† Celie is abused and taken advantage of, but holds a quiet tongue until the end; Delia in â€Å"Sweat† is abused and taken advantage of , but she always speaks her mind and portrays her true feelings towards something. With these two stories I felt it was good to have the personalities of the women who wanted respect to be completely different so that I could compare and contrast just a bit more clearly. One was more hidden and kept feelings to herself, the other more outgoing and stronger like all women should be. In conclusion, respect for women, especially blacks, has been a subject that will always be discussed and fought for. Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker described the struggle for respect in many similar and different ways. I stated earlier that for thousands of years women have been fighting for many things, one of the most important being respect and that respect was a feeling that cannot just be given to someone, it is a feeling that must be earned, fought for, or rewarded. I am proud of the long way that not only African American women have come, but women all race and I am blessed to have such profound women to look up to. Women in the past who have fought for our rights set a high standard for the rest of us to follow and I look forward to doing just so. Works Cited 1. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature: Second Edition Henry Louis Gates Jr. & Nellie Y. McKay.

Authority Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Authority - Article Example Importantly, Fromm does not have one line of thought and he is both a psychoanalyst and philosopher, and a historian and sociologist at the same time. In effect, his work cuts across these important disciplines; this makes it more balanced and informational than the work of other writers who focused on a specific discipline. Summary Written during the cold war era, and especially during the Cuban missile crisis, this essay focuses on the beguiling comfort that obedience of any form produces on human beings. In this regard, the essay posits that obedience does not contribute to sweeping changes that disobedience can provide. The essay starts with a historical cliche that has been the rallying call for obedience all through humanity. Fromm identifies the phrase â€Å"obedience is a virtue, disobedience is a vice† as a phrase that people have used overtime to assert the importance of people following authority, which the essay highlights as obedience in an irrational form. Howeve r, Fromm introduces a departure from this common viewpoint by introducing a divergent view that highlights the importance of disobedience among human beings. This article postulates that all the great achievements and strides that human beings have made are a result of disobedience. Hence, the article suggests that â€Å"human history started with an act of disobedience, and it is not unlikely that it will be terminated by an act of obedience† (Fromm 683). ... Consequently, this ushered in the importance of disobedience since it contributed to the advancement of human history. On the other hand, Prometheus stole from the gods in an act of disobedience and consequently laid the foundation for civilization according to Greek mythology. (Fromm 684). These Greek and Hebrew myths set the pace for humanity’s evolution with the two instructively being acts of disobedience. Fromm further highlights other cases that indicate man’s evolution based on disobedience, and suggests that disobedience might destroy civilization in the future. In this case disobedience has resulted to revolutions that have established institutions that govern people. Furthermore, from does not negate obedience as a vice in its entirety. He suggests the importance of ensuring that an individual strikes a balance between obeying some principles and disobeying others in order to subscribe to a cause. This way, Fromm indicates that an individual does not become a rebel with a cause or a slave by obeying the powers that be that purport obedience as a way of achieving success and power. Analysis Based on Fromm’s work, it is evident that human beings’ achievement in terms of civilization would appear implausible without disobedience. In line with this, all the strides that are evident today are due to the great men and women who have made history by disobeying and behaving outside the expected norms in order to achieve their objectives. For example, the freedoms that people experience today are a result of various people going against the grain to agitate for freedom and autonomy from the powers that be, which are for the maintenance of the status quo with courageous people advocating for

Organizational Culture Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational Culture Questions - Essay Example This leadership empowerment committee allows the employees to be a part of the organizational culture and thus represent their truest form through inner leadership values. I take this as the basis of documenting the organizational culture because it gives me a chance to comprehend the real meaning of my organization and how I understand the related philosophy. As far as I am concerned, this leadership empowerment committee truly defines my organization and is a vital cog in the wheel of the business that we are all working for (House 2004). It is a cultural tenet that is appreciated by the employees at large. It represents their basis and gives them a chance to do something different every week. I opine that this leadership empowerment committee is an organizational cultural example that truly resonates with the meaning of the business. It has become a true cultural symbol of my organization over the years.I am of the view that the most significant part of an organizational culture i s the understanding that the varied elements echo together to form the organizational basis which highlights how well people understand the same (Brenton 2005). From my personal life, I have always focused on highlighting different agendas that are within the domains of time management. This is because I have valued time as a significant metaphor for my personality basis. It has allowed me to manage things on my own and hence I have prioritized quite a few things up my sleeves with the time management constructs that remain dear to me.

Between Self expression and commercialization - the sixth generation Essay

Between Self expression and commercialization - the sixth generation - Essay Example Many of the Fifth Generation filmmakers also felt this†¦.self-sufficiency and commercialization, and had to reconsider their positions† (13). From an ideology-centered position, the directors were moving toward to a more individual centered stance. Individuals’ well and woe, as the subject, began to occupy the central place more and more in a movie. Referring to this new orientation, Peterson says, â€Å"The so called 5th generation – included Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, the filmmakers we now associate with China’s cinematic revival† (Peterson 3). Though they felt the impulse to explore their ‘self’ as a nation, they, unlike the Sixth Generation Film directors, carefully avoid any direct collision with the dominant political culture. Struggle between Self-expression and Commercialization Choosing to follow their own ways posed a number of risks for these film makers in the 1990s. First, they had to depend on private finance, since d epending on the governmental budget necessarily would bind them to follow the political guidance that often appeared to be contradictory to their free self-expressive zeal, as Peisa says, â€Å"For the cinema, the beginning of the 1990’s was, on the one hand a time of ever intensifying commercialism and on the other hand a politically sensitive time.† (13) Also depending on private financing was not that easy since it often was not as sufficient as the governmental allowances were. Second, commercializing posed to be a potential challenge for them. Shifting from the government fund to private sponsorship necessarily demanded a significant return from the making cost. There were challenges too for the self-expressionist film makers of the 1990s. The most common challenge was to win a market that had already been overly saturated with the supply of ideological but cheaply popular movies in that decade. Movies enriched with elegant theme and taste needed to be fully self- expressionist and self exploring in order to be popular among the majority of the moviegoers: a strategy that was bound to go against the political interests and culture of the era. Therefore avoiding the political wrath, these directors â€Å"began, for the first time in China, to realize their movies with private capital and without submitting the work for the censorship approval; hence they had to find alternative ways to show those works† (Gagliardi). In the beginning of the 1990s, one of crucial alternatives for the moviemakers was to enter into international market, as Gagliardi says, â€Å"One of these ways was the international film festival circuit where the movies found positive criticism and foreign producers† (Gagliardi). In spite of the government’s ban and censorship, the Sixth Generation movies that were critically appraised by the West made a massive infiltration into the country through mostly piracy. With the modernization of

Critique of an Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critique of an - Article Example Moreover, the authors assert that customers may have a central role to play in the employee turnover in a firm, since satisfied clients may increase the likelihood of employee retention for a firm due to heightened job satisfaction. Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010: 213) found out that all other factors contributing to the rate of employee turnover are dependent on the employees’ perception of the quality of service that one is capable of providing. The study shows that employee perception acts as the link between antecedents of employee turnover (empowerment, coaching and clarity of one’s role at the workplace), and the consequence that is the likelihood of employees to leave a workplace for another one. The 1076 subjects of the study completed a self-interview questionnaire, all of whom were frontline employees for service firms in Norway (Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri 2010: 211). The sample was selected by judgment sampling, as 52 percent of the sample was male; avera ge age was 32 years; 61.3 percent were permanently employed and working on a fulltime basis; 74.6 had lasted for approximately 6 years with their employer; and about half had achieved higher education. This sample is only appropriate for demonstration purposes as it is not representative of Norway’s service industry workforce; in addition, the sample size is small and not appropriate for generalization to the whole population (Grant and Cavanagh, 2004: 18). The authors should have adopted a random sample, mainly by a combination of a cluster sample and a systematic sample that is inclusive of all components of the service sector employee population, and is random enough to give each member of the population a chance to be picked in the sample. However, testing the questionnaires on 53 respondents before the study was a proper approach since the pilot study enabled them to identify limitations of the study before incurring financial and time expenses, and make modifications. M oreover, the use of a combination of questions from previous studies gave the authors an increased chance of making corrections on errors made in previous studies and improving on previous study techniques. The variables in this study are qualitative, including satisfaction, perceptions, needs and preferences; however, Slatten, Svensson and Sv?ri (2010: 211) used a seven point Likert-scale to give the qualitative information a quantitative aspect. This involves making numerous assumptions, including the obvious one of assuming that employees had the ability to assign numerical values to their feelings and perceptions (Karatepe and Uludag, 2008: 116). Consequently, the objectivity of the study is reduced as a result of the process of changing quality into quantity, as employees are not homogenous in their perceptions. In addition, there is little difference between the seven levels of Likert-scale, and employees are more likely to be biased in their analysis due to real or perceived differences between them as seen in Chiu et al. (2005: 486). This makes it impossible to generalize the results of the study to include different backgrounds, mainly due to the varied results that are likely since employee perceptions are dependent on a myriad of market factors (Richards, 2009). Slatten, Svensson

Social Darwinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Darwinism - Essay Example â€Å"Social Darwinism† is a term used to refer to the application of ideas and concepts applied to the social world which are allegedly derived from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (Leonard, 2009). There is much controversy surrounding Social Darwinism, its historical significance, its usage and applicability and most importantly its association with some of the known social scientist in history such as Darwin and Spencer. The debate around the definition of the term has in most cases revolved around whether or not Social Darwinism came out of the works of Darwin and other theorists that wrote about the role of biology to explain the social hierarchies present during that era, as Europe, America and other continents witnessed the aftermath of industrialization. There are basically two types of approaches to the definition of the term that have been put forward to explain the different approaches theorists have taken in order to explain the term (Crook, 1996). The â€Å"generalist† approach basically refers to Social Darwinism as the analysis of social inequality by the help of evolutionary and developmental ideas using Darwinian terminologies such as â€Å"survival of the fittest† but not explicitly relying on the original works of Darwin (Weiler). The second type known as the â€Å"restrictionist† approach in contrast, argues that a mere use of phrases that represent the work of a theorist such as â€Å"survival of fittest† does not define the theorist as a Social Darwinist (Weiler). According to the broad definition, the theory came to denote racism, imperialism and capitalism during what came to be known as the Gilded Age where, whilst the poor suffered the consequences of Industrialization in the American society, those that owned the factories and benefited from the wealth they were acquiring, although fewer in number, used Social Darwinism to justify why such notions as â€Å"survival of the fittest† put forward by Darwin and Spencer made it logical for only those that were biologically gifted or a so called â€Å"superior race† to be market leaders and worthy of acquiring the most wealth and superior positions in politics (Hodgson 2004). There is also debate on when the term was first used and while the works of theorists like Hofstadter gave a strict definition of who the Social Darwinist are, others such as Hodgson have argued that these theorists present as facts what are basically just labels (Hodgson 2004). The history of the term is a controversial issue. While some say that the term was first used in the late 1800s and was associated with known social theorists like Spencer and Sumner (Wieler), for example Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy is one of the first pieces of literature where the term can be traced (Hodgson 2004), others argue that Spencer never used the term Social Darwinism and that he is deemed one of the founders of the theory only based on assoc iations made between the theory and Spencer’s work (Hodgson, 2004). This paper will aim to present a critique of the theory â€Å"Social Darwinism† as presented in the book â€Å"Social Darwinism in American Thought† by Hofstadter that proved to be a very influential piece on the theory. In order to do so I will look at the work of revisionists such as Hodgson and Leonard who

Chicago history Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Chicago history - Assignment Example For instance, voters’ defeat of Thompson showed that many Chicago residents were tired of the ensuing disorder. Notably, reformist and citizens groups advocated for a stringent enforcement of prohibition, in addition to the immediate onslaught on corruption, crime and social vices. Thus, such belief united ethnic voters as well as politicians in Chicago and subsequently reformists’ mayors, such as William Dever were elected (Lecture notesâ€Å"Chicago in the Roaring Twenties† 6). Question 12 Lause, Mark A. "Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America." Business And Economics--Labor And Industrial Relations 60 (2007): 298-300. The objective of this article is to examine the repercussion of Haymarket riots and its brunt on the labor plus radical movements within the recognizable provisions of defeat as well as demise. The article assesses the repression of labor plus radicalism within Chicago , based on the assumption that there was an extensive authorized repression aimed at destroying the eight-hour movement along with the unity it momentarily inspired. Thus, according to Lause the police basically prevented an imminent revolution. The position taken by the author is that, even though segments of the movement at first backed away from the charged men, the extensive defense campaign shifted to an amnesty movement which inspired modern socialist International that went on to declare May Day an international labor day. Green, James. "Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America." The Journal of American History 94.1 (2007): 302-303. This journal article re-creates the Haymarket riots in order to demonstrate the growth of the earliest great labor movement following the American Civil War along with the twenty-year fight for the eight-hour working period. Green displays how the movement triumphed over several setbacks to coordinate a sequence of strikes which swept the nation during 1886, and as a result positioning the unions for a triumph on the eve of Haymarket tragedy. Green examines the frustrations, tensions plus exhilarating victories of the Midwestern source of strength of Gilded Age. Question 13 The cost of the Fair is worth the benefits Chicago received, since it generated extensive hysteria in opposition to immigrants and the labor leaders. Moreover, the affair destroyed the labor movement resistance in Chicago and is not worth the benefits Chicago received since it only stimulated the social consciousness of many people in Chicago rather than bridging reforms. However, it enthused generations of leftist activists and artists and it is for the most part considered as the origin of global May Day observances for workforces. The fair also displayed the worst of the city class struggle. Question 14 Paddon, Anna R and Sally Turner. "African Americans and the World's Columb ian Exposition,." Illinois Historical Journal 88.1 (1995): 19-36. The thesis of the article is that even though the fair officials discouraged the attempts of African Americans in achieving reforms, the activities conducted in that fair became the foundation for African American political social along with artistic movement. Hence, the aim of the study was to examine the approach, group alignment, together with mentoring relationships formed by Africans Americans from the fair. The authors Paddon,