Biography of Alice Walker Essay -- color purple, racism, sexism

Alice Walker was â€Å"born in Eatonton, Georgia, on February 9, 1944, she was the youngest of the eight children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Source 8) Alice and her Father, Willie Grant, â€Å"†¦ at first [had a] strong and valuable [relationship]†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Source 10), then when she joined the Civil Rights and feminist movements their relationship became tense. â€Å"Walker attended segregated schools†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Source 7) when she was younger and â€Å"†¦she recalled that she had terrific teachers who encouraged her to believe that the world she was reaching for actually existed.†(Source 7). One of Walker’s most memorable events in her childhood was when â€Å"†¦a BB gun accident which left her at age eight blind in one eye.† After high School Walker went to Speleman college on a full scholarship in 1961 and later transferred to Sarah Lawerence College near new York. â€Å"In 1965, Walker met and later married Melvyn Roseman Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights lawyer.†(Source 11) They got married on March 17, 1967 in New York City. â€Å"Later that year the couple relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, becoming "the first legally married inter-racial couple in Mississippi."(Source 11) Together Alice and Melvyn had their first child, â€Å"†¦Rebecca, in 1969, whom she described in 2008 as, "a living, breathing, mixed-race embodiment of the new America that they were trying to forge.†(Source 11). Walker completed her first novel a few days before she went into labor with her first child Rebecca. During the time she was writing and taking care of her newborn she was threatened by the Ku Klux Klan and became more isolated especially because she was a black writer. (Source 3, p.34) â€Å"Walker's first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, was published in 1970. In 1976, Walker's second novel, Meridian, was published. The ... ...that pulls the reader in to feel what Celie doesn't express. If you haven't lived it or heard people describe that type of life, you can't imagine it. You can only take Walker's words and feel them instead.† (Source 12) In my opinion, the color purple was an acceptable book because it had some good values of life, and good stories, but for the most part, it was disturbing and graphic. The good value of life that I liked in this book where keeping your loved ones as close as possible, no matter what happens. The bond between Celie and Nettie was unbreakable, and they kept it that way even when they did not see each other for decades. The good stories consisted of Nettie and her life as a missionary in Africa, when Celie was reunited with her long lost children, and when Harpo’s wife beats him up. Warren, Nagueyalti. Alice Walker. Ipswich, MA: Salem, 2013. Print.

Nelson Mandela Essay

The world leader I have chosen to write about is Nelson Mandela:  Nelson Mandela’s rise in the political arena can be traced back to his years as one of the leading members of the African National Congress, otherwise known as the ANC, beginning in 1944 (Mandela, 2009). The ANC was one of the oldest South African civil rights unions. The union’s primary purpose, the freedom and equal rights of all black citizens from the practice of apartheid–South Africa’s then legalized form of racism–was a natural draw for Mandela.Mr. Mandela describes in his own words the deciding moment when he joined the ANC: I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments, [that] produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people (Mandela, 2009). Mandela’s desire and drive helped sustain him in the diffi cult years ahead. After joining the ANC and creating its first youth league (Mandela, 2009). Mandela went on to organize many nonviolent protests and civil disobedience demonstrations throughout much of the country.Growing in popularity, these campaigns were eventually deemed illegal by the National Party–the white supremacist government in power at the time–and ultimately led to the imprisonment of Mandela in 1962 (Mandela, 2009). Although many people advocated for his release throughout the years, it was from his own prison cell twenty years later when Nelson Mandela finally negotiated his own freedom and began the long, tedious, yet peaceful process of creating a new government for the South African people. Working together with South Africa’s new president, F.W. de Klerk, Mandela negotiated heroically in the creation of a new and non-discriminatory government.The two men made history on September 26, 1992 when they signed the Record of Understanding, a docum ent formalizing their agreement to create a new, non-racial, democratic government freely elected by the people (Mandela, 2009). Nelson Mandela went on to become the first freely elected President of South Africa and continued the hard work of rebuilding his country. He served his presidency for five years, stepping down from politics in 1999. Although removed from public office, Mandela continued to  advocate for issues important to his country; issues such as AIDS, poverty, and human rights. Again, Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly on behalf of his people, receiving numerous rewards throughout the years, until he formally retired from public life in 2004 (Mandela, 2009).As a result of his life’s work, Nelson Mandela forever changed the social view and practice of apartheid in his country. Politically, his efforts resulted in the first non-discriminatory, democratic (majority rule) government for South Africa. Therefore, I find these to be the two most significant social an d political changes that occurred as a result of Nelson Mandela. Task B.The individual I have chosen to write about is Martin Luther King, Jr.:  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was known as a religious reformer and civil rights activist who rose to greatness during the civil rights movements of the United States.Dr. King began his career as a civil rights activist in 1956 (About Dr. King, n.d.) when he was hired as a spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott; a campaign organized and fully supported by the black community of Montgomery in protest of the segregation of the city bus lines. This boycott, which lasted for 381 days, ended successfully with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring racial segregation in public transportation unconstitutional (About Dr. King, n.d.). This landmark protest would prove to be but one of the many successful campaigns Dr. King would lead throughout his lifetime.In 1958, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) elected Dr. Martin Luther Kin g, Jr. as their president (About Dr. King, n.d.). The SCLC’s mission of providing guidance to the growing civil rights movement (occurring throughout much of the south) served as the perfect platform for Dr. King’s message. From here, Dr. King would go on to organize many campaigns, most of them occurring in Birmingham, Alabama, then described â€Å"as the most segregated city in America† (About Dr. King, n.d.).Drawing from the nonviolent teachings of Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. King’s peaceful protests and civil disobedience demonstrations were televised in stark contrast to the brutality of Birmingham’s police force. The televised beatings of young black protesters proved too much for the nation to bear, prompting congress  to begin legislation on behalf of the civil rights movement in 1962 (About Dr. King, n.d.).Although the Birmingham demonstrations led to the writing of his open and now famous â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail;† an articulat e, well written manifesto of Dr. King’s beliefs and actions (About Dr. King, n.d.), time would show that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s greatest moments were still to come. In 1963 Dr. King gathered more than a quarter-million people to Washington D.C.’s National Mall for the â€Å"March for Jobs and Freedom,† now commonly referred to as the â€Å"March on Washington† (About Dr. King, n.d.)It was here that Dr. King delivered his legendary â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech, firmly placing himself on the world stage as a social and political leader, as well as becoming the youngest man–30 years of age– to receive the Nobel Peace. As a result of all the publicity Dr. King drew to the civil rights movement, congress soon passed the historical 1964 Civil Rights Act, and soon after the 1965 Voting Rights Act (About Dr. King, n.d.); sweeping legislation declaring it illegal to discriminate against blacks or any other minority people, and removi ng any obstacles obscuring blacks of their right to vote.After the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Dr. King carried on with his work, choosing to focus on economic justice and international peace. Tragically, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while visiting a motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968 (About Dr. King, n.d.).Through his work, Dr. King introduced our country to the practice of â€Å"nonviolent† demonstrations, socially changing the way many people participate in protests even today. Due in part to his nonviolent campaigns, Dr. King’s efforts resulted in the passing of the Civil Rights Acts, one of the most significant political changes occurring in the history of our country. Therefore, I find these to be the two most significant social and political changes resulting from the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Essay on Edgar Degas and his influence on the art of Mary...

Mary Stevenson Cassatts Miss Mary Ellison (1880) and Edgar-Hilaire-Germain Degass Mademoiselle Malo (1877) are two paintings that, when compared and contrasted, shows numbers of influences that Degas had on Mary Cassatts art. Both of these paintings are portraits done in tbe standard  ¾ point of view. Even at a mere glance, it is easy to see the striking similarities between the two portraits. It is not too farfetched to assume that Degas had a lot of influence on Mary Cassatts work because it is known that he was one of her biggest inspirations (Wallis, 14). Furthermore, even within the Impressionist group the bond that Degas and Cassatt shared was an important one to her, since she looked up to him as a model artist (Englemann, 80).†¦show more content†¦At around 1877 She was invited to s stop submitting her artwork to the salon and instead join and submit with the independents/impressionists group by Edgar Degas (Mathews, 35). She was also the only American female ar tist to exhibit with the Impressionists. Edgar Degas was a Parisian painter; much like Cassatt, his father was also a wealthy banker (Wallis, 18). He was born in 1832 (Spate, 6) His father, the banker, was also an avid art collector; this helped stimulate the Degass interest in art at an early age (Wallis, 19) Like Cassatt, his family was from the higher middle class, and as such he was raised to be a cultivated, cultured, Parisian social elite (Spate, 6). However, unlike Cassatt, Degas did not originally study art; he studied law. In 1853 he received his baccalaureate and according to his fathers wishes studied law (Wallis, 18). Eventually his father agreed to let Degas study art and so he did. Before joining up with the Impressionist, Degas mostly vested his time into classically themed paintings and portraiture (Wallis, 20). Eventually, he was one of the first to exhibit with the impressionists (he participated in the first impressionist exhibition in 1874). Eventually, he pa rticipated in the first impressionist exhibition in 1874 along the sides of Renoir, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Cà ©zanne, and Sisley (Spate, 13). The two paintings Miss Mary Ellison and Mademoiselle Malo were chosen based onShow MoreRelatedSketch Of Anne And Her Nurse By Mary Cassatt1790 Words   |  8 PagesSketch of Anne and Her Nurse by Mary Cassatt is an impressionism style artwork. It is an oil and canvas painting, done in 1897. This artwork is currently on display at the Portland Museum of Art (Portland Museum of Art, 2017). Impressionism is a 19th century artistic movement founded in Paris by a few artists. Mary Cassatt spent most of her adulthood in France and was one of the known artists in the Impressionist movement. 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Question 5: Multiple Choice Why is architecture considered an art? a) Because architecture provides shelter to humans b) Because architecture is often decorated with art forms c) Because architects use perspective in their work d) Because architecture is concerned with the aesthetic effect of structures in their environment Feedback: The correct answer is d. Architecture is considered an art because it is concerned with the aesthetic effect of structures in their surrounding