The Blacker The Berry, By Wallace Thurman

The article “The Negro Digs Up His Past’’ by Arthur schomburg on 1925, elaborates more on the struggles of slavery as well as how history tend to be in great need of restoration through mindfully exploring on the past. The article, however started with an interesting sentence which caught my attention, especially when the writer says ‘’The American Negro must remark his past in order to make his future’’ (670). This statement according the writer, explains how slavery took away the great deal freedom from people of African descendant, through emancipation and also increase in diversity. The writer (Arthur Schomburg) however, asserts that “the negro has been throughout the centuries of controversy an active collaborator, and often a pioneer, in the struggle for his own freedom and advancement” (670).

Lorraine Hansberry grew up in an era filled with racism and segregation. Hansberry was a victim to racism and prejudice when she was a little girl growing up with prosperous dreams as well as, when she was a in her prime. The racism and struggles she faced growing up is reflected in her literary works. Lorraine Hansberry embarked on a life with what would seem like insurmountable challenges and chose to be a leader and a role model for little kids. She urged children to follow their dreams and never give up. She talks to all of the kids of the world in her essay “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black”.

The memoir “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, was first published in 1928, and recounts the situation of racial discrimination and prejudice at the time in the United States. The author was born into an all-black community, but was later sent to a boarding school in Jacksonville, where she experienced “race” for the first time. Hurston not only informs the reader how she managed to stay true to herself and her race, but also inspires the reader to abandon any form of racism in their life. Especially by including Humor, Imagery, and Metaphors, the author makes her message very clear: Everyone is equal.

In the beginning of the novel, Black introduces the concept of beauty, or lack thereof, through Emma Jean’s childhood. Emma Jean’s mother, Mae Helen clearly has a set image of what a beautiful black child should look like. Mae Helen believes that two of her three daughters are beautiful, but believes that Emma Jean is not and wishes that she would have named Emma Jean “Nobody” (20). She calls Emma Jean ugly directly to her faces and proceeds to mentally and physically abuse her throughout her childhood. To add insult to the abuse, Emma Jean watches as her sisters, who her mother believes are more beautiful, get treated with love and respect. The root Mae Helen’s hatred for Emma Jean is her skin tone. Mae Helen chose her male suitors based on the lightness of their skin, and once Emma Jean was not as white as her father Mae Helen instantly disliked her. Black is commenting on the societal ideal that whiteness is equitable to beauty. This preference is displayed when Emma Jean is thinking about why her mother

Howard Thurman removes the window dressing in the African American experience of segregation in America. Thurman in his book, “The Luminous Darkness” paints an obscure portrait that delved deep into the consciousness of Black men, women and children freshly freed from chattel slavery. Two hundred years of slavery and one hundred years of darkness seeping into each soul perpetuated by an evil explained only through the Word of God. Although this book was published in the 60’s, the stigma segregation continues resonate in the souls of those who remember and perhaps even in the souls of those who do not.

A story that still sticks with me from the book was when a young girl pinched the man and he responded with, “Ouch, have you lost your mind?” The girl responded, “That did not hurt you, you can’t feel” (Thurman). She looked at him as if he was not human, like he was not capable of feeling pain. I wonder if it was from so many stories like this that African Americans didn’t think whites were capable of love. This girl’s worldview effected on how she treated a person. Multiple factors play into worldview and how one defines a human.

In Killing the Black Body, Dorothy Roberts describes the history of African-American women and the dehumanizing attempts to control their reproductive lives. Beginning with slavery, to the early beginning of birth control policy, to the sterilization abuse of Black women during the 1960s and 1970s, continuing with the current campaign to inject Norplant and Depo-Provera along with welfare mothers, Roberts argues that the systematic, institutionalized denial of reproductive freedom has uniquely marked Black women’s history in America.

The early 1900s was a very challenging time for Negroes especially young women who developed issues in regards to their identities. Their concerns stemmed from their skin colors. Either they were fair skinned due mixed heritage or just dark skinned. Young African American women experienced issues with racial identity which caused them to be in a constant struggle that prohibits them from loving themselves and the skin they are in. The purpose of this paper is to examine those issues in the context of selected creative literature. I will be discussing the various aspects of them and to aid in my analysis, I will be utilizing the works of Nella Larsen from The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Jessie Bennett Redmond Fauset,

Racial identity is an important concept that everyone must deal with in their life. It is an individual’s sense of having their identity be defined by belonging to a race and or ethnic group. How strong the identity is depending on how much the individual has processed and internalized the sociological, political, and other factors within the group. In some instances, people do not identify with their race and they will “pass” as another. Nella Larsen, an African American writer and prominent member of the Harlem Renaissance movement, she explores the consequences of “passing”. Larsen’s Passing is a novel that challenges the concept of ethnicity, race and gender while revolutionizing the idea of what we describe as identity. The novel explores the issue of race through vivid plotting that depicts a mentally touching story of affecting boundaries in the early American society. The novel also explores the effects of racial construction on a person through multiple levels. Through Larsen’s characterization and setting she is able to bring out the social construction of race in an enjoyable and educated format in which race, class distinction and identity themes are intertwined. Larsen herself often struggles with identity, as she grew up being raised by an all-white household after her father, a black West Indian, disappeared from her life. Larsen depicts the theme of racial identity by using two women characters, both of which are attractive, and are “light” enough to be able

Richard Wright chooses the title “Black Boy” to describe how his life was when he was going up by his race of his color. To me he chooses the title black to get people action and to get the mind wondering an thinking why is this book named black boy. Back in the day when Richard was growing up there was a lot of racism going on. Black people was not getting treated right at all to the white man they just looked like pets to them. They looked like they weren’t worth nothing to them not even a dim to them. White men believe the we were made just to serve the white man and take care of the white man but that’s not true. Cause God made ever one in the world to be treated equally an the same no person is greater than the other person. So that’s why I think Richard has chose the title “Black Boy” to tell about his life struggle an what a black was meant to other people back in the day.

Also, Hansberry discusses the hardships of a black family in a while society. She argues that life of a colored person is unfair and unacceptable on many different levels. A life without equality where black people where treated as inferior citizens. When the while supremacy ruled over everything, colored people packed up and left or delt with the improper treatment from the higher class white folks.

During the Great Depression, White Americans often had a mindset of superiority over segregated African Americans. They believed they were the “original” americans and better than other different ethnicities. Due to the overwhelming amount of racism and prejudice from the White population, many African Americans were unjustly treated as seen throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The characters Scout, Dolphus Raymond, and Tom Robinson mature through experiences amongst the ideas of racism and inequality. Growing up without a mother, and instead an African American housekeeper, Scout, even as a young girl, understands the somewhat superiority she is expected to feel towards African Americans.

Emma's personality is largely shaped by the nature of her upbringing. Emma had no motherly figure guiding her as she grew up, due to the fact that her

In exploring the problem of identity in Black literature we find no simple or definite explanation. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that it is rooted in the reality of the discriminatory social system in America with its historic origins in the institution of slavery. One can discern that this slavery system imposes a double burden on the Negro through severe social and economic inequalities and through the heavy psychological consequences suffered by the Negro who is forced to play an inferior role, 1 the latter relates to the low self-estimate, feeling of helplessness and basic identity conflict. Thus, in some form or the other, every Negro American is confronted with the

The 1992 film Black Harvest was directed and produced by Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson. Filmed in the highlands of Papua, New Guinea, it follows a half-white, half-African man Joe Leahy attempting to manage a coffee plantation that he collectively owns with the local Ganiga tribe. Leahy employs Ganiga tribesmen and women, giving them 40% of the earnings while he receives 60%. During the film it is learned that coffee prices have plummeted, giving Leahy no choice but to cut wages and face the tribes-people’s response.