Frederick Douglass And Maya Angelou Essay - 1624 Words

It is no secret that America’s history has been filled with constant oppression and ill treatments of African Americans and large amounts of discrimination toward their culture. Often times people cannot fathom what it is like to experience these inequities and only can get what it is like first hand through accounts of African Americans. Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou both tell experiences where they were oppressed and demeaned just because of the color of their skin. Frederick Douglass’ â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† tells the account of how Douglass, a young slave, not only overcomes the depriving laws and norms of the time but also the smarts he used to be able to learn to read and write. Douglass had somehow convinced his†¦show more content†¦During her eighth grade graduation, Angelou describes every detail, showing her eagerness and elation for the day and as well as her pride that she feels for being second best of her class. These s wirling emotions come crashing down as the guest speaker, Edward Donleavy, not only finds away to degrade African Americans and these children s futures, but also seemed make the whole crowd feel less than worthy of anything. Just as soon as the speech had started it was over and it had left Angelou feeling worthless, and she had lost any pride she had. This mans discrimination of African Americans had left her feeling less than equal and conflicted on who she was and what she could become. Angelou contemplated herself and other African Americans stating â€Å"It was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life...We should all be dead...As a species, we were an abomination. All of us.† (Angelou 29-30). Angelou wants us to understand that the daily prejudice and constant racism iso so great that they cannot even live their own lives. She explains that she feels that the weight of this hurt has just made her believe that African Americans should not exist at all. An gelou does not say that they should all be dead because she is believing the bigotry and prejudice against African Americans, but instead to escape the continuous inequities. Donleavy’s speechShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Theme of Freedom in Poetry2575 Words   |  11 PagesTheme of Freedom in Poetry Write about three poems on freedom: On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged Bird (Maya Angelou). I have chosen to write about three poems on freedom: On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged Bird (Maya Angelou). The full text of the poems is attached. I chose these three poems because the subject matter appealed to me and I believe that the poems convey their meaningRead MoreAfrican American Literature2022 Words   |  9 Pagesshe had to prove in court that she was the author. Literature also offered some African Americans power and influence, Frederick Douglas was one of these; he had been born in slavery, but eventually escaped and became and a lecturer, orator and author. His speeches addressed issues on abolitionism. Frederick Douglas autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which was published in 1845 made him the most influential African American of his time. At the time