Gwendolyn Brooks: Discrimination In The World

People today will never know exactly what slavery was like, but many are affected today because of the past U.S. history. There is always going to be some type of discrimination in the world no matter what, however, today it's a lot better than what it was. In the time between now and when slavery ended, African American people had a really rough time with discrimination, even after the civil rights movement. Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the many known black writers who wrote about what life was like during her time, the time of segregation. She wrote “toward” black people to help them see that being black isn't a bad thing. She also wrote about how you should not be ashamed of yourself just because others do not like the color of your skin,

She explained that everyone is equal no matter what color skin they have. “Brooks wanted African Americans to love, respect, and help each other. ‘If a person has one drop of blackness, they are in my family,’ she said.”() She wants those who have a different skin than white to feel loved and cherished, and know that they have a family by their side. She wants those that feel bad about the way they look to feel beautiful and stunning. “Now, she was determined to write for black people, to inspire their pride. She no longer worried what white critics might say. She abandoned traditional forms of poetry and began writing in free verse on themes of racial solidarity.”() Those who are struggling with what skin they have and how their hair and face looks, she wants them to feel beautiful inside and out. She wants to inspire those who are being slaved and prevent discrimination. “She focused on aiding young people through books like Bronzeville Boys and Girls (1956) and Aloneness (1971), which dealt with combating loneliness and the need to “be yourself.”” She wants everyone to feel good about themselves, and happy in their own body. Those who feel down about themselves and the insecure about the way they look just ruins their self esteem and puts them in deep depression. That will ruin a person's life, and Brook’s

She really showed how amazing these people are, not just that they are poor. But showed them for who they are. “Brooks’s early poems described the lives of residents of Chicago’s South Side ghettos, creating vivid portraits of fictional characters. Brooks detailed inner-city settings such as kitchenettes and pool halls. She emphasized the positive aspects of poor people’s lives, such as close families and resilience in hard times.” () Brooks grabs the reader's attention with her great vocabulary and detailed settings. Brooks shows great figurative language, and pulls you into the poem with her feelings and heartache about those who do not have anything, like Chicago’s South Side ghettos for example. They do not have what others have. A lot of them are really hurting, but again. They still get bullied and hurt just because of the color of their skin. “Gwendolyn found home to be much more comfortable than school, where she felt unwanted and unpopular. At Forestville Elementary School in Chicago, the children thought Gwendolyn was wealthy and snobbish because she was quiet and wore pretty dresses that her Aunt Beulah had made for her. Tears welled in her eyes as she stood on the sidelines of the playground, watching her black classmates jump rope, play jacks,