Manchild In The Promised Land By Claude Brown

In the book, “Manchild in the Promised Land,” by Claude Brown, is an autobiography that describes the life of a young African American boy trying to escape the streets of Harlem. Sonny, the character of Claude Brown, was born in New York and moved to Harlem with his younger brother and two sisters. His parents were former southern sharecroppers that had moved up from South Carolina two years before seeking opportunities in Northern cities. During the 1940’s and 1950’s everyone who was not a white, religious, and male was considered a second-class citizen or minorities and did not hold the same rights as others. Although American slaves were emancipated because of the Civil War and were granted basic civil rights through the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution but failed to

As mentioned his younger brother fell victim to a life of crime and his family members and friends fell victim to drug addiction and overdose. Sonny moved from Harlem because to be success he needed to get away from the negativity. He also wasn’t going to be successful in a world where he relied on gangs and doing illegal activities. Claude Brown makes an incredible transformation from a drug-dealer in one of the most impoverished places in America to become a successful, educated young man entering law school during the civil rights movements. This transformation made him one of the very few in his family and in Harlem to get out of the street life. He had the will to survive and the power to do it. Brown was truly an inspiration to anyone who does not think they can do succeed in life. He was able to share his story and impact lives today with his political views and willpower to succeed. Claude Brown took a life that everyone in Harlem thought was a lost cause and turned around and made something out of himself during some of the hardest times in American