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Pieces Like He Who Endures, And The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

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African American’s Long Fight for Freedom and Equality Throughout the history of the United States, African Americans have been discriminated against, abused, killed, and enslaved. Many pieces of African American literature touch on their experiences from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement and on to the current movement, Black Lives Matter. Pieces like He Who Endures, a play written by Bill Harris, and the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” by Langston Hughes, are two examples. He Who Endures, set in the late 1840s to 1850s, mainly follows Frederick Douglass, John Brown, Henry Highland Garnet, and Shields Green, and their differing views on what steps the Abolitionists should take. The play ends with John Brown leading a group of men …show more content…

From, “I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep” to “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it” (Hughes, 390), Africans and African Americans have a long history and culture in their home countries and continent. But, for centuries they were taken from their homes, beaten, tortured, killed, and raped all in the name of slavery. They had no rights and were only viewed as property. They were uneducated and sold off like cattle. The pain and blood of African Americans run deep in the history of the United …show more content…

The Civil War ended on May 9, 1865, with the victory of the Union; The north, the abolitionists, had prevailed and won. In the same year, the 13th Amendment was passed, solidifying the freedom of African American slaves. In Langston Hughes’ poem, “I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset” (Hughes, 390). The Mississippi River runs through the center of the United States, from the north to the south. The “muddy bosom” that the south once was, turned golden when African American slaves were finally freed by the 13th Amendment– which Abe Lincoln pushed to ratify. In this line from ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Langston Hughes speaks of that very

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The year 1619 marked the start of the darkest chapter in American history. It was the year the first 20-30 African slaves stepped foot on American soil. In the following 242 years approximately 12.5 million slaves were brought to the U.S. When Africans were brought to America, they were treated as less than human. However, despite all the pain and suffering they were put through, they helped build the U.S. into the country it is today. The 1619 project, published by the New York Times, edited by Nicole Hannah-Jones in 2019, is a collection of essays, pictures, articles, etc., that gives a more in-depth explanation of African American history.

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Professor George Lipsitz’s lecture was about the collective intelligence and gathered from centuries of struggle for black people in America and how it is key for Black survival and dignity. Black Studies can be applied to this topic through our exploration of these centuries of struggle, from the Atlantic slave trade to the Reconstruction period to the events in Flint, Michigan and Ferguson, Missouri which Professor Lipsitz highlights. Throughout these centuries we see various tactics and crises that contribute to the continued subjugation of black people, whether this was enslavement, lynching, or legislation. Black Studies also applies to Professor Lipsitz’s lecture through what we learned about notable people who resisted the endless cycle

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This excerpt is extremely important because it makes us better understand the status of African people, subdued by the European nations, and how the concept of slavery was perceived and addressed by

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Introduction Many people are or have become ignorant to the fact that racism still exists. They see racism on the news, hear about racism on the radio and from their families and friends, yet still don’t accept the fact that African Americans are still being held back from prospering by our very own American government. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander elaborates on the still very existing discrimination of colored people, especially of African Americans. She proves to us that the idea of “slavery” is being kept alive but in a new way till this very day.

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Du Bois' "The Souls of Black Folk" and Frederick Douglass' "Reconstruction" are two literary pieces that have played significant roles in shaping the conversation around race and equality in America. Both works were written during different historical periods in American Literature, with Du Bois' work published in 1903, while Douglass' "Reconstruction" was published in 1866. These two works provide us with insights into the social, political, and economic conditions that African Americans faced during these eras. As a student of American Literature, it is essential to understand how these works have influenced society and the ongoing conversations around race and social justice.

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In the 1830s, the light of African-American self-determination and opportunity would keep on being conveyed by the African-American community and a minority of enthusiastic whites. In spite of the fact that the battle for social justice and racial balance is a long way from being done, the endeavors and unlimited responsibility of high contrast abolitionists ought to move future eras of blacks and whites to battle the isolating inclinations of human instinct and U.S. household strategies. The fight against racial shamefulness must be driven by those gatherings who are experiencing most it, however, these gatherings should likewise take the lead of Richard Allen in demonstrating the recipients of 60 structured mistreatments, for example, Benjamin Rush, exactly how biased and smug they truly are. At that point and at exactly that point can highly contrasting America meet up in the battle to correct the shameful acts of America's supremacist past. Allen ended his autobiography by saying “"We deemed it expedient to have a form of discipline, whereby we may guide our people in the fear of God, in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bonds of peace, and preserve us from that spiritual despotism which we have so recently experienced--remembering that we are not to lord it over God's heritage, as greedy dogs that can never have enough.

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Slavery is one of the most shameful and oppressive aspects of human history. It was a brutal and inhumane system of exploitation and oppression of African Americans. Enslaved Africans were subjected to brutal physical abuse, forced to work without pay, and had no legal rights or freedoms. But there is a lot more to slavery than physical abuse. From The Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, I learned about the psychological toll of slavery, the creativity and resourcefulness of enslaved people, and the extent of resistance and rebellion.

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Langston Hughes’s “I, Too,” tells of the black experience during the early 1920s and can still connect to what it is today. An expert from his poem reads, “they send me to eat in the kitchen /when company comes /but I laugh and eat well/ and grow strong.” I have not held black Americans in the same regard as their white counterparts since the early days of this country. As the fight for civil rights continues, pieces of literature such as Hughes’s serve as a beacon of hope to the black community and other minority groups in the country that one day they too will have a seat at the table.

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From 1865 through 1909 African Americans endure some tough times as well for some admirable times. Their experiences weren’t all bad there were some proud moments where African Americans believed in change that they saw in equality but later noticed that it had been taken away from them. When the government had abandoned African Americans rights and had made it hard for them to be normal citizen because of their outrageous law that African Americans had. Which made certain African Americans used their voice for the oppressed and spoke out of their injustice that happened in the south. These are their successes and failures that African Americans experience in their life do to discrimination, segregation, and inequality.

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Langston Hughes became a major influence during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s by describing the lives of African Americans in the lower socioeconomic classes of America and the prejudices that were present because of skin color. In the poem “I Too” Hughes talks about how African Americans were treated harshly during slavery but also puts a positive spin on the topic. In “I Too” Hughes says “But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.” *. Hughes suggests he is getting not only stronger physically but mentally as well, inferring that he hopes for a better tomorrow and doesn’t take enslavement personally.

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States of America was challenged by the cruelty that almost tore the United States of America apart. For a long time, African Americans have struggled for freedom, full involvement, and dignity in the American society. Their struggles have transformed the American nation because at the moment there is no life facet that has not been affected by African American experience (Library of Congress, par. 3). The hopes promised in the poem were rarely experienced by most of the immigrants.

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In the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, the speaker is talking to the public especially towards the black and white community. In the first few lines, the speaker claims that they know rivers as old as the ancient world, saying that they have seen or lived a long time in history. This implies that the speaker has experience or wisdom because if someone’s been in the world for that long they must know a thing or two about the cycle of life and how it works. This suggests that these lines are from the experiences or memories (flashbacks) of other people, most likely from African Americans. The fact that the author uses past tense in this poem makes it a reflective and reminiscing tone as it describes history along with the

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- In the “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” , the voice in the poem was the black community in a time of a great amount of racism, injustice, and black not being treated equally in America. Langston Hughes helped by being a inspiration and united the community for the blacks when the white society did not appreciate their voice. The voice tells the story of freedom and enslavement that the African American people have suffered, but also shoes their strength.

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