Booker T. Washington's body of work, study, and his life as a whole, as most notably encompassed within the text his own autobiography, entitled, Up From Slavery, is often set against the live of W.E.B. Du Bois. As noted by the scholar Louis T. Harlan, conventional wisdom holds that Booke...

Richard Wright's Black Boy chronicles his southern childhood and adolescence and shows his struggle for physical, mental, and psychological fulfillment. More than simply an autobiography, Black Boy represents the result of Wright's passionate desire to observe and reflect upon the racist world aroun...

"Coming of Age in Mississippi" Coming of Age in Mississippi is an autobiography written by an African-American woman exploring the social significance of race in Mississippi and the deep South and the impact it had on her life and her perspective. The author depicts her life story, both her exper...

Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Rosa Parks...Upon hearing these names, many people immediately think of the arduous and prolonged struggle that these leaders endured to achieve racial equality. In fact, famous figures such as these are often given most of the credit for the Civil Rights Movemen...

Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks, "Maud Martha" and Societal Perception of Skin Deep Beauty "was spurned by members of her own race because she lacked social or athletic abilities, a light skin, and good grade hair." (Galegroup.com) Gwendolyn Brooks throughout her life had to deal...

"Coming of Age in Mississippi" Coming of Age in Mississippi is an autobiography written by an African-American woman exploring the social significance of race in Mississippi and the deep South and the impact it had on her life and her perspective. The author depicts her life story, both her exper...

Imagine being in a position that gave you the power to inspire a race and gain the respect of another. Booker T. Washington, a prominent and extremely successful African-American had that opportunity. This opportunity came in the times of the emancipation of slavery, and when given the chance, he ex...

Brought about by the pain, inhumanity, and suffrage of their people, African American writers sought to necessitate change. Through their prose and poetry, these writers have vividly portrayed the way blacks were mistreated, their feelings toward this oppression, and their ability to endure in spit...

Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska but was raised in Michigan. His father was a civil rights activist and his mother a supportive house wife. When Malcolm's mother was pregnant with him their home in Nebraska was raided by the Klu Klux Klan, who was strictly against the act...

Blackness is not an abstract concept; rather it is a sense of being. Blackness in America has been determined by the ideas of society and every day experiences within the Black Community. However, members of the Black community did not always accept being black. Members within the community saw the ...

Autobiography/Biography: Black Boy The novel "Black Boy," written by Richard Wright takes you back in the deep south of Jackson, Mississippi where whites attempted to tame into submission blacks by hard discipline. It seemed that the more Richard had gained in life, the more he was h...

The women in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Color Purple have been raped and forced to live life harshly as African Americans during the time when civil rights for many people of the United States of America was still very much a dream. The novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya An...

Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was born under the name Marguerite Johnson, but her brother, Baily, renamed her Maya. Her parents, Baily and Vivian Baxter Johnson, got divorced when she was very young. Maya grew up in a very racist town. There were many problems in...

A Taste of Brown: A Black Panther's Movement CritiqueAnd, we sat and we talked About freedom and things. And, he told me about what he dreamed. But I knew of that dream Long before he had spoke And a feeling familiarly came around.I said, Man, where have you been for all these years Man, w...

Black Boy I. Summary Black Boy by Richard Wright is an autobiographical look at his life. It covers his life from the ageof 4 years to his mid 20's. The book shows the life of a young black man growing up in the southwith Jim Crow laws and the general hate for blacks by whites. After realizi...

Malcolm XMalcolm X is considered one of the greatest civil rights activists in history. He was known for his somewhat violent message of blacks defending themselves. Despite his original message, he eventually became more peaceful toward whites. However, as his legacy was just beginning to change...

This book "Down These Mean Streets" is a classic confessional autobiography. This book was first published in 1967. It was written by Piri Thomas, he was a man of African descent living in Spanish Harlem. It relates how he was lost even within his own family and his identity th...

Kate Chopin's short story "Désirée's Baby" is much more than a simple narrative; the story expresses very strong political and societal assertions. The story takes place in the 1840s on the Louisiana plantations in the midst of the disputes between the abolitionists...

A former slave during the antebellum era, Lewis Clarke, said, "How would you like to see your sisters, and your wives, and your daughter, completely, teetotally, and altogether, in the power of the master. – You can picture to yourselves a little, how you would feel; but oh, if I could te...

In the period after Reconstruction the position of African Americans in southern American society steadily deteriorated. After 1877 the possibilities of advancements for African Americans disappeared almost completely. African Americans experienced a loss of voting rights and political power creat...

Alan Paton -- teacher, author, and politician -- was one of South Africa's most remarkable citizens. Repelled by the racism he saw all around him in his homeland, he wrote Cry, the Beloved Country (1948), a novel that had a profound effect in the worldwide struggle against apartheid. In the novel, ...

Malcolm X Malcolm was born on May 19, 1925 in an Omaha hospital. He was born into a world of hatred and violence toward his kind, and from he was little, he knew that he would die in a similar manner. Malcolm's father who was a large black man was a Baptist Minister. Though he and his family on many...

Spike LeeThe man we know as "Spike" was born Shelton Jackson Lee onMarch 20, 1957 in Atlanta ,Georgia. The first of five children, hegot the nickname Spike from his mother for being "a tough baby". Spike's tendency to be difficult is one that goes right back to thecrib. The infant Spike, much like...

Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His father was James Nathaniel and his mother was Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes. His grandfather was Charles Langston, an Ohio abolitionist. As a young boy he lived in Buffalo, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Lawrence, Kans...