Charles Hamilton Houston and Brown vs. Board essays

Charles Hamilton Houston and Brown vs. Board essays Charles Hamilton Houston and Brown vs. Board 1945-1970, a time for many, that marked the period known as the Civil Rights Movement. In reality, the Civil Rights Movement spanned from the time the first African American touched American soil as a slave. From that moment on, African Americans begin the struggle for equality and equal protection under the law, a struggle for the rights that are expressly granted to every citizen of the United States under the Constitution. The purpose of the movement was to rid the country of segregation and Jim Crow Laws, to offer African Americans an equal education as that of their Caucasian peers, and as stated before- grant African Americans the civil liberties that the forefathers of our country granted all Americans. The struggle was not easy, nor was it short, nor is it over. When one thinks of the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. usually comes to mind. He is the most notable, but he is not the only man that made it his lifes mission to better the opportunities presented to African Americans. From The Montgomery Bus Boycott to the March on Washington, from sit-ins to non-violent protests, the road to equality was paved with blood sweat and tears of some of the most courageous men and women, both black and white, that have graced this earth. There were many who went unnoticed, but without their contributions many of the historical events and land marked cases would have taken longer to come about, if they came into existence at all. Among the many overlooked, is Charles Hamilton Houston. Houston paved the way for the landmark case Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Without his great legal mind and strategy equal education would have been a long time in the making. Charles Hamilton Houston was born on September 3, 1895. The same year that the separate but equal doctrine came into existence after the ruling in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case w...

Hey You!

Hey You! Hey You! Hey You! By Maeve Maddox Puleen Patel wonders about the appropriateness of hey as a greeting: I see most people online and offline address each other more and more by saying Hey David and so on. Is this correct? Is this a new thing? I always remembered addressing (and being addressed) as Hi David or Hi Puleen. When I was in school, many years ago, my English teachers objected to both hi and hey as rude utterances. However, both have been in the language for a very long time. Most dictionaries define hey as â€Å"an exclamation to attract attention.† Ditto for hi. Hey is often used as a nonsense word in song lyrics, as in the chorus of Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson. There’s a Jennifer Love Hewitt song called Hey Everybody. Earlier still, Shakespeare used hey in the refrain of a song in Much Ado About Nothing: . . . be you blithe and bonny; Converting all your sounds of woe Into. Hey nonny, nonny. Hey and hi can’t claim to have an etymology like a â€Å"real† word. Both seem to derive from the sound of a grunt, like Roman eho, Greek eia, and German hei. The OED notes that used as â€Å"a word of greeting,† hi is chiefly North American. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the first recorded use (1862) of hi as a greeting was to the speech of a Kansas Indian. This use of hi by an Indian brings to mind the â€Å"how!† so often heard in old cowboy movies. Again, the OEtyD: how: Native American greeting, Siouxan (cf. Dakota hao, Omaha hau); first recorded 1817 in Eng, but noted early 17c. by Fr. missionary Jean de Brebeuf among Hurons as an expression of approval (1636). As to which to use as an informal greeting, it’s a personal choice. I read a comment by someone who prefers hey to hi because â€Å"it sounds more casual.† To some speakers, however, hi sounds friendly, but hey sounds rude. I wonder what my English teachers would have said to the notion that anything could be more casual than hi. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What is the Difference Between Metaphor and Simile?Types of Ignorance

Iranian Nuclear Program and its implications for the stability and Essay

Iranian Nuclear Program and its implications for the stability and security of the Region - Essay Example Iran’s nuclear program began in the 1950s when the United States assisted the Shah to build 20 nuclear power reactors as part of the state’s modernization efforts. In addition to this, research and development efforts were conducted during the Shah’s tenure on fissile material production. But, in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, all nuclear activity was halted. Research and further nuclear development activity resumed in recent years. The Iran-Iraq War was responsible for the re-emergence of an intensified effort to develop nuclear capability. Instead of the benign objectives of the Shah previously, the purpose of the current Iranian nuclear program is in line with the military and defence aims of the state. And, after the Iraqi threat, the nuclear weapons development would later came to be publicly aimed at Israel and the United States. A more sober and conservative analysis of the Iranian objective was laid down by Charles Mayer (2004): As a small status quo state, Iran has no overt military ambitions beyond its borders. Its grand strategy is to foster a Gulf leadership role while providing a credible deterrent to any future attack.

Business Strategy College Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Strategy College - Case Study Example The OAG official airline guide data taken from the website www.oag.com shows a startling low cast data. Its study of low cost budget airline data released its report dated September 19, 2007 shows startling facts. The data indicates that that budget airline capacity has doubled in the last four years. The low cost growth of the same industry has increased by twenty percent. The study also shows that Europe, which includes the United Kingdom, is leading the world in the low cost /network balance scheme. Clearly, the OAG data shows a startling low cast data. The same OAG study covers a wide airline passenger seat sector. The study covers eleven million extra seats in over sixty six thousand more flights operated by the low cost sector. The industry shows a year on year increase of twenty four percent and twenty percent respectively. The financial data shows that the 2007 low cost flights comprise a higher sixteen percent of the total available airline seats in Europe for the prior accounting period. The prior period only generated a fourteen percent low cost comparative figure. In addition, the 2007 financial data also shows that twenty percent of the total worldwide airline covers is given to low cost flights. This is higher than the seventeen percent financial data of the prior year, 2006. Evidently, the OAG study covers a wide airline passenger seat sector. ... Three of the major forces in the European, Low -cost, budget airline sector are rivalry among competing sellers in the air travel industry, market attempts of companies in other industries to win customers and the potential entry of new air travel competitors.Rivalry among competing sellers in the air travel industry. There is s strong rivalry among the competing sellers in the low cost budget airline sectors. The air transportation industry is changing fundamentally. Low cost air passenger carriers are now slowly killing the competition. This long term trend has undermined the industry's prior structure, procedures, business models and these changes have consequences for airport access. Airlines and airports now have neither the money nor the appetite for grandiose projects. While massive airport buildings around the world planned many years ago are still being inaugurated. These inaugurated airports include Heathrow airport in London, Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Barajas airpor t in Madrid, a Singapore airport and a Toronto airport. The current trend in the airline industry is to focus on low -cost airport buildings and facilities. Boston had built a $ 400 million passenger building to Delta air's specifications. It was opened shortly before the airline went bankrupt. As Delta air buckles under the pressure of shrinking its network and services, another competitor must be entertained to take over the leased airport spaces vacated by Delta Air. Low cost airline companies easily fit this description. Undoubtedly, there is strong rivalry among the competing sellers in the low cost budget airline sectors (De Neufville 2006).Market attempts of companies in other

Social Unrest in the Bahamas Essay Example for Free

Social Unrest in the Bahamas Essay The principal causes of working class unrest and increasing dissatisfaction were the same throughout the British Caribbean Region colonies: low wages; high unemployment and under-employment; arrogant racist attitudes of the colonial administrators and employers in their relations with black labourers; lack of adequate and proper, in most cases, any representation; and no established structure for the resolution of industrial disputes by collective bargaining. Furthermore the unfairness shown towards black labourers would later result too many complaints and little or no positive response. Black labourers continued to seek some kind of equality due to the fact that most of their work at the same performance level as those who were white. ? Political Struggles: The Bahamas, like many other countries that are apart of the Commonwealth, had representative assemblies based on the bicameral system of the mother country. Each colony had a governor who represented the monarch, an appointed upper house, and an elected lower house. The electoral franchise, however, was extremely restricted, being vested in a few wealthy male property holders. Colonial acquisition and administration were not neatly and easily accomplished. The Burma Road riot, however, was more than an isolated act of venting. Although a powerful symbol of black agency that has been referenced again and again in the political struggles of Bahamian blacks, the riot was more than a symbol. The riot also kindled the development of a pro-black consciousness in the country, a necessary precursor to black rule and independence. The majority black population in the Bahamas could literally dismantle the edifices of minority white rule, if sufficiently provoked. The fissure that was created in 1942 would widen over the next few decades and within a quarter of a century it became a gapping hole that the majority black Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) walked through to victory. ? ? High unemployment and under-employment: By the early nineteenth century, blacks constituted at least 80 percent of the population in the Bahamas. Majority falling in the unemployment or the under-employment category. Around this time whites were considered more qualified leaving most blacks with little work options. For example, middle class blacks had a better chance to receive a well paying job than any equally qualified ‘grass root’ Bahamians. ? Racism: Even after emancipation, Caribbean societies inherited a rigid racial stratification that was reinforced by the unequal distribution of wealth and power. The three-tier race structure, which existed well into the 1940s and in some societies beyond, upheld the belief of European racial superiority, although most West Indians are of African descent. Racial discrimination was prevalent throughout the Bahamas in the 1930s and the 1940s. Black Bahamians were treated as subhuman in this country. It appears as if the suffering of the black masses, which were mostly living in abject poverty. For example, in the general strike in 1958, white taxi drivers were granted license to transport tourist from the newly opened airport located on Windsor Field. This started began the ‘Quiet Revolution’ which was gave the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) a chance bring the issues of the nation in the presence of the House of Assembly. Low Wages: Black labourers were reluctant to work but were mostly given low wages. Blacks were paid less than white labourers which began uproar in most cases. The government was forced to impose martial law (where the police are given extra powers to arrest) and establish curfew fearing that the black labourers would take out their frustration on local whites. In relation to racism, foreign workers were paid 8 shillings per day versus shillings for local workers (Burma Road riot). Although many have suffered discrimination in many ways, this seems to be the most effective and injustice of them all. Bahamians were willing to work but they were unwilling to remain submissive to the white government or merchant class order. This was because of the difference of wages between black Bahamians and the merchant class order. The white government tried to negotiate the improvement of the wages, however, the Bahamians still suffered from the discrimination. Things such as owning a property was difficult because they never met the outstanding payment due to low wages. Foreign workers were paid more than black locals; overlooking the fact that the some black locals work harder to be paid that the small amount of money. In conclusion, during the nineteenth century, common causes of working class unrest were extremely obvious because of the many riots and the constant discrimination against blacks and whites. The inequality of each factor represented how Bahamians suffered to find a job that would offer them a respectable a wage and to muster their strength to create a political party that can proudly present the frustrations of the black Bahamians in the House of Assembly. Black Bahamians wanted to elevate black people to a position of racial equality and to promote democratic values for all Bahamians. Successfully the Bahamas looked forward to an outstanding future. The black majority party (PLP) won the government making Lynden Pindling the first black Premier of the Bahamas. Sir Milo Butler became the first Governor General of the Bahamas. The Bahamas has greatly improved since the 1930s and the 1940s. The country didn’t face anymore labor discrimination and most importantly racial tension. The Bahamas grew even more and hadn’t faced any more struggles and strife. The 1930s and the 1940s were forever engraved in the Bahamian history because it was a time that the Bahamas had to fight for what was theirs in pride and strength. 1. You are a member of the Taxi Cab Union during the General Strike of 1958. Give an account of your experience. In November 1957 the government had once again betrayed us by granted license to white taxi drivers to transport tourists from the newly opened airport at Windsor Field. As a black Taxi cab driver and a member of the Taxi Cab Union, it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling to be discriminated public ally by the government. We were not going to tolerate this injustice act us Taxi Cab drivers. So we all came together and planned to use our Taxi cabs as blockade across the road leading to the airport. It seemed risky but it was worth it. The question â€Å"What was I thinking? † lingered in my mind for a couple of days but I had to do it for the sake of my family, my colleagues, my job, and my country. The strike officially began in January of 1958. We formed a blockade with our vehicles across the road lading to the airport exactly like we had planned. Many other workers came outside to support us as well. The leader of the Bahamas Federation of Labor and a known heroic figure, Randol Fawkes, called for all hotel workers, sanitation workers, government workers, teachers and public servants to strike, in order to force the government to address the labor issues of the country. The General Strike was to last sixteen (16) days. Bay Street owned tour companies were given the exclusive right to transport tourists to and from the hotels. Obviously, this move, if allowed to go unchallenged, would have destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of black Bahamian independent taxi drivers. The General strike was a peaceful, non-violent revolution of the labor laws of this country. The strike had its intended outcome. New labor laws including the Trade Union and Industrial Conciliation Act were passed. A labor department was set up giving ordinary workers more rights. Discriminatory labor practices were also banned. The black majority got a right to vote. In 1959 all Bahamian men over were allowed to vote. In 1961 legislation was passed that allowed women over 21 to vote. As Bahamians we struggle to get what we want but it was a strong fight to what we deserved. Life had changed ever since then all because we didn’t tolerate the racial attitudes and unfairness of the white government.

Aldous Huxleys Brave New World :: Social Stability Brave New World Essays

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley deftly creates a society that is indeed quite stable. Although they are being mentally manipulated, the members of this world are content with their lives, and the presence of serious conflict is minimal, if not nonexistent. For the most part, the members of this society have complete respect and trust in their superiors, and those who don’t are dealt with in a peaceful manner as to keep both society and the heretic happy. Maintained by cultural values, mental conditioning, and segregation, the idea of social stability as demonstrated in Brave New World is, in my opinion, both insightful and intriguing. The story is set hundreds of years in the future in a world with completely separate values and beliefs from those of today’s society. Birth has become an outdated and even disgusting thing. Instead of being born, humans are mass-produced through very elaborate cloning methods. Children are raised in a society that promotes both sexual promiscuity and drug use. They are brainwashed in their sleep to enjoy everything about their lives and to accept every aspect of society. Each person is predestined to fall under a specific social class that determines what they will do for a living, who they must take orders from, and even what they look like. Every aspect of every person’s life is manipulated, yet everyone feels free. One major issue that helps maintain social stability in Brave New World is sex. It is thought of as normal for people to be completely open with their sexual nature. It is typical for children to run around naked during recess playing games that are sexual and sometimes homosexual in nature. Every adult is encouraged to sleep with as many different partners as possible. This outlook on sexual nature is quite different from actual accepted views. Today, sex is most widely accepted as a private, romantic event that should take place between monogamous couples. Because sex is a natural need of the human body, people of Huxley’s society feel pleased by being open with their sexuality. Indulging in their sexual pleasures eases their minds and keeps them from questioning the level of freedom they have. Another cultural value that helps maintain social stability is drug use. Soma is a euphoric, hallucinogenic drug that the government freely gives to citizens.

Enlightenment thinking Essay

The Declaration of Independence is the basis of our government here in the United States. When the authors of this document were writing it they included many references to enlightenment theories. Of these many theories three within the document can be attributed to John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes. John Locke was a believer in the three natural rights of man, life, liberty, and property. In the Declaration of Independence Locke’s idea can be found throughout but one example is, â€Å"†¦It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government laying its foundation of such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.† This quote is exactly along the lines of Locke’s thinking. He believed that a government is there to serve and protect, and if the government does not do its duty, then the people have a right to overthrow a government and start a new one. Rousseau believed that all men were free and ought to be, therefore any government must act according to the will of the people. The Declaration of Independence includes this too, â€Å"A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.† This quote reflects Rousseau’s ideas exactly. That man is â€Å"in chains† by the government a must be free. Finally, Thomas Hobbes was a believer in the social contract stating that to gain rights people had to give up rights. One right which people were supposed to gain was protection by the government. This idea can be found within the Declaration of Independence, â€Å"He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.† The Declaration of Independence contains many different enlightenment ideas. These ideas had a great impact on the founding of the United States and still do today.

Lilys life style in the sociiety and roxy eager to help her child

Pudd’nhead Wilson and   The House of Mirth are both tragedies which concentrate on the miseries of women who are the victims of either their own expectations or the society’s expectations of them. In true Twain tradition, Pudd’nhead Wilson deals with the tragedy, thickly laced with his characteristic satire. It is believed that Twain wrote this during one of his dark periods in life when he was going through pessimism created by his financial debacles. The protagonist of the work, Roxy is a slave who can pass of as a white (though she is one sixteenth black). And she is brave. â€Å"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.† ( Twain, 36) In order to create a better life for her son, she exchanges him at birth with the son of her white master. But as fate would have it, her son turns out to be unworthy of the white man’s inheritance and his life goes astray. He even sells her forcibly to a white man in exchange for his gambling debts. In the House of Mirth, Edith Barton takes the readers through the life of highly desirable Lily bart, who sabotages the prospects of many suitors only to find herself decline into squalid dinginess, only to die of a sleeping draught overdose (perhaps accidentally). Most of the novel is the pursuit of money. â€Å"Society is a revolving body which is apt to be judged according to its place in each man’s heaven;† (Wharton, Chapter 4, Book I) Lily suffers because of two factors. She is incapable of following her heart and removing money as a vital point of the equation, therefore she suffers the constant heartburn of rejection. She is also not completely efficient in her manipulation of the society around her that she is not entrenched enough to counter the allegations of Bertha against her (of adultery with her husband) Paradoxically, both novels deal with freedom and slavery. While Twain deals with literal slavery and the lengths to which a mother, Roxy can go to ensure that her son escapes the clutches of slavery that she suffers, Barton talks about slavery to the pursuit of money. In the house of mirth, Lily starts feeling free when she has money and starts feeling enslaved when she does not have sufficient money. But the irony is she is always enslaved to the concept of money. Human folly led by social pressures and an inability to follow one’s heart are the causes of the tragedy of Lily, while several unfortunate incidents that start with a noble intention form the crux of Roxy’s tragedy. She is freed by her white master whom she deceives by exchanging her son with his and she is again sold off by her own son who does not know the truth. This is one of the best dramatic and tragic elements used by Twain in any of his works. Perhaps the most glaring similarity between the two novels is the way in which debts ruin a person’s judgment and lead him/her progressively towards more dreaded consequences. Lily’s unintentional debt to Gus when she starts being lavish imagining the money he gives her to be her own returns from the stock market marks the beginning of her end. Similarly â€Å"Tom† gambles heavily and this leads him into finding shadier and indirect means to repay these debts, resulting in a murder of his own uncle. In spite of the fact that neither Edith Wharton nor Mark Twain try overtly to convey any message to the readers, both these novels work as a danger signal posts which need to be looked out for to avoid any pitfalls related to monetary judgment and human judgment as a whole. Works Cited Twain, Mark. Pudd’nhead Wilson. NewYork: Courier Dover Publication, 1999 Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. NewYork: Norton, 1990

25 Believable Excuses for Being Late to College or Wherever

25 Believable Excuses for Being Late to College or Wherever This list of 25 believable excuses for being late to college or anywhere else is going to disturb you. Why? Well, because of how believable these excuses really are! Dive in and see for yourself. 1. Sorry, the global economic collapse bogged me down. One way or another everyone is being dealt continuous blows by the collapse of debt-based economic systems. There’s got to be a way you can work it in. 2. I thought I had radiation poisoning. The Fukushima nuclear disaster is an ongoing issue and the experts say radioactive water and waste will be inundating the West Coast soon. Ultimately the entire world is going to be dealing with this for a long time. 3. I had a hardcore anxiety attack. Anxiety is the most common psychological issue in America and anxiety attacks can happen unexpectedly and be severe. 4. Climate change did it. The roads in and out of Jerusalem were buried in snow recently, and people were making snowmen around the pyramids in Egypt. Dude†¦ 5. Unexpected philanthropic activities came up. An opportunity to donate to a heart melting charity came up and you simply had to save the lives of some kittens. 6. The (Insert random animal name) Flu. Bird flu, swine flu, antibiotic-resistant flu†¦at this point you could literally just choose an animal and put the word flu after it and you’ll probably be in the clear. Aardvark flu anyone? 7. I got audited by the IRS. Maybe you’re a part of a political group that doesn’t agree with the current plutocracy. Maybe you believe in your constitutional rights. Maybe you don’t believe that it’s legal for the government to force you to purchase insurance. There’s many reasons to get audited these days. 8. I was stopped at a random police checkpoint. Sad but true. In America today checkpoints are setup all over and drivers are being increasingly harassed. Some are told to give up their genetic information, submit to cheek swabs, etc. It’s getting scary out there! 9. Fracking-caused earthquakes broke my water pipes. It’s not quite official yet, but fracking seems to be causing earthquakes. If one were to break your water pipes you would have to stay home and deal with it. 10. Foofy’s RFID chip went haywire! Yeah, really. It’s so odd but believable that most bosses and professors will just shrug and go with it. 11. GMO-related food poisoning. This is serious. Over-processed, packaged and preserved foods are becoming downright toxic at this point, especially since major food manufacturers are messing with things on the genetic level. 12. A woman in labor stopped her car in front of me. It could totally happen. 13. Sudden eviction/repossession notice. Innumerable homes are being repossessed across the nation as the debt and mortgage-backed securities bubbles continue to burst. Some paperwork got mixed up and you needed to sort things out before you ended up on the street. 14. Road rage (not yours) car accident. Someone flipped out behind the wheel, caused an accident and you were stuck in the ensuing traffic jam. 15. Debilitating back pain. Back pain is one of the most common sources of long-term pain in America. 16. You took the wrong pharmaceuticals. People overdosing on pharmaceuticals has reached almost epidemic levels. Furthermore, people get prescribed the wrong ones is also happening at an alarming rate. In a country where 7/10 people are on 3 or more, it’s not that hard to believe. 17. Suffered a stress induced migraine. Totally believable and there’s no way to even move let alone go to work or class. 18. Your identity was hacked. Happens all the time. These days to millions of people all at once. Target was the last victim. 19. A drone crashed into your car. Within a few years there will be somewhere between 30-50,000 drones flying around American skies. Their bound to start malfunctioning and crashing on a regular basis. Did you hear Amazon will soon be using them to deliver goods? 20. Police mistakenly raided your home. Again, disturbingly common. 21. Power Outage + Alarm Clock Reset Only use this excuse when there’s been a reported power outage anywhere near your home. 22. Lice. No one wants you around with bugs in your hair. 23. I got called away on a dental emergency. Anyone that’s suffered with real tooth pain will pardon the tardiness. 24. It’s (insert random Middle Eastern county name) fault. Apparently just about anything can be blamed on a country these days if that country happens to be in the Middle East. 25. A friend was put on the no-fly list and stranded at the airport. There’s so many names of the list and with the NSA debacle going on†¦it could happen to anyone and if it does trying to travel becomes a real pain. How about you, do you have any really disturbingly believable excuses for being late that we should add to this list?

Write a College Term Paper

Write a College Term Paper Write a College Term Paper Write a College Term Paper Students are often intimidated about writing college-level term papers. By reviewing key prewriting strategies, you will learn how confidently begin writing formal college term paper. This lesson is designed to show how thinking about purpose, audience, and role can shape your writing and make it easier for you narrow down a topic. Being able to generate ideas is also a key skill for writers of term papers as you continue to narrow down your topic. You probably have already heard what a thesis statement is, and by reviewing key strategies for writing the thesis, you will be able to craft your own thesis. Once you have a preliminary thesis, you can begin to outline ideas, which will help you to organize your thoughts and make the writing process much easier. Term paper: Considering Your Writing Context The writing context includes three key factors: The writers purpose The writers audience The writers role Term paper purpose Think about any recent writing that youve done, whether it was writing an term paper for one of your classes or sending an email home to your parents. No matter type of writing youre doing, there is a reason why youre writing. In general, there are four main reasons for writing: To entertain the reader To relate an experience and/or express feelings To inform the reader about something interesting or important To persuade the reader to think or act in a particular way Understanding your purpose before you start writing is an important part of the argumentative term paper writing process: Term paper audience Having a clear idea of who your audience will be is just as important as identifying your purpose. First, you need to have a clear sense of who your reader is, and second, you need to know what the reader is like. Just about every decision you make about your writing will be influenced by your audience. For instance, what type of vocabulary would be appropriate for your audience? Will you need to define certain terms or can you assume your audience already knows the given terminology? Interesting posts: Dissertation Paper PhD Thesis My Dissertation What is a Thesis? Thesis Methodology

Term papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Term papers - Essay Example Musical acculturation is mostly enabled by colonial or political domination along with the social unrest that follows. Musical acculturation has to do with that hybridization influence brought about by alien elements of music. This paper seeks to show the hybridizing influence of European musical elements on African American music. Despite the fact that West African music differed from one region to the other, all cultures within this region shared sufficient features that enabled them to constitute a heritage that was identifiable as African when they were trans-located to the New World (Jackson 25). From the accounts given by early traders and explorers, it has been deduced that music was a lifestyle of these West Africans. It was used to enhance rituals, worship, provide recreation, and as a means of communication. These cultures shared a characteristic feature in integrating music with dramatic elements and dance. When they were enslaved and stripped of their community and families, their rich stories, customs, traditions, and music remained with them and were passed the new generation. On arrival in the new world, they were designated as heathens and the clergymen of the time were compelled to convert the Africans to Christianity. This religious conversion acted as the first instance in which the Africans were exposed to European music with the singing of hymns and psalms (Jackson 25). They often gathered, on Sundays, to make music, sing, and dance. The first all the black worship churches were established in the 18th century with Reverend Allen Richard realizing the importance that music held for the people, publishing a hymnal for use by the Africans. These black churches provided the people with opportunities earlier denied to them, for instance the experimentation with religious music from set pieces to formal anthems and lowly spirituals