Still I Rise

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rvk39aMjmy0&feature=related

This is Maya Angelou's Still I Rise. I believe that this is important to see in relation to my blog because although all these struggles arise throughout Black people for some reason they all... Still Rise.

Tribute to the Black Struggle

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4fwW44QvSwQ

This video is a tribute to the everlasting, long struggle of Blacks.

...And Children Too!!

In all of my other examples Black children have never been referenced to having a struggle as well. Well, in this novel the children also struggle. This shows that it is not only Black adults that have to deal with the harsh and cruel past of their ancestors but also the children whose innocence isnt enough to protect them from the struggle of being Black.

Men Struggle Too!

My focus before was on the struggle of women, but Black men also struggle too. In this book, the men are enslaved on a plantation. If that is not worse enough they have to sleep with calves and dream of rape in order to relieve their sexual frustration. Being slaves they are unable to have the freedom to love a woman the way they want to and they are forced to result to unhumanlike methods in order to suffice their biological needs.

Sethe's Struggle

Another character, Sethe is introduced with a struggle as well. She has to live with the haunting of the ghost of her dead firstborn baby daughter. I am going to be developing this struggle that Sethe has to encounter and see the things that she does in order to overcome it.

Is it Destiny?

In the first chapter of the book, the struggle that dated to the beginning of all African-Americans is referenced:slavery. It is announced that Baby Suggs is in a state of depression due to exhaustion from slavery and the death of all her children. Not only does Baby Suggs have to deal with the fact that she was born into slavery, something that cannot be changed because she is black, but she also has to deal with the death of ALL of her children. It seems that even from just reading this part that if it is not one thing it is another. I am getting the idea that it is destined for Blacks to stuggle in this book, almost like a curse that is inescapable.

New Book!!

I decided to switch to another book...Beloved by Toni Morrison. I will go back to White Teeth later. I just want to see if I can find for to develop my ideas based on my essential question. I will now be able to compare and contrast events that happen throughout both books. =)