ABP and the NCLR

American Border Patrol

http://www.americanborderpatrol.com

This first website takes an anti-illegal immigration stance when it comes to the issue of migrants coming over the Southern border. The APB (American Border Patrol) claim to be the only ‘non-governmental organization (NGO) that monitors the border on a regular basis’ and they do this mostly by air with the use of both drones and aircraft. The group has only been active for 7 years and according to posts on its Facebook page, members lobby the government and are involved with trying to persuade congressmen to see their side of the story.

The group never says it is anti-Latino immigration explicitly but is only in operation on the southern border where you would expect mainly Latino’s to be entering the country from. The group is obviously right wing and some may see them as odd but they are actually quite well run and seem to have some money as they are able to regularly fly over areas where they believe immigrants will be coming into the country from and inform the authorities.

The National Council of La Raza

http://www.nclr.org

This second website, belonging to the non-profit group ‘The National Council of La Raza’ is pro Latino immigration and integration into American society. They are the ‘largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.’ and have been active since 1968. The organisation was born out of the ‘National Organization for Mexican American Services’, which was a group designed to bring Mexican americans together under an ‘organizational structure’. When working on this the founders decided that they could do more if they sought to help out the wider Mexican community and so the NCLR was created.

The NCLR wants the united states government to take a more progressive view on immigration, including easier paths for illegal immigrants living in the country to become citizens, and reduced deportations of illegal immigrants found in the US.

The organisation is nationwide and has offices in several cities, including Washington D.C. The group gets 85% of its funding from individual donations, sponsors and companies, with the other 15% coming from the government, which seems odd as the current administration is very anti-illegal immigration.

This website addresses issues in a very different way to the first, with more emphasis on them being a reputable non-profit organisation. Whilst seemingly better run, there has still been controversy surrounding them however as some people say that they promote the separatist idea.

The Great Immigration Debate

Pro-Latino Immigration

https://openborders.info/us-specific-pro-immigration-arguments/

This is website, which as the name suggests, is an organization seeking to share information on open border policies, which the general slant being very liberal, and pro immigration of almost any kind. The link provided takes us to a list of US specific headings with links to various arguments to open up the US borders. The headings are listed as pragmatic benefits, philosophical arguments, and tradition with various subheadings to go alongside this. Often, the more conservative argument against those who are pro-immigration is that it their arguments are not pragmatic; rather they are simply morally postured and would have an adverse effect on the economy. Here, the points for pragmatism form the liberal point of view are benefit to economy, exaggerations about reductions in wages, exaggeration of criminality, links between immigration and terrorism are incorrect and that immigrants come to work, not claim. One of the links seems to suggest that more developed countries benefit more from immigration as these immigrants will provide labor and entrepreneurship. There is much fault with this as it does not address the cultural differences between various countries, is not specific to the country taking the immigration of where it is coming from. This leaves the argument feeling somewhat hollow despite it being labeled as US specific. It also does not take into account the literacy rate, levels of education, nor does it provide any statistic about Latin immigration having strong potential for entrepreneurship. Sadly, this article attempts to take a pragmatic standpoint on immigration but fails miserably to provide any context, statistics or any well backed up argument.

Anti-Latino Immigration

http://www.cfr.org/immigration/us-immigration-debate/p11149

This article from CFR.org attempts a much more level headed discussion around Mexican immigration, seeking to point out key statistics relevant specifically to the US and Mexico. It does so by providing statistics on population, law, American general consensus from trusted sources, Congressional legislation, Executive orders (Presidential orders), state and local stances, as well as prospect for the future. This article sets itself out to be un-biased, however, the outcome would certainly suggest that the United States has no other option other than to implement controls on immigration, and certainly on illegal aliens. In order to have a sensible debate on the issue, facts and figures are completely essential. Those arguments of moral posture should always be brought to the debate but never considered over statistics and reality. This has distorted the debate massively with the politically correct aiming to brand anyone who seeks control on immigration as a ‘racist’ or a ‘xenophobe’. This article excellently executes thought provoking for liberals and conservatives alike without bridging the gap into being overly biased, much like the first article.

Pro and Anti Latino/a Immigration

Latinos Progresando

This organisation was founded in 1998 by Luis Gutierrez who was 24 at the time. He was the son of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in the largest Mexican community in the Midwest, in Chicago.

It has built the largest family based immigration legal services program in Illinois, led by Latinos. As a part of this program, LP has an initiative focused specifically on immigrants that are also victims of domestic violence. This includes free, full-service legal support and educational presentations.

LP also runs the Teatro Americano Ensemble, a theatre ensemble and arts education program which writes and performs the stories of the Latino community of Chicago, while using theatre as a tool to preserve history and culture, and to promote social justice. By telling the stories of these people who have suffered, they provide faces and emotions for the people of America to grab on to and empathise with, creating more of a chance of an increase in support.

LP's values come in the form of three principles;

1 - "An injustice to any community is an injustice to our community. Social justice comes from collaborating around diverse causes, even those that don't directly affect us."

They do not have a narrow-minded view that it is all about them as Latinos, they recognise that it is not just them who suffer, and this will garner the support from those wider communities who also suffer.

2 - "Every decision we make must be based on what is best for our communities, not just on what is best for our organization or any one individual."

Again, this supports the idea that it is not about them, but about every one. They believe in what they are promoting and this encourages others to believe in it too. They are gaining more public support by being self-less in their approach and detaching the organisation from the benefits.

3 - "We do everything the best we can, because helping our communities achieve excellence means using and attentively refining our best practices."

Here we can see that they are considering their approach and methods in order to get the result that they want, rather than just forcing their opinion on others. Consideration will attract more supporters in the long run, furthering their cause.

Americans for Immigration Control, Inc.

This organisation defines itself as "an American non-partisan grassroots activist organization with more than a quarter of a million members - citizens of all races, creeds, and colors." By placing emphasis on the number of supporters, it suggests that this is what they believe will gain them even more support.

It was founded in 1983 and is about stopping the "millions of illegal aliens who across our border from Mexico every year." If we compare this language with the overall sentiment of the Latino Progresando organisation, we can see that AIC focuses on dehumanising the people who come across in the belief that they will have a better life. By dehumanising them, they will encourage people to view them as inferior and not worthy of empathising with.

AIC focus on the laws and legislation behind immigration, and also lists congressional endorsements in order to get people to support their cause.

“AIC has earned a reputation among members of Congress as one of the most active and responsive advocacy groups in the field of immigration reform. AIC is as feared by the pro-illegal immigration lobby as it is valued as a resource by those who seek to support and defend our nation’s borders.” — Rep. Charlie Norwood 

The website provides a detailed, if slightly dramatised, version of the history of immigration to America and emphasises the opinions of the founding fathers, men who hold a great deal of influence over the citizens of the US. 

AIC focuses on persuasion by facts, legislation and dehumanising language to gain support and tackle the issue of illegal immigration, whereas LP emphasises the stories behind the people, and the idea of family. They persuade people to join their cause by educating them, instead twisting the history of America to suit their cause, as the AIC does. 

America's attitudes towards Latino immigration.

The ideology of America is based on a society of immigrants from various countries who mould themselves and integrate their beliefs and cultures into one another. While doing so, this has led to the emergence of the ‘melting pot’ based on the causes of immigration of America. This has been particularly summarised in the famous poem ‘The New Colossus’ with the well-known lines ‘Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ The impact of immigration has proved prosperous for America as a country, however, in recent events the immigrations of Latinos specifically has caused controversy within the media and a rise in pro and anti-immigration groups within America, this has led to a growth of controversial views, and has escalated since the election of Donald Trump with his promise of “We’re going to build a wall and Mexico are going to pay for it.”

Latino immigrants are significant in immigration within US borders. For many of these immigrants they have passed the borders illegally and therefore has negatively impacted themselves and their community. With 11.7 million of these Latinos being Mexican and residing in the US, their presence within America’s society has significantly heightened which has led to concerns and tensions within communities between ethnicities. Is this contributing to the ‘American Dream’ or is this mass movement of immigration contributing to this idea of the “Americano Dream”?

Pew Research Center reports on the social view within American society on Latino immigration, with 12% of Americans associating immigrants with ‘illegal’ among other words as well as ‘over-population’ and ‘deportation’. The government’s view of immigration is a difficult topic to analyse as 55% of the Democratic Party believe that Latino immigrants make America’s society better in comparison to the Republicans where over half (53%) believe that Latino immigrants are negatively impacting society. So how does this portray the real views of America and the increase of immigration of Latinas?

The information provided by the Center for American Progress suggests that many people believe that these immigrants are positively impacting society and the economy by contributing $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2010, whereas others believe that the Latino immigrants are ‘taking their jobs, healthcare and homes’ and prefer European and Asian immigrants in comparison.

The statistical data suggests that overall American people believe that immigrants have impacted society positively through the expansion of food, music and the arts but that they have also impacted the economy and crime levels significantly, suggesting that the attitudes conveyed by America are often overshadowed by the negative impact on crime rates.

Although these websites do not provide a strong view on pro or anti-Latino immigration to the US, it does provide a useful insight as to how America’s view Latino immigration and prefer other ethnicities emigrating to America compared to others. Both websites compare the information of data on pro and anti-immigration and provide a neutral attitude towards immigration issues while addressing the positive and negative impacts of immigration on society. Pew Research Center provides the views of America socially whereas the Center for American Progress provides a view of the impact that Latinas have on America economically. It can be said that the aggression towards Latinos are a result of mass-media coverage,  the policies and promises outlined by Trump on society and how the news emphasises how many Latino’s are in America illegally and/or unwilling to assimilate and ‘melt’ themselves to American society.

Sources:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2014/10/23/59040/the-facts-on-immigration-today-3/

http://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-latino-migration-and-us-foreign-policy

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/28/chapter-4-u-s-public-has-mixed-views-of-immigrants-and-immigration/

"The Hispanic Challenge". 2017. Foreign Policy. http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/28/the-hispanic-challenge/, (accessed 2nd April 2017).

Women's Right to Privacy

Birth Control

The Comstock Act (1873) was passed in the US which made the advertisement, information and distribution of birth control illegal. It also allowed the postal service to confiscate birth control sold through the post.

In 1916, a woman named Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the US. The following year she was found guilty of maintaining a public nuisance and was sentenced to prison for 30 days. When she was released, she re-opened her clinic and continued to provide the service through more arrests and prosecutions. Because of Margaret Sanger, the federal ban on birth control was lifted, this was due to a case involving her in 1938. This ended the Comstock era. Sanger was a very important influence in regards to the progression of birth control. While she was in her 80s in 1950, she underwrote the research necessary to create the first human birth control pill. She raised $150,000 for the project. Her work led to the first oral contraceptive, Enovid, being approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as contraception in 1960.

In 1965 the Supreme Court (in Griswold v. Connecticut) allowed married couples the right to use birth control, it ruled that this right was protected in the Constitution as a right to privacy. Despite this progression, unmarried women in 26 states were still denied the right to birth control. Finally in 1972, the Supreme Court, as a result of Baird v. Eisenstadt) legalised birth control for all citizens of the country, regardless of their marital status. In 2013, after many legal battles, a brand of emergency contraceptive pill (Plan B One-Step) became available without a prescription on pharmacy shelves, marking a huge step forward for women to have the right to do whatever they wish to their own bodies.

Roe v. Wade 1973 – The right to abortion

In 1971, Norma McCorvey (known as Jane Roe) was a resident of Texas who sought an abortion. However, Henry Wade (the district attorney of Dallas County) enforced a law that prevented women from having an abortion unless it was to save their life. 

McCorvey filed the case suing Wade, asking the Constitutional question of “Does the Constitution embrace the right of a woman to obtain an abortion, nullifying the Texas prohibition?” The ruling allows for legal abortions throughout the pregnancy but simultaneously allows for individual states to decide on the regulation of abortion during the second and third trimesters.

The Supreme Court decided that a woman’s right to abortion was within the bounds of the right to privacy (recognised in Griswold v. Connecticut) which was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. By making this decision, the Court allowed women to have the right to an abortion throughout the entire pregnancy and introduced levels of state interest for the regulation of the abortion in the second and third trimesters. This ruling affected the laws of 46 states.

Norma McCorvey gave her baby up for adoption. By bringing this issue to the Supreme Court, McCorvey raised the issue at a constitutional level, and by winning, allowed many women to have safe and legal abortions without risking their lives or the careers of the doctors who performed them. 

Women's History: A Fight for Equality

Since the colonial period, women have played a significant role that had been unappreciated until a later period of time. Throughout America, the patriarchal system led to women being viewed as insignificant within society and therefore they were dependent on their husbands. However, throughout the 1800s and to the present day, women began fighting for their rights through various forms, such as protests, campaigns and literature. 

Margaret Fuller had a great influence on pushing women’s rights forward after she published ‘The Great Lawsuit: Man versus Men, Woman versus Women.’ in 1843, discussing her vision of women’s rights and how to achieve this. Fuller challenged the patriarchal system while working for the New York Tribune, publishing articles on subjects and ideas considered unnatural and inappropriate for a women to write and discuss.  Although Fuller was an independent journalist and unaccepted by many within society, she created a pathway for women to be accepted within society. For many women prior to Fuller's influence in journalism, they had to undertake a pseudonym in order to ensure their work was published. This was mainly done not only by white middle class women but also African-Americans and those who were bi-racial (such as the Eaton Sisters).   

World War Two

Challenging women’s rights to vote, equality and freedom continued throughout the 19th and 20th Century, and the significant role that women played in World War Two led to a significant change in stereotypical gender roles. Women, who were once viewed as weak and emotional, were now fighting to ‘remove the social stigma to the idea of women working’ male-dominated roles such as agriculture, business and journalism. Propaganda campaigns through radio, posters and billboards encouraged women to not only help with war effort but to ensure that society deemed women equal to a man while doing the same job as them during and after the war. Many women earned $31.21 a week from their jobs within factories whereas men would earn $54.65 in comparison. 

Efforts in the late 1940s to maintain and confine women to pre-war lifestyle proved fruitless, women had found the re-birth of women’s independence from men and engaged in enforcing gender equality. Academic studies and published literature by women, argued and analysed the social and political impact of post-war America had on women as seen in Susan Hartmann’s The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s and Twayne’s American Women in the Twentieth Century series. It is clear that women within America were fighting a war within their own country to extend their opportunities instead of maintaining a lifestyle surround the home and her children. 

This led to events such as the Second Wave Feminism within the 1960s to the 1980s, women participating and associating themselves  in Civil Rights Movements, LGBTQ+ protests to ensure equality was not only for women but for all Americans in society. However, we can see that in America today that although women are now accepted in all fields of work they still face inequality pay and therefore continue to campaign for equal pay.

Sources: 

McEuen, Melissa A. "Women, Gender, and World War II." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. 27 Mar. 2017. http://americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-55.

"National Women's History Museum: Women With A Deadline". 2017. Nwhm.Org. https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/womenwithdeadlines/wwd13.htm.

Roe V Wade and the 19th Amendment

Roe V Wade

The Supreme Court case of Roe V Wade was one of the most contentious in American history. The case took place in the year 1973 and tackled the issue of abortion. The case was so controversial and divisive that even today there are fears that it will be overturned by Trumps government who are taking a clear anti-abortion pro-life stance. Trump himself has said “That'll happen automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court. I will say this: It will go back to the states, and the states will then make a determination.” when quizzed on whether or not he would overturn the landmark case.

The case came about when plaintiff Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe in the case, was denied an abortion in Texas. She took her case through the court system and eventually it went up to the Supreme Court as it was a constitutional issue. The Supreme Court voted hugely in favour of McCorveys case with a 7-2 vote. The case led to an extension of the 14^th Amendment to include abortion.

Whilst the case won, there have been attempts to overturn it. These include the the 1992 Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey. In this case the constitutional right to abortion was challenged, with the aim to make a woman’s choice to have an abortion more thoughtful and informed.

According to a poll by Gallup, in 2014 21% of Americans surveyed believed that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. Whilst this figure is in the minority by far it is still troubling to those who advocate women’s right to abortion in the United States.

Because of these challenges to abortion there is fear that should abortion be left to the states many would bring out harsh regulations on it. A trend can be noticed in states likely to do so that is regulations on banning abortion post 20 weeks. 19 states have done this and campaigners argue that this is violating Roe v Wade.

This case is extremely important to Women in the United States and has improved their status as American citizens.

19^th Amendment

The 19^th Amendment was passed on the 18^th of August 1920 and in my opinion is one of the most fundamental parts of improving the status of Women in America. The Amendment gave the vote to women in every state in America, regardless of their marriage status.

The battle for suffrage in the United States was hard fought by women and making an amendment to the Constitution is no easy task. There needs to be majority vote of two thirds in both houses of congress and then three quarters of all states need to agree on the decision. The amendment very nearly didn’t go through and one state congressman from Tennessee, Harry Burn, who had previously opposed women’s right to vote changed his mind and voted in Nashville’s house of representatives in favour of the vote. This single vote was enough to mean that Tennessee backed the 19th Amendment and this meant that enough states were in favour of the change.

Although there were efforts before the Amendment at women’s suffrage, such as unmarried women in New Jersey being temporarily granted the vote in 1797, there was not universal consensus allowing for the constitutional right to women’s suffrage.

The Amendment was first attempted to be put through in 1878 but defeated. This is almost ten years after 1869 when women in Wyoming over 21 were granted the vote by their state congress. The right to vote in Wyoming became so important that they are known colloquially as the equality state. This totally opposes the likes of Mississippi who did not ratify the 19^th Amendment until the 22^nd of March 1984.

The 19^th Amendment is in my opinion the most important Amendment for women’s rights as the right to a fair democratic system is crucial in an equal society and is one of the most empowering things a person can have.

Sources:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/170249/split-abortion-pro-choice-pro-life.aspx

The legacy of Black Power Visual Culture in 1990s Hip Hop

The article which I chose from US Studies Online was “The legacy of Black Power Visual Culture in 1990s Hip Hop”. I chose this article because, following last week’s lecture and blog task I became more interested in the representation of the Black Power movement through different forms of music and film.

The article I chose focuses specifically on Hip Hop in the 1990’s which was politically charged and reflected on the treatment of African Americans at the time. Groups such as N.W.A were particularly controversial in this aspect, with Anti-Police songs and because of their lyrics, a heavy police presence at their concerts in order to stop public disorder.

The article goes into detail about the use of imagery by Hip Hop artists in the 1990’s, showing images from album covers and posters, depicting obvious black panther symbolism and images alluding to the separatist movement. One such image is the album cover of Boogie Down Productions’ (BDP) second album By All Means Necessary. The image portrays KRS-One standing with a gun in one hand peering out of a window, mirroring the famous picture of Malcom X from 1964. The album’s title itself is also a play on the line from the famous Malcom X speech where he calls for an end to the oppression of the black people by any means necessary. This remake of the old political poster shows a permeation of the old Black Power movement through the generations to the Hip Hop artists of the 1990’s. It also highlights the importance of the movement as it is being distributed nationally through the music of the popular Hip Hop artists.

I feel like this was the most interesting article I could find personally as, having just had a lecture on Black America and finding it very interesting I felt as though I wanted to pursue this further. The article also links the political side of the Black Power struggle with the more cultural side and I felt as though this was particularly interesting.

Bibliography:

http://www.baas.ac.uk/usso/the-legacy-of-black-power-visual-culture-in-1990s-hip-hop/

Muslim Archetypes in America

http://www.baas.ac.uk/usso/racializing-muslims-constructing-a-muslim-archetype/

Muslim Archetypes

This article by Bradley Zopf sets up to decode what the stereotypical Muslim is in the United States, how this came to be, and how it has changed since the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks.

Zopf does this very well by attacking the issue from angles of politics, philosophy, sociology and psychology. The article is also very well researched and features strong arguments through Pew research statistics. The article features a slant that is clearly very pro-Islam in America and using strong statistics from a trusted source was refreshing to see; as someone who studies politics there seems to be a trend with pro-Islam articles often taking a more moral slant rather than one that is more factually based. Despite the ideology that is clear in this article Zopf takes a delicate yet concise argument making the case of decoding American Muslim archetypes and stereotypical connotations of radical Islamic terrorism that might coincide with these archetypes. He tries to break down the stereotype of what a typical Muslim might look like and whether they pose as a ‘threat’ or instill fear into Americans.

To give some criticism, I feel the article would be of improvement if the author were to extend the points made to the greater issue that runs through this article, which is assimilation of Muslims in the US and whether the cultures are compatible. Despite him breaking down stereotypes of identity and how we view Muslims, to not give any basis as to whether this fitted with American culture made the article feel lackluster at times, given the domain in which it was posted. Additionally, I see flaw with his description for what Islamophobia is, as it feels somewhat contradictory to suggest Islamophobia is always a prejudice and never a postjudice. It feel here as if he is saying that other cultures that have any conceptions about Islam have not done research, read the Qur’an or have any prior knowledge to their dissatisfaction. This is a complete assumption that stereotypes those who have opposing views on Islam.

Zopf’s concluding paragraph reads, “Despite a long history of Orientalist and Islamophobic prejudice towards Muslims, 9/11 was indeed a turning point in the racialization of Muslims (Naber 2008). Once racialized, Islam inscribes onto “brown” Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian bodies an essentialized and homogenized visible archetype of “Muslim” that simultaneously delegitimizes and racializes Islam. This racial construction of Muslims and “Muslim-looking people” (Elver 2012) makes them more vulnerable to state-based, media-based, and interpersonal violence (Chon and Artz 2005; Cainkar 2009). As the attack on Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49 year old Sikh from India who was shot four days after 9/11, shows, being perceived as Muslim is often enough to make one a target, regardless of one’s actual religious affiliation. After September 11th, 2001, the United States “intensified its targeting of persons perceived to be” Muslim through programs such as NSEERS (Naber 2005:480). As a result, images of Muslims, especially in the media, have almost exclusively focused on terrorism related to Islamic extremism (see Shaheen 2008). Together “anti-Arab racism” (Salaita 2006) and “anti-Muslim prejudice” (Malik 2009) have increased in the United States merging prevailing forms of racism with Orientalism and Islamophobia that have resulted in the racialization of Muslims (Meer and Modood 2009; Garner and Selod 2015) and the social construction of a visible archetype of “Muslim” considered inimical to “American” culture and religion.”

Zopf’s conclusion is good here as he collectively brings his arguments together in a format that is concise and clear. This article is particularly important to American Studies as it is a strong leftist argument for a growing topic of controversy and debate in the US and the rise in population of people of Islamic faith, which he notes is set to become America’s second largest religion by 2050. It interesting to lend focus on the mindset and misconceptions of Islamic identity within the US population and to make an argument as to why these may be correct or incorrect.  This is likely to be a growing political ‘hot potato’ in future debates of American culture.

‘Is It Because I’m Black?’: The Music Industry, Image, and Politics in the Careers of Syl and Syleena Johnson

Within this article by Glen Whitcroft, he explores the song lyrics originally sung by Syl Johnson in 1969:

'Looking back over my false dreams that I once knew,
Wondering why my dreams never came true,
Somebody tell me, what can I do?
Something is holding me back,
Is it because I'm Black?'

And how his daughter Syleena Johnson sang the song four decades later. Whitcroft identifies the undertone references such as racism, struggles of becoming successful within society and the prejudice surrounding the ideas that being Black potentially hinders someone within society due to these undertones.

Whitcroft gives a background on both singers, how successful they were with other audiences such as those in poverty within the states of the South and not just the mainstream audience of Black African-Americans.

The similarities of Syl and Syleena providing music with deep metaphorical meanings and provocative meanings are crucial to understanding the impact they had within society. Syl's music was stereotypically surrounding problems within the 60s and 70s such as racism, poor living standards and the ideals of the American Dream associated with individuals within society.
However, Syleena's music undertones surround racism, domestic violence and materialism and their impacts on people within society.

By Whitcroft providing evidence that both father and daughter were impacted by society's expectations upon them (music industries pursuing them to be silent due to provocative language within their music and Syleena being portrayed as unsuitable due to her body and size not being the 'stereotypical idea of beauty". Syleena states in an interview in June, 2016, "I finally looked how they wanted me to look... and they didn't even capitalise on that" further suggests that even when conforming to society expectations of her, she is still not idolised after conforming to the 'stereotypical small sized body beauty'. When recognising that her talent of singing and music writing outweighed those, she was still criticised for being who she was, an all-natural female not fazed by her own body shape and size with a powerful voice that could influence the people who listened to her music.

This article is important as it continues to show that although society changes throughout the decades, music still remains a powerful influence on society when addressing issues such as the racism encounter by African-Americans and asking people 'Is it because I'm black?'. It gives us insight to the platform that African-Americans use to their advantage to speak out about these issues within our society.

U.S. Online - The Lecturing Tours of Black Abolitionists

"A Scene of Tumult and Uproar": Mapping the Gruelling Lecturing Tours of Black Abolitionists

This article gathers together the lecturing information of Frederick Douglass, a “lecturing genius” on antislavery who was previously enslaved. The writer of the article, Hannah Rose-Murray, used an interactive map on a website called ZeeMaps to plot the information she had gathered from resources such as local newspapers. By doing this she has created a platform on which we can look at a glance and see patterns of how Douglass travelled the country. It is a visual embodiment of the lengths he put in to ensure the abolition movement was successful.

This is relevant knowledge as we can determine how Douglass used the growing industrialism in Britain to make his travelling easier. It demonstrates that industrialism was key to the growing abolition movement and network, ensuring the word of antislavery spread as efficiently as possible at the time.

Murray notes that, on the map, “each [pin] has a variety of detail ranging from who spoke, where, the time, ticket price and whether the meeting in question was on behalf of a specific society.” This gives us an indication as to how extensive the abolition network was, with many people giving lectures all over the country, as shown on the map. It also demonstrates the key role that these abolitionists played in getting to word out to people in quieter areas. Murray alludes to this when she states that Williams Wells Brown gave a lecture on the Isle of Wight, in “a tiny town where few people would have ever seen a person of African descent before.” By including these people in their antislavery audience, they recruit more supporters, whether they have seen a black person before or not, but they are still invaluable to the movement through word of mouth.

By using reports in newspapers as a resource for this project, Murray gains more than just dates and times. For example, a lecture that Douglass gave created a “scene of tumult and uproar”, this is indicative of how delving into the events, and looking past the basic facts, can paint an image of what it was like to be in the room and give a sense of the atmosphere. This then leads to a more vivid understanding of the times and the attitude towards antislavery.

The article is important as it raises awareness of how integral speaking to large audiences via lectures was, and how key it was to ensuring enough people condemned slavery, to cause a change, and to promote antislavery across the country. It gives us an understanding of the effort the black abolitionists put into this movement to end the suffering.

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures

https://youtu.be/5wfrDhgUMGI

A trip to the cinema recently took me to see Hidden Figures, a film telling the story and triumph of three black female astrophysicists, Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, working for NASA in during the 1960s.

The film is centered around the Cold War space race between America and the USSR where America attempt to send the first American, John Glenn, into space. The three ladies break down the barriers of race and gender in this film as it shows their rise in the ranks of NASA.

The film opens and sets the scene by showing the ladies in their youth depicting the segregation of black and white schools in West Virginia at the time. There are many visual references towards segregation during the beginning of the film that help colorize the scenario African-Americans were in at that point in time, such as separate water fountains and bathrooms for whites and ‘coloured’ people. Additionally, one of the scenes that follows the introduction to the film shows the trio driving to NASA and their car breaking down; A racist police officer stops and asks for identification. When they explain that they work at NASA, he changes his tune; he's surprised they hire black women, but he's impressed. He seems very well-versed in NASA and asserts that the Americans have to beat the Russians in the Space Race. He asks if they've met the astronauts; Mary answers that they have but it's clear from the others' expressions that they're kept separate from them. Dorothy manages to get the car up and running and the police officer provides them an escort -- lights and sirens blazing -- to the NASA Langley Research Center, which they find ironic since it's not usually a group of black people speeding to follow a police car.

We clearly see when they arrive at NASA and start work that they are currently working, doing math with many other black women in a job that is way under their mathematic potential, working in a segregated wing to whites.  Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst), Dorothy's boss, comes in to talk to Dorothy. She tells her the Space Task Group needs a new computer who can do analytic geometry. Dorothy assigns Katherine because she knows analytic geometry and she's the all-around best at numbers. She is then put in a room to work with only white men. Katherine Gobel is sent and she has to deal with segregation and racial bias. But she not only does a good job, she also solves several problems. One of her co-workers in particular sets to make life difficult for her by making her proof read masses of his work with some sections crossed out as he says it’s ‘classified’ information, meaning Katherine must work out masses more work in the same time as everybody else. And her co-worker, Mary Jackson, an engineer, is asked to help with the space capsule. And when she figures out what is wrong with it, the head engineer wants her to apply to the engineering program. But she is told that she still needs a few more credits to qualify. And the only schools where she can take the courses don't allow "colored" to attend. So she sets out to break the barrier and successfully does so. Of course, this is reminiscent of many triumph of desegregating schools and universities during that era, and the film provides a detailed insight to one important example.

Their unofficial supervisor, Dorothy Vaughan upon learning that new computers, an IBM system, will be installed that can do the work her people usually does, which means her whole department will be phased out and everyone laid off. So she tries to learn how to handle the computer against the permission of her co-workers and boss Vivian. After weeks of trial and error by white workers to learn how to work this early computer system it is Dorothy that is the one that learns to understand the system, leading her to receiving the eventual promotion as official supervisor of her department.

One significant scene in this movie that challenge social prejudice and assimilation is the bathroom sequence. The bathroom sequence follows Katherine as she must walk a fair distance, to a different building, just to use the bathroom for coloured people. Of course, going this distance in all weather conditions multiple times a day has an affect on her work, leading Katherine to eventually pour her heart out at the difficulty of the scenario when questioned by her manager Al Harrison (Kevin Costner). Harrison’s reaction to this is to break the coloured sign down from the bathroom in front of black and white workers, which stand at opposing sides of the room. He then goes on to say that there shall be no more separate bathrooms- a small yet significant victory for African American workers at NASA. There are many scenes throughout the movie similar to this such as removal of segregated coffee machines etc. that all add to the racial progress within the institution alongside the main narrative of social mobility in the workplace for these African American women. Hidden Figures is a true story of breaking down barriers of prejudice and assimilation of African Americans into American culture and acceptance.