African-Americans Fighting for Equality Essay Example for Free

African-Americans Fighting for Equality Essay African-Americans have been fighting for equality and freedom every since they were taken from Africa as slaves. They were stolen from their families and separated only to be servants to others as they were belittled, beaten, put down and treated as nothing. Many things have changed over the centuries, but African-Americans still fight everyday for different types of acknowledgements and equality. They have fought hard over the centuries to end segregation, discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights. Through the Civil Rights Movement African Americans played important roles American history with courage, strength, and struggling to live equal in America. We have learned about important people and events throughout history, but the fight against discrimination, segregation and isolation have not always been focused on. This paper will highlight how some of the well known and unknown people contributed towards the Civil Rights Movement, in which continues to be fought in present time. â€Å"Racial segregation was a system derived from the efforts of white Americans to keep African Americans in a subordinate status by denying them equal access to public facilities and ensuring that blacks lived apart from whites† (Lawson, 2009). Slaves lived in quarters far away from the master houses on the plantations, the only ones that lived in the house were the special chosen. â€Å"By the time the Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) that African Americans were not U. S. citizens, northern whites had excluded blacks from seats on public transportation and barred their entry, except as servants, from most hotels and restaurants. When allowed into auditoriums and theaters, blacks occupied separate sections; they also attended segregated schools. Most churches, too, were segregated. † (Lawson, 2009). Rosa Parks was famous for her courage to stand for her right to sit where ever she wanted on a bus, but she was not the first or only one to make this choice. There was a fifteen year old girl that was arrested nine months earlier, but she was not attributed to the act because of her status of being a foul mouth tomboy and getting pregnant right after the incident (Young, 2000). Also when Rosa Parks was approached by the bus driver to move there were other African- American people sitting next to her, but because she spoke up first history gives her credit and was noticed by Dr. Martin Luther King. It needs to be known that many people were courageous in their act to fight for equal rights. Basically Parks was at the right place at the right time, â€Å"Parks arrest sparked a chain reaction that started the bus boycott that launched the civil rights movement that transformed the apartheid of Americas southern states from a local idiosyncrasy to an international scandal. It was her individual courage that triggered the collective display of defiance that turned a previously unknown 26-year-old preacher, Martin Luther King, into a household name† (Younge, 2000). Dr. Martin Luther King name goes down in history as the most well known activists through the years. He was known as a non violent activist, in which he adapted the philosophy from Gandhi, which was respected not only by the black race but also by all other races. King’s speech â€Å"I Have a Dream† became what African-American’s live by for centuries to come. Also there was the, â€Å"We Shall Overcome† speech on August 23, 1963. King’s words at the capital that day were a defining moment of the Civil Rights movement† (Bowles, 2011). King fought for civil rights until the day he was killed. There was a protest at Fisk University in Nashville in which three students was disgusted at the fact blacks could not sit at the lunch counters to eat. C. T. Vivian, Diane Nash and Bernard Lafayette protested with others in Nashville on April 19, 1960. â€Å"Nash confronted Mayor Ben West. In what she calls a divine inspiration, she asked the mayor to end racial segregation. He appealed to all not to discriminate. She asked him if he meant that to include lunch counters. He sidestepped. She said, Mayor, do you recommend that the lunch counters be desegregated? West said, Yes, and the battle was won. Within days, integration began† (Weier, 2001). While civil rights activists were fighting on the home front, African American men and women honorably performed their duties in two world wars. They bravely entered a military that was at odds about their presence and the appropriate roles for blacks. While more than 400,000 African American soldiers were going through basic training, receiving their assignments or facing the enemys bullets in World War I, riots against black citizens were escalating in the United States. By the time the Second World War ended, over one million black forces returned home to the U. S. equivalent of apartheid. Yet, with the knowledge of conditions at home, black soldiers still distinguished themselves in battles for freedoms, which they were unable to enjoy (Blakely, 1999). Discrimination was popular in the 1900’s and African-Americans stood up to be treated as equal Americans as the whites, especially in the World War II. â€Å"While willing to fight for their country, some also made a stand against discrimination while they served. For example, on April 12, 1945, the U. S. Army took 101 African American officers into custody because they directly refused an order from a superior officer. This was a serious charge because, if convicted, they would face the death penalty† (Bowles, 2011). They wanted to get acknowledged for their bravery and accomplishments in the war just the white soldiers. America waited decades for the African –American soldiers of the World War II to get the proper acknowledgements they deserve, which was too little too late. â€Å"These men were willing to die for the country; they were not eligible for many of the honors for their service. Though many deserved it, no African American could receive the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for bravery. Bill Clinton corrected this error 50 years later, bestowing the medal on seven men, but just one, Vernon Baker, was still alive (Bowles, 2011). These men were known as the Tuskegee Airmen and most of them died before receiving their honors. There were numerous movements and people, even African-American women whom had a hand in battling for equality. They had to fight not only for equality from racism, but also dealing with being judged by their gender. â€Å"The Womens Service Section (WSS) investigated federally controlled railroad stations and yards at the end of World War I. Few women worked in car cleaning before the war, and railroad management preferred to block women workers, especially African Americans, from gaining any kind of foothold in railroad work. African American women were the single largest group of railroad car cleaners during this period but they were routinely denied adequate facilities, including toilets, locker rooms, and dining facilities throughout the railroad system. By raising the issues of facilities, workers rights, and public health, these women shaped federal policy and widened the agenda of the WSS to include a direct attack on segregated workplaces† Muhammad, (2011). Black women wanted to have the same rights as others for going to school with safety and security. â€Å"In Brown v Board of Education (1954) the Supreme Court reversed its ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. They held that school segregation was inherently unconstitutional because it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. This case marked the end of legal segregation in the US†. There were other significant African-American movements that changed history. â€Å"Starting in the 1960s, blacks in Akron began to push for an end to discrimination using various tactics, such as political action, workshops, and employment drives. Opie Evans edited the Akronite and began pushing for changes in his magazine. Protests widened to include sit-ins and other demonstrations† (McClain, 1996). African-Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr . and Malcolm X have become icons of the 1950’s and 1960’s, but the organizational skills and grassroots activism of women such as Ella Baker , Septima Clark , Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer propelled the movement forward to many successes and inspired a new generation of activists. African-Americans have come a long way fighting for equality and freedom every since the slavery time. They won their freedom and more equality than the ever had along with ending segregation. Many things have changed over the centuries, but African-Americans still fight everyday for different types of acknowledgements. They have fought hard to end segregation, most of discrimination, and isolation to attain equality and civil rights. References Blakely, Gloria. (1999). The 20th Century in CP Time: 1900-1949 We are a People. Sentinel,p. A8. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 490544881). http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? did=490544881sid=2Fmt=3clientId=74379RQT=309VName=PQD Bowles, M. D. (2011). American History 1865- Present, End of Isolation, San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved on June 11, 2012 from https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUHIS204. 11. 2/sections/sec3. 7 Lawson, S. F. (2009). â€Å"Segregation. † Freedom’s Story, TeacherServe. National Humanities Center. Retrieved on July 16, 2012 from http://nationalhumanitiescenter. org/tserve/freedom/1865-1917/essays/segregation. htm | | Mcclain, S. R. , (1996). The Contributions of Blacks in Akron: 1825-1895, A Doctoral Dissertation, Retrieved on july 17, 2012 from http://www. ci. akron. oh. us/blackhist/timeline/index. htm Muhammad, R. (2011). SEPARATE AND UNSANITARY: African American Women Railroad Car Cleaners and the Womens Service Section, 1918-1920. Journal of Womens History, 23(2), 87-111,230. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2377762701). http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? did=2377762701sid=3Fmt=3clientId=74379RQT=309VName=PQD Weier, A. (2001). She Socked Segregation Civil Rights Leaders Still Inspires Students, Madison Capital Times. Madison, WI, Retrieved July 27, 2012 from ProQuest. http://search. proquest. com/docview/395202519? accountid=32521 Younge, G. (2000). She Would Not Be Moved. The Guardian. London, UK. , Retrieved July 28, 2012 from ProQuest. http://search. proquest. com/docview/245609939? accountid=32521.

Culture and the Advancement of Technology :: Technological Cultures Essays

Culture and the Advancement of Technology Once humans became settled into their environment and managed to manipulate agriculture until they were able to sustain their population, they were able to spend more time focusing on enhancing the primitive technologies that had already been developed, as well as begin to search for answers about things that were not understood. Thus came the development of religion and engineering. The more developed culture became the more answers and technologies it demanded. Essentially, with human development, culture became the modus operandi for the advancement of technology. Easter Island is a very small island off the coast of South America. (Ponting) Although Easter Island has few permanent residents today, it is the graveyard of one of the worlds greatest early civilizations. The island is small enough that you could walk around the entire thing in just one day. There are no permanent freshwater sources and the soil is not accommodating to agriculture. When settlers from Mesoamerica arrived at the island in the fifth century there were no other mammals on the island. The population peaked at about 7,000 and was mainly supported on the chickens that the settlers had brought with them and an abundance of harvested sweet potatoes (Ponting). Because the harvesting of sweet potatoes requires so little care, the islanders were left with a considerable amount of idle time. In this time they developed one of the most advanced civilizations of the time period. Large stone sculptures and wide disc-like platforms (ahu) are relics of this ancient culture. (Pontin g) The large sculptures are artistically crafted and required a great deal of technological skill and understanding. Additionally, the sculptures were then placed on the ahu's, which was no small task considering that they were twenty feet in length, weighed several tons, and had to be transported all the way across the island. The people of Easter Island clearly had a developed understanding of astronomy and the cosmos as well; each of the ahu are astronomically aligned towards a solstice or equinox. All of this was down in the name of religion, to fulfill a complex system of beliefs. Unfortunately, the people of Easter Island died because they "hit a wall", running out of natural resources. Because of warring people, they were unable to create a "tech fix" to transport them selves off the island. Still, Easter Island is a good example of the way idleness of time leads to culture which demands technology (Ponting).

Best Practices in Hr- the Journey of Tata Group

Businesses thriving in harsh environment have an ideal higher than personal profit. There is a common thread that drives them forward for years. This common thread is represented in the core values established by the founding fathers. Businesses that integrate people with the broader goal of sustainability by this common cord are those that live. There is a pioneer of these value driven business practices in the history of corporate India, the TATA group. Understanding the journey of Tata group in the perspective of HR practices can help us examine the role of people or employees in the success of an organization.For this let us understand the core values of the founding father of this business community. [pic] [pic] Jamsetji started the business when India was entering the final phase of colonization. Having met with obstruction and harassment in pre-independence India he adopted a new ideal for his business ‘Community capitalism’. According to eminent Japanese scholar Haruo Funabashi ‘Jamsetji had a more holistic perspective, however. His focus was not the trees but the forest—that is, not the individual stakeholders but the community in the largest sense’.All his efforts whether building a world class hotel or sprawling townships, had been aimed at the greater good of community and nation. Community capitalism is a ‘people first’ approach to business. Jamsetji was the stalwart of HR innovations. In a time when workers were treated as ‘Cogs in wheel’, he voluntarily considered their functional limitations. He provided them with benefits like eight hour working day, free medical aid and maternity benefits long before the government mandated these provisions.By aligning his business aspirations with nation building he engaged in greater community development. All this contributed towards creating a motivated workforce. [pic] The ideals of Jamsetji were carried forward by subsequent Tata leaders. Each le ader synergized these core values with new ones that were the call of his times. JRD Tata sometimes referred to as ‘Chairmen’s chairmen’ brought about a ‘value shift’ in the HR practices. He was a strong believer in a merit and believed in professional management of the group companies.It was this conviction that led him to steer the policies from Human Resource management to Human Resource development by nurturing leaders. His commitment to merit and professionalism ultimately led him to form Tata Administrative services and Tata Management training centre that became breeding grounds for future business leaders. His vision served the group well. Russi Mody, Sumant Moolgaokar and Darbari Seth became beacons of Tata leadership and were instrumental in generating wealth for the group and the country.JRD also understood the crux of successful labour relations. Tata steel became one of the first companies to have a dedicated Human resource department to make workers feel valued after there were frequent tense labour situation despite being treated exceptionally well; indicating worker discontent. JRD was quick to sense that workers had started to feel like parts of a machine. So he made them feel wanted by forming a department just for them. This is why Tata group is considered champions in personnel relations. [pic]The next generation witnessed Ratan Tata’s phenomenal leadership that coincided with unprecedented economic liberalization in India. He envisioned a strategic plan of institutionalizing a stronger collective identity of the Tata group in changing times. The new value he created can be held as ‘Osmosis’, a process of conveying cultures, beliefs and values across group. Efforts like displaying a common logo helped to ingrain common ethos in all Tata companies. But a bigger change had to be dealt with too, The Changing employee aspirations.Ratan Tata soon realized that the generation of employees he is dealing with wanted personal growth and career advancement. Ratan Tata aligned these personal pursuits with business goals by HR practices that can fall under ‘Disruptive innovation’. Integrated HR system, BSC, Brockbank model, HR gurukul, TBEM etc are all part of this alignment. Some may argue that such performance oriented system is against the core values of Jamsetji, who never believed in punishing the weak and rewarding the strong.But it cannot be ignored that with their present policies Tatas do reward the best but do not punish the weak. Performance based layoffs in Tata group are highly uncommon. To sum up Ratan Tata’s vision of Osmosis has only strengthened the foundations of Tata values across group. This belief is mirrored in the chivalry displayed by the Taj hotel staffs during the terrorist attack that was preceded by similar acts of the staff of another Taj group hotel in Maldives during the Tsunami in 2004. The future for both these companies thro ws the challenge of working in a Flat world.With the Tatas going global with M;As and software industry expansion communicating common values across cultures has become a problem. HR initiatives to meet this challenge are yet to be seen. The future roadmap for HR practices in the Tata group should account for the cultural dimension. The HR heads should also be prepared for a new generation of potential employees that is being prepared by a changed society and educational environment. Gauging needs and ambitions of this generation is especially important.Moreover with a change in top leadership this year speculations are high on the changes in HR management of Tata group References Toward a Sustainable Business Model for the 21st Century Haruo Funabashi www. tata. com – visited on 10 September 2012 ———————– BEST PRACTICES IN HR- THE JOURNEY OF TATA GROUP ‘THE OSMOSIS’ – PERPETUATING CORE VALUES ACROSS COMPANIES AND CULTURES IN TATA GROUP ‘THE VALUE SHIFT’-FROM HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMNET TO HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ‘COMMUNITY CAPITALISM’- BUSINESS AIMED AT COMMUNITY BASED DEVELOPMENTFORNATION BUILDING ‘In a free enterprise, the community is not just another stakeholder in business, but is in fact the very purpose’ –Jamsetji Tata â€Å"To be a leader, you have got to lead human beings with affection† – JRD TATA ‘’One hundred years from now, I expect the Tatas to be much bigger than it is now. More importantly, I hope the Group comes to be regarded as being the best in India, best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver and best in our value systems and ethics’’ – Ratan Tata

The Pathfinder Of The Seas - 1632 Words

When people go on cruise trips, they intend to enjoy their time off to experience the sights and sounds of the open sea. In Annie Dillard’s Mornings Like This, she includes in her collection of found poems a poem that instills a similar sense of imagery that one would experience by the ocean. Her found poem, called â€Å"The Pathfinder of the Seas,† includes a variety of words and sentences that relate to sailing in the sea. She extracted them from other literature related to scientific research of the sky and the sea. The author brings together these distinct elements and structures them in a poem. By giving them a new home, she subsequently gives the work a new meaning. Dillard aims for the reader to find a new perspective on life through the†¦show more content†¦It does this by pointing out that a limit on the expansion of thought, whether mentally or spiritually, does not exist. The style of syntax she uses when constructing the found poem supports the effi cacy to getting her message through to the reader. The structure of her poem leads the reader towards her goal of understanding the process of expanding their mind. The main body of the poem, excluding the first and last stanza, can be dissected into three consecutive distinct parts: commands, observations, and questions the author provides. The poem first introduces observations and follows with the metaphysical question: â€Å"And why have not / The currents of the sea worn away its bottom?† (Dillard 7). This first stanza serves as a signpost to how Dillard structured the rest of the poem, and it gives the reader a vignette of what will come after. After that stanza, Dillard provides four commands concerning interacting the sky and the sea. This begins the path she sets out for the reader. After presenting the commands, Dillard moves on to provide descriptions about the skies and seas, including observations such as the â€Å"Aurora Borealis† and â€Å"the height an d velocity of waves.† She finally concludes the path she set for the reader with yet another metaphysical question: â€Å"If the water which now lies on the floor / Of the deep sea has to lie there forever, / Why was it made fluid instead of solid?† The final stanza of the poem serves as a reminder of the path theShow MoreRelatedThe Pathfinder Of The Seas1674 Words   |  7 Pagesto experience the sights and sounds of the open sea. In Annie Dillard’s Mornings Like This, she includes in her collection of found poems a poem that instills a similar vivid sense of imagery that one would experience by the ocean. Her found poem, called â€Å"The Pathfinder of the Seas,† includes a variety of words and sentences that relate to sailing in the sea. 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