The Vietcong

The Vietcong were Vietnamese Communists and the military branch of the National Liberation Front. They lived in South Vietnam. They consisted of thousands of South Vietnamese who enlisted to fight against the corruption and brutality of the Diem regime. The Vietcong consisted of  recruited young teenagers, and many were pressured or even shamed into joining. In general, many had fear of the better armed American soldiers.  The soldiers were given barely any infantry training, and then they were immediately handed AK-47's and LMG's and began to learn war tactics.  Despite not receiving much training, the Vietcong were highly effective, using rocket grenades and advanced recoil-less rifles. They also had mortars and made booby traps and other explosives out of recycled material from American bombs and other explosive material that could be scavenged in the area.  Many of the NLF's bombings, sabotage, and assassinations that were aimed at South Vietnamese government targets often killed innocent civilians and eventually they began to commit what was considered acts of terrorism. In 1965, eradication of the Vietcong became the number one goal for the US military. The Vietcong became the subject of American propaganda in press, and American soldiers began to hate the Vietcong. Even though they were lesser trained and armed than the American forces, their tactical war methods gave them a great fighting chance: they fought with stealth, hiding in crowds of civilians and in forests, laying booby traps for those who were unaware. Americans on the other hand used B-52 bombers, artillery, helicopters, and napalm. Squad patrols also took place.

Viet Cong Battle Strategies

The Viet Cong were rebel forces from the communist northern side of Vietnam.  They had the advantage of being super familiar with the battlegrounds because that is where they lived all of their lives.  It was much harder for the Americans to navigate and march through the thick shrubbery and vegetation.  The Viet Cong utilized the vegetation and topography to their advantage, and they had very brutal strategies.  The first category is their different types of booby traps.  The first kind that I will introduce are called punji sticks.  There would be a large hole dug, but not so large that it could be noticed and identified by a soldier.  Inside they would set up sharp wooden steaks that the soldier would fall into.  Not only would they get gruesome wounds, but some punji sticks were covered in feces so that their wounds would be instantly infected, causing them to die quicker.  The next kind of trap they used was a snake pit.  Vietnam has an abundance of bamboo pit vipers, so the Viet Cong utilized them and put a bunch in a pit that they dug.  When a soldier fell into that pit, they would be bitten and poisoned to death.  Another kind of trap were flag bombs.  After the Americans had won a battle, they would be tempted to tear down the Viet Cong flags that were set up, however, those flags contained bombs that would be set off if one tried to tear down the flag.  The Viet Cong also believed instead of killing, causing more medical evacuations for the Americans would slow them down.

The Daisy Commercial

The Daisy Commercial, a 60 second TV advertisement for the campaign of President Johnson in September 7th, 1964 acted as the most significant turning point in the history of political advertisement. Within the television ad, a 3 year old girl dressed in simple white dress had been plucking a daisy in her hand which she slowly counted, as the numbers slowly went down and down, her voice was overridden by a sudden nuclear blast countdown. The camera then zoomed into her eyes as the mushroom cloud signifying a nuclear explosion had occurred.

The message of the video was simple, to vote for President Johnson and that presidential candidate Barry Goldwater was a maniac that will lead the world into nuclear destruction. However, what the daisy girl had lead the political commercial route was a world of utilizing emotions (mostly fear) in political advertisement. The Daisy Girl's pioneering influence has spread even in today's political advertisement. For example, the 2004 Bush campaign successfully employed the same techniques with a spot that depicted al Qaeda as wolves. Although this was simply a short one minute video, the impact it had on the world even till today had been done to drastically shift our media focus and commercial content, what are some other significant historical political advertisement focuses that had contributed in shifting the current American entertainment and political ad focus?



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Selma to Montgomery March

    The March from Selma to Montgomery was a legal march that stretched 54 miles where the marchers were met with deadly violence from local authorities. The National Guard assisted the protestors in walking all day for 3 days to reach Montgomery. Martin Luther chose Selma to be the origin of the March because it had one of the lowest percentages of eligible black voters. The march didn't last long as Alabama state troopers beat the marchers back to Selma. This event was seen on TV by many Americans. This enraged people across the country and drew people to join the Civil Rights Movement. Ministers, priests, rabbis and social activists went to Selma to join the march. A couple days later, Lyndon B. Johnson addressed the nation pledging his support to the Selma protestors. On March 21, 1965, 2,000 people marched under the protection of the US Army and Alabama National Guard for 4 days until they reached Montgomery. The significance of this march was the large amounts of attention drawn to the violence shown towards the marchers. People watching the march on TV sided with the marchers since they were being beaten during a peaceful demonstration. As a result of this, the march from Selma to Montgomery was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

Emmett Till

On August 28th, 1955 Emmett Till would be kidnaped by two white who he was accused of whistling, flirting and saying "Bye Baby" to white women at a grocery store. Emmet's great uncle, Moses Wright came to visit his family in Chicago. At the end of his trip in Chicago, Wright exclaimed that he was going to take one of Emmet's cousins back to Mississippi to visit other relatives in the South. Emmet found out about the plans and urged his mother Mamie Till to go visit. His mom was at first hesitant, but in the end, she let him go to the South. Before Emmet left his mother gave him a ring with the initials of his father engraved with two words "L.T." On August 24th, 1955, Emmet and a couple of his friends entered Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to buy drinks after a long day of work. The store clerk at the time Carolyn Bryant would accuse Emmet of flirting and making advances on her. She would tell her husband Roy Bryant who would get his half-brother J.W Milam to kidnap the 14-year-old Emmet Till. Emmet would be kidnapped from his uncle's house and would be beaten and shot in the head multiple times with his body being thrown into the water. He would be reported missing to local authorities and once they found him his face was disfigured. He would only be identified by the ring his mother had given him by his uncle. The news would reach his mother and she requested the body to be shipped to Chicago where she requested an open casket funeral for her son to show the world the injustice of letting two white men not being charged for the murder of her son.

Playboy

After being denied a 5$ raise as an esquire copywriter, Chicago native Hugh Hefner set about to start his own magazine. After raising $8,000 including a small loan of $1,000 from his mother he produced his first issue of Playboy in 1953, which included nude photographs of Marilyn Monroe catching the attention of thousands of men. That first issue sold 54,000 copies, making the magazine an overnight success launching it into the mainstream media. The magazine included full spreads of nude models and even included short stories written by notable novelists. Playboy played a huge role in the Sexual Revolution, making it become one of the world's best-known brands. Through all the fame that Hefner gained, he had his fair share of criticism, one of his biggest critics were feminists. The women's movement started to question and challenge the Playboy brand. Through all the hate being aimed towards Hefner, the brand kept growing and making millions of dollars. During its peak in 1972, the brand earned $12 million in profits selling around 7 million copies a month, making it the most influential men's magazine. After it's peak Playboy saw a decline in circulation and relevance due to competition. Behind all the success Hefner was hard at work to make sure every copy came out exactly like he wanted. Many of his employees knew him as a hard-working man who wanted perfection. Although the brand isn't as relevant as it was before it paved the way for many adult industries. Sadly Hugh Hefner was reported dead on September 27, 2017, in his home due to natural causes. Many will remember Hefner as being the pioneer of the adult industry.

The Black Panthers

During the peak of the civil rights movement during the 1960's the political organization "The Black Panthers" was born. The group was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, it's main focus was to challenge any police brutality against the African-American community. The party originally started in Oakland California, members were known to wear black berets and black leather jackets. During the peak of the organization, there were roughly 2,000 members. Members of the organization were trained to patrol the neighborhoods in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and even on the east coast. These men would walk around the neighborhood armed to ensure the safety of others. The Black Panthers were known to be violent and were involved in many firefights with law enforcement all over the country for many years. In 1967, founder Huey Newton was accused of killing and Oakland Police officer. After all the countless shootouts with law enforcement and FBI involvement, the group started to decline in numbers, and by the 1980's the group only had 27 active members, eventually diminishing the organization as a whole.

The United States Gets Involved in Vietnam

There was a very important debate going on in the White House in the 1940s and 1950s. Should the president send U.S. troops into Vietnam to intervene in the Vietnam War? To answer this question, let us go back to the Geneva Accords agreement. This agreement stated that the fighting had to stop, and Vietnam was to be split temporarily along the 17th parallel. The United States began moving into Vietnam soon after the French left. Powerful American officials believed that the United States could form a strong noncommunist state in South Vietnam. While he was president, Kennedy had not supported the U.S. intervening in the war. In 1956 however, Kennedy changed his mind.

After Kennedy was assassinated, Lyndon B. Johnson became the new president. He believed that the communists had to be stopped, so he decided to increase U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war. After an alleged attack on an American destroyer, Johnson ordered air strikes against naval bases in North Vietnam. Two days later, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This allowed the president to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression. It gave the president permission to expand U.S. role in the conflict.

Beginning in 1965, the United States took over fighting the Vietnam War. From then on, the South Vietnamese could only support the war, not fight in it.

Women in Education

In the 1960s, America was much different as it pertained to women. This is because women were expected to marry in their early 20s, start a family quickly, and to devote her life to doing jobs in the home, like taking care of children. Betty Friedan, a women's rights activist, wrote a book called The Feminine Mystique. The book talked about how women really felt about not being able to work, or do anything outside the home. It started a chain of protests by women because they were now finally able to speak their minds about how they felt, and try to provoke action. Soon after the protests, women were finally able to vote, get jobs, and even an education. However, working women were paid less than men, even if they were doing the same jobs.

Anita Bryant

Anita James Bryant was an American singer and former Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner in the sixties. She was also a political activist. She was known for her anti-gay views with her campaign "Save our Children".  The campaigns main goal was to repeal a local ordinance in Dane County, Florida that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. This involvement eventually ruined her business and entertainment career. She eventually her and her husband divorced. She was then shunned by the Christian community because divorce was looked down upon and that they couldn't follow someone fighting against gay rights in the name of god who themselves committed an unChristian act. Bryant's husband blamed gays for Anita's decline in popularity saying "Blame gay people? I do. Their stated goal was to put her out of business and destroy her career. And that's what they did. It's unfair." Did gay people really cause Anita's life to go into a downward spiral, or was this her karma in trying to take away the rights of a group of people based on who they love? 

Conversion Therapy

For centuries before the gay rights movement began in the United States of America, gay people, men especially, were imprisoned or placed into mental hospitals. The treatment in these mental hospitals for gay people included electroshock therapy. The harsh treatment that gay people experienced in these mental hospitals was often brushed off by the public or brushed under the rug by the institutions themselves.

While there was a wide-spread belief in America that being gay was simply a mental illness, gay people were often imprisoned if they were found to be gay. Not all people in America believed that being gay was a mental illness, but there was not a lot of vocal disruption for a long time. Gay people didn't wasn't to out themselves, afraid that they would be placed in mental institution, and straight people didn't want to help in many cases because they didn't want to be "accused" of being gay themselves.

The fact that there was so much fear around being seen as gay is one of the main reasons that there was such a long period of gay people not really standing up for one another. This led to a huge wave of homosexual oppression that led to the huge break during the Stone Wall Riots.

Phyllis Schlafly

The 1960s were a time of change for domestic America.  The African-American Civil Rights Movement had sprung change for several minority groups and groups who simply felt like they were not treated as equal.  One of these groups was American Women.

At this time, women in America felt as though they were not empowered.  It had typically been believed that men were always on top of women.  Many wanted change, and thus began a movement.

Some women, however, felt strongly against this movement.  A group of opposition to changing women's rights formed, and was headed by Phyllis Schlafly.  Phyllis Schlafly was the voice of the opposition to the Women's Rights Movement.  She believed that the movement destroyed America's traditional womanhood.  Schlafly argued that women already had a good deal - they were protected and provided for by men, and there was no reason to change that.  In addition, she supported traditional female roles in American society, such as taking care of the children.

Like many movements in the 1960s, there was an opposition to the rapid change that came about.  While there was a general attitude toward wanting change, it is important to remember that not every individual, including many women, were on board with the change at the time.

Wilderness Preservation Act (1964)

The Wilderness Preservation Act of 1964 or better known as the Wilderness Act by most started off by the proposition and by the writting of Howard Zahniser that was a part of the wilderness society at the time. The act was meant to preserve as much wilderness as they could from the expansion of the United States. The act that was being proposed later got signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 on the date of September 3rd. The act had taken over eight years of preperation and over sixty different revisons that were made. The act had prevented the use and overall had protected over 9.1 million acers of United States Federal land. Till today the act is still in play and used for many things like national parks and other preservation or protection organizations. From this act it was clear to see that there was a lot of organizations that started to rise such as National Parks. The congress had protected over 106 million acers in todays time period and of those 106 million acers there are 44 acers that are being used in 47 of the National Parks. 

Through the Wilderness Act the congress has seen the different values of wild lands. The most important values that have been seen to allow a sense of solitude or a recreational place to go to. It also helped out in many things like ecological, geological or other features that incorporated the aspects of  science, education, or some kind of historical value. They also got to see that the wilderness areas had provided habitats for wildlife that included endangered or threatened species. 

Barry Goldwater

            Barry Goldwater was a senator from Arizona whose stance on limited government and opposition to the rising collectivism inspired by the civil rights movements helped shape the focus of the republican party for the coming decades.
           He did not support federal interference in state issues and believed individual reliance on the federal government would cause to American society, and thus tried to strengthen the private sector.
           Even though it was widely known that after the assassination of President Kennedy Americans as a whole would want a new leader who would carry out his plans, Johnson decided to run even if he had slim chances of winning. This was proven to be true. In the 1964 presidential election, Goldwater lost to Lyndon B Johnson by the largest margin in history until that point. His loss was not an isolated one for the Republican party, happening alongside the shift in the House to the largest Democratic majority in three decades. The Democratic embracement of the Civil Rights movement had lead to the new conservative strategy that, along with new power from figures such as Goldwater, would rise in popularity and turn the tables back in the following decades.

The Great Society and The New Deal

Two Presidents trying to bring change to society during their terms as Preisdents. If you look at the changes the reisdent Johnson did during his time when he was leading America you could see that the things he was doing was similar to President Roosevelt.  President Roosevelt was the President during the 1940's and he was brining in jobs for Americans who were suffering from the Great Depression at the time. His main objective during his time as President was to give jobs to every American to help boost the economy again. He wanted to create something big and from that thing he wanted to give small parts of it to each American at the time. President Johnson took office after Kennedy had been assainated and he got to start working on a lot of the things Kennedy did not finish as President. He began pushing for political and educational empowerment for those poor so that they could also get an advantage. He pushed for income measures and public works programs that helped sociacl rehabilation and affirmative action. The Great Scoeity also challenged the segregation laws at the time. Before Johnson took office he knew the issue of segregation could not wait and that the problem must be dealt with. Roosevelt did little to nothing regrading the issue of segregation during the New Deal. His goal was to get America out of an economic crisis and was invovled in a war. Both Johnson and Roosevelt had a lot to do. Roosevelt was just helping American out by giving more jobs and Johnson did more than what Roosevelt had done. Not only did Johnson want to help give the people in Ameircan society who were at a disadvantage a chance he was doing the same thing Roosevelt was doing and helping those people. 

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was born on November 30, 1874. He was the Prime Minister of England, and a British politician. Churchill was also in the British Army and was a writer before he was elected to Parliament in 1900. Once he was elected Prime Minister, Churchill chose to be the leader of a successful Allied strategy with the U.S. and Soviet Union during World War II to triumph over the Axis powers. He is most remembered for defeating Hitler's powerful regime, and he also had a good sense of what a good next move in the war should be.

President Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Johnson was born on August 27, 1908. Growing up, his family was very poor, and he ended up working his way through college at Texas State University-San Marcos. While in college, Johnson realized that he could empathize well with the students he taught because they were very poor, just like he had been.

In World War II, Johnson served in the Navy for a short time as a lieutenant commander. He was elected to the Senate in 1948, after six terms in the House of Representatives. In 1960, Johnson was elected Vice President, and Kennedy was elected president. After President Kennedy's assassination, Johnson became president. On November 22, 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became the president of the United States. During his time as president, Johnson did many great things. For example, he signed a bill that made it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of race, gender, or religion. He also put The Great Society program in place, which was his main goal as president. The goal of the program was to help education, deal with the spread of diseases, and help more people be able to join religions. It also tried to find a solution to poverty, controlled crime and delinquency, and removed obstacles that kept people from voting.

Executive order 9066

The bombing of Pearl Harbor is said to be the reason why the US joined WWII, and it caused a lot of security problems within the US. With many Japanese living on the west coast and Hawaii, there was a great chance for them to be spying on the US. Indeed there was a spy who helped Japan with the Pearl Harbor bombing. Killing thousands of people, Japan brought the Americans into the war. This caused chaos in the US with President Franklin D. Roosevelt protecting their security and signing Executive Order 9066. This caused the majority of the Japanese Americans of all ages to be removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. They then lost all of their homes and could only take what they can carry. When they returned after the 3 years, most of their homes were gone and they suffered from many prejudices. Living in the camps were harsh because they were placed in open areas where there weren't many supplies for them to live off of. It was one of the most harsh violations of the American civil rights of the 20th century. It affected over 100,000 people who were mostly American citizens and born here in America. What other events were violations of American civil rights during this time period?

Estelle Griswold : Challenging the Law With Contraceptives

The state of Connecticut had banned contraceptives in an 1879 law: "Any person who uses any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purposes of preventing conception shall be fined.¨ Griswold the executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and Dr. C. Lee Buxton were arrested and found guilty as accessories to providing illegal contraception. Sure it was a deliberate act of civil disobedience during the time... but why? This was due to the ongoing laws in the 1960s that any form of contraceptives was considered illegal if a nonmarried woman were to use it. After their arguments finally had the chance to be heard in the Supreme Court they had invalidated the law on the grounds that it violated the "right to marital privacy." So contraception was legal--at least for married women. In the year of 1972 is when the law had finally made a change for the better for all intimate relationships, and no longer strictly married couples. The ability to avoid unwanted births and to plan and space pregnancies improved the health of mothers and infants and helped make it easier for women to obtain a better education and to pursue more challenging careers. The concept of the right to privacy benefited both men and women, who felt liberated to make their own decisions about their lifestyles without fear of persecution by the states. Were Griswold's actions of giving out contraceptives from her clinic justified?

Discovery of Concentration Camps

As Allied Forces moved through Nazi Germany they started to find concentration camps filled with thousands of prisoners. Many of the prisoners were forced to march into the camps they were in where they would suffer from starvation and disease. The Soviets were the first to discover the concentration camps once they reached Poland. Once the Soviets reached Poland the Germans tried to hide evidence that they were killing people and started to destroy any evidence of their actions once Allies were moving in. The Germans destroyed most of their camps in 1943 when most of the Jewish population in Poland were killed.  The Soviets were responsible for liberating most of the camps and liberated Auschwitz the biggest concentration camp that sent a lot of people to their deaths. American forces liberated camps near Weimar, Germany and the British liberated many of the ones in northern Germany. A lot of the liberators saw the atrocities of the Germans. It was said that many of the camps had bodies that had not been buried and prisoners were reported to have looked like skeletons from the malnutrition and the intense work the prisoners were put through. In one of the concentration camps, in Buchenwald camp, many of the prisoners who formed a resistance decided to prevent any atrocities the Germans would commit so that Allied forces would arrive to take them. Many of the Germans who was believed to have committed a crime would be put on trial such as those of the Nuremberg Trials.

Marsha P Johnson

We as a nation, in general, like to forget traumatic or bad pasts, and internalized racism and homophobia always will always show up in our life, just because of how we were raised.  This blog post will talk about Marsha P Johnson, a black transgender woman, who was the instigator of the Stonewall riots.  She was born as Malcolm Michaels Jr and had a rough childhood because of her Catholic family.   She grew up with a hard adult life as well but being a drag queen brought her joy.  Marsha is recognized as the instigator of the Stonewall riots because on the night the police invaded and arrested the LGBT+ people at the Stonewall Inn, she was one of the first to fight back.  Throuought the rest of her life, she was an advocate for LGBT activism, but people do not like to give her credit because she is a black trans woman.  Marsha was not mentioned in the documentary we watched in class when they went over the Stonewall riots.  People of color were often overlooked in the history of LGBT activism. She died in 1992, found floating in the Hudson River.  The police say she killed herself, however, there were never any reports of her being suicidal.  This leads to the suspicion that someone may have killed her out of a hate crime.  Marsha P Johnson deserves the recognition of being one of the instigators of the Stonewall Riots.

The Feminine Mystique

The book The Feminine Mystique was a book written by Betty Friedan which was credited to be the cause of the sparking causing the second wave of feminism in the United States. The book was published in 1963. Her inspiration for the book started in 1957 when she conducted a survey during a class reunion of her former college classmates. They were all women. She found out that the majority of these women were unhappy with their lives as housewives. This prompted her to write The Feminine Mystique by interviewing other suburban housewives to see how they thought of their lives. Originally she wanted to make this story an article, but because she was a woman nobody would publish her so she would have to settle for just a book. The Feminine Mystique drew large numbers of white, middle-class women to the feminist cause. Thus sparking the second wave of feminism in the United States.

The Influence of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. is known as the most influential activist for black rights ever. Despite all the racism and hatred blacks received, with many blacks being brutally beaten and killed by white extremists, King fought back with nonviolent tactics such as the Montgomery bus boycott. After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, King took advantage and led a strike where all blacks boycotted the buses, walking to work until blacks were given equal rights. he also helped organize the March on Washington, where he gave the famous "I Have A Dream" speech. This inspired many Americans, black and white alike. In 1964, he received the Nobel Peace prize. In 1968, King was assassinated on the second floor of a hotel in Tennessee.

MLK's vision of a society without regards to race or color transformed the world. Although there is still discrimination and racism present in America, King's influence has lessened racism significantly and encouraged diversity in the United States. His ideas have made the world we live in today a better place, inviting to all races and cultures. His ideas of non-violent protests also led to a huge advance in the fight for social and political equality for black Americans. He helped pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Nuremberg Trials

        After WWII came to an end in 1945, some of the German Nazi's responsible for crimes committed during the Holocaust were called to trial. This set of trials is referred to as the Nuremberg trials, as Nuremberg, Germany was the location where these trials took place. Between the years 1945 and 1949, 22 of the accused Nazis were brought to trial and faced judges from the Allied powers of Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. The people called to trial consisted of military officers, Nazi Party officials, doctors and even lawyers were being charged with crimes against humanity. However, the leader of the Nazi party, Adolf Hitler committed suicide shortly after the war ended and was never called to trial.
      Within the set of the Nuremberg trials, there was the widely-known trial called the Trial of Major War Criminals which was held between 1945 and 1946. In this set of trials, Nazi organizations such as the Gestapo were indicted. As a result of the verdict, 12 Nazis were sentenced to death. Most of the Nazis admitted to the crimes of which they were accused, but there was many excuses. Many blamed their actions on the orders that they were given. Aside from the Nazis sentenced to death, the Nazis who were executives, ran concentration camps as labor camps, and high level officials were faced with short sentences, or no penalty at all.
   This set of trials was a very important landmark for history, as it was the first time Genocide was brought up in trial, even though it had been a tragedy people were faced with in years prior. This set of trials is now looked at as the bedrock for international court and is important when dealing with future genocides.

The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement began in 1954, and went all the way until 1968. During this time, civil rights activists were trying to gain freedom for African Americans. Civil rights are "the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality." The problem in America at this time was that African Americans were not getting their civil rights. For example, lunch counters, especially in the South, were segregated. The segregation was so bad that black people weren't even allowed to go inside the lunch counters to order food. As a result of this, many civil rights activists organized sit-ins, or days when black people would go inside lunch counters and sit down at the counter. They would not leave until they were allowed to order food. Once the police figured out that this was happening, they came to the restaurants and told the protesters to leave. When they refused to do so, the police beat them. The protesters were nonviolent, so they took the beatings instead of fighting back. In the end, this forced the lunch counters to integrate, and soon after, blacks and whites were able to eat together.

Ella Baker

Although we have come a long way, there is still inequality in the world for all types of minority groups. Ella Baker made a name for herself despite all the things pushing her back. As a woman in the Civil Rights movemnt Ella Baker was often overlooked. She worked alongside many famous Civil Rights activists and leaders like; W.E.B Du Bois and Martin Luther King Jr.  She had different believes than a lot of others involved in the movement. She strongly believed in giving power to the people and letting them make decisions rather than having someone in a position of power do all of the work. Even though the Civil Rights movement came with a lot of progress there is still work to be done. Ella Baker was a figure in the movement that made the inclusion of more people in the movement easier.

Japanese Interment Camps

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had Executive Order 9066 signed and issued that declared the internment of all Japanese Americans or those of Japanese descent would be interned in isolated camps on the West Coast as they were considered a threat to national security in the United States.

Many Japanese Families would be drastically affected by the Presidents decision to intern them until the end of the war. Many of these families were being told that it was for their own safety behind a camp that was fenced with barbed wire. Children and adults were moved to remote places where buildings that looked like they were made for livestock were now being converted into for the purpose of the families removed to live there from 1942 through 1945. The buildings they lived in were often not very good as they were once places where animals had lived and the sanitation was bad. The camps often included things such as schools, post offices, work facilities, farmland that was all protected in a camp surrounded by barbed wire. With these places, children and adults were limited to what they were able to in the camps to pass time until the war ended. There were assembly centers that gave an opportunity for some Japanese to go do work on a farm and there were cases of over 4,000 Japanese Americans who were allowed to attend college. At some of the camps, it was reported that violence occurred at Santa Anita facility where a riot broke out from overcrowding and not enough rations at the camp. Some even tried to escape being interned while they were sent to a camp. It often resulted in the person who tries to escape being shot and killed

In the Endo Vs. The United States case,  it was declared that the internment of Japanese Americans was unjust and that the US had no right to intern its own citizens. It was decided that the camps should be closed after the decision of the Supreme Court in 1945 decided to close the camps. It was reported that the last Japanse camp was closed in 1946. Many years would pass by until the United States government would acknowledge and take full responsibility for their wrongdoing in interning many of their Japanese American citizens.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. When he grew up, he became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Growing up, he went to segregated public schools in Georgia. When he was fifteen, he graduated from high school. King went to college at Morehouse College, which was a fancy African American school in Atlanta, Georgia. After he graduated, he studied theology for three years at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. Here, he was elected president of the senior class, which was mostly made up of white people.

He had been a civil rights activist for African Americans for many years. King was so involved, that he was a member of the executive committee of the NAACP. In December 1955, he became the leader of the first African American nonviolent demonstration in the United States. King became an icon for civil rights. He gave his "I have a dream" speech on at the Lincoln Memorial. In this speech, he talked about his dreams of an America without segregation, an America with equality, and most importantly, an America where people of all races and religions would live in harmony. This speech was the last speech Dr. King gave before his death. It was the night before he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of Memphis, Tennessee. On April 4, 1968, he was standing on the balcony of his motel room in the evening, and he was assassinated. Even after Dr. King's unfortunate death, the civil rights movement still lived on for years to come. 

PragerU Political Correctness

In this age of Political Correctness, it seems almost blasphemous to suggest that one culture might be superior to another. This is especially so if one asserts that it's the western culture which is superior. Yet that is precisely what PragerU does with this controversial, but thought-provoking, video.

According to Dinesh D'Souza, western culture (which of course forms the backdrop and context of the British Empire and the United States of America) is indeed superior to the other cultures of the world. However is this really the truth? Does the narrow-minded idea of a western society that is the creating an extreme divide within its own borders really result in a superior culture? My personal opinion is no, a culture that is causing itself to form a social and political divide is innately flawed and for this reason should be judged and dealt with with no blind eye to the obvious flaws it holds.

But that is just my opinion, what is yours? Let me know what you think in the comments ^_^

The Great Depression/Recession

Throughout our nation's history, there have been many flaws in our governmental system that have been exposed over the years. These exposures have been dubbed the name "recessions" as in the decline in the governments economic or political power due to such a flaw. The Great Depression was by far the worst of these with over 50% of the banks failing and over 25% unemployment. Since then, similar situations have been put into effect such as the Great recession however none of them have ever been as bad.

One fact that I personally learned and did not realize before is that these recessions actually had a global impact. Not only was the economy of America in a rapid decline, but this also had repercussions around the globe.

Women of the Civil Rights Movement: Fannie Lou Hamer

The Civil Rights Movement goal was to outlaw laws being racially against a certain race. It was all about equality. However, during this time period, women, no matter the color of her skin, was considered lower than men. Even within the Civil Rights Movement, the women were pacified. We don't hear about many of the women who contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. One woman in this movement was Fannie Lou Hamer. She was an American voting and women's rights activist. She was the co-founder and vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She was known for her use of spiritual hymnals and quotes and her resilience in leading the civil rights movement for black women in Mississippi. She was extorted, threatened, harassed, shot at, and assaulted by white supremacists and police while trying to register for and exercise her right to vote. She later helped and encouraged thousands of African-Americans in Mississippi to become registered voters, and helped hundreds of disenfranchised people in her area through her work in programs like the Freedom Farm Cooperative. In 1993, she was put into the Women's Hall of Fame.

The Spectrum of Ideas: Malcolm X vs. MLK

During the Civil Rights movement, their was a spectrum of ideas in the black community as to what the best way was to finally achieve the justice that they had been fighting for. Two of the biggest names of civil rights activists were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

M.L.K always believed in the nonviolent movement to achieve the initial goal of integration and continued that thought throughout the rest of his years and an activist. Malcolm X came on to the scene later in the movement, and his core belief was that nonviolence will not achieve much, that violence in unavoidable because of the way that African-Americans are being treated by whites and authority.

There were two different problems in the North and South and Malcolm and M.L.K tried to address individually, and that is the main reason why their ideas were different than each other, but they both had the same goal: complete equality between races.

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was the second baseman in baseball. He was the first African American to play in the major league. April 15, 1947, Robinson is played for the first time by The Brooklyn Dodgers. When  The Dodgers signed Robinson they heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball. Robinson was a symbol for many black people in America. His character, use of nonviolence, and his skills in baseball, challenged the basis of racial segregation and influenced many black people in America. Not only was he a large influencer of the Civil Rights Movement, but he also was a major contributor. Besides baseball, Robinson was also vice president of a major American corporation; Chock full o'Nuts. In the 1960's, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank. It was a black-owned financial institution based in Harlem. When Robinson died in 1972, he was finally recognized for his accomplishments on and off the field. He received the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidental Medal of Freedom. On the field, Jackie won Rookie of the Year, he was an All-Star for six seasons consecutively and won National League Most Valuable Player in 1949. Jackie Robinson proved to the country that black people could be just as good as white people. Their skin color didn't handicap them. He was one of the biggest icons in the Civil Rights Movement.

Ella Baker and the birth of SNCC

Miss Baker and many of her peers strongly believed that having the right to vote was one step closer to freedom itself. This ideal is still prevalent in today's society, if we do not express our collective voice then as individuals it is impossible to influence the policies that have large impacts on our lives. The SNCC was composed of a group of college student activists who took pride in the ideals that they fought for. One of their main organized events were the Freedom rides. SNCC members rode buses all throughout the Southern states where segregation was most prominent, as they fought for desegregation on terminal facilities and travel. Violence had risen within the first few stops of the freedom rides the bus had gotten set on fire and mobbed by an angry group, but this still could not put a stop to them. AS they were all inspired by Gandhi's ways of life, carrying themselves with kindness, not acting out with violence. When looking at today's society, is the idea of in order to be counted as we must be heard first?

Double V Campaign

    When WWII began in 1939, many African Americans watched Hitler's actions with mixed views. While everybody knew what Hitler was doing was morally wrong, they didn't seem too different from how African Americans were being treated in the United States. In 1942, a letter was published from an African American soldier named James Thompson. In his letter, Thompson expressed that African Americans should acquire citizenship and equality in the US. His main purpose for writing this letter was the fact that African Americans were fighting for freedom overseas but they didn't have freedom at home. The publisher of the letter, the Pittsburg Courier, described this campaign as, "Victory at Home & Victory Abroad," also called the Double V Campaign. The "victory" mentioned is referring to the attempt at freedom at home and abroad.
    African Americans that were helping their nation to win the war made sure to point out the hypocrisy of the US Government. Since African American soldier proved themselves during WWII, they had good reason to push for the end of segregation. The return of African American soldiers from the war sparked the Civil Rights Movement. While African Americans were not immediately given freedom, the public advertising for equality made many Americans change their views on segregation.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail: An Analysis (Adrienne Mitchel)

Martin Luther King Jr. knew Birmingham, Alabama was perhaps the most segregated city in the United States. And it was because of this that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference chose this city in 1963 to start a series of nonviolent actions against segregation.

On April 3, 1963, the first protests began. These included lunch-counter sit-ins (sitting down in “whites-only” public places and refusing to move in order to cause the business to lose customers) and street demonstrations.

On April 12, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr was arrested for this nonviolent protest against segregation. After learning of his arrest, eight prominent white clergymen — four bishops, one rabbi, and three reverends — wrote a public statement urging the community to stop these demonstrations and instead solve the issue through the court system. They wrote that, “We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.” In response, Martin Luther King Jr wrote his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” This letter not only addresses the criticisms of the clergymen, but it also encompasses all the actions that must be taken in order for the world to change for the better.

This letter is not only important in history, but also in literature, as it masterfully conveys King’s beliefs through a variety of complex rhetorical strategies. For example, the audience that his letter was written to required his letter to compel those who publicly disagreed with his viewpoint to realize the validity of his actions. In order to achieve this, King clearly acknowledges and refutes the clergymen’s arguments written in their letter by utilizing religious allusions to further compel his religious audience. Understanding that his audience would be familiar with historical religious figures, King quotes St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Paul Tillich to prove that there are some cases in which the law must be broken. An example of his utilization of biblical references to convince the clergymen that his actions are just is: “You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme… Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’”

Martin Luther King Jr’s letter shows more than just his beliefs — it also shows his character. Even though he was in jail when he wrote the letter, there is nothing malicious or cruel in it. The tone is calm, understanding, and respectful. Although his whole life he had to face discrimination, King maintains his composure and recognizes that “an eye for an eye” is not the answer. His steadfast belief in direct nonviolent action is what made him such an important leader of the black rights movement. And through his writings, Martin Luther King Jr’s words will live immortality on, giving current and future human rights activists inspiration and support.

  

 

Jim Crow Segregation Laws

From 1877 to the beginning of the 1950s, Jim Crow laws were a part of the lives of African Americans. These laws stated that all public places were to be separate for blacks and whites. For example, there were separate water fountains, one for "colored" people and one for white people. Jim Crow laws also stated that it was legal to segregate blacks and whites as long as it remained separate but equal. For example, there was a separate school for blacks, and a separate school for whites.  Schools were not separate but equal. Instead, they were separate and unequal. African American schools typically did not have a heater, and schoolchildren often had to sit two or more to a desk. In contrast, white schools had all the basic necessities, and were much fancier. Even restaurants were separate and unequal. Some even denied service to African Americans on no rational basis other than the fact that they were black. Eventually however, Jim Crow laws were challenged in court and, after much fighting, civil rights activists finally succeeded, and schools became desegregated.

Dorothy Dandrige

Dorothy Dandrige was a film actress, singer and classic pin-ups. Born in 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, Dorothy Dandrige had early success in show business by performing with her sister. Following that her first hit show in the 1945 musical Carmen Jones, she became the first ever African American to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award. In her teenage years, Dandrige began small roles in a number of films, including Going Places(1938), with Louis Armstrong.

Although in Dandrige lost the award to Grace Kelly, Dandrige seemed achieving the same level of achievement in fame with actresses such as Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner. In 1955, she was even featured on the cover of Life magazine. However in the years following her success with Carmen Jones she found it hard in finding a strong leading roles due to her because her opportunities were still very limited due to her race. For example, Dandrige had turned down a supporting role of Tuptim in The King and I (1956) because she had refused to play a slave. Finally on September 8th, 1965, Dorothy Dandrige was found dead in her Hollywood home at the age of 42 due to an overdose on antidepressants. In her final days, it was said that Dandrige had a little bit more than $2 in her bank account.

Despite Dorothy Dandrige's fame and talent, she still faced so much discrimination in her field of work. Yet her achievements were one of the first steps into fighting against segregation and racism.