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Comparing Nikky Finney's Poems Head Off And Red Velvet

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The works that we have been reading challenge us to be different than our culture. Each work challenged us to rise above our culture by examining and emphasizing several different American cultural flaws. Social inequality between races has been one of the main themes examined in these works. In The Moors Account, the Governor’s treatment towards the Native Americans throughout entire novel progressively creates problems for him. Rather than treating someone who is different than him with respect, the Governor treats the Native Americans as lesser humans. His actions are similar to how as a culture we tend to judge those who live different lives than us or those go against the "norms" of our culture. This theme is also reflected within Nikky Finney’s poetry Head Off & Split, more specifically Ms. Finney’s poem, Red Velvet, which talks about the life of civil rights activist Rosa Parks. When Ms. Parks defied the bus driver, she was standing up for her belief that she should have equal rights as an African American. Although The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, our culture still requires …show more content…

They can be helpful in giving a voice to the voiceless. However, when our culture chooses to focus on Celebrity rather than current issues, that is when Celebrity can be detrimental to society. I see the most ridiculous “news” stories about people like The Kardashians, Miley Cyrus, Drake, and Beyoncé when I go online. “So and So” got a haircut, “Meek Mill- Drake fight via song lyrics”. Some of the best stories get hidden behind the nonsense of celebrity. An example of this would be the story of Malala Yousafzai, an eighteen-year-old girl in Pakistan who has shot in the head by the Taliban after defying them and demanding that girls should receive an education. Rather than emphasizing these kinds of stories and creating positive change in our world, the media would rather have you “Keep Up with the

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