Bessie Smith, also known as the empress of the blues, was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920's. She was born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga Tennessee. Bessie smith was the daughter of Laura and William Smith, a Baptist minister, and was one of seven children. Her mother, father, and two brothers died before she was nine. To earn money, Bessie and her brother became street performers, with her dancing and singing and him playing the guitar.
Men and women of the past have fought through numerous trials in order to gain freedom for those living today. However, women have continuously been looked over despite the fact that they are imaginative, creative, and possess unlimited potential. While many have donated their efforts to women’s freedom, famous women such as Angelina Grimke, Annie Smith Peck, Bobbie Rosenfeld, Marilyn Monroe, Marian Anderson, and Eleanor Roosevelt, have made significant contributions. While men were leading the industry and everything around it, women rose and fought prejudices during the 1930s and beyond. Women all around have inspired millions, the fight started centuries ago with slavery, women’s rights, and religion.
Pastan stated in an interview that she stopped writing for about ten years, because she could not be the perfect wife and mother that she was expected to be and also commit herself to her poetry (Brown, 3). She considers herself “a product of the ‘50s – what I called the perfectly polished floor syndrome. I had to have a homemade desert on the table for my husband every night” (Brown 3). Such experiences reflected her poetry, significantly. Pastan uses many poetic devices, such as metaphors.
Freda Josephine McDonald also known as Josephine Baker was a star and hero. Baker had a rough start to her life but those obstacles didn’t hold her back from obtaining success. Baker had major achievements for a black woman during her time. She was a big influence during the Jazz age. Baker can remembered as an outstanding dancer and a civil rights activist who paved the way for African American women.
But she later returned to high school and became pregnant with her son Guy, by her high school lover. Over time the young couple eventually split. She then left home at the age of 16 and began her life as a single mother, implementing long and hard hours as a waitress (Angelou. I Know Why.... 29) Years passed and in 1952 she married a man named Anastasios Angelopulos. She met him while pursuing her career as a nightclub singer.
The Sapphires film is directed by Wayne Blair and produced in 2012. The Sapphires is a beautifully filmed true story based in 1968 about the story of four indigenous women who go by The Sapphires who got picked to sing to the soldiers in the Vietnam war. The scene that is being analysed is 18.15-2o.23 in this scene Gail is singing a gloomy song for the soldiers because she thinks that Dave is dead. This scene is around the end of the movie just before they go back home. The purpose of this scene is to make us feel sorry for the Sapphires because they just witnessed their manager being killed and that they are singing their sorrows out.
Amy has always been encompassed in music, surrounded by uncles on her mother’s side that were jazz musicians, her father, a former singer, and her grandmother was once in a relationship with Ronnie Scott, a jazz musician. By the time Winehouse was 12, she was enrolled in the esteemed Sylvia Young Theatre School, where a fellow classmate passed along a tape of her singing to his music label, which eventually led to Winehouse getting signed to Island/Universal. That same year, “Winehouse was expelled for ‘not applying herself’ and piercing her nose”(Biography.com 1). Winehouse’s professional career began when she released her first album, “Frank”, in 2003. For this, “the album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize as well as two BRIT awards for Best Female Solo Artist and Best Urban Act.
Hurston describes her adventurous and naive self: she would become aware of her race when all the white folks in town “liked to hear [her] speak in pieces and sing...” and they would often give her money for it. She yearned for the attention and interest from those that viewed her as different. She describes that the black townsfolk often “deplored joyful tendencies” (Hurston). Wherefore, Hurston illustrates that she was never able to fit in her own community, and especially not with the white townspeople. Hurston creates an aura of self-acceptance and self-love.
The two sisters have brought inspiration to learn the game to a new generation of young African Americans, since they grew up in a poor neighborhood and became professionals. If they could beat the odds, then so could others. Before the Williams sisters conquered the women's tour, there were only a few racial minorities playing tennis either on the men's or women's side of tennis. But, since their meteoric rise, countless more have taken up the sport. Many believe that the rise of the Williams sister helped decrease the amount of racism in tennis.
This is the style many black female rappers and hip-hop artists that came before Cyrus, but most of them went unrecognized. Cyrus, on the other hand, wins awards and earns recognition, taking the opportunity away from black female artists. Unlike Azalea, Cyrus did not need to use the hip-hop culture to earn fame and money, it is quite apparent that she was merely using it because she wanted change and she claimed to adore the genre. However, she reaped the same benefits Azalea did, she earned recognition for the appropriation of culture that she is not truly a part