Claude Brown example essay topic
381 words
Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown Manchild in the Promised Land is indeed one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time. This thinly fictionalized account of Claude Brown's childhood as a hardened, streetwise criminal trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem has been heralded as the definitive account of everyday life for the first generation of African Americans raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940's and 1950's. When the book was first published in 1965, it was praised for its realistic portrayal of Harlem -- the children, young people, hardworking parents; the hustlers, drug dealers, prostitutes, and numbers runners; the police; the violence, sex, and humor. The book continues to resonate generations later, not only because of its fierce and dignified anger, not only because the struggles of urban youth are as deeply felt today as they were in Brown's time, but also because the book is affirmative and inspiring. Here is the story about the one who 'made it,' the boy who kept landing on his feet and became a man. In Manchild in the Promised Land, Claude Brown reflects upon the differences and tensions between the 'Civil Rights' and 'Black Power' approaches to the problems of Race in the U.S. of the 1950's and early 1960's. In your essay, describe and analyze what Brown has to say about these two movements. What does each approach have to offer to the people of the urban ghetto? How does each movement hope to reach the goal, which they share, of African-American liberation and empowerment?
Finally, how does Brown's book illuminate, expand upon, or even challenge the other material about race that we are encountering in this course? As you think about Civil Rights and Black Power, you will want to consider the irrespective tactics, strengths and limitations, as well as the similarities and differences between them. In doing so, you " ll also want to pay particular attention to information contained in the following readings other than Manchild. [Important Note: Those marked below with an asterisk may not have been assigned in your TA's syllabus. But you will find them extremely helpful, in varying ways, in developing your ideas for this paper. ].
