Oratorial Contest Essay Extra Credit
Essay on Anti-Colonial Afrikan Leader
The leader I am going to talk about is Kwame Nkrumah. The name Kwame means "born on Saturday." Kwame Nkrumah, the son of a goldsmith, was born Francis Nwia Nkrumah on September 21, 1909, into the small Nzima ethic group in Nkroful, Gold Coast. Nkroful refers to the village where Nkrumah was born, but can also refer to the people. The Nkroful speak both Akan and English. Kwame Nkrumah was taught in Ghana, and was a very good student. He worked as a teacher until 1935 when he left for the United States. He was accepted into University of Pennsylvania and Lincoln University. Nkrumah graduated from Lincoln in 1939 with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Sociology. He worked as an Assistant Lecturer in Philosophy to support himself. He also enrolled in graduate classes at the Lincoln Theological Seminary and at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1942 he graduated as the top student from the seminary in the Bachelor of Theology program. He also earned Master's degrees in Philosophy and Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
While working during summer vacations, he studied in Harlem; where he sold fish and worked at a soap factory. He studied for 10 years from 1935 to 1945 in the United States and then went to England. While there in 1945 he helped to organize and co-chair the fifth Pan-African Congress in Britain in Manchester, England.
In 1947, Nkrumah was invited to come home to Ghana to help lead the liberation movement, called the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). He served as General Secretary to the UGCC as they started a positive action program against their British colonizers. After a violent confrontation with the British colonial police, Nkrumah and other UGCC leaders were arrested. After being released, Nkrumah was not happy with the goals and slow pace of the UGCC. He left the party and formed his own new party. On June 12, 1949, Nkrumah founded the Convention People's Party (CPP), it's slogan was, Independence Now. Throughout his life, Nkrumah fought for his dream of Afrikan people's world wide liberation.
Nkrumah as Prime Minister, declared the independence of the Gold Coast on March 6, 1957. He renamed the country Ghana after an ancient empire. He tried to modernize the country and started with his plan to unite Afrika into one country. In 1960, Kwame Nkrumah became the first president of Ghana. Ghana was a former British colony of the Gold Coast and the first of the European colonies in Africa to gain independence with majority rule. Nkrumah held many conferences in Ghana to help unite the Afrikan continent. His goal was to have a union government of Afrika which would mean one government for all of the countries of Afrika. Nkrumah worked feverishly with the liberation movements and heads of state to obtain the goal of a united Afrika.
On December 31, 1957, Nkrumah married an Egyptian woman, named Fathia Rizk. She was the niece of the president of Egypt. Nkrumah married Fathia to unite the countries of Egypt and Ghana. They had two sons and a daughter.
In 1958, Ghana and Guinea formed the Union of Afrikan States. In 1960, Nkrumah signed a secret agreement with Patrice Lumumba joining Ghana, Guinea and the Congo. In 1961, Mali joined the Union of Afrikan states. In 1966, when Nkrumah was in China trying to stop the Vietnam War, soldiers from both the CIA and MI6 (British CIA) set to overthrew the country. On February 24, 1966, Nkrumah's Ghana was overthrown by Ghanian agents of the CIA. The soldiers arrested his wife and children. While they were in custody, a soldier's gun accidentally fired and Nkrumah's son was shot in the ear. The soldier's panicked because they shot a child. It was during this distraction that Nkrumah's wife escaped with her children. She ran down the street to the Egyptian embassy which gave her safe passage back to Egypt.
Nkrumah spent his final years as co-president of the Republic of Guinea with Sekou Toure. This was first time in history that a leader was overthrown and became co-president of another country. His goal from Guinea was to liberate his country of Ghana from the western powers. Nkrumah also continued to work for the United states of Afrika. He died in May of 1972 of throat cancer in Romania, but he was still living in Guinea.
Over his lifetime, Nkrumah was awarded honorary doctorates by Lincoln University, Moscow State University; Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt; Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland; Humboldt University in the former East Berlin; and other universities. Kwame Nkrumah wrote many papers, speeches and great books. Here are some of his writings:
Rhodesian File
Towards Colonial Freedom, Heinemann, 1962.
Challenge of the Congo, Panaf, 1967.
Dark Days in Ghana, Panaf, 1968.
"Negro History: European Government in Africa," The Lincolnian, April 12, 1938, p. 2 (Lincoln University, Pennsylvania) - see Special Collections and Archives, Lincoln University
Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (1957) ISBN 0-901787-60-4
Africa Must Unite (1963) ISBN 0-901787-13-2
African Personality (1963)
Neo-Colonialism: the Last Stage of Imperialism (1965) ISBN 0-901787-23-X
Axioms of Kwame Nkrumah (1967) ISBN 0-901787-54-X
African Socialism Revisited (1967)
Voice From Conakry (1967) ISBN 90-17-87027-3
Handbook for Revolutionary Warfare (1968) - first introduction of Pan-African pellet compass
Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for De-Colonisation (1970) ISBN 0-901787-11-6
Class Struggle in Africa (1970) ISBN 0-901787-12-4
The Struggle Continues (1973) ISBN 0-901787-41-8
I Speak of Freedom (1973) ISBN 0-901787-14-0
Revolutionary Path (1973) ISBN 0-901787-22-1
This was just some of information on Kwame Nkrumah. I believe Kwame Nkrumah was a great man, who did great things and deserves recognition for his work. Some refer to him as the founder of the Pan-Afrikan revolutionary movement. I know I would not have tried to stop a war, but again a great man was Kwame Nkrumah. He could do great things, and sacrificed so much to gain freedom for his country; and to unite Afrika and it's people as one.
Barack Obama Civil Rights Policy
I agree with most things about the policy, but some things I disagree with. One of the things I agree with in the policy is the End Racial Profiling. President Obama will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice. Another thing I agree with is that President Obama states to "Fight Work Place Discrimination". I think that a man or women should have the right to go to work and not be judged by their appearance. Those people came to work to get paid, not to be judged by their co-workers. They get up every morning to get money for a living. I agree when President Obama states that we should fight work-place discrimination by our laws being expanded.
The thing that I disagree with is "Support Full Civil Unions and Federal funds for LGBT Couples". I think that supporting LGBT is not right, because gay couples having children does not seem right to me. I think if you want to be gay, you should not have children. The Creator made man and woman to be able to have a child and if you don't like the natural rules than you can't have a child. That is what I believe.
Parent Overview
Barack Obama Stimulus Package Assignment
- The stimulus package is a money bailout plan for the nation. It is basically a money package to save the nation's economy. It is a bill that Barack Obama passed to bring the economy back to where it should be. Currently, the country is in too much debt and people are losing both their jobs and houses. The stimulus is very necessary because it helps this country in it's time of economic hardship.
- The agreements with the Republicans and Democrats are that they agree that a package must be done and that is basically the only thing they agree on. The disagreements with the Republicans and the Democrats are on who needs the help, how much money should be spent and what the money should be spent on. Most of the Republicans believe that the package has a lot of wasted money and unnecessary spending it, and the Democrats disagree with that. Most Republicans believe that there should be tax cuts in order to stimulate the economy and many Democrats disagree with that. President Obama counter arguments are that he thinks that the stimulus is right, when the Republicans said it was too much spending in the bill, the President said, and I quote, "What do you think a stimulus is?!" and I agree with President Obama.
- The details of the new package are that there is 550 billion in new spending, $275 billion in tax relief, $58 billion to Energy, $16 billion to Science and Technology, $149 billion to Health Care, and,$114 billion to education. It will likely change as the bill works its way through Congress. But the document provides the first blueprint of how President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats plan to fight the historic economic downturn, which has already wiped out 2.6 million jobs. The stimulus package will create jobs by President Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit of $500 per worker and $1,000 for couples.
- President Barack Obama emphasized the area of the package where he said that the $79 billion to help states avoid cutbacks in education and other services will help to save 1 million jobs and create 2 million new jobs for America. He also believes that the package is just right.
- I believe this stimulus package will help African Americans because most African Americans are middle class and need to work to provide for their families. This stimulus package helps mostly middle class citizens who want to work in the United States. It is designed to help those who need jobs and those who are working to keep more of their money. I do not believe that racism or gender bias will have any effect on this package. President Barack Obama had to deal with racism growing up as a Black man in America and as such he knows how unfair a burden it placed on his life. As he campaigned he always talked about change. I think that part of that change that he wants has to do with the unfair advantage that racism gives to some people. I think that as a Black man he doesn't want to be remembered as a President that allowed such bias to mess up his time in office. He wants the economy to help everyone and as he always talked about his mother and grandmother with such a love for them, I don't think that he will tolerate gender bias. His love for his wife and daughters won't allow him to let something that will hurt them exist during his time in office.
Ancestor Pictures
This is how my great-great grandmother fed her family, by working in her garden.
My great-great grandmother was born and lived in Cayce, SC. Cayce is a suburb of Columbia, the state capital. 
This is what my ancestor would have sold as a homemaker and made in her leisure time. 
This is the kind of house in which my ancestor would have lived. New Teacher Essay
First, I would like to talk about my audio, visual learning style. As I said, I have an audio, visual learner style, so, if possible, could you write a lot of things that you say down on the board, or could you speak and explain everything you say. Also, if possible, could you please sometimes explain slowly also, if you can.
Secondly, I would like to learn about world history, we're more than just U.S. history because the world did not begin in the U.S., it began in Africa. African history is really my favorite thing to learn about, and I should learn about that before anything else. Also I would like to learn more about the world around me.
The last thing I would like to talk about is that I would like the class to have organized debates to solve problems like our last teacher did, if possible. We would not just have them for everyday little problems, we would also use them for Social Studies and classroom problems that concerned everybody. I would like to do this because it is a creative way to solve problems and it is educational, so we can learn and have fun also.
In conclusion, I would like to say that I am looking forward to having you as a Social Studies Teacher, so that I can learn from you. Your critical insight will be a welcome daily challenge to my current schedule of classes. New Media Technology Charter School will be a great place for you to not only teach to us, but also learn and grow in a peaceful, loving and powerful environment.
Critical Analysis of Hip-Hop
"Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Summer, summer, summertime
Time to sit back and unwind
Verse one: fresh prince
Here it is the groove slightly transformed
Just a bit of a break from the norm
Just a little somethin to break the monotony
Of all that hardcore dance that has gotten to be
A little bit out of control its cool to dance
But what about the groove that soothes that moves romance
Give me a soft subtle mix
And if ain't broke then don't try to fix it
And think of the summers of the past
Adjust the base and let the alpine blast
Pop in my cd and let me run a rhyme
And put your car on cruise and lay back cause this is summertime
Chorus
Verse two: fresh prince
School is out and its a sort of a buzz
A back then I didn't really know what it was
But now I see what have of this
The way that people respond to summer madness
The weather is hot and girls are dressing less
And checking out the fellas to tell em who's best
Riding around in your jeep or your benzos
Or in your Nissan sitting on Lorenzo's
Back in Philly we be out in the park
A place called the plateau is where everybody goes
Guys out hunting and girls doing likewise
Honking at the honey in front of you with the light eyes
She turn around to see what you beeping at
Its like the summers a natural aphrodisiac
And with a pen and pad I compose this rhyme
To hit you and get you equipped for the summer time
Chorus
Verse three: fresh prince
Its late in the day and I ain't been on the court yet
Hustle to the mall to get me a short set
Yeah I got on sneaks but I need a new pair
Cause basketball courts in the summer got girls there
The temperatures about 88
Hop in the water plug just for old times sake
Break to ya crib change your clothes once more
Cause you re invited to a barbecue that's starting at 4
Sitting with your friends cause y'all rem incise
About the days growing up and the first person you kiss
And as I think back makes me wonder how
The smell from a grill could spark up nostalgia
All the kids playing out front
Little boys messin round with the girls playing double-dutch
While the djs spinning a tune as the old folks dance at your family
Reunion
Then six o'clock rolls around
You just finished wiping your car down
Its time to cruise so you head to the summertime hangout
It looks like a car show
Everybody come lookin real fine
Fresh from the barber shop or fly from the beauty salon
Every moment frontin and maxin
Chillin in the car they spent all day waxin
Leanin to the side but you cant speed through
Two miles an hour so everybody sees you
Theres an air of love and of happiness
And this is the fresh princes new definition of summer madness - Will Smith
Summertime by Will Smith is a very positive song. This song is about how in the summer everybody is happy and they get along. Summer seems to be the best season, better than any other season, because there are family gatherings and outdoor activities that bring people together. He talks about young men taking pride in their appearance to make a good impression on females. Everyone seems proud and wants to show off their best, be it the way their cars look or how good they can play ball. People look back on life with happiness as they remember the past. The song seems to unify people as they come together at family functions. He talks about the atmosphere being full of love and happiness. Everyone seems to be happy just being around each other. Like Biggie's song, this song has a nice beat; but unlike his song the message is positive. I like this song very much and hope to hear more songs like this, which serve to bring people together and not tear them apart.
Critical Analysis of Biggie Smalls
The song I am going to be talking about is "Gimme da Loot" by Biggie Smalls. This song is very explicit and it has a lot of profanity in it. I must say this song's beat is very good, but its message is very bad. To me this song is about getting money and robbing people for money. The song reinforces the stereotype that Black men are all thugs. In this song, money and material possessions are the keys to success. The male described has no respect for life. He will kill women, even if they are pregnant. He has no remorse for any of his actions. He plays the victim, because he feels that his mom isn't giving him anything. Consequently, he uses that as an excuse to take other people's lives and money.
The effect songs like this have on society is very dangerous to all members of society. The song, not only glorifies bad behavior, it promotes it. In one verse, he even talks about killing a cop. Young men who constantly sing these words will learn that its okay to take anything from anybody. No consequences are discussed and jail time seems to be non-existent. Because this awful message is put in a cool beat, the message appears cool. Stealing and killing are okay, because the record sounds good. This song will serve to keep Black people apart. There is no unifying message. All people are presented as potential victims. Murder is okay and the thug life is king. When you are around a lot of negative people (like Biggie was) you become just like those people.