Category: Legacy

History is the study of past events, which can be told us through books, newspapers, artifacts, and even recordings of conversations. Having record of historical events allows us to understand past events and keep ourselves from making the same mistakes. Russell B. Long the Democratic senator of Louisiana during 1966 suggested to President Johnson that he record his conversations so that his words can be directly relayed to the people . “As it turns out, President Johnson did have their exchange on tape, though he would not admit it to Long, for Johnson secretly recorded many of his conversations in the Oval Office… [Capturing] some of the most significant moments in modern American political history .” One example of a “significant moment”, we now have access to are tapes recorded in the White House in 1964 by President Johnson. On June 23rd, 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson recorded a series of phone calls he had with several different colleagues discussing the Mississippi Burning Crisis that took place that day.

During the year 1964 there was a lot of violence and discrimination against African Americans in the state of Mississippi. African Americans were not registered to vote because of the fear of losing jobs as well as holding on to the idea that voting was a business of the white man only . For those African American who did make an effort to vote, it was not easy to accomplish. A law was put in place that made voters fill out a 22 question questionnaire which included a section where you must interpret a part of the Mississippi constitution. This discouraged African American voters because at this time many could not read or write . Mississippi at this time was referred to as a closed state. In order to open up the state to the rest of the country Bob Moses announced Freedom Summer. Freedom Summer was a plan to send “1000 teachers ministers lawyers and students from all around the country to work in freedom schools, community center programs, voter registration activity, research work and to work in the white communities .” Three civil rights workers who were volunteers for Freedom Summer, James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman headed to Mississippi on June 21st, 1964 to investigate the burning of a black Methodist church which had held a civil rights meeting just weeks before it had been burned down. Later that afternoon the young men were arrested for a traffic violation but were later released that night . However open their release the men seemed to have “disappeared from the face of the earth .” Once word of the disappearance of these boys reached the White House, President Johnson took action to find out what happened.

Although President Johnson’s handling of the situation may not have been perfect, there are still a few things we can learn from his experience on the day of the Mississippi Burning crisis. Three things that we can learn from President Johnson on this day are stability and honesty, the importance of strong relationships, and how to past incidents into future success.

To be a good leader, you need to show the people who you are governing that you are confident and stable in the decisions you make to protect and serve them. After the murder of JFK, Johnson took office and was focused on continuing to runthe country as smoothly as possible. I believe on the day the investigation began, the president was most focused on making sure that there was not mass hysteria and a worldwide freak out over the issues taking place. Johnson had already been dealing with blame and hate for his apparent cause and involvement with the issues going on with Vietnam, therefore Johnson wanted to make sure that this issue did not get a big and heated as that did for him. He wanted to create a stable image for the US and specifically for the people who lived in Mississippi who were scared and felt threatened due to the actions taking place in their home state. Even with many other things going on during this day, Johnson made sure to make a series of calls early that afternoon about the missing men and also carefully weighed decisions on how to heighten the investigation and to help ease the concern of the parents. After word that the burned car that the young men had been driving on that day had been found and their had been no trace of the men burned with it and word that the NAACP “had voted… to picket the Justice Department to protest the lack of protection in the South ”, Johnson immediately called the parents of the men to inform them and show them they are making an effort to find out what happened. Johnson spoke with Anne Schwerner, the mother of Michael, and reminded her that there is now more “hope” than they had before that they could be alive somewhere. This honesty and work ethic would be important to an audience in 2020. People don’t feel safe if you know that a killer is still roaming the streets especially if that killer had committed the crime in your own state.

As the president you will have to deal with a wide range of issues over the years. Unexpected cases such as that of the Mississippi burning can occur and add more stress to your schedule. In order to handle all that is thrown your way as the president, you are going to need to build a strong network and personal relationships with other figures of power to help delegate and deal with these matters. On June 22rd, the day before the president began the investigation into the disappearance of these men, he was occupied with “the visit of Prime Minister Inönü and other ceremonial duties.” But , his duties didn’t stop there. The next day, the president had more recorded calls in the Oval Office than ever before. Not only did he have to address and investigate the Mississippi burning but, the President was focused on his upcoming election and was set to address the Democratic Party at the state level and he also was involved in many deliberations about candidates to lead the Community Relations Service. ” With this going on, Johnson was lucky to have a network of people to help him out. Once word of the disappearance had reached the families of the missing individuals they planned to set out to the white house to talk to the president. Johnson said to James Eastland, an old senate friend who is from Mississippi, “They want to come to the White House to see the President, and I told them that I thought that that would be better to let Lee White—who handles matters like that for me—to talk to them, and he’d go up to Ryan’s office and talk to them. ” Without the help of Lee white, an assistant who handles crises like this for him, Johnson would have to talk to the men himself and was afraid he might add “fuel to the fire .” Johnson is also able to use his personal relationships with his network to help him make decisions on how to best handle situations. In this case, he reaches out to James Eastland as a friend to get his perspective. Eastland adds a different perspective on what is believed to have happened to these men. Despite the fact that he does not want to believe the worst, some people that Johnson has talked to are afraid that something bad has happened to these men. However, Eastland tells Johnson that he believes that it is a publicity stunt and goes on to explain how there is no Ku Klux Klan in the area or other White powers that would hurt these men. Therefore it does not make sense that someone in this area would have murdered them. Eastland then tells him that he agrees with him that Lee White should reach out o the parents and that he does not think that Johnson needs to make another statement at this time. President Johnson also has a relationship with Edgar Hoover, the FBI director who kept him updated on the findings and information pertaining to the disappearance of these men. He also provides advice such as, “politically, it might be wise for you to just step in and say that you’ve been in communication with the bureau [FBI], somewhat along the statement that you issued this morning. I wouldn’t give the details of the number of agents that we’ve got. You said it was substantially augmented, and I think that’s . . . that’s entirely sufficient. ” Having people like Hoover, White, and Eastland as connections helps Johnson divide the work load and navigate the best ways to approach difficult decisions that a president faces on a daily basis.

Lastly, it is important to focus on the work Johnson did as a result of the incident that took place on June 23rd, 1964 and that other racial discrimination and violence that took place in the months and years following. As Rita Schwerner said, “its tragic as far as I’m concerned that white northerners have to be caught up in the machinery of injustice and indifference in the south before the American people register concern .” Nonetheless, Johnson continued the work that JFK started with Civil rights by signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2nd 1964. The Civil Rights Act increased the federal governments power to ban discrimination based on race. In the following year Johnson also passed the Voting Rights Act, which made it illegal to impose restrictions to deny and guaranteed African Americans the right to vote.

Lyndon Johnson’s actions and experience on that day can help future presidents navigate how to deal with a crisis. It is important to create stability, build a strong network, and focus on improving t he future not changing the past, it can help make you a successful president.

Introduction

Richard Nixon’s Checkers Speech, delivered on September 23, 1952, during his campaign as the Republican vice-presidential nominee, is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in American political history. In this essay, we will conduct a rhetorical analysis of Nixon’s Checkers Speech, examining the persuasive techniques and strategies employed by Nixon to address allegations of financial impropriety and win public support. By delving into the speech’s rhetorical elements, we can gain insight into Nixon’s effective use of ethos, pathos, and logos to shape public opinion and salvage his political career.

Ethos: Establishing Credibility and Trust

Nixon understood the importance of establishing his credibility and dispelling doubts surrounding his integrity in the Checkers Speech. To achieve this, he utilized ethos, appealing to his personal character and values. Nixon began by acknowledging the seriousness of the accusations against him, which created an impression of honesty and transparency. He then proceeded to address the allegations by stating, “I have never profited from public service; I have never obstructed justice, and I have never betrayed the trust of the people who elected me.” This statement not only affirmed his innocence but also portrayed him as a trustworthy and dedicated public servant.

Furthermore, Nixon employed an anecdotal approach to humanize himself and connect with the audience emotionally. He recounted a heartwarming story about a dog named Checkers that was given to his daughters, eliciting sympathy and portraying him as a family man. By weaving personal anecdotes into his speech, Nixon successfully appealed to the audience’s emotions and fostered a sense of trust and relatability.

Pathos: Emotional Appeal and Connection

Nixon skillfully used pathos to establish an emotional connection with the audience, aiming to evoke empathy and sympathy. Throughout the Checkers Speech, he employed emotional language and appealed to the fears and concerns of the American people. He spoke of his humble background, emphasizing his modest upbringing and his struggle to support his family. By sharing his personal experiences, Nixon created a narrative that resonated with the struggles and aspirations of the common people.

Nixon also utilized pathos by highlighting the potential impact of the accusations on his family. He stated, “Pat doesn’t have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat, and I always tell her she would look good in anything.” This statement aimed to evoke empathy for his wife and present himself as a victim of political attacks that threatened his family’s well-being. Through this emotional appeal, Nixon sought to gain public sympathy and support.

Logos: Logical Arguments and Reasoning

In addition to ethos and pathos, Nixon incorporated logical arguments and reasoning to support his claims and defend himself against the allegations. He provided a detailed account of his personal finances, meticulously explaining his expenses and sources of income. By presenting a logical and structured analysis of the allegations, Nixon aimed to convince the audience of his innocence and integrity.

Nixon strategically used facts and figures to counter the accusations made against him. He argued that the $18,000 fund in question was not meant for personal gain but rather for political expenses and travel. By providing a plausible explanation and using logical reasoning, Nixon aimed to establish the legitimacy of his actions and discredit the allegations against him.

Conclusion

Richard Nixon’s Checkers Speech serves as a prime example of effective rhetoric, employing ethos, pathos, and logos to address accusations and sway public opinion. Through his speech, Nixon successfully established his credibility, appealed to the emotions of the audience, and presented logical arguments to defend himself against the allegations of financial impropriety.

By acknowledging the seriousness of the accusations, sharing personal anecdotes, and providing a detailed account of his finances, Nixon strategically crafted his speech to regain public trust and salvage his political career. While the Checkers Speech may be viewed as a controversial moment in American history, its rhetorical analysis showcases Nixon’s ability to connect with the audience, manipulate emotions, and employ persuasive strategies to shape public opinion.

Shakespeare is known for his remarkable plays and is often regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of his time as well as today. Enclosed in his anthology of historical plays, he referred to many historical documents to gather the information he needed. But in reality, Shakespeare dramatized many of these historical events, which also included the addition of certain fictitious events, scenes, and dialogues as well as the removal of certain historical accounts to add a greater dramatic effect for his audience. This can be seen explicitly in The Tragedy of King Richard the Second where he aims his sights on Richard’s negative aspects as well as providing a grandly compressed version of the events that unfolded during Richard’s downfall. Shakespeare highlights Bolingbroke and Mowbray’s feud all the while eliminating the events that provide a direct link to the reason behind their dispute, as well as changing Queen Isabel’s age, neglecting Aumerle’s true character and embellishing the crucial deposition scene. Altering these historical facts provides Shakespeare with the tools to broadcast an even more entrancing play for his audience.

Shakespeare in a variety of ways diverges from the real history that occurred during King Richard II’s rule, one of which begins with Shakespeare by putting the focal point on the last few years of his reign. The Tragedy of King Richard the Second begins with a dispute between Bolingbroke and Mowbray both of which accuse each other of treason. In Scene 1, Shakespeare focuses on this specific part of history for dramatic effect, one where the play has an exciting beginning and entices the audience. Indeed, during the battle between Mowbray and Bolingbroke, Richard stopped them before they could begin and instead stated that he would be deciding their fates. In reality Richard “conferred with the parliamentary committee for two hours” but “Shakespeare telescopes this conference into a bit of a pantomime covered by a long flourish’” (Saccio 25). It could be said that Shakespeare shortens this meeting to continue his storyline without a long and dull break, but it could also be said that he does this to provide a greater dramatized effect for his audience who is shocked by Richard’s abrupt actions. It is important to note that the quarrel between Mowbray and Bolingbroke “arose out of out of earlier conflicts to which Shakespeare alludes sparsely and unclearly” (Saccio 18). By unclearly acknowledging the past between Bolingbroke and Mowbray, Shakespeare leaves the audience to make their assumptions, with a certain mysterious edge provided to them.

By focusing on the negative aspects of Richard such as his extravagant nature and dishonest use of funds instead of his achievements, such as the pacification of Ireland (Saccio 22), Shakespeare paints him in an unflattering light where the audience longs for him to fall. The play also alludes to the death of the Duke of Gloucester with Richard being one of the lead suspects in his murder. Shakespeare only implies how Richard may have had a hand in the Duke’s death but does not talk about how Gloucester along with other senior Appellants consistently belittled Richard’s rule (Saccio 24), which certainly would have played a major role in Richard’s alleged instruction of the Duke’s murder. In reality, Richard was at the brunt of many treacheries (Saccio 30) but Shakespeare focuses on a Richard that is challenged by honorable opponents and depicts him in such a light that Bolingbroke looks like an innocent and a more worthy king. Shakespeare’s focus on the later years of Richard II’s reign when he lost his crown could allude to the fact that he wanted to create a play that would entrance his audience, where they could watch the fall of a royal as well as deem him as a fraud, automatically leaving them to seek his ruin.

Shakespeare also changes several characters’ ages in the play one of the main ones being Queen Isabel. Historically, in 1396, Richard devised a truce with France by marrying the French king’s daughter Isabel when she was only seven years old. In The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Shakespeare diverges from this record and Isabel is made to be older than she was during that historical period. The main objective behind making Isabel older than she was falls purely on evocative entertainment for Shakespeare’s audience. During Act 5 Scene 1, Isabel and Richard meet on his way to prison, a scene that “is Shakespeare’s invention” (Chernaik 12), and the main “function of the scene, quite overtly, is to extort sympathetic tears from the audience” (Chernaik 112). If Shakespeare had not altered Isabel’s age, adding a crucial layer to the spectacle of this scene and this play, the effect would have not been the same, since it would correspond to a more father-daughter conversation rather than two adults in love. In changing Isabel’s age, Shakespeare uses it to his advantage and allows it to carry a deeper response in his viewers.

Equally as important, is the fact that Shakespeare changes The Duke of Aumerle’s character as well. In reality, after providing Richard with a “disastrous council” (Saccio 29) in the dismissal of his troops, Aumerle decided to join Bolingbroke. All the while Shakespeare makes Aumerle “a loyal friend trying to support Richard’s spirits and urging him to decisive action” (Saccio 30). Although Shakespeare makes Rutland out to be a kind and supportive friend to Richard, Shakespeare omits his betrayal (Saccio 34), first with his council on dismissing the southern troops in Wales and secondly going to Bolingbroke for a pardon after the Earl’s rebellion. Not to mention, Shakespeare transfers the chief dramatic authority to Aumerle’s mother where she states that the Duke of York could not bear to understand the pain he was putting her through since he had not been in labor with Aumerle (5.2.102). In Act 5 Scene 3, the Duchess of York comes to beg for Aumerle’s life at the feet of King Henry which “Shakespeare heightens – quite without warrant from history” (Saccio 34-35) where Aumerle’s mother in the play turns out to be his stepmother in reality. A relationship in which it would have been rare to find such profound love between a stepmother and stepson. By transforming Aumerle’s stepmother into his mother in the play, Shakespeare evokes an emotional response in his audience, by providing them with the emotional turmoil of witnessing a mother begging for her son’s life as if it were her own.

One of the play’s most pivotal scenes occurs in Act 4 where Richard is deposed in front of the parliament which “was thought so inflammatory that it was censored out of the earliest editions of Richard II” (Saccio 32) since it followed such an unhistorical path. The scene acts as the pinnacle of the play where Richard is acquiesced to hand over the crown to Henry and is virtually downgraded from royalty to a commoner. Shakespeare used this scene to provide the audience with another viewpoint on Richard, where for the first of the play they loathe him as the king who failed over his jurisdiction and now, they see him in an exceptionally vulnerable state. As soon as his crown is handed over, Richard is stripped of his identity and is left exposed, unadorned, and desolate. One of the main parts of this act revolves around the completely fabricated mirror scene where Richard stares at his reflection, and does not recognize what stares back at him, for he does not know who he is without his ornaments and in shattering the mirror, Shakespeare raises an interplay of sympathies (Chernaik 97) from the audience. By rewriting and adding to this crucial act, Shakespeare delivers an unforgettable and harrowing emotional experience for his audience.

Shakespeare, by centering his play in a compressed timeline set in the direct trajectory of Richard’s ruin, as well as encompassing all his negative attributes and eliminating key historical facts can portray Richard as an unworthy ruler. Shakespeare alters both Isabel’s age to gain an important romantic link between Richard and her as well as Aumerle’s character to provide a more dramatic and surprising turn of events for his viewers. Lastly, Shakespeare’s fabrication of the deposition scene provided a momentous emotional breakthrough for his audience. By reworking the historical elements of King Richard II’s undoing to his advantage, Shakespeare can provide his audience with a superior play leaving them to crave more.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, is a book taken by Oprah to make a movie in which she completely changes. Some many differences between the book and the movie consist of symbolism and Janie going from weak to stronger in the movie. More changes made by Oprah also consist of Janie and Teacake’s relationship and the deleted scenes. Oprah takes a book, makes a movie out of it, and twists it completely. The way Oprah changed the movie so much makes it difficult to recognize the book from the movie.

In this book, symbolism gets taken out by Oprah when she makes the movie. In the book symbolism comes as a key feature, Zora Neale Hurston made the gate symbolize a change in Janie’s life while Oprah took it out completely and replaced it with water which stood for the change in Janie’s life. The Horizon in the book symbolizes Janie’s goals and dreams “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” (Hurston 193), in the book but when Oprah made the movie she did not put any scene regarding the horizon. The pear tree to Janie represented her love in the book many times but in the movie, Oprah references the pear tree once. Oprah’s taking these scenes out makes it harder to understand how important the role symbolism played.

Janie being a weak character in Zora’s version also gets taken out by Oprah when she makes Janie a strong character who fights back in Oprah’s version. Janie stood up for herself in the movie she would not allow any man to treat her badly. In the book, Janie had to marry someone before moving in with them, and in the movie Oprah let her go with the man even if they had not committed to each other fully yet. Janie in the movie threatens to leave Joe when she realizes Joe starts to look old but does not because she remains obedient to what he says “Even now, you got to die with me being obedient, instead of me just loving you”(Their). Janie being a weak character in the book made Janie herself making her stronger and changed everything about Janie’s character.

Deleted scenes in the movie that get taken out by Oprah make up some of the most important parts that the book mentions. Oprah takes out racism in the book when racism plays a huge role “ Honey, the de white man is de ruler of everything as far as Ah been able to find out.” (Hurston 14). In the movie, racism means nothing it gets taken out by Oprah when racism plays a key role in Janie’s life. Oprah also takes out Mrs.Turner in the movie; Mrs. Turner played a huge role she wanted all things white and she did not like how Janie could marry someone darker than her. The jealousy over Janie’s marriage also gets taken out. Janie gets jealous when married to Tea Cake and Nunkie flirts with Tea Cake but Oprah takes that out of the movie. The deleted scenes played an important role, the scenes deleted made the book important.

Janie and Tea Cake have a strange relationship, in the book they have to go through a hurricane which they also go through in the movie but in the book, Teacake pulled Janie out of the water, and in the movie, Janie had to pull Teacake up like she had more power. Also in the book Teacake bites Janie when he begins dying after Janie shoots him “She was trying to hover him as he closed his teeth in the flesh of her forearm. They came down heavily like that. Janie struggled to a sitting position and pried the dead Tea Cake’s teeth from her arm.” (Hurston 184) but in the movie he does not bite her he just lays there and dies. When Teacake gets rabies he points a gun at Janie, because he can not see straight and does not realize Janie’s presence. In the book he never puts the gun down, because he never comes to realize Janie is in front of him but in the movie, he can barely see Janie and realizes what he almost did so he starts to put the gun down. Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship made the book special it made Janie herself but Oprah changes her character when she changes Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship.

Oprah takes the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, makes a movie on it, and changes the movie around drastically. Oprah changes the book so much that it changes the relationships the characters have with each other and the character’s personalities. The exaggerations in the movie made it extremely difficult to make connections from the movie to the book.

The Marxist way of reading looks at texts from the political perspective of struggles between those who have power and those who don’t. These theories are based on Karl Marx’s as he believed that the Western capitalist system was designed to increase the wealth of the rich and subsequently oppress the poor. Maya Angelou’s poems can be seen to follow the third method referenced in the critical anthology, by viewing the nature of a whole literary genre in terms of the social period which ‘produced’ it. The poem ‘speaks’ for this social class, just as, for instance, ‘Tragedy ‘speaks for the monarchy and the nobility, and the Ballad ‘speaks for’ the rural and semi-urban ‘working class’. ‘I dance like I’ve got diamonds’ is a way of Angelou empowering herself as well as other African Americans who have been oppressed throughout history by the upper class, it is unfair and needs to change for the better.

The collection ‘And Still I Rise’ was written in 1978 during the time that Angelou was becoming well known for her views and ability to speak up and write about racism, oppression, and sexism in the US. She quickly established and gained the status of being the defender of black culture as she includes rhythm and blues, as well as black oral traditions in her work, an example being in ‘Still I Rise’, ‘Don’t you take it awful hard’ emphasizing the pride Angelou takes in her culture and helping to empower others who may not be feeling confident about who they are.

‘Still, I Rise’ emphasizes Angelou’s views and major themes in the poem, these being injustice and self-empowerment. She addresses all marginalized communities, including black people, women, and the working as she aims to leave them feeling as though they have a voice. Angelou uses demanding language and rhetorical questions to imply that ‘You’ (as in those who have oppressed her) can’t stop her and what she will achieve. The repetition of ‘I rise’ enforces the emotions of pain and betrayal that this capitalist, racist society has led her to feel. ‘Still, I Rise’ follows the typical ABCB structure until the last two stanzas where it switches to ABABCC and ABABCCBBB to create an emotional response from ‘You’ by using repetition and enjambment of ‘I Rise’, proving her power and the fact they have to pick themselves up after some middle-class white people oppress them and lead them to believe they aren’t able to achieve the same things. This leads to ‘You’ being made to feel guilty for what they have done to not only her but the rest of the black community.

A symbol Angelou uses in the first stanza is ‘dirt’ as it represents how black people were treated throughout history. She also uses symbolic references to show her intellectual wealth, but has implied this through materialistic wealth such as ‘diamonds’ ‘oil wells’ and ‘gold mines.’ This connotes her recognition of the materialistic things middle-class people have but she is implying that her emotional and intellectual wealth is more valuable than this, because she has this materialistic gain she doesn’t need ‘diamonds’ for example. Angelou accepting that she also has value despite having little money is very empowering and may help to push children of the future in the right direction in life, changing their opinion on the world. ‘I hope that the children have not been so scarred by their upbringing that they only think fear when they see someone else who looks separate from them.’ (Angelou, 2008).

‘Capitalism, Marxism tells us, thrives on exploiting its laborers’, (H Bertens, Literacy Theory) Angelou implies this, ‘You may tread me in the very dirt,’ explaining that she is being taken advantage of. Interestingly, it isn’t grammatically correct to make a point of her low class and how that has led her to experience a lack of education. The harsh sounds in the word ‘Trod’ emphasize the line, showing that she is embracing her low education level and not letting it define her, but instead empowering her. She is also clearly proud of her culture, ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’ and highlights that perhaps some upper-class white men may have gotten upset with her confidence and sexuality as a black woman and it caused a cultural upset because women were (and sometimes still are) expected to act a certain way to fit the male gaze and expectations. She embraces this and ‘the Marxist sees them as constantly formed by their social contexts in ways which they would usually not admit. This is true not just of the content of their work but even of formal aspects of their writing which might at first seem to have no possible political overtones.’ Angelou also includes links to the Slave Trade, ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells in my living room.’ Rich white people on the south coast of North America would’ve had these and made a lot of money from them during the slave trade, whereas some communities (i.e. those in poverty) wouldn’t have benefited from this at all. Angelou has respect for herself and implies that her lack of money and class doesn’t change how she acts, it causes her empowerment.

‘Still, I Rise’s’ final stanza includes enjambment meaning there is no barrier for lines, then there is a full stop, implying ‘I rise’ is the last thing that Angelou is going to do and she won’t speak any more on the matter, on how she has been treated as a black woman. The triplet used here shows she is powerful and further emphasizes the love she has for her culture, no matter how white people may treat her, even through the present time, as racism continues in the 21st century, the death of George Floyd in 2020 is an example that racism is still a serious issue that needs to be spoken about more, as racism still occurs in everyday life and a key reason Angelou felt the need to empower the black community.

‘Life Doesn’t Frighten Me’ carries a similar message, but she is following a child who possesses the courage to express their emotions on the matter, rather than using herself like she had in ‘Still I Rise.’ The repetition of ‘Life doesn’t frighten me at all’ leaves the message that not only Angelou is feeling but also readers who may be experiencing this too. This line not only emphasizes the strength and resilience of the child but also offers a sense of security to the black community which may also be experiencing challenges caused by the class system, and the oppression of those who do not have money. ‘The capitalist mode of production generates a view of the world – focused on profit – in which ultimately all of us function as objects and become alienated from ourselves.’ Directly from the Critical Anthology, views of the world are focused on how much money people have, Angelou growing up in poverty created a different view of life, one that is fearful. So a child expressing that ‘Life doesn’t frighten me at all’ helps her (and others in this position) to have a new perspective, one that empowers this community rather than suppressing it.

Stanza three changes structure and follows a short, AABBCCDD sharp structure. This makes the poem feel ‘child-like.’ The rhyming scheme also changes the ambiance, to emphasize that this is written by a child, who shouldn’t have to have such negative thoughts about the world. Not only creating sympathy for the working class, and black community, the rhymes create a battle between the two worlds, ‘I won’t cry, So they fly’, and changes the perspective again and emphasizes that those with money and those without do have a silent battle every day in life.

‘Just Like Job’ is a religion-focused poem, where Angelou is crying to God to help her because she has been failed by the world she lives in after years of poverty, abuse, and oppression from the middle class. ‘Marxist literary criticism maintains that a writer’s social class, and its prevailing ‘ideology’ (outlook, values, tacit assumptions, half-realized allegiances, etc.) have a major bearing on what is written by a member of that class’ Angelou isn’t very well educated due to her upbringing in poverty and abuse. But Angelou embraces her low class and shows readers that this is nothing to be ashamed of. We can see evidence of this through the structure of some of her sentences, ‘My life gives I gladly to you’ This is also seen throughout ‘Still I Rise’, ‘You may have trod me in the very dirt’ so her outlook on life is very different from someone who went to university and has more life privileges. ‘But fears gather round like wolves in the dark.’ is a powerful simile that implies although she is constantly having her joy in life broken down due to her poverty, her faith in God won’t change as he is more powerful than other ‘wolves’ in her life and can shield her from life’s challenges.

The repetition of, ‘And I’m stepping out on Your word,’ implies that Angelou will not give up her faith no matter what people say about it, or the lack of support she may receive from God despite her constant pleas for help. She is holding onto her belief in God because her faith in the world has let her down, but her religious beliefs are allowing her to carry on, despite the difficulties life throws at her, as we learn about in the metaphor in stanza six, which switches structure to frantic and fast-paced, as well as repeating the start of the sentence (‘into, and’). Angelou is implying that her life has been constantly challenged by sinners against God but she will stay loyal despite these challenges and temptations, and use her belief and faith to empower not only herself but other members of the black community if they’re also religious like Angelou.

To conclude, Angelou’s pride in her lower class is the empowerment that the community needs to fight against the oppression they constantly face. Being proud of your upbringing and faith is so important and she uses her position as a poet to show others who may have faced extra unfair challenges in life such as oppression and discrimination just because of the color of their skin or their class.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, heritage is features belonging to the culture of a particular society, such as traditions, languages, or buildings, which were created in the past and still have historical significance. Heritage plays a very important role because it is our identity, our personal history, it creates diversity in human society.

I believe that individuality and our identity are shaped by our cultural heritage. A human’s descendants can pass down their culture and heritage for generations if continuously practiced. If it is passed down for generations, it provides humans with a sense of identity and belonging. Being a part of a community or group within a culture allows people to feel a sense of reliability amongst other people. Culture can allow for inclusion and the feeling of belonging. The feeling of a community of culture, religion, and much more can give a sense for those to relate to in a much deeper meaning.

Technology has advanced so much that we have websites where you can track your family tree down. For example, Anceestory.com and 23andMe allow people to see physically on a map where they are genetically from and on a tree with other information gathered through inputting what they know. Knowing the history of your family can be helpful to understand and connect with each other.

Heritage is very important as it also provides diversity within human society. Diversity allows humans to learn and experience other people’s ways of life and history. Growing up when my grandmother was living with us, she would make authentic Polish dishes for my family and friends. Her parents immigrated here from Poland, so she speaks both Polish and English. She taught my mom and aunt to speak both languages and all the different types of food to make. My grandmother taught me a lot about Poland and some words in Polish, though I forget because I don’t practice enough with her. When she was staying with us and I had friends over, she would teach them how to make her special cheese pierogies. This is an example that if you teach others, different cultures can be learned through others, even if they don’t associate with it. If every human had the same culture and heritage, the world would be a bland and vanilla place.

In summary, heritage plays a very important role, mostly in preserving culture and creating and creating diversity in human society. As a modern generation, we have a responsibility to preserve our cultural heritage, for example by telling stories through generations or by using advanced technology like companies that are similar to Ancestory.com and 23andMe. Through all these things I think that would guarantee the protection of our culture and heritage.

In The Cruelest Sport, by, National Book Award Winner for Fiction, Joyce Carol Oates, she argues that boxing is a brutal savage sport and that it really shouldn’t even be called a sport. When reading this nonfiction text, you may ask the following: What makes boxing the cruelest sport? Is it the violence or physical injuries? Oates describes boxing as an exceedingly brutal sport meant to injure someone. Boxing is the only sport where two men climb into a ring and fight each other like wild animals. Victory is gained in blood. Sacrifice can leave you bloody or barely touched, it’s the result of seeing someone’s lifeless body that leaves you victorious.

Boxing is the only game the place the purpose is to injure somebody, even though it would often result in harm or even demise in different sports. In football, the participant may additionally be tackled and hurt by the opposing team. In hockey, the player may also be slammed into the wall. So why is boxing considered the coolest recreation athletes are hurt in every sport. The difference is that the aim of soccer and hockey is not to injure the opposing team but instead to score points. even though there would regularly be accidents at the sports activities hurting the different crew is no longer the major goal. at boxing the goal is now not to score points but instead to injure the opposition as lots as you can until he is knocked out. Boxing is just “the stylized mimicry of the battle to the death” (pg.623). The last purpose of the boxing fit is to knock out a different person. This knockout blow takes satisfaction to the success of the boxer and the people. that one blow makes the combat interesting. After that is finished the winner raises his arms in triumph whilst the other remains unconscious. The knockout punch is a cruel however key issue to boxing which makes human beings love boxing. Boxing had gone full circle lower back to the previously days of Johnson when the pursuit of the ‘white hope’ used to be an important concern. Utilizing the powerful rhetoric employed by way of orators like Malcolm X, Cleaver goes on to seem to be at the ‘Uncle Toms’ that have distorted the fact of black America and contributed to a disaster of identity. His narrative, at the same time as located within the ring, is at the identical time so distant, that one feels a whole disinclination to consider that ‘boxing is solely like boxing’.

A necessary extended metaphor that is utilized during the essay is that of the puppet, a familiar metaphor to those who have read works such as the Autobiography of Malcolm X. It is a picture that reinforces the perceived manipulation of the Negro. Essentially, every black champion till Muhammad Ali has been a puppet, manipulated by whites in his private existence to control his public image. His position was to conceal the strings from which he was once suspended, to appear independent and self-motivated before the public.

One can’t neglect the staged façade of Joe Louis and sympathize with the craving for acceptance that led to the quashing of his individuality. What used to be so refreshingly different, and so attractive to writers and critics, was once Ali’s spontaneity, his effervescent personality each in and out of the ring, which demanded further analysis. Unlike Louis, Ali ‘was a black American sports hero who would now not allow himself to be described by white racist categories. He used to be seizing returned his persona’. two Indeed, as Cleaver outlines, what used to be so disconcerting about Ali was once that with his coming ‘the puppet-master was left with a handful of strings to which his dancing doll was once no longer attached.’ Ali had broken away from each of the bodily and ideological constraints of white America and through him, hope was supplied for different black Americans to upward jab up and be part of him. Previous combatants such as Sonny Liston had the autonomy and plausible for liberation but had aimlessly wandered like ‘the lone wolf who did no longer belong to his people or speak for them.’ two Ali, in contrast, was no longer afraid to specify his opinion and confront these who challenged his beliefs.

What emerges from the beginnings I have made on analyzing the practice of ‘writing about fighting’ is that both boxing as recreation and boxers like Muhammad Ali defy categorization, they are subjective entities at the same time contributing to a collective ideology. Boxing, as with many other sports, retains a cultural value that fluctuates and alters at different cultural moments. In this way, it is the game that becomes the point of contestation, as a good deal as the sports characters themselves. It is, therefore, wrong to see black-wearing achievement basically as an index of oppression; it is equally an index of creativity and resistance, collective and individual. The stage taking part in the subject can be either a prisoner or a platform for liberation.

Yet, Early additionally affords a clarification for the enchantment of writing about boxing in a comparable way to Oates. Oates believes that boxing’s most ‘immediate appeal is that of the spectacle, in itself wordless, missing a language, that requires others to define it, have fun it, whole it’. Yet this is to deny the narrative any social cohesion, a procedure with the aid of which the creator can work through his prejudices or insecurities as Mailer does, for as Early explains: The white response to Ali and Robinson may additionally be a reflection of racism, but it seems more profoundly to be a sign of some natural confusion, a mythic but turbulently faulty pietism, at the very heart of our understanding of ourselves. What emerges from the choice of writings I have chosen is that Ali deployed social stereotypes to confuse and intrigue his critics, utilizing them at the same time as manipulating them to create an impact that modified the notion of the role model. The impact used to be a personality who was each loved and hated, inspiring a mixture of feelings in his critics. In this way, writing can be seen to be the technique by which human beings came to discover the value of each recreation and the career of Muhammad Ali. To declare ‘boxing is solely like boxing’ is to deny the cultural climate in which Ali fought and which is integral to an understanding of Ali’s spirit, each in and out of the ring.

Nelson Mandela was once quoted to say ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell and got back up again’.

Nelson Mandela was a former African President, and actually, the first.

Mandela was Born on 18 July 1918, in a village in Mvezo in Umtata.

As the son of the chief, Nelson Mandela had unique access to higher education, not accessible to black people within South Africa at this time. Whilst studying at a University he first came involved in student protests. His denial to accept abuse unfairness and inequality to black people would last a lifetime and were the belief sets that shaped his political activism.

South Africa 1941

In his early 20s, Nelson moved to Johannesburg where he first encountered racial discrimination. This later became entrenched in law by the party government.

A couple of years following that he was given a job being a Clerk in a law firm. Mandela pursued his law studies and Joined the African Emission Congress, the oldest black political organization in South Africa.

Joining this organization was an important step in his life, Mandella was reported to say “It was when I came into the African National Congress, That I realized that Xhosas are only a part, of the African people. That the task of the ANC (African.National.Congress) was to unite the African people, by inviting them, to build a nation.”

In 1948 The Nationalist Government came into power by the White electorate in South Africa and a racial battle began.

1955 Freedom Charter

In 1955 the ANC plus additional Organisations invited people from all kinds to gather in Kliptown to establish and encourage the Freedom Charter.

The Freedom Charter was the blueprint for a democratic and multi-racial South Africa, in which all races will be treated equally.

1960 South Africa.

One of the most important events occurred in 1960 in South Africa when a peaceful crowd in the industrial area south of Johannesburg gathered to protest against past laws. The friendly protest was met with police shootings. Sixty Nine people died that day. It’s stunning to know back then that if you stood up for yourself and others you get shot down or prosecuted.

In 1990, at the age of 71, Mandela was released unconditionally.

Mandela Quoted

“We have made it very clear in our policy that South Africa is a country of many races, there is room for all the various races in this country.”

“There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile for us to continue talking peace and non-violence against a government whose reply is only savage attacks on an unarmed and defenseless people.”

On 12 June 1964, the court found Mandela guilty of all charges. Although the prosecution had called for the death sentence, the judge instead sentenced Mandela to life imprisonment.

After a long time of 27 years, he was substantially released after a crime he did not commit.

Mandela was freed on 11 February 1990. In 1991. Mandela was elected ANC President.

In 1993 Nelson Mandela was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

Mandela was rescinded from politics in June 1999. However, continued to take part in activism and philanthropy.

Mandela’s presidential term lasted from 10 May 1994 – 14 June 1999

Mandela died on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95.

Nelson Mandela was an exceedingly democratic man. He served his country and will be known from all out of history, as a Representative for racial discrimination.

“Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela We Honor you for your amazing contributions to society today”

“I Salute you, Nelson Mandela.”

During the Renaissance the population began to make use of literature. This is because publications of classical texts began to be published throughout Europe. With the arrival of stoicism, emotions such as fear, envy or passionate love began to take shape in literary works. The genre that had the most acclaim was comedy. In contrast to tragedy, comedy deals with fewer socially elevated characters, the public is exposed to crisis of love, money and ownership. On the other hand, we find the poetry of the Renaissance, which was influenced by Petrarchan poetics. This type of poetry had as a reference love. The sonnet was used as a vehicle of love, but a love that was impossible. The lover admires the sublime qualities of his lover with the conventions used by Petrarch. In contrast to this, the lady is the object and image of love, the manifestation of physical beauty. The legacy of courtly love conventions was still very much alive for poets in the 16th century.

Secondly, one of the most prominent writers of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare’s tragedies were very famous and acclaimed by the people. Normally these tragedies used to have revenge, love and political status as the predominant themes. Afterwards, I will discuss two works by William Shakespeare that deal with the theme of love, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘King Lear’.

First of all, ‘Hamlet’ was written in 1609. Desire and love are predominant themes throughout the plot. Hamlet has a love relationship with the character of Ophelia, but the interference of the two families destroys the courtship. Ophelia’s father, Polonio, tries throughout the play to manipulate his daughter by suggesting that she is not worthy of the title of Hamlet. Finally, the destruction of Ophelia and Hamlet’s romance is because Polonius’ effort to keep them apart. Despite this breakup, their relationship begins with pure love. On the contrary, towards the end of the work we can see the difference between Ophelia and Hamlet. He is selfish and a proof of this is that it seems that he wanted Ophelia only as a sexual object. With Ophelia’s death or suicide, it can be seen that Hamlet does not feel any kind of pity, since the only character that seems to suffer his death is Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother.

Secondly, another play by Shakespeare that deals with the theme of love is ‘King Lear’, written in 1606. In this play, true love is the central theme. True love and loyalty are opposed to selfish love and betrayal. ‘King Lear’ states that pure and selfless love cannot be measured, but it has a healing power. Through the characters of Lear and Gloucester we can see the difference between the false love of their treacherous children and the true and absolute love. While the characters of Cordelia, Kent and Edgar represent true love, they are misjudged, mistreated, but they do everything in order to help their loved ones. On the contrary, the characters Goneril, Regan and Edmund, represent a selfish and corrupt love.

Thirdly, we find the works of John Ford and Aprha Behn. To start with, the work of John Ford, entitled ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore’ was written in the year 1630. This work deals with the theme of love from different points of view. The main theme of the play is incest. In the first place, the author presents incest as an unstoppable force, although it is against nature. Some of the characters show disapproval and horror at the relationship between the siblings, Anabella and Giovanni. Due to the impossibility of her love, Anabella decides to marry someone who can elevate her position in society. Finally, the work presents different types of love. First, the incestuous and forbidden love between Giovanni and Anabella. This type of love can be compared to Romeo and Juliet’s. What is more, we have the adulterous love between Soranzo and Hippolita. The passions of love in this work lead to disaster.

Finally, the work ‘The Rover’ written by Aphra Behn in the year 1677, deals with the themes of love and lust. The characters in this play constantly try to distinguish whether they feel love or lust. The line to differentiate these two emotions is very unclear. The male character, Willmore, uses this fact for his own benefit, promising love when he really only wants lust. On the contrary, we have Angellica Bianca, a prostitute who is a victim of society and her profession. Furthermore, she is represented as an independent woman who is fully capable of making her way in a world created and governed by men. The power of this female character loses strength when she decides to give her love to Willmore, since he deceives her. Because of this deception, Angellica Bianca decides to take revenge and begins to act, letting herself be carried away by her emotions, losing her independence along the way.

In conclusion, it would be important for me to emphasize that most works dealing with love carry treason, usually on the part of the male lover. This fact usually leads the beloved to despair and in some cases to a tragic end. This last piece of information can be reflected in the well-known tragic work, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. On the other hand, the theme of love is purer in Petrarch’s poetry since the beloved praised the qualities and beauty of the beloved, but it is not contemplated that there was any type of betrayal or tragic ending. Finally, all these works deal as well making a critic of society and to the patriarchy, since the female character is always the one who suffers the most and, in some cases, they are the ones with a tragic ending.

In my presentation today, I will be first speaking as a judge who will introduce Maya Angelou’s lawyer who will be played by me after the introduction from the judge.

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, today’s hearing will be on the charges made by Maya Angelou against a group of men who have been accused of the mental abuse of Ms. Angelou over many years. We will be hearing from Angelou’s lawyer, Ms Jessica Ta in today’s session.

I’m sure everyone in this courtroom has heard of my client, Maya Angelou, who fought for the rights of African Americans alongside many important people. Perhaps you have all read one of her astonishing poems, but did you understand how powerfully emotional they are? My client has written about many topics including love. Now, love isn’t all sunshine and rainbows as I am sure we have all experienced, we know that it is filled with just as much pain and hurt as it is with happiness and that is why I am fighting here today, prosecute these men who mentally abused Ms. Angelou and to get justice for my client who has hidden her pain for far too long. The pieces of evidence I will present to the jury today will be what documents the pain my client has faced best, her poetry. It is that Angelou’s interpretation of love can be seen through the use of the motif of an endless cycle that shows her pain in her poems.

The first piece of evidence I would like to submit to the court is a poem titled, ‘They Went Home’ which begins with my client speaking of these men who spoke about how amazing she was and how they, ‘never once in all their lives, had known a girl like me’. Ms. Angelou incorporates the physical and mental traits that these men loved about her, but it then transitions into the true intent of what these men wanted: they wanted to use her body to have a purely physical relationship. It is evident that these men cheated on their wives as portrayed in the line, ‘They went home and told their wives’ and they even manipulated my client, showering her with praises of, ‘no word [she] spoke was ever mean’, ‘[her] house was licking clean’ and that she had, ‘an air of mystery’. Her, ‘praises were on all men’s lips’ which was just what they had to say to take advantage of my client. But they didn’t just use my client for their pleasures once, they did this over and over again through a cycle shown in her writing through the repetition of, ‘But…They went home’ which can be seen in the first two stanzas and just a single, ‘But…’ in the last stanza which clearly shows that my client was expecting the men to go home as they did the previous times only to come back again after, ‘they’d spend one night, or two or three’. Now you may be wondering: if she knew that these men weren’t going to give her love but instead, use her for something else, then why did she always let them into her life? Well, what you don’t realize is that my client was deeply pained by this already, which can be seen through the last line of this poem, ‘But…’ which almost confirms what she doesn’t want to admit herself: that they went home, leaving my client feeling defeated once again, left feeling loss, hurt and betrayed, hoping they would change. These men just took advantage of her vulnerability for sex. My client was only attempting to fill in an empty void in her life and she was blind sighted by these men. There was never an emotional connection which is what my client truly needed.

The next piece of evidence I will present to the jury is a poem titled, ‘Late October’ which follows on from the endless cycle seen in, ‘They Went Home’. This poem portrays the feeling of dissatisfaction my client feels towards love. In this piece, Angelou utilizes the symbolism of Autumn with the use of colors and physical attributes associated with the season as shown in the first stanza which illustrates Autumn leaves that, ‘sprinkle down the tinny’ suggesting the coming of colder harsher moments such as Winter, or more likely, the coming of harsher moments for my client herself. Furthermore, the following line, ‘sound of little dyings’ refers to the sound of living things dying such as the leaves of moreover, the sound of Ms. Angelou struggling to live. Additionally, the lines, ‘of ruddy sunsets/of roseate dawns’ were written by my client and are contrasted as the warm, red, and rose-y colors, ‘roil ceaselessly in/cobweb greys and turn/to black/for comfort.’ This transition of color moves into a more serious topic: the effects that these men had on my client’s life. My client turned to these men in search of something more, only to be left with finding comfort in their darkness. The next stanza speaks of another endless cycle as shown in the lines, ‘Only lovers/see the fall/a signal end to endings’ which implies that only people who have experienced love will know the true meaning of it and that to Ms. Angelou, is that it is something that never lasts. My client even attempts to warn people of this mistake of falling in love because she is so pained by her own horrific experiences of love inflicted upon her by these men. She calls out to the oblivious couples that are unaware of the ‘gruffish gesture alerting’ them to stop the love and passion they feel before it is too late, and the cycle becomes never-ending, stopping only, ‘to begin again’. My client’s background and history of being hurt by these men who supposedly ‘loved’ her, has had a drastic effect on how she perceives love.

My client has faced many losses in her life which can reflected in this next piece of evidence titled, ‘No Loser, No Weeper’ which I will also bring in the context of my client herself. Loss is the main theme expressed by Ms. Angelou as she touches on her drastic thoughts which go to the extent of even thinking about committing suicide due to the loss of items that seem so small and trivial. Ms Angelou reflects on her childhood traumas through this poem which introduces the theme of suicide in the first stanza where my client states, ‘I hate to lose something… even a dime, I wish I was dead’. These two lines create an eerie tone as Ms. Angelou continues to reveal her sentimental and painful memories with these items. Moving onto the next stanza which focuses on losing a doll as a child, the line, ‘She could open her eyes, and do all but speak.’ Refers to a painful part of my client’s childhood. At the young at of eight, Ms. Angelou was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. After she had found out that her rapist was beaten to death, frightened by the power of her own words, Ms. Angelou did not speak for the next five years of her life because she was so scared of the trauma she had gone through. Slowly, she rebuilt her trust and began to speak once more. She danced and sang and performed in theatres. But again like a cycle, she faced another setback. At the age of 16, my client fell pregnant and had a child. She got involved in nightclubs and drugs and felt so lost in life. It is clear that my client has lost so much of her childhood and so many opportunities to live a normal life and she hated losing the things she loved, which she emphasized through the use of the repetition of, ‘I hate to lose something’. In the same stanza, the lines, ‘I believe she was taken, by some doll-snatching sneak.’ Incorporates the symbolism of a doll which represents Ms. Angelou’s virginity. The ‘doll-snatching sneak’ was the man that raped her and stole her, the’doll’ that she lost. Additionally, the second stanza is where Ms. Angelou writes about the concept of time, referring to another item she lost. A watch that, ‘[got] up and walked away’ implying that time was out of her control.

Being raised in America as an African-American woman was already so difficult and came with many disadvantages and Ms. Angelou lost so much from a young age that was out of her control. The line, ‘I’ll never forget it’ clearly shows the extent of the pain suffered by my client to the point where she will remember it for the rest of her life. Furthermore, the loss of these items is compared to the loss of my client, ‘lover-boy’ in which she is speaking to a woman whom she thinks her lover cheated on her with. The tone in this stanza changes from the previous stanzas and it is now almost angry even though Ms. Angelou says to this lady, ‘I ain’t threatening you, madam, but he is my evening’s joy.’ This suggests that the grief felt from the loss of the man my client loved is just as painful as the loss of the dime, doll, and watch. Again, my client repeats the same line and ends her piece with, ‘And I mean I hate to lose something’. Ms. Angelou is indeed threatening this woman as she is clinging on to the one thing she is afraid of losing, her, ‘lover-boy’. This piece can be linked to ‘Late October’ as they both portray my client’s desperate need for stability in a relationship and to escape the endless cycles she has been through.

From the evidence that I have provided, it is clear that the amount of loss and pain inflicted upon Ms. Angelou by these men will never fade. Ms. Angelou doesn’t interpret love as this wonderful feeling that it should be, but rather, as a feeling that only causes her pain and hurt. Every poem I presented to you today has the motif of an endless cycle that my client has gone through, trying to find the love she needs and deserves, but each time, she ends up alone and hurt. And it is because of these men that Ms. Angelou is afraid to be exposed to even the idea of love because it doesn’t give her anything in return but pain. I cannot emphasise the amount of pain Ms. Angelou has been through but I hope you will bring her the justice she deserves. These men standing in this court today need to be prosecuted immediately and you have the power to do that, to lock up men who used an innocent woman and neglected her.