Harlem and the Delany's

2305 Seventh Avenue was the address of Bessie's Dentist office. It was on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 135th Street. The former house of James Weldon Johnson was at this intersection. He was one of the most versatile elder statesman of the "New Negro" movement. Close by was Striver's Row, the home of many successful African Americans. Bessie and Sadie were actually friends with many famous African Americans like Johnson and the people who lived on Striver's Row. The sisters would actually join with them in protests. Churches were also close by, in the heart of Harlem, where African Americans would go often.

Madame Walker's beauty salon was also close by, but the Delany sisters were not very into looks so they probably did not spend very much time there. They would rather be helping out with causes. The women may have been a part of the silent protests because they always stood up for what they believed in. The Harlem Hospital on the other hand, Sadie and Bessie tried to avoid the hospital as much as possible. They said that it wouldn't help them. And judging by how long their lives were, they seemed to know what they were doing quite well.

Expressions in Art

Sadie and Bessie showed a lot of emotional intensity in their stories. This picture shows that same intensity. The sails on this ship are white, where as the men pulling the ship are African American. This color change is done on purpose. The sails are white to show that white people were the owners of the ship. The men suffering and pulling the ship forward are African American. Their struggle shows the struggle that the African American people faced while they were on the slave ships in the middle passage. Sadie and Bessie also struggled and saw many other African Americans struggle throughout their life. They have seen and lived it first hand like these men pulling the ship see and live the intense struggle.

Picture from:

http://newsgrist.typepad.com/robertgoldwaterlibrary/exploration/

Having My Say

"No Moment is Ordinary."

Many well known quotes really stand out to me. This quote is one that means a lot to me. Many people dont see that every second and every moment that they are living is important. Nothing that happens in life is truly ordinary. We also never know what God's plan for our life is. We need to live every moment to its fullest and never take anything for granted. That is why this quote stands out to me and means so much. It has taught me for many years to appreciate every single moment and to realize that there is nothing ordinary about my life.

There Was a Child Went Forth

Many parts of the poem "There Was a Child Went Forth" stood out to me.
The part that stood out most was the very first part:

"THERE was a child went forth every day,
And the first object he look'd upon, that object he became,
And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day,
Or for many years or stretching cycles of years."

This part came out to me the most because I felt like I saw my childhood when I was reading it. I remember being little and the first thing that really caught my attention in a day, stayed with me the whole day. My mom always told me that if I saw a butterfly in the morning during summer, I would stay outside all day looking for another butterfly. I relate this to how the object in the poem became a part of the child. Everyday when I was a child I had something from my day become a part of me and make me who I now am as a teenager.

The Wind

The Wind Of all the sounds despatched abroad, There's not a charge to me Like that old measure in the boughs, That phraseless melody The wind does, working like a hand Whose fingers brush the sky, Then quiver down, with tufts of tune Permitted gods and me. When winds go round and round in bands, And thrum upon the door, And birds take places overhead, To bear them orchestra, I crave him grace, of summer boughs, If such an outcast be, He never heard that fleshless chant Rise solemn in the tree, As if some caravan of sound On deserts, in the sky, Had broken rank, Then knit, and passed In seamless company.

-Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson's poems often have many different meanings to them. I believe that this poem is showing Emily's love for the wind. She sees the wind as being very in charge of itself. The wind encompasses everything that is in nature. No matter what thing you are looking at in nature, it is alomst always surrounded by the wind and sky. The birds, trees, and all noises in nature come from and in the wind. I think that this poem shows this because it shows the importance of wind in all of nature.

Transcendentalism...All the Way.

I definitely prefer transcendentalism writings over anti-transcendentalism. In life, I try to look positively. Transcendentalism really helps me to look positively as life in a glass half full sort of way. I try to find the happy in every situation and I have many friends that are really positive. In all lives, people want to be a little dreamy and find the best in every situation. We all have a little fantasy in us and I think that the transcendentalist writings , especially that of Walden, give us good quotes to live by and see the brighter side of things.

Alternate Ending

As I watch the pendulum rise back into the cieling I wonder what has to be up there. How far down, or up for that matter, am I? I try to reach the cieling as the door closes right before I can reach it. Who is watching me? I know that someone or something must be up there. How else would they know exactly when to close the door? I call out for someone, anyone, but there is no response. Just the reverbarating sounds of my voice echoing off of the barren walls. I try to think of someway to get myself out of this lonely cell, but I can find no way. Suddenly, I am grabbed. I look up and there is a man coming down from the cieling. He has a hold on this rotten cloak that they gave me. As I am staring, trying and hoping to be able to make out the face of the man. He starts to drop me. Slowly...slowly..slowly I inch down out of his grip. But he is holding me over the vast, bottomless pit. In a swift second, I make the choice to take my fate into my own hands. I reach up and pull his hand off of me.