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Creative Source

Rhetorical Situation:

Writer: Audre Lorde

Text/Subject: "Power" is a poem that was written by Audre Lorde who was a poet, civil rights activist, professor, and much more. This poem particularly captures the devastation caused by the 1973 murder of a 10-year-old African American boy, who was tragically shot by a police officer who was a white man. This is an extremely powerful poem that highlights the emotions felt throughout the nation at the unfair cruelty shown to the little boy. This poem serves less as a call to action but more as a downright disappointment in the world for such a cruel action to take place, let alone by a police officer leading her to question the work she has put in to reach equality.

Audience: Individuals interested in or affected by discussions of race inequality, and learning more about Civil Rights activists spoken less frequently of than others.

Context: An extremely powerful poem made to show the impact on the world racial inequality and injustices have.

Lorde, Audre. “Power by Audre Lorde.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 1978, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53918/power-56d233adafeb3.

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The difference between poetry and rhetoric

instead of your children.

I am trapped on a desert of raw gunshot wounds

and a dead child dragging his shattered black

face off the edge of my sleep

blood from his punctured cheeks and shoulders

is the only liquid for miles

churns at the imagined taste while

my mouth splits into dry lips

without loyalty or reason

thirsting for the wetness of his blood

as it sinks into the whiteness

of the desert where I am lost

trying to make power out of hatred and destruction

trying to heal my dying son with kisses

only the sun will bleach his bones quicker.

A policeman who shot down a ten year old in Queens

stood over the boy with his cop shoes in childish blood

and a voice said "Die you little motherfucker" and

there are tapes to prove it. At his trial

this policeman said in his own defense

"I didn't notice the size nor nothing else

there are tapes to prove that, too.

Today that 37 year old white man

with 13 years of police forcing

by eleven white men who said they were satisfied

and one Black Woman who said

"They convinced me" meaning

they had dragged her 4'10'' black Woman's frame

of four centuries of white male approval

the first real power she ever had

and lined her own womb with cement

to make a graveyard for our children.

I have not been able to touch the destruction

But unless I learn to use

the difference between poetry and rhetoric

my power too will run corrupt as poisonous mold

or lie limp and useless as an unconnected wire

and one day I will take my teenaged plug

and connect it to the nearest socket

raping an 85 year old white woman

and as I beat her senseless and set a torch to her bed

a greek chorus will be singing in 3/4 time

"Poor thing. She never hurt a soul. What beasts they are."

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Power by Audre Lorde | Poetry Foundation

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The difference between poetry and rhetoric

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Six Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement By Hadley Meares 

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Six Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement By Hadley Meares 

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Informational Source

Rhetorical Situation:

Writer: Hadley Meares

Text/Subject : Throughout this article Meares highlights several different women that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement throughout history. All women are not often spoken of and have remarkable stories of the effort and impact they made on pushing change in the rights for all.

Audience: General U.S. population , especially those interested in learning more of the history behind the Civil Rights movement.

Context: 6 different women that played a huge role in the Civil Rights movement often not spoken of.

Meares, Hadley. “Six Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Oct. 2023, www.history.com/news/six-unsung-heroines-of-the-civil-rights-movement.

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Six Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement | HISTORY

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Though their stories are sometimes overlooked, these women were instrumental in the fight for equal rights for African-Americans.

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The Undertold Story of James Farmer, Jr. by Rob Hodges 

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The Undertold Story of James Farmer, Jr. by Rob Hodges 

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Informational Source

Rhetorical Situation:

Writer: Rob Hodges

Text/Subject: This article contains a video that explains the very much under-told story of James Farmer, Jr.

Farmers heavily favored nonviolent civil disobedience tactics used to protest racial discrimination. James not only played an instrumental role in organizing the Freedom Rides which was a way to protest the desegregation of interstate busing, but he also played a huge role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. This man's story is incredibly powerful and meaningful and most definitely not discussed enough as this video focuses on.

Audience: General U.S. population, those who follow the Civil Rights movement and enjoy learning about those involved.

Context: A video that explains the story of James Farmer, Jr. to a great extent highlighting his greatest accomplishments.

Hodges, Rob. “The Undertold Story of James Farmer, Jr..” The Undertold Story of James Farmer, Jr. | THC.Texas.Gov - Texas Historical Commission, 28 Feb. 2018, www.thc.texas.gov/blog/undertold-story-james-farmer-jr.

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The Undertold Story of James Farmer, Jr. | THC.Texas.gov - Texas Historical Commission

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The Texas Historical Commission is the state agency for historic preservation. Our nationally recognized programs bring awareness to Texas' architectural, archeological, and cultural landmarks.

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Creative Source

Rhetorical Source:

Writer: The National Park Foundation

Text/Subject: This brief text explains the history behind the Freedom Riders National Monument, the group of civil rights activists went through a difficult journey to address the issues with segregation with interstate traveling on buses.

Audience: Those who may be interested in U.S. history and historical monuments, as well as those interested in the Civil Rights Movement.

Context: First released when the Freedom Riders National Monument was made briefly explaining the story behind the site.

Foundation, National Park. “Freedom Riders National Monument.” National Park Foundation, 12 Jan. 2017, www.nationalparks.org/explore/parks/freedom-riders-national-monument.

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Established on January 12, 2017, Freedom Riders National Monument shares stories of people and places that gained national attention in the fight against the injustices of Jim Crow laws and eventually led to regulations banning segregation in interstate travel. In the spring of 1961, the "Freedom...

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Civil Rights Activism Then & Now: Diane Nash & Bree Newsome in Conversation

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Civil Rights Activism Then & Now: Diane Nash & Bree Newsome in Conversation

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Creative Source

Rhetorical Situation:

Writer: Diane Nash and Bree Newsome

Text/Subject: A conversation published by History that sees Diane Nash a historical individual who contributed greatly to the Civil Rights cause and the Freedom Riders movement have a conversation with Bree Newsome a much younger Civil Rights activist who scaled a flagpole to take down a confederate flag. Much more emphasis on the impact of everyday people and citizens that contributed to the cause so greatly that many people don't know about as that isn't what is taught as much from teachers and history books.

Context: Civil Rights activists Diane Nash and Bree Newsome have a conversation about their own journeys with the Civil Rights movement and what pushed them in that direction.

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Civil Rights Activism Then & Now: Diane Nash & Bree Newsome in Conversation | History

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Thinking/Writing Prompt (Reflect and respond in comments) 1. How can reading the stories of less prominent figures in the civil rights movement lead to a more diverse perspective and understanding of the meaning and impact of the movement itself? 2. From learning more about overlooked figures in the civil rights movement, how can future generations be inspired to perhaps follow the same steps or build their own strong beliefs on what is right? 3. From reading and listening to information on stories from women like Diane Nash, or Claudette Colvin that are not told as much, as they received much less attention and media coverage than others, how can one understand the challenges that women must face when it comes to gender and racial adversity?