D.C. People were tired from a long day of traveling and then listening to hours or speeches.

But the huge crowd facing the Lincoln Memorial applauded a long welcome when the man the most wanted to hear-the reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.-stood up to speak to them.

I have a dream…

-Tricia Andryszewski

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun ? Or fester like a sore-

And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat 

Or crust and sugar over-

Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

Like a heavy load

Or does it explode?
- Langston Hughes

I chose these lines because they explain how important the "I Have a Dream" speech was. It shows how people were excited for the speech and couldn't wait. These lines also shows how dreams in general can go away and never happen, or they can come true. I thought the second part of the poem was well said and took thinking to understand.
 

We Shall overcome. 

We shall overcome someday. 

Oh deep in my heart, 

I do believe 

That we shall overcome someday.”

“We are not afraid.

We are not afraid.

We are not afraid today.”
 -Jamila Jones

“Every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” 

“We will win our pay.

Oh deep in my heart,

I do believe,

That we will overcome someday.”

Now they were somebody else’s property.

They had to do what he told them.

If they didn’t, or if they tried to run away,

They could be beaten or even killed.

Most of Missouri was fighting on the side of the North.

But in the very Southern part of the state,

Slavery was allowed.
Most of his people were uneducated.
Worst of all, they had no hope.

The two  parts of the country were at war.

Despite my book being about George Washington Carver, it also mentions slavery a few times and how hard it was back then. Despite these lines being from different pages, they are all connected to portray one message: freedom. Or at least, the wish for freedom. 

bad won’t be bad forever. and what

is good can sometimes last a long

long time. maybe.. i am thinking.

there is something hidden like this

in all of us. a small gift from the 

universe waiting to be discovered.

somewhere in my brain each 

laugh… tear…  and lullaby becomes

Even silence has a story to tell you. 

Just listen. listen.

I picked these lines for my poem because they were so beautifully written. They pair with the idea of freedom, but I feel like directly talking about it won't have the outcome that I would like, so I decided to do it like this.This poem is about freedom, and how nothing lasts forever, but the good things last longer than the bad. Listen for the silence, and let the memories stay with you forever.

“When individuals are being denied opportunities to participate in political society, they are being denied their civil rights”

“They continued to endure the devastating effects of racism”

“Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them”

“Battled racism and discrimination”“Decided to take a stand”

“It came to an end”

“But today, many thousands graduate from college” 

“High-level positions as doctors and lawyers”

The world unrolling like a carpet in front of my feet. 

The sun hasn’t come up, but you get that feeling that it’s out there,

Somewhere,

Lingering, like a promise.

And nothing changes, except everything.

And the bus just rolls into the lightening sky. 

It made everything worse, the way she fought it. 

Mom talked a good game about the power of blackness

But she knew that the white world held even more power. 

I used to think things were different, because Papa used to tell me stories

About all the great things I could be and could do

How mighty this brown skin was. 

It is like hurting in retrospect

Each repetition of it a pinprick. 

A thousand tiny stabs, felt all at once. 

But that wasn’t the word that hurt most, it turned out. 

The one that sliced me. 

Just.... 

We can rule again; we can overcome,

We could rule when we were on our own, maybe,

But not in this white world.

Meaning:
The deeper meaning of my poem is to convey the progression of Malcolm X’s thoughts as he is leaving Lansing, Michigan to go to Boston, Massachusetts. I choose these lines because they depict what shaped Malcolm X’s view on the issue of equal rights. He thought this way because of his childhood and parents. Also, some lines sound poetic when it comes to describing the setting. 

I never regretted staying behind. 

My mother taught me years ago that black is beautiful

The same folks still had us, had us in chains 

Same sorry situation every season

Now at least I knew that voting was my right. 

There was nothing they could do to me

I was singing for freedom

I was determined 

From this moment on I would never give up 

I knew i needed to fight for freedom

The deeper meaning of my poem is all about Freedom and how black people really had to fight for their freedom and all their rights that they deserved.

She taught Rosa to sew, and also to believe in her worth as a human being

This was a life lesson Rosa remembered for the rest of her life

On her way to school, which was only a short walk from home, Rosa had to pass by the new brick school for white children in the center of town

White students rode to school on a bus, but black students had to walk

A wood stove heated the schoolroom, and the biggest boys carried in the firewood

Overtime, Parks and the thousands of others working for equality did see some rewards for their peaceful, patient protests

Providing Black Children with equal access to public education

The run ins with the laws were not lost on her

The deeper meaning of the poem I wrote is that no matter what separates you from other people, if you try and persevere, you can accomplish anything you want. In my poem, it explains how Rosa started out segregated from Whites and eventually brought them together.

Cried out for freedom

Battled racism and discrimination

Separated

Fear of armed racist groups

Continued to fight for equality

Divided by race

Decided to take a stand

Hoped to show the justice

After long and bitter debates

Brutal and savage system

It came to an end

I have a dream

The deeper meaning of my poem is all about what life was like for the African Americans as time passed and it describes how they lived and how they were treated. I chose these lines because they really stood out about the life of African Americans throughout history and the hardships they went through.

Sweat from day time planting and harvesting of produce to peddle 

Sweat from chopping and stacking four hundred chords of firewood

When will I be free

Skin and bones out in the cold night 

Nearly bald from scurvy 

Thirty miles later I made it 

Made it to freedom 

Made it home 

I was free    

The deeper meaning of my poem is what a slave went trough before he was free. I Chose these lines because they stood out to me and it shows how an African American who was a slave followed his dream and had freedom.

The horrifying event gave racial injustice a human face, and pushed more people across the nation to demand civil rights.

But the courage of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement brought a new freedom to African Americans. 

People across the United States watched the stark images of hatred and violence of the segregationists.

There will probably always be ignorance, hatred and racism.

It took the courage of brilliant black leaders.

It took nonviolent resistance. 

Breaking down injustice and racism was a journey that took many steps.

The walls of segregation and racism started to crumble in the 1950s and 1960s because of brave people who were willing to take risks of civil rights.

Our society is better today because of the courageous acts of individuals in the civil rights movement. 

Meaning: There was a lot of injustice and unfairness during the times of segregation and the Civil Rights Movement. My poem tells how African-American activists like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X that helped black people got the rights they deserved.

The abolitionists fought for the slaves

All people living in America, 

Should enjoy the rights to life, 

To liberty, 

To the pursuit of happiness.

For these rights they must remain brave,

Humans will not be sold and traded as property

Human life is not a lottery.

Douglass’s word stirred up the New England crowd,

Change had to be made

Our country would be proud.

We hold these truths to be self-evident is that all men are  created equal.

Martin Luther King jr. had a dream. 

It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

One day this nation will rise up and live it's true creed. 

Until then it was just a dream. 

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony.

With this faith we will be able to work together.

Stand up for freedom together, knowing that  we will be free one day.

Will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Let freedom ring from the hilltops.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring. 

With this faith one day we will sing together... 

“Free at last! Free at last ! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last ! ’’

The abolitionists fought for the slaves

All people living in America, 

Should enjoy the rights to life, 

To liberty, 

To the pursuit of happiness.

For these rights they must remain brave,

Humans will not be sold and traded as property

Human life is not a lottery.

Douglass’s word stirred up the New England crowd,

Change had to be made

Our country would be proud.

That they are stubbornly incredulous whenever they read or listen to any recital of the cruelties

Such wholesale misstatements, such abominable libels on the character of the southern planters!

Scenes of pollution and blood, of the banishment of all light and knowledge

As if all these direful outrages were not the natural results of slavery! 

Than to give him a severe flagellation, or to deprive him of necessary food and clothing! 

As if it were less cruel to reduce a human being to the condition of a thing.


The reason I chose those lines is because they express the pain and suffering caused by slavery. Seeing from the perspective of a colored person who lives through the injustice at that time. The deeper meaning is the cry for a more tolerant and equal treatment of a human being regardless of the skin color. 

Book- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

 

After fleeing his life as a slave, he joined the American-Anti society. 

Some slave owners cared about their slaves.

Crowd says no to protect him.
Some things that Douglass did the crowd was proud for him.
For long times, almost every black person that was in the southern states were stuck in slavery.
Everything was different in the north, almost no one had ever seen a slave.


Meaning:
Fredrick Douglass really was dramatic and us don know what the past really faced. Know this can change the way we see things. Everyone can learn from things that Douglass faced.  This is why I choose Fredrick Douglass and also why I choose these line.  Frederick Douglass by Sharman Apt Russel.

We refuse to believe

that this lonely island of poverty

Is all we have

We see a beacon of light

Through the flames of  withering injustice

One day we will join hands

One day we will be brothers and sisters

We cannot stand alone

I have a dream today

This hallowed spot will soon be filled with freedom

We will join together and sing

Free at last, free at last

MLK was always an activist but he did it in a peaceful way. I chose these lines to show that MLK was a peaceful activists because he never mentioned guns, fights, and any other forms of violence. He believed in peaceful protests. Also this poem is trying to say that someday, all people will be equal and treated equally someday.