Discourse And The Wider World
...of life for men to see by", says an American educator by the name of Felix Adler. Traditionally, the typical hero has been portrayed as a handsome, young white male. This tradition has been altered significantly, giving birth to a coloured hero fighting for the injustices of racial discrimination.
The movie, "Cry Freedom", written by John Briley and Donald Woods in 1987, and the poem named, "A poem for black hearts", written by Le Roi Jones in April 1965, are texts which open people's eyes to the injustices of this world and the responses to these injustices given by the black communities. These responses were governed by the actions of two coloured hero's. This message of what the texts do can be seen throughout both of these texts by looking at two areas. Firstly, that all humans should have empathy for one another, no matter what race they belong to, however this is not always the case. And secondly, that these texts represent and defend those who are treated unjustly and two men who were victims of this injustice by standing up for their human rights.
The fact that both texts were written as a contribution to two great men of their respected nations, A poem for black hearts about Malcolm X in America and Cry Freedom about Steve Biko in South Africa, make them very similar in some ways, as both men were killed for what they believed in and for being a hero to thousands of people. Both of these texts show the beginning or the foregrounds to issues which are discussed and stood up for in the more contemporary times. Even though many countries have laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, long held beliefs are difficult to legislate away. So, even though today people are not discriminate against as much as they were when these texts were created, society still labels people according to their race or culture.
A poem for black hearts...
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