First Major Assignment Drafts

Notes on the movie I Am Not Your Negro

• Malcom was a racist
• White cop standing on an African women neck in Birmingham image 
• Wanted Kennedy to assort girl to school to show that the nation is on board but wouldn’t do it 
• Lorraine Hansberry died 
• What’s going to happen to this county 
• “Free only in battle, never free to rest, and he who finds no way to rest, cannot long survive the battle” Baldwin 
• Country doesn’t know what to do with the black population”
• The africans killed were to young to have done anything 
• In 40 years if there good he may be able to before president 
• 1955-1968 martin Luther king
• Medger 1963
• shot to death 
• Malcom 1965
• Got killed 

Early HEROS

• Went home to pay dues in NY
• Taken in by a white shcool teacher, gave him books, took her to plays and films and taught him 
• Never hated white people becuse of Bill Miller his teacher
• He saw heros as white 

WITNESSES

• Medger had him go with him to investigate a murder of a black man 

SELLING THE NEGRO 

• When a black and whiote man says “give me liberty or give me death, the black man will be the criminal and treated as one 
• Trapped in what we would like to be and who we are actually are 
• Different churches 
• Schools are different 
• Kind shot and dead 
• We can still do something that has not been done before, we dont need numbers we need pasion 
• Most peopek that say they care dont care, they care abiut there saftey and proffits 
• Police brutality- rodney king
• “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nithing can bve changed until it is faced”

Today 

• Not the land of the free
• Its the home of teh brave 
• So many shootings 
• Hiostroy is the present 
• We are our history 
• The world was nervous white
• White is a metaphor for power 

Essay Outline

Introduction paragraph:

• Introduce movie: I am not Your Negro Is an insperational documentary created by Raoul Peck. In 1979 James Baldwin started writing a book about Race in American society through the story of three of his friends that were murdered. Sadly Baldwin passed away with only 30 pages finished. Years later Raoul decided to finish Baldwins story with his own words from old materials from baldwin. 
• Identify argument the movie is making: This documentary shows that Baldwin wanted everyone to be aware of the racial inequality in America. While switching between inequality in 1900s to now it shows that we as America still have a lot of work to do and not much has changed 

Body paragraph 1:

• Introduce 1st part of argument: in the mid to late 1900s inequality and racism was a big issue. The 1950s and 60s was the time of the civil rights movement and a time where this issue was at its peak. Baldwin wanted America to understand how greatly affected this country was by all the unfairness with race. There were many points shared in this film that …… Baldwin shared the story of three of his friends deaths that were big turning points for America. These three friends were civil rights activists and were all killed because the stood up for what they believed in. These friends were Medgar Evers, Malcom x, and Martin Luther King jr. these 3 leaders died due to forces that they were trying to change. Kings death was the last out of these three men and it was the death that brought the anger out of the African American people. This anger that was fueled by the deaths of leaders caused people to finally stand up and fight for their rights. 
• Concluding sentence: Most of these issues that people think are resolved by now are still a problem in America today. 

Body paragraph 2:

• Introduce 2nd part of argument: To this day there are still many problems with race and inequality in America. Many of these issues are ones that were never fully resolved over the years. People are always being treated differently depending on their race, this is something that will sadly take many more years to change. Baldwin states that “this is not the land of the free”. This statement sounds very true in society right now. If we were in a truly free country, there would be no mention of racial inequality. Many African American citizens are still being victims of police brutality. There are too many stories of African Americans being shot or beaten by police because they were thought to be “dangerous”, or a “threat”. It’s not only in race that there are issues, a lot pf people in America are messed up. There has been way too many shootings in this country and they don’t seem to be getting any better, just worse. Hopefully all of these problems get resolved in the future, but everyone needs to stand up and fight. 
• Introduce evidence:
• Evidence:
• Analysis of evidence:
• Concluding sentence:

Conclusion:

• Restate claim:
• Concluding sentence:

First draft

Injustice Needs to Change 

I Am Not Your Negro is an inspirational documentary created by Raoul Peck. In 1979 James Baldwin started writing a book about race in American society through the story of three of his friends that were assassinated. Sadly Baldwin passed away with only 30 pages finished. Years later Raoul decided to finish Baldwin’s story with old materials from Baldwin and it was narrated by Samuel L Jackson. This documentary shows that Baldwin wanted everyone to be aware of the racial inequality in America. While switching between inequality in the 1900s to now it suggests that America still has a lot to change before we are truly an equal and free country. 

In the mid, to late 1900s inequality and racism was a big issue. The 1950s and 60s were the times of the civil rights movement and a time where this issue was at its peak. Baldwin wanted America to understand how greatly affected this country was by all the unfairness with race. Baldwin shared the story of three of his friend’s deaths that were big turning points for America. These three friends were civil rights activists and were all killed because they stood up for what they believed in. These people were Medgar Evins, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King jr. All three leaders died due to forces that they were trying to change. King’s death was the last out of these three men and it was the death that brought the anger out of the African American people. The anger that was fueled by the deaths of leaders caused people to finally stand up and fight for their rights. During the Civil Rights movement, there was a great deal of violence. One of the victims of this violence was Rodney King. Rodney was brutally beaten by police officers on the side of the road after being pulled over. This beating was unjust and uncalled for. Rodney did nothing to deserve this. Most of these issues that people think are resolved by now are still a problem in America today. 

To this day there are still many problems with race and inequality in America. Many of these issues are ones that were never fully resolved over the years. People are always being treated differently depending on their race, this is something that will sadly take many more years to change. Baldwin states that “this is not the land of the free”. This statement sounds very true in society right now. If we were in a truly free country, there would be no mention of racial inequality. Many African American citizens are still being victims of police brutality. There are too many stories of African Americans being shot or beaten by police because they were thought to be “dangerous”, or a “threat”. The film refers to Michel Brown who was a 28-year-old African American man that was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. This death brought back that anger in African Americans similarly to MLKs death. Many citizens protested and fraught to get justice for Brown’s death. It’s not only in race that there are issues, there are so many horrific events that happen in America that are big problems. In recent years there have been many mass shootings and this is another terrible issue that needs to stop. This is an issue that affects all races, it is something that everyone can stand together to stop. It shouldn’t even matter what race those awful issues effect, Every citizen should fight for every issue that affects any of their fellow citizens. 

I believe everyone should listen to Baldwin and hear his views on the world. These views and the problems talked about are the ones that affect everyone and America as a whole. Baldwin was alive during the Civil Rights movement and when many racial issues were at their worst. His word is very reliable and should make us want to listen to his experiences and feel his emotion through the stories. We need to stand up for the problems in our country. These issues are the only ones that we can fix. People aren’t going to fight our battles for us, we have to win them and make a change. 

Second Draft

“This is not the land of the free”

I Am Not Your Negro is an inspirational documentary created by Raoul Peck. In 1979 James Baldwin started writing a book about race in American society through the story of three of his friends that were assassinated. Sadly Baldwin passed away with only 30 pages finished. Years later Raoul decided to finish Baldwin’s story with old materials from Baldwin and it was narrated by Samuel L Jackson. This documentary shows that Baldwin wanted everyone to be aware of the racial inequality in America and that it never truly went away.  While switching between inequality in the 1900s to now it suggests that America still has a lot to change before we are truly an equal and free country. 

In the mid, to late 1900s inequality and racism was a big issue. The 1950s and 60s were the times of the civil rights movement and a time where this issue was at its peak. Baldwin wanted America to understand how greatly affected this country was by all the unfairness with race. In the film, Baldwin shared the story of three of his friend’s deaths that were big turning points for America. These three friends were civil rights activists and were all killed because they stood up for what they believed in. These people were Medgar Evins, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King jr. All three leaders died due to forces that they were trying to change. By mentioning the deaths of all three actavists it is scary for people to see how being picked off one by one for standing up for their rights. King’s death was the last out of these three men and it was the death that brought the anger out of the African American people. The anger that was fueled by the deaths of leaders caused people to finally stand up and fight for their rights. This film showed the protests that went on and you could see the anger in the citizens. During the Civil Rights movement, there was a great deal of violence. One of the victims of this violence was mentioned in the documentary, this was Rodney King. Rodney was brutally beaten by police officers on the side of the road after being pulled over for driving under the influence. In the clip that was shown you can see that Rodney was helpless and had no chance against the multiple police hurting him.  This beating was unjust and uncalled for, Rodney did nothing to deserve this harsh punishment. I believe that Raul Peck chose to show the footage of Rodney getting beat up to make viewers emotional and angry. By making the viewers feel this way, Baldwings argument will become stronger and more convincing. Most of these issues that people think are resolved by now are still a problem in America today. 

To this day there are still many problems with race and inequality in America. Many of these issues are ones that were never fully resolved over the years.  Raul Peck takes Baldwin’s thoughts and arguments from the time when he was alive and related it to today’s showing the problems that sill occur. People are always being treated differently depending on their race, this is something that will sadly take many more years to change. In I Am Not Your Negro it shows a clip of Baldwin stating that “this is not the land of the free”. This statement sounds very true in society right now. If we were in a truly free country, there would be no mention of racial inequality. Many African American citizens are still being victims of police brutality. There are too many stories of African Americans being shot or beaten by police because they were thought to be “dangerous”, or a “threat”. The film refers to Michel Brown who was a 28-year-old African American man that was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. This death brought back that anger in African Americans similarly to MLKs death. Many citizens protested and fraught to get justice for Brown’s death. It’s not only in race that there are issues, there are so many horrific events that happen in America that are big problems. We see clips in I Am Not Yore Negro of shootings in today’s society. In recent years there have been many mass shootings and this is another terrible issue that needs to stop. This is an issue that affects all races, it is something that everyone can stand together to stop. It shouldn’t even matter what race these issues affect, every citizen should fight for every issue that affects any of their fellow citizens. 

I believe everyone should listen to Baldwin and hear his views on the world. These views and the problems talked about are the ones that affect everyone and America as a whole. Baldwin was alive during the Civil Rights movement and when many racial issues were at their worst. His word is very reliable and should make us want to listen to his experiences and feel his emotion through the stories. By using Baldwin’s words and sharing some of the important events surrounding race, the film makes the viewers truly understand how bad inequality was In America and how it still affects us. We need to stand up for the problems in our country. These issues are the only ones that we can fix. People aren’t going to fight our battles for us, we have to win them and make a change.