Black Boy, an autobiography by Richard Wright, is an account of a young African-American boy’s thoughts and outlooks on life in the South while growing up. The novel is 288 pages, and was published by Harper and Row Publishers in (c)1996. The main subject, Richard Wright, who was born in 1908, opens the book with a…
In the Novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison unmasks the horrors of slavery, and depicts its aftermath on African Americans. The story is perfect for all who did not experience nor could imagine how it was to be an African American in America circa the 1860’s. Beloved lends a gateway to understanding the trials and tribulations…
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued Executive Order #11246 at Howard University that required federal contractors to undertake affirmative action to increase the number of minorities that they employ. He wanted to ensure that minorities were recruited to have real opportunities to be hired and then eventually get a promotion. In 1969, the Department…
There are many economic issues facing the nation today. While some are extremely important in determining how the economy is balanced, others are not. Although this is true, that does not necessarily make these lesser important issues obsolete. Take, for example, the recent issue of corporate leaders matching contributors to the 401(k) plan with company…
It has been a decade in the making, but the mountain bike has become a passion for many people. Along with this passion it has also become the most environmental way to get from point A to B. It has gone through a very intense evolution process over the past decade. It all started with…
The term “martial arts” is a general term used to describe general types of fighting. Most martial arts practiced today came from China, Japan, and Korea. There are hundreds of types of martial arts, each divided into specific styles or systems. Technically, martial arts fall into two categories: percussive, and non-percussive. In percussive martial arts…
Who is known world-wide as the inventor of basketball? His name is Dr. James Naismith, he was born in 1861 in Almonte, Ontario. Most people wonder were a young man would think of a game like basketball. The concept of basketball was born from his school days in the area where he played a simple…
The spectacle of bullfighting pits a man against a charging bull. The bullfighter, called a matador, faces the bull in a large dirt-filled arena that is usually surrounded by spectators. Aided by a group of apprentices, called the cuadrilla, the matador goads the bull into charging at him. A bullfight usually features three matadors, each…
Type II muscle fibers oxidize lactate at a very fast rates. When muscle contraction produces a significant amount of lactate, it is then released into the central circulation of the blood, and within seconds it is made available to that muscle for energy. Therefore, 75% of the lactate produced from high intensity exercise is made…
Since ancient history, many athletes have resorted to performance enhancing aids to give them an edge on their opponents. Greek Olympians used strychnine and hallucinogenic mushrooms to psych up for an event. “In 1886 a French cyclist was the first athlete to die from using a performance enhancer, called speedballs, a mixture of cocaine and…
In the 1960’s, the use of main frame computers became widespread in many companies. To access vast amounts of stored information, these companies started to use computer programs like COBOL and FORTRAN. Data accessibility and data sharing soon became an important feature because of the large amount of information recquired by different departments within certain…
“The beauty that addresses itself to the eyes is only the spell of the moment; the eye of the body is not always that of the soul.” George Sand hit the nail right on the head when he said this in 1872. Appearance versus reality has been a central theme in many American creative works…
Erich Maria Remarque had his novel, Im Westen nichts Neues (In the West Nothing New) serialized in the magazine Vossiche Zeitung in 1928. The pacifist work alienated Remarque from Germany. Ultra-nationalists and Hitler’s propagandists incited the hate of the German people against him. He was burned in effigy in 1933 in the Obernplatz, and his…
Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most well known directors of all time, as he helped perfect the murder and mystery genre. His started his directing career in1925 with “The Pleasure Garden” and ended in 1976 with the film “Family Plot”, and set a standard for all other directors in the film industry. Many techniques…
Alexander Calder was born on July 22, 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. He had an artistic upbringing, as his father and grandfather were sculptures as well. Both of his parents went to Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts. Despite Calder’s artistic upbringing, he didn’t go immediately to art. He first studied mechanical engineering at Seven’s Institute…
Renaissance is Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). We know his life better than the lives of other artists of his time. Dürer traveled, and found, he says, more appreciation abroad than at home. The Italian influence on his art was of a particularly Venetian strain, through the great Bellini, who, by the time Dürer met him, was…
It began in the early 1940’s and to this day still is in many of our lives, even more so then before. It’s the TV that I’m referring to. The TV started only as only musicals on it,. But eventually proceeded up to today’s oriented world, with movies, sports, and violence. Today more than 98%…
Life Summary Adam de la Halle is often referred to as the greatest of the long succession of post Medieval musicians. He was a poet, musician and innovator of the earliest French theater. He became famous for his use of polyphony and his theatrical productions. Adam originally trained for the clergy (the people of the…
Aaron Copland was the embodiment of what a composer can hope to become. Copland was very much in touch not only with himself and his feelings, but with the audience he intended to reach. Very few composers have a concrete idea of what “types” of people they wish their music to reach. Copland was one…
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has been commended for forming the archetypical basis of all horror films that followed its 1960 release. The mass appeal that Psycho has maintained for over three decades can undoubtedly be attributed to its universality. In Psycho, Hitchcock allows the audience to become a subjective character within the plot to enhance the…