Recent orders
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Name
Professor
Course
Date
Black like me
John Howard Griffin defied all the odds by participating in one of the most daring social experiments ever reported. Black like Me thus exposes the double life of a man whose curiosity led the whole society questioning the situation at the time. The story takes place in the Deep South where race is a predominantly significant factor. At this period in time, the country has just gone through the Civil War and is in dire need of reconstruction. One of the factors that led to the Civil War was the opposition of the slave trade. The war resulted in the South losing to the North thus making the damaging the supremacy of the south. As a result, the white race in the South made the life of the newly freed slaves difficult making it hard to be black in the South. Griffin’s transformation is thus not only seen as a social experiment but a daring act that changed the lives of many.
The purpose of the story is to display the life of the African American through the eyes of a white man. The issue in this case mainly focuses on race which is not only a vital factor in the South but in the United States as a whole. The main characters in the story are John Howard Griffin who enjoys all the privileges of being a white member of the society. He chooses to rid himself of his comfortable state so as to take on the challenge of changing his skin color to resemble the one of a black man. Another character in the book is sterling Williams who represents the black solidarity and strength. He encompasses solidarity despite the levels of oppression he and his community have been accustomed.
The book definitely conveys its message whose theme is based on inequality and oppression the members of the black community face. The fact that Griffin changes his skin shows how significant of a factor race is in the society. At this time, people were judged not on their merit and demerits but on their skin color. This unfair culture thus denies the community their rights and privileges making blacks live in conditions that are repugnant to human life. The author brought out the lifestyle of both a white and a black man by living on both sides of the fence. He kept the reader interested in terms of educating individuals of the need for change and equal treatment in the community. His experience made a significant impact in the social setting of both the South and the North.
The climax of the book is realized when Griffin lets the public know of his six month long journey and the results of his actions. This part of the book exposes the level at which the country is divided. On one hand, his article is met with a lot of enthusiasm from his readers both black and white. This was not long lived in that he received a substantial amount of death threats of the whites in the South.
In conclusion, the 1950s were an important time for the country. The economy was changing from the agrarian system to the Industrial revolution. This changed most of the practices such as slavery which was profitable for the cotton plantations. From the time African Americans were granted their freedom, they experienced a significant amount of social injustice that left a lot to be desired. The African American community engaged in the creation of the civil rights movements. The actions of Journalist John Howard Griffin put pressure for the need for change.
A review of “Dietary Fiber Confers Protection against Flu by Shaping Ly6c-Patrolling Monocyte Hematopoiesis and CD8+ T Cell M
Student’s name
Professor’s name
Course:
Date:
A review of “Dietary Fiber Confers Protection against Flu by Shaping Ly6c-Patrolling Monocyte Hematopoiesis and CD8+ T Cell Metabolism.”
The article is a scientific report on an experiment that illustrates the beneficial outcomes of SCFAs and dietary fiber in protection against infections such as influenza infections. To exemplify this, scientists conduct few experiments on laboratory mice. In the first experiment, they conduct an experiment that shows how the short-chain fatty acids and the fermentable fiber insulin protects against the pathology induced with influenza. The second one shows how short-chain fatty acids alter hematopoiesis by accelerating the bone marrow’s macrophage precursors. In the third experiment the scientists show how the short-chain fatty acids shape the functionality of the macrophage to lessen the damage on the neutrophil-mediated tissue. Ultimately, the last experiment shows how short chain fatty acids enhance the functionality of the CD8 + T cell by altering its metabolism.
An understanding on the beneficial roles that both short-chain fatty acids and dietary fiber have on protecting immunity against infections is very important. From the experiment, it is quite evident that dietary fiber and the short-chain fatty acids have benefits that allow the laboratory mice to control themselves against the influenza infection effectively. Additionally, this involves both dampening and enhancing the immune system’s discrete components such as the immunological tone that is set at a level that allows viral clearance and also avoids excess tissue damage. The scientists also observed that uncontrolled immune responses upon the influenza infection lead to tissue destruction that results in severe mortality and morbidity. However, reducing the neutrophils in the airways in an indirect way, butyrate and dietary fiber prevent both alveolar damage and immunopathology. This was achieved through a mechanism that involves a gut bone marrow-lung that is quite similar to what the scientists described for asthma.
The experiment is quite important as it shows how the effect of short-chain fatty acids and dietary fiber is important in boosting immune systems. It shows how the short-chain fatty acids and dietary fiber can alter the metabolism of the CD8 + T cell to enhance and increase the effector function. Just after stimulation, the CD8 + T cells from the mice fed with the HFD show increased masses on their mitochondria and increased spare respiratory capacity and increased maximal respiration, an indicator of enhanced capacity and capability of using oxidative phosphorylation. Similarly, the glycolytic mass of the mice is increased.
The T cells rely largely on the oxidative phosphorylation pathways so as to produce energy. Therefore, during the effector cell differentiation, cell metabolism switches to glycolysis that enhances the production of metabolic intermediates that are significant for cell proliferation and cell growth. The effector phase is characterized by a high glycolytic rate and the oxidative phosphorylation activities. The effector cells from the mice fed with HFD shows augmented functionality. The CD8 +T cells functional capacity is highly dependent on the availability of glucose and uptake, as Glut-1 is the main transporter of glucose in the T cells that translocate to the surface of the cell upon activation allowing glucose uptake. The mice fed with HFD showed an increased surface expression of the Glut-1, allowing enhance glucose assimilation. The next experiment that scientists should undertake should be conducting a single role of the short-chain fatty acids in preventing infections as they have highlighted a dual role in this experiment.
Black Leadership during Jim Crow’s America
Black Leadership during Jim Crow’s America
Name
Institution Affiliation
Black Leadership during Jim Crow’s America
The author discusses mutual and benevolent aid societies as a component of the internal cultures of African Americans in contrast to a view of these societies as the result of African American response to prejudice after the Civil War.
African American women came together to form political groups, notably the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), which they used to rally themselves against acts of discrimination through racism and sexism. Powerful women of this era, including Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell. Worked towards the uplifting of women of color all across the nation without minding their social class or condition. Other notable figures in the fight against inequality at the state level were Janie Porter Barret and Mary E. Cary Burrell. The latter was actively involved in influential organizations for the advancement of the rights of African Americans, including the United Order of True Reformers, the Women’s Baptist Missionary, and the Educational Association of Virginia. Janie Porter Barrett became the president of the state federation that was founded in 1907 with the aim of coordinating women activities in raising to the highest level of morality, home, and civic life of Virginia residents of African descent. In conformation to its pledge to uplift the morality and spirituality of women, the federation pledged to build an industrial home to rehabilitate “wayward” girls. The activities of these women salvaged the dignity of people of color that had long been destroyed by the white man through unimaginable inequality.
Booker T. Washington was one of the most instrumental figures during civil rights activism at the dawn of the 20th century. He believed that African Americans would be liberated and enjoy full citizenship by achieving economic independence. He also went ahead to call for African Americans to halt their demands for civil rights in pursuit of financial freedom. This was the worst idea during a time like that as it was the time for colored people to stand for their rights as provided in the constitution as well as challenging laws that were not accommodating. His advocacy for education consisted of the idea of vocational training for African Americans with the belief that practical skills would allow the people to better their communities. He was not for what he termed “mere book learning.” Washington was, however, wrong with his idea as it meant keeping African Americans at the bottom of the hierarchy as vocational skills did not consist of leadership roles. It confined African Americans to working manual jobs like it was during slavery. Critics like W. E. B. Du Bois challenged this thought as African Americans required both economic independence and civil rights to achieve total liberty. The education system needed to produce more intellectuals that were vocal about the plight of cloured people as opposed to masons and artisans.
Niagara Movement, the NAACP, the National Urban League, and the Tuskegee Machine were political movements that advocated for the rights of the people of color. The Niagara Movement and the NAACP were based on the belief that people of color needed education to free themselves from the inequalities presented by Jim Crow America.
However, the Niagara movement and the rest of the movements did not support some sentiments of the NAAC, which were basically the ideas of Booker T. Washington. They believed that the NAAC sold the idea that African Americans were inferior to the white man.