Locations and forms of power: how is persecution of the black community a form of power? How can persecution become a force?

                                LOCATIONS AND FORMS OF POWER

        I'm going to talk about the notion of locations and forms of power. First of all, I would like to give a definition of this notion. It's the ability or official capacity to exercice control or authority over others. It can be a person, a group or a nation having great influence over people. The concept "locations and forms of power" includes the differents form of power, the submission or the oppositon over the power. This year in class, I studied several documents about locations and forms of power. In order to illustrate this notion, I have chosen to talk about the persecution of the black community and attempt the question : how is the persecution of the black community a form of power ? How can persecution become a force ? To answer these questions, I will present three documents. The first one is a poeme entitled "strange fruit", the second one is a poeme too entitled "selected poems" and the third one is an article of Andy Grundberg. I have chosen these documents because they show the persecution of the black community.

        First of all, the first document is a poeme entitled "strange fruit". This poeme was sung by Billy Holiday, one of the most popular black American jazz singers. The song is particularly powerful because it refers to nature with positive elements ( the scent of magnolias is the tunning flesh). In contrast, there are references to death. Indeed, the poet uses powerful words to describe the harsh reality (twisted mouth) and uses images (for the rain to gather) which refer to the deep-rooted tradition of racial hatred in the south by the ku klux klan. The ku klux kan is a white organisation of United States founded in 1865 which considers that blacks are slaves. She expresses her protest against racial persecution, racism and lynching against black people.

        Then,  the second document is a poem,  entitled " selected poemes", by Langston hughes. In this poem, the poet uses simples words to expres his aspiration to equality and justice and his confidence in the future. He also aims at reaching out to all the black community. He trusts in patience, for black people's rights to be granted. In this poem, the poet uses Harlem renaissance. It's a movement which aims at fighting sterotypes and racial prejudice and achieving recognition through art. But today, this movement is named the new negro movement.

        Finally, the third document is an article of Andy Grundberg which shows a victim of racial discrimination. In this article, we learn that Gordon Parks is the first African American to work as a staff protographer for "Life" magazine and the first black artist to produce and direct a major Hollywood films in 1969. Gordon Parks was a victim of racial discrimination himself and thanks to a camera, he used as a weapon against poverty and racism and thus expressed his anger at social inequity.

        To conclude, the notion locations and forms of power was illustrated by these three examples. Indeed, in the first two documents, they are poignant words which refer to persecution to a black communities by a group like the ku klux klan. It's so a form of power. And in the last document, there is a testimony of Gordon Parks that shows that one can get out of it. So for him, the persecution has been strength. Today, the persecution of the black community is less visible especially in America. Indeed, from 2009 a 2017 there was a black president named Barack Obama.

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