Phenomenal Woman

The struggle of the civil rights movement, started in 1950, to get in the Act and in fact the end of inequalities between white and black Americans is long.

Desegregation is one of the fights of president John F. Kennedy: at the beginning of the 60s American daily life of the black population is made of inequalities and discrimination in many areas. The fight and the challenge of civil rights movements have finally translated into laws.

Segregation in public places persists

Blacks suffer from many discriminations and exclusions in the public places and services (train, bus) because of segregationist laws - Jim Crow laws introduced in 1876. The segregation between whites and blacks is also practised in some theaters and restaurants. So in 1960, black students in North Carolina, in Greensboro, do a sit-in for six months before a restaurant before they can be served there.

We expect the adoption of the law on civil rights (Civilians Rights Act), signed by president Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, so that any form of segregation is forbidden in public places. But attitudes are slower to change than laws in some places, requiring the continuation of the fight to enforce the Civilian Rights Act.

Discrimination in hiring

Employment discrimination is very real: some jobs are occupied only by whites and remain inaccessible to blacks.

It is the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which puts an end to the discrimination in hiring. This law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion or sex. It also implements affirmative action: employers must ensure to achieve or maintain quotas for hiring for blacks.

The federal Government, since a Decree of March 6, 1961 by president John F. Kennedy, requires programs funded by the federal Government to ensure that employment is not subject to racial discrimination. But in fact the unequal opportunity in hiring is real. And on September 24, 1965, president Johnson signed a decree ordering companies working with the State to take measures of "positive discrimination" to increase opportunities of access to employment for minorities.

Access to the University

Since the Brown of the Supreme Court decision in 1954 the school segregation is forbidden, but access to the University is still impossible in the segregationist States.

Thus, it takes federal intervention to allow James Meredith - first student black enrolled at the University of Mississippi-to integrate the campus in September 1962, framed by the public force. During his schooling at the Ole Miss University, it is protected by federal agents.

Mixed marriages

The laws prohibiting mixed unions between whites and blacks persist until 1967. It is the judgment of the Court supreme Loving v. Virginia that declared unconstitutional the prohibition of mixed marriages

Hardly acquired voting rights

The recognition of the right to vote for blacks is one of the main demands of the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. In theory from 1964 and the signing of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination in the electoral process is over. But the segregationist States prevent this right by tests or taxes. It takes on August 6, 1965 and passage of the Voting Rights Act that authorizes the federal Government to ensure that black people can register on the electoral lists so that it gradually becomes a reality for all black Americans.

Access to housing

Although discrimination in housing is prohibited, it persists in some States because there is no federal provision to check this ban. In 1968, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, color, religion.

Phenomenal Woman[pic 1]

By Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,   

The stride of my step,   

The curl of my lips.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally. [pic 2]

Phenomenal woman,   

That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,   

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.   

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.   

I say,

It’s the fire in my eyes,   

And the flash of my teeth,   

The swing in my waist,   

And the joy in my feet.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered   

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can’t touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,   

They say they still can’t see.   

I say,

It’s in the arch of my back,   

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.   

I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.   

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It’s in the click of my heels,   

The bend of my hair,   

...