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Kofi Annan: Annan
lulturaI I-iteracl'
l{isturl .i\lunth: \\'uriti Ciralrgrrs
April 8. 1938 in Kumas. Ghana, and his life, as his rvork.
is all about inteniationalism. On December 16, 1996, Kofi Annan became the first black
African Secretary-General of the United Nations. When he became Secretary General, the
rvas born
LIN was in trouble financially, and nas losing its influence in the world. Annan reformed
the organization and brought new life to the LrN. Under his leadership, the UN dealt with
several delicate political situations and worked to raise the status of women, Kofi Annon
and the U.N. were jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize in200l
Medgar wiley Evers: Medgar wiley Evers was born on July 2,1925 in Decatur,
Mississippi. He was very determined to get his education, and endured many hardships
throughout his school life. These include walking twelve miles both ways to eam his high
school diploma. Evers and his wife, Myrlie Beasley, established local chapters of the
NAACP throughout Mississippi. They organized boycotts of gas stations that refused to
allorv blacks to use their restrooms, fought against segregated schools and restaurants,
and held voter registrations drives. On June 12,1963, Medgar Evers was murdered. I{is
killer was Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist. It took 31 years before Beckwith
was jailed for his crime.
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Malcolrn Litfle: lvlalcolrn I-ittle was the son of Earl Liltle u'ho \\,as an activist that
looked up to tl're leacl'rings o1'l\4arcris Garvev, and serv'ed in the Liniversal Negro
Improvement Association (U.N.l.A.). Malcolm spent his eariy childhood listening to his
father and learning to speak out on what he believed. Unfortunately, though Malcolm's
father died in l93l in a so-called "freak accident." His father was supposedly run over by
a trolley. But many believe that he was murdered. After the death of his father, Malcolm
began to get in lrouble, and rvas jailed at age 20 lbr br-rrglary,. -I'here, in prison, is rvlierc
lvfalcohn began his jor-rrney,toward the life of a Muslirl and u,ould eventually adopt the
name Malcolm X. After his release, he began to fight fbr civil rights, "by any means
necessary." FIe starled the "Black Panthers", a revolutionar),group of educated blacks
who took up arrns against a cause they believed was worth dying for,
Nelson Mandela: Manclela was raised in South Aliica under the apartheid systern of
g(.lverlllllelll . rr'hct'tt dli nLin-t rrttt o1-lh,: rrronr] \\'alr--r 1-r'rrnlairt ntill-.1 lrc1 \()lt thror',n inlo
.jail. or u'iret'e,r nt.ill urighl have the \/er)/ szulle.iob as liis neighbor, but because o1'the
coior of his skin, get paid less in a year than tlie other man made in a week. Mandela
became a lifelong warrior in the battle to free South Africa from apartheid. Starting out as
a leader of an underground political movernent called the African National Congress
(ANC), Mandela plai,ed a part in many dramatic demonstrations against the white-ruled
goverrunent. in 1964, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for his vocal opposition to
the governrnent. In 1990. alier 27 r,ears of irlprisonrrent. Ir4andela u,as fieecl. IJis release
nrarkccl thc bcginning o1'thc encl lbr aparthcid. ht le ss than f-rve 1,cars alicr his relcase,
Matrdela rvas arvarded the Nobel Peace Prize and elected president of South Ahioa.
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Sojourncr Truth: Isabella Yan \\/aqncr n'as born into slaver"' l:
ll'.:l:' . \.:" \
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1797. She was one o1 13 childrctt but sire never got to krtow her Dturirrcii.1iid rl5ici)
because they were quickly sold as slaves, She was released follori'ing the New'\'ork
Anti-Slavery Larv of 1821 ho*,ever. slaven,rvas not abolished nititin\\ide for i5 r'ears
She became an outspoken advocate forwomen's rights as well as blacks'rigiits. In 1843,
she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. She became famous in 1851 for her speech at
the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, during uhich slie exliorted the audience
to consider the rights of black women, asking, "Ain't I a rvoman?" Truth also actively
supported the black troops during the Civil War and helped get the goverrlment to give
land to those soldiers. She was also known for her work u'ith Haniet Beecher Stowe and
the Underground Railroad.
Frederick Douglass: Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, but taught himself how
to read and write. Soon Douglass, a gifted orator, was speaking out regularly against
slavery. He gave lectures and became an advisor to President Lincoln during the Civil
War. His relationship with Lincoln helped make emancipation an important cause of the
\\,ar, and he fought to allow African-American troops in the Union Army and thus gain
freedom. After the war, Douglass continued to fight, He helped blacks receive full
citizenship through the Civil Rights Bill and to obtain much needed medical and
educational services throush the Freedom's Bureau Bill.
1820 on a lt4arl,land plantation. starled
to rvork at fir,e. Slie first showed her bravery at about the age o1'thirteen when she
stepped in the path of a two-pound weight tluown by an overseer at another slave.
Because of the traumatic blow to her head, she suffered from headaches and blackouts for
the rest of her life, Tubman eventually ran away from the plantation to Pennsylvania and
began helping rescue other slaves through the Underground Railroad. During her
lilctime, site tnade over eightcen trips to the South rescuiug more than thrcc liurtdred
slaves including all her family. Even during the Civil War, Harriet was a nurse. spy. and
scout, though she did not get any pay for more than thirty years.
I{arriet Tubman: Harriet Tubrnan. born around
Kimmie Weeks: At age 8 Kimmie Weeks was a normal boy living in Liberia, West
Africa. By age 9, in 1989, he rvas in the midst of his country's brutal civil r.var. He saw
friends and family killed, others taken up as child soldiers, and even more die or become
gi,,.l1l1 rllli--tt-1 bl fintinc ltd tlis,-'.tsc. inclLr,-llnt ltints,,'11'. K-illttl,,'l,t,ttt l-.,i \,'l r,'l''ll,'
Iruture, Libenas llrst child rigiits advocacl and huurauilirtian orgauizatic-,tt rtttt br \Lrtlll{
people. At age l5 he launched the Children's Disarmament Campaign, working with
LTNICEF to help end Liberia's civil war and to disarm the estimated 15,000-20,000 child
soldiers caught in the midst of it. At age 16, when the disarmament occurred, Kimnrie
then created Liberia's first children's inforrnation service, The Children's Bureau of
Information, which "worked to reintegrate former child soldiers into the community."
Kirnmie had to f-lee to America because the Afiican rnilitia tried to assassinate hirri. hut
plans 1o rcturn to cotrtinue his lr'ork rvith thc children o1'Alirca.
Oprah Winfrey: Born in Mississippi, in 1954, Oprah grew up experiencing poverty and
inequality first-hand. There were no bathrooms in the house, no running water. The
F
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familv gre\\ their ou'n vegetables so that thel'rvould have food to put on the table' At age
six, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to stay with her mother, who was living on
welfare. Oprah r.vas raped at age nine, and then endured more sexual abuse from her
cousin's bo1'friend, She quickly became an out-of-control and promiscuous adolescent.
By age 14, she was pregnant and homeless, and so she was sent to live with her father,
Vernon Winfrey. Vernon was strict; but his tough-love tumed his daughter's life around"
After Oprah began hosting her own tv show, she began to promote literacy tkough her
book club; she initiated a National Child Protection Act to establish a national database of
convicted child abusers, which President Clinton signed into law in 1993; and established
The Oprah Winfrey Foundation to empower women, children, and families through
education. On January 2,2A07 , Winfrey spent 40 million dollars of her own money to
open the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa for girls who come from
poor, impoverished families.
Paul Rusesabagina: On April 6,1994, a 100-day run of terror and genocide took over
the already divided nation of Rwanda. The two ethnic groups of Rwanda-the Hutus and
the Tutsis-had long been at odds with one another. The genocide began when Hutu
extremistS began kidnapping Tutsis from their homes and killing them' Paul
Rusesabagina, (considered a Hutu, although he was half Hutu and half Tutsi) the acting
manager for the luxurious Hotel des Milles Collines, took in more than 1200 refugees
into the hotel in effort to save them from the massacre. Despite every death threat, the
loss of n,ater and electricity,, ancl the constantrvatch of Hutu guards, Paul remained
determined to care fbr and protect the 1200-plus people under his watch. When the water
supply was cut off, Paul resorted to the pool to quench the thirst of the people. When the
g*rar cut the phone lines, Paul found one line that they missed. From that phone, he
tade desperati calls to international agencies to help despite threats against his own life'
At the end of the 100 days, nearly a million people were murdered, most with machetes,
but the retugees (mostly Tutsis) under I'aul's protection were unharmed.
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''\tN
"l'
L\ \\'ONl'r\'l
Bv Sojourner Truth
,. in
, - Akron'
r.....- .\r
Ohio
^
Delivered 1851 at the Women's Convention
I
there must be something out of kilter'
Well, children, where there is so much racket
about
oitr,. South and the women at the North' all talking about?
think that'twixt th. ;;;
pr.iry soon' But what's all this here talking
rights, the white *.n tiill be in a nt
lifted over
need to be helped into carriages' and
That man over there says that women
or
Nobody ever helps me into carriages'
ditches, and to have the best place everywhere.
at
And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look
U"ri
any
me
gives
fiu..f
or
mud-puddles,
over
barns' and no man could head
my arml I have ptougtieO and planted,.u,iJ-g*ft.tedinto
man - when I could
as much and eat as much as a
mel And ain't I u *oinunf I could work
and
I a woman? I have borne thirleen children'
get it - and bear the lash as rvell! And ain't
bttt
none
grief'
and *htn I cried ot-tt s'ith my mother's
seen most all sold oii,o ,Lot'.ry,
Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman'/
of audience
head; rvhat's this the'v call it? fmembcr
Then they talk about this thing in the
*l-rispers.,,i,-,tellect;,1 That,siihonel,,What'stliatgottoclorvith\\'omen'srightsor
r'vouidn't you be
but a pint' anci yours holcis a clllart'
ncgroes' rightsJ Il nr1'cup rvont hold
measure fuil?
mean not to let me have my little half
rights aS,men,
he SayS wom-ex can,t have as much
Then that little man in black there,
Where did your Christ
,cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where Jia you' Christ come from?
N1anhad rrothingto do *ithIIiilr'
coine ll'otll'l l.'lpttl Ctrtl arlJ a rvotlratll
r'iorld r-rpsii'lc dou'n all
stror-rg enor,rgh to tltrn thc
*,as
urudc
erer
Cori
\\,ol.nar-]
tiLst
If the
up
abli to tLiril it bliel'' iulJ gct it Light siJc
rlonc. thesc $unicn iogctlicL uughi io bc
let them'
;g;i;i And now they ii asking to do it' the men better
to sa)''
old Sojourner ain't got nothing lnore
Obliged to 1'ou lbr hearirlg t.tlc, aud norv
I