Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 10 February 2011 — Page 9

The Muncie Times • February 10, 2011 • Page 9

Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay: Paul

Author: Stanley Zheng 5th Grade Teacher: Mrs. Newnam East Washington Academy I think bullying is an abnormal way of human behavior, and it discriminates one from the other. I think people should stop bullying because no one deserves to be treated differently. I learned about Paul Robeson's life through many readings, and I discovered his experience of dealing with bullying. Paul Robeson was a victim of bullying. For example, in 1950 his passport was taken away by the U.S. government for 8 years, and he was banned from international public performances and restricted from T.V. appearances at home. Despite having his main income banned, he pushed forward. Robeson campaigned for

progressive candidates, fought for civil rights, wrote literature, and showed evidence to the U.N. Genocide Convention about the U.S. government's failure to stop lynching. Eventually, Robeson successfully argued his innocence to the State Department, who re-issued his passport and admitted their wrong. He would go on to sing and perform to sold-out crowds all over the world. However, his music, performances, and political voice in the U.S. remained limited in the U.S. by major media corporations who declined to produce, broadcast, or distribute his work. While in college, Paul Robeson was active on the Rutgers Debate Team, winning the statewide prize four years in a row through oratorical contests. He sang with the campus Glee Club, but he was not welcomed to trav-

Stanley Zheng

el with the club out of town or to any social events because of the racist climate at that time. He was also elected to the Rutgers Literary Society and the Philoclean Society, but he was not allowed to fully share in all of their festivities. If I had been there when this occurred, I would not have been a bystander. I would have tried to take action. I would have supported him all the way through. When his passport was taken away, I would have gone with him to argue for justice and

stand up and call for support from other people. He must have been upset that he couldn’t do performances for people, and I would have gone to the T.V. company and tried to reason with them. I would have tried to convince them to let Robeson perform on T.V. When he was not welcomed to travel with groups out of town or to any social event, I would’ve persuaded them to let Robeson go. If that didn’t work, I would have helped Robeson create his own club. And when he couldn’t fully share in the festivities, even though he was in the Rutgers Literary Society, I would have complained to them again and again until they let him. Although I'm pretty sure our school is good, there may be some bullying. Bullying can be stopped by creating some punishments for bullying.

Robeson Like my teacher, Mrs. Newnam, says, "When the consequences get big enough, the bad behavior stops." Bullying is wrong and abusive. It may hurt other people physically or mentally or both. People who bully should really stop. The world without bullying would be a better, more peaceful place. Bibliography Moral Heroes. 1 January 2011. The Moral Heroes Staff. 1 January 2011. <http ://moralheroes. org/p aul-robeson>. "Paul Robeson" American Masters. 26 August 2006. American Masters. 2 January 2011. <http ://www.pbs. org/wnet /americanmasters/episode s/paul-robeson/about-the-author/66/>.

Marian Anderson

Alexis N. Arison 5th Grade Grissom Elementary Ms. Jackson I am writing about Marian Anderson. She was an African American girl bom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Febmary 27th, 1897. Marian was bom to John and Anna Anderson. Marian was one of three girls. Her father John worked at the Reading Terminal Market, while Anna her mother worked as a school

teacher. Even though her mother was a teacher she didn’t have a degree so she was only allowed to teach in a black school. In 1912 her father suffered a head injury at work then died shortly after. Marian wanted to focus on music and singing. She frequently sang in concerts at church. She went to high school in South Philadelphia and after graduation she applied at a local music school but was coldly rejected because of her

Alexis Arison

color. She began singing at black churches at a young age and after high school graduation she was invited to sing at several

black events and concerts and it was at this time she started touring at black colleges and churches in the south. She became very successful as an opera singer. In her early career she had performed at an event and was criticized by white reporters saying she didn’t have a nice voice and her performance wasn’t good. This discouraged Marian and almost made her give up her career as a singer but she decided she was going to

fight for equal rights through anyway she could by not letting racism get her down. Not long after high school Marian started touring in Europe. She held many concerts in the United States as well it was here that she faced the most amount of criticism and racism. In 1939 she was faced with racism when she tried to rent Constitution Hall for a concert and was told no dates were available. The continued on page 38