Lizzy Bulla

Mr. Girba/Ms. Link

English 1H Period 4

14 December 2016

Demanding Freedom

Imagine going to school with no racial variety, or going into a restaurant where blacks

and whites were not able to sit next to one another. This was America in the 1900s. Imagine not

being able to walk in the streets with a person of a different color without being shamed. This

was America in the 1900s. However, since that time, that image has changed, but not without a

fight. Some believe that the right to these freedoms should be given, but there is a debate that

these freedoms must be earned. Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights movement leader who

wrote the I Have A Dream speech, Ahdaf Soueif who wrote a diary called Cairo: My City,Our

Revolution, and Charles Euchner, who wrote a A Peoples History on March on Washington

all explain the struggle and battle that come along with freedom. No one is automatically entitled

to anything when born, let alone freedom. Without demanding freedom, respect would not be

earned, the people of the United States would not be united as a country, and the suffering of

citizens who needed freedom would not have been ended.

Freedom is a strong power that should not be given to those who simply want it, but to

those who demand it. By earning freedom, respect is also earned, which leads to success in

people who are affected by that certain freedom. For instance, the leaders the civil rights

movement and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who demanded their freedom and in return were

greatly respected nationwide. King is an example of a significant person in history who

demanded freedom, and along attaining with that freedom, gained respect for both him and the
African-American community. Within Kings I Have A Dream speech, he writes We must not

allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to

the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force (King 59-61). He says this to tell

the audience that they must settle themselves down, and not allow riots or protests to end in

violence or hatred, they must be protests of compassion and love. When he writes this, he

suggests to people of color to stay calm during riots, and not allow themselves to become violent.

He says this to his audience during his speech to convince them to demand their freedom,

because it will gain the black community respect. King also says: In the process of gaining our

rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for

freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle

on the high plain of dignity and discipline (King 53-58). By examining the quote, the audience

is able to assume that King wants them to hold themselves up with pride, and to stay dignified,

and disciplined. Kings quote proposes that readers will gain freedom by first gaining respect,

and will initially gain respect by acting courtly and mannered. Readers can grasp from this text

that freedom will not be given until respect is earned first.

The fight and demand for freedom gave people the opportunity to bond over a common

cause, thus leading them to unite as a whole. In the writing by Charles Euchner, he tells his

audience about the experiences the crowd felt at Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech.

In line 100 of Euchners Nobody Turn Me Around: A People's History of the 1963 March on

Washington he writes, For this one moment, the stubbornness of racism lifts and the people

revel in a moment of integrated community. This quote shows the effect of Kings demand for

freedom on the audience. He says that everybody who was listening to Kings speech, suddenly

united as a integrated community. This quote is important in showing how demanding freedom
unites one another, because Euchner talks about how every single person in the crowd felt united

and bonded towards one another because they were standing for a common cause. In the text,

Cairo: My City, Our Revolution, the author tells about her first person experiences in Egypt.

She writes:

On 28 January, standing at that momentous crossroads, the Nile

behind us, the Arab League building to our left, the old Ministry of

Foreign Affairs to our right, seeing nothing up ahead except the gas

and smoke and fire that stood between us and our capital, we stood

our ground and sang and chanted and placed our lives, with all

trust and confidence, in each others hands (Soueif 76-80).

In her diary, readers can grasp that despite the war the Middle East, people were still able to join

together against one enemy, and stand united as one. People were willing to risk their lives and

fight for their country. This is significant to the idea of the demand of freedom leading to

unification because it shows how everyone in that time period had faith in each other, and stood

undivided against a cause. That cause was their freedom. In both examples, people who were

affected by the lack of freedom given to them, were able to bond through demanding their rights.

Suffering may also result in freedom. As Charles Euchner wrote in his book, Nobody

Turn Me Around: A People's History of the 1963 March on Washington:

Unearned suffering is redemptive. Believe it, and you will fight on-with Martin.

Disbelieve it, and you will be gripped by despair- or the combative,

uncompromising, separatist jingoism of Malcolm. For now, the crowd stands with

King. Even the separatists stand with King, now. For that redemption to happen-to
 change the world-people need to return to their homes to fight and suffer, still

more, for the cause of justice (Euchner 250-257).

In The March on Washington, Euchner speaks to the readers about how suffering results in

freedom. He says that unearned suffering is redemptive, which means that any unprovoked

suffering that the people endure, will surely repay itself. He says this as a way to give hope to the

audience to keep fighting, saying that their suffering will be relieved in the future. In his writing,

Euchner also uses his prior knowledge, For hundreds of years, Jews were held in captivity, as

slaves, in Egypt-like blacks in America. They struggled to maintain their own identity-like blacks

in America. They endured because of their faith in God-like blacks in America. And then one

day, they freed themselves from bondage-like blacks will, one day, as well (Euchner 24-29). In

this quote, Euchner gives proof to how demanding for freedom ends all suffering. He gives past

examples of groups of people who fought for their freedom and in return ended their suffering,

like the Jews and the slaves in Egypt. By looking at the quote, readers can assume that Euchner

was trying to compare the way Jews were treated in captivity, and slaves in Egypt, to how blacks

were treated in America. In the past, Jews were held in concentration camps where they were

tortured and killed and after years of demanding freedom, their suffering was ended. Euchner

compares the Jews to the African Americans to explain to the readers that demanding freedom

will lead to the end of their suffering, just as it had with the Jews during the Holocaust. He uses

this comparison to give hope to the readers, telling them that the demand of freedom will lead to

the end of their anguish.

A common argument against this opinion is that freedom is a God-given right that should

be automatically given to those who want it, however this does not always apply. Freedom is

never entitled to anyone, it must be demanded and earned. Those who are just handed freedom
are able to abuse that power, and use it in ways that are not intended. Freedom should not be

given to those who just simply want it. It should be given to those who yearn for it.

Demanding freedom results in gratitude, the unification of citizens, and an end to suffering.

Freedom needs to be fought for, it cannot be just be plainly given away. Those who want

freedom, will not simply be handed it, because freedom is a strong power that should only be

given to those who demand it.

 Works Cited

Euchner, Charles. from Nobody Turn Me Around: A Peoples History of the 1963 March

on Washington California Collections. Ed. Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago,

William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

2017. 55-68. Print.

Ahdaf Soueif. from Cairo: My City, Our Revolution California Collections. Ed. Kylene

Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack.

Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 73-76. Print.

Luther King Jr, Martin. I Have a Dream California Collections. Ed. Kylene Beers,

Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William McBride, Erik Palmer, and Lydia Stack. Orlando:

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. 48-51. Print.