Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Frequencies and Relative Frequencies in Histograms

Frequencies and Relative Frequencies in Histograms In the construction of a histogram, there are several steps that we must undertake before we actually draw our graph. After setting up the classes that we will use, we assign each of our data values to one of these classes then  count the number of data values that fall into each class and draw the heights of the bars. These heights can be determined by two different ways that are interrelated: frequency or relative frequency. The frequency of a class is the count of how many data values fall into a certain class wherein classes with greater frequencies have higher bars and classes with lesser frequencies have lower bars. On the other hand, relative frequency requires one additional step as it is the measure of what proportion or percent of the data values fall into a particular class. A straightforward calculation determines the relative frequency from the frequency by adding up all the classes frequencies and dividing the count by each class by the sum of these frequencies. The Difference Between Frequency and Relative Frequency To see the difference between frequency and relative frequency we will consider the following example. Suppose we are looking at the history grades of students in 10th grade and have the classes corresponding to letter grades: A, B, C, D, F. The number of each of these grades gives us a frequency for each class: 7 students with an F9 students with a D18 students with a C12 students with a B4 students with an A To determine the relative frequency for each class we first add the total number of data points: 7 9 18 12 4 50. Next we, divide each frequency by this sum 50. 0.14 14% students with an F0.18 18% students with a D0.36 36% students with a C0.24 24% students with a B0.08 8% students with an A The initial data set above with the number of students who fall into each class (letter grade) would be indicative of the frequency while the percentage in the second data set represents the relative frequency of these grades. An easy way to define the difference between frequency and relative frequency is that frequency relies on the actual values of each class in a statistical data set while relative frequency compares these individual values to the overall totals of all classes concerned in a data set. Histograms Either frequencies or relative frequencies can be used for a histogram. Although the numbers along the vertical axis will be different, the overall shape of the histogram will remain unchanged. This is because the heights relative to each other are the same whether we are using frequencies or relative frequencies. Relative frequency histograms are important because the heights can be interpreted as probabilities. These probability histograms provide a graphical display of a probability distribution, which can be used to determine the likelihood of certain results to occur within a given population. Histograms are useful tools to quickly observe trends in populations in order for statisticians, lawmakers, and community organizers alike to be able to determine the best course of action to affect the most people in a given population.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Statement Example I have always paid a great deal of attention towards my educational realms and this is the reason why I have attained the best out of my knowledge thus far. I have successfully completed my Bachelors of Finance from College of Business Administration in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with a GPA of 4.49 out of 5.0. I learned the basis of finance and how the world of economic disparities have brought to the fore the understanding of business and its related realms. I have become prone to finding out the goodness within the financial ranks as well as discern the negativities which have plagued the system. I believe that my education has opened up my pathways as now I can see life as it is, and determine where I am right and where I have gone wrong with the advent of time. This has implicated for my success across the board and has made me who I am with utmost care and attention to detail. I look forward to being a part of the Global Village in the near future through my hard work and dedication. Coming towards my professional background, this has been filled with work experience that I have incorporated for three different organizations. I learned how to give solutions to customers’ hardware, assembly, installation and maintenance processes. I also found out how to work as a team within this job as well as to manage time properly. I tested product and system performance which were geared to enhance solutions towards engineering and technological issues. I developed team working technologies, manage time adequately well, and communicate through the skills that I had learned thus far. My essential role was to make sure that I provided for an efficient and effective administrative support base for the employees around me. I also possess a number of skills which are specially suited to my personality domains. These comprise of the organizational skills like capable of working under strict deadlines and taking on pressure routines; the language skills where I am good at t he native Arabic, fluent in English and basic Greek; the computer skills where I am reasonably sound at some of the more renowned software and operating systems which are present in the market. Seeing myself 10 to 20 years ahead shall always make me feel proud of what I have learned today. I envision success through hard work and persistence and this is the reason why my future is devoted towards some of the more renowned names in the world of business. I have set my aims high while remaining firm on the ground to show my true mettle. I would immensely cherish the fact that I can establish a business for my own self or if I could work within a multinational company as a business developer. But for that I would require a MBA in Operations Management as this will be the basis of my success in the times to come. I am aptly driven at B2B, IPO and M&A, and thus I understand these are significant drivers to bring success towards my folds in the coming times. I would request the authoritie s at the helm of affairs to give me a chance to showcase who I am and what I bring to the MBA program as this is my utmost wish to seek a Masters Degree program under my belt. My interests are more towards project management and/or operations management as I believe these two aspects will ultimately put me on the global map with my complete devotion

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Aviation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Aviation - Essay Example At Miami airport, Jeff Bunting is in charge of airport noise mitigation operations and finds better ways of handling complaints filed by the neighbouring community. He has a great experience working with airports and he once helped New York come up with the best noise mitigation programs for helicopters. Noise management is never a one body role but also involves the federal government and also the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that determines the amount of airspace that a plane can cover to ensure safety. While trying to manage noise at their airports, there should be better plans on how the airport is designed including the flow of the runways. The place where land is acquired for constructing airports should also be well analysed in terms of the direction of flow of wind. This not only controls the landing and taking off of planes, but also minimizes the noise that reach community if well structured. Pilots and other stakeholders in airport operations should ensure that th eir planes have fitted noise management equipment from their manufacturers (Young & Wells, 2011). The NPIAS is a body authorized by the FAA and its main purpose is to make sure that public use airports are offering the best services by ensuring safety of its passengers. This body even checks for the safety of landing grounds for helicopters, including airports that are part of the NPIAS. Airports registered with NPIAS must meet some requirements including the fact that it should possess a minimum of ten aircraft within a period of five years and a potential sponsor who might take charge of the airport and develop it (Young & Wells, 2011). On the other hand, the National Airport System Plan (NASP) has the responsibility of assessing the factors to be considered when improving airport facilities. The two organizations are closely linked because NPIAS evolved from NASP so their main purpose tends to be airport services improvement. However, NPIAS is determined to bring change

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Communication in careers, and The Self Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Communication in careers, and The Self - Essay Example I thought he is the right candidate for he is very friendly and open in his views. I was also interested in how hospitals are run; and Paul’s experience in this domain made him the ideal candidate. Paul is 47 years of age and works as a Human Resources Manager in a private hospital and what follows is the interview I had with him. Q. What were the greatest challenges you’ve met in your career so far? A. That’s an interesting question, for there is no straight-forward answer to it. I’ve risen to the current position as a HR Manager through a lot of hard work and perseverance. I began my career as an office assistant in a private hospital. From those humble beginnings I’ve now risen to a position where I am completely responsible for ensuring proper management of Human Resources in the hospital. It has not been an easy ride. There were times when I seriously doubted my compatibility to the profession. There were phases in which the monotony and drudge ry of work got the better of me and I seriously thought of quitting. In this respect, the biggest challenge I faced was finding creative ways of making work interesting. And by successfully managing to do so, I learned to apply creative thinking in other facets of life too, which is again a rewarding experience. Q. How important are communication skills to be a successful HR Manager? A. Very important. Indeed, clear and proper communication is essential in almost all professions, but its role is accentuated in the domain of HR. My responsibility as a HR manager is to communicate the vision and mission statements of the organization to all my subordinates. While textual dispersal of this information in the form of pamphlets and brochures is important, it is equally important to convey such messages in everyday interactions. In my years of experience, I learnt that leading by example is the best way to communicate the core philosophy of the hospital. In the private hospital that I wor k for presently, this philosophy is to put the interests of the patients ahead of profits. So the accounts department is notified of this priority, and thereby they are a bit lenient in billing patients from poor backgrounds. Q. How do you manage to make team members work in unison? A. I understand the importance of team ethic and try to inculcate it into my team members. There is an inherent contradiction here, for employees join the organization for fulfilling their personal needs, wants and aspirations. It would then be necessary that such personal motives do not overpower the needs of the hospital; and that employees try to synchronize their goals with that of organization’s goals. My job as a HR manager is to help them in this process, by suggesting and showcasing common ground between these two seemingly opposing tendencies. Q. What is the biggest change you’ve seen in communication methods and mediums in the last twenty years? A. There has been a tremendous chan ge in the way communication takes place these days. When I started out, telephones were the cutting edge in communications technology. But so much progress has happened since then. Today, we integrate personal medical records of all patients into an online-database, which can be cross accessed by physicians down the line. Technology has affected the diagnostic and prognostic procedures as well, making the quality of healthcare much improved.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

A Study On Television Studies Media Essay

A Study On Television Studies Media Essay Television is that fantastic media phenomenon that provides us with pursuit at the click of the remote after a long day at the office; the cultural artefact that we can all relate to in one way or another. A large majority of us have our ‘favourite, ‘must-see programmes that we religiously tune into; others simply choose to flick through the channels in hope of finding something ‘worthy of viewing; while many consciously choose not to watch certain programmes as they dislike them- chances being that their friends and colleagues will be talking about that programme the next day, making it almost impossible to be excluded from the discourses of social ideologies and construction that television presents. Each individual produces diverse reactions to television footage; whilst considering the representation of society through television media and flow, only we can conclude what we make of said footage, providing our own encoding of the text, thus possibly coming to a different supposition than another viewer of the text. Meanings are appropriated to the audience in different ways- meanings which are actively produced by the text- and whether we choose to agree with proposed meanings directly affects our own identities and representations. Firstly I am going to consider how far television is aiming to re-produce human identity and to what extent output creates and reinforces ideologies of UK culture. I will discover how genres of programmes can have a diverse impact on the ways in which we see representation in the UK. Using Baudrillard I will revise how ‘reality television can persuade us to conform to a new identity and representation. I will uncover how representations are obtained, and how these might be understood by the audiences. I wish to discover how constructed ideologies have forced us to accept specific cultural norms and values, and how television might reinforce this theory. I will also examine how, through the use of language and signs, media representations are understood in UK culture enabling me to gain a broader perspective on how such issues are reflected and how they may influence UK identity today. Using the theories of Hall and Saussure, I will discover how the use of a common understanding of representations enables us to construct identities today. Finally, I will look at how social class and sexuality are portrayed in television; my reason for this is that not are these matters an extremely apparent dynamic within television output, but it will enable me to correspond to Marxist theory, which I believe hold valid views to the links of power, social class and representation, allowing me to summarise how television output reflects representation. . When considering how evocative television is in the representation of the UK, many points have to be measured. Firstly we have to deliberate what the term representation essentially means. Marsen (2006:12) states: ‘A representation is a constructed pattern or design that describes or stands for something elseA representation could have a likeness with its object or it could be abstract. Language is to a large extent representational because it creates the object that it describes through words. Marsen is virtually saying that we construct representations through the discourses of language and dialect that we use in the UK. Relating this to the output of television, it erects the question towards what extent the system of signs within the TV flow represent how we perform as a society; investigating the theory that through the use of our common English language, this holds the basis of our cultural knowledge and understanding. I will begin by familiarizing Stuart Hall in my essay as I believe his theory of interpretation justifies the reasons behind why we study representation, relating to television output. In his book ‘Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, (1997), Hall introduces the theory of the ‘circuit of culture in which ‘meaning is constantly being produced and exchanged in every personal and social interaction in which we take part, (3). New meanings are being created from the basis of language narratives in the media- establishing unique representations and ideologies. Lyotard (1979:32) states, ‘the narrative function is losing its functors, its great heroes, its great dangers, its great voyages, its great goal. It is being dispersed in clouds of language narrative elements- narrative, but also denotative, prescriptive, descriptive Hall (1979) continues with the concept that meaning is also produced by mass media, circulating meanings between different cultures. ‘Meaning depends on the difference of opposites, (235). We recognise binary oppositions to define the diversity of representations within the world, thus have the ability to compare and criticise what would not seem a standard representation on UK television. This connects to my initial hypothesis that television representation is reflective on the ideologies we carry out today; not only through the distinctiveness that we ‘conform to reflected as an ideology in mass media, but these identities are constantly being re-produced, questioning whether we are also changing to be involved in such identities, thus feeling part of a society. ‘Visual signs and images, even when they bear a close resemblance to the things to which they refer, are still signs: they carry meaning and thus have to be interpreted, Hall (18). How signs are decoded by the audience of the UK varies through individual interpretation; television can only produce selected images and sounds, and therefore it could be argued that it eliminates the viewers reality, instead providing a representation securing passivity of the audience. ‘One characteristic of the symbol is that it is never wholly arbitrary; it is not empty, for there is the rudiment of a natural bond between the signifier and the signified, (Saussure, 1966:68). Through the uses of encoding and decoding, connotations and denotations of texts, as a nation it could be said that because of language, we have in common a general understanding of the mediated construction of representations within television. There are so many portrayals of identity throughout the UK today such as gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality and social class (to name a few), that it is almost impossible to summarise these differences into a single generalised point. We have to ask ourselves who is conducting the representation of culture in television today; and what are the aims of the producer in representing certain characters and themes in specific ways. Speaking of how television representations often come across as biased and almost undermining, Williams Williams (2003:67) say ‘in most British television discussions there are indeed some ground-rules, expressed in abstraction in the concepts of ‘fairness and ‘balance, but these are normally dissolved into actual presentation, and given little or no emphasis. What emerges is a representation of the state of ‘informed opinion, with its own internal differences and nuances. Considering the diverse identities that television produces, we must consider what impact this could have on the representational identity of the viewer. ‘Realism in television can refer to an adequate relationship between what television represents and how it is represented. (Bignell, 2004:206). The viewer often becomes involved when watching a television programme. A television drama, for example, often creates a high impact in the emotions of the viewer; through the use of characterising actors to represent the observer in daunting situations, or by representing the character so as to reflect the lifestyle of the viewer. An example of a realist drama is the 1960s hit ‘Kathy Come Home, directed by Ken Loach; in an attempt to reflect the daily life of urban UK, it represented the experiences of ‘everyday. Drama constructs and mediates a sense of everyday identity. Issues such as the time and channel that the programme is presented on; the ‘target audience of said programme or its definitive place in the television ‘flow can also provide theories into how television output reflects UK representation. ‘Whereas representation attempts to absorb simulation by interpreting it as a false representation, simulation envelops the whole edifice of representation itself as a simulacrum. (Baudrillard, 1981:6) From this quote, Baudrillard (1981) is almost suggesting that although television reproduces representation of ideologies so as not to constantly repeat to the viewer; the repetition of ideologies withholds the notion of representation to the audience, therefore ideologies must be repeated and representations constant in order to keep the viewers understanding of ‘common culture. We recognise and acknowledge certain connotations that we distinguish in UK culture as representations. As Thornham Purvis (2005:134) state, ‘regardless of social class or gender, sexuality came to be seen as the single-most determining aspect of personal identity. Media output has often been underpinned by a heteronormative ideology. Sexuality is often a definitive aspect when it comes to presenting identities; take a look at how homosexual characters are stereotypically presented in genres such as soap operas or comedies; the media often choose to create an identity only representative of cultural ideologies, and therefore does little to reinforce the national representation of homosexuality, as heterosexuality is represented as the norm. ‘We need to see ourselves- all people, not just vanguard intellectuals- as active participants in culture; selecting, rejecting, making meanings, attributing value, resisting and, yes, being duped and manipulated. (Storey, 2006:171). Referring to the quote from Storey (2006), it suggests how the television and the media often successfully attempts to construct our values, feelings and opinions, all through the use of proposing new ideologies upon us, or presenting representations of ambitions we should aim for, and those which we should discard. Therefore, it could certainly be argued that television, in itself, does not represent the UK, but constructs it. Discussing the how similar the representation of the UK in television is to that of ‘real UK life; we must define what we mean by the term ‘real. Reality is such a vague expression when referring to representation; surely we have no definitive proof what reality truly is. The ‘granted centrality of identity as a basis for activity, ideologically inflected reviewing of the arts and the increased stress on the role of the consciousness and culture in our general understanding of why and how things are as they are. (Dyer, 1993:6). Dyer states that the reason we accept representations as they are is because of our cultural understandings through the use of language. Linking such hypothesis to Ferdinand Saussure and Stuart Hall; without language there is no representation; therefore through the commonality of language we can see the ideologies that we maintain uphold our fascination with the media. An example would be the representation of a major celebrity within the media; the media constructs the celebrity as a referent to conform to a certain representation, making them appear in a certain way to the audience, thus objectifying the celebrity. When we see a photograph of said celebrity in a magazine, it is not the actual person that we are seeing; it is a representation of that person, shown via text using discourses of ideologies that present a depiction of an identity to the viewer- therefore how can we ever be assured of what reality actually is? An example of the representation of reality is through the use of documentaries and reality television series such as Big Brother, in which the audience can become actively involved in the production of the show itself. Ideologically represented as ‘truthful, reality television is still not complete real life- people are aware cameras are being used- and even if they did not know this factor, the definitive fact is that through the theory of ideology, we cannot be sure whether we construct what we deem to be representations of ourselves or we simply conform to expected ideologies, and therefore are never ‘ourselves. Documentary on the other hand offers what seems to be contact with the real world which has been dismembered via representation. However, documentaries are still a representation of reality; what we must also consider is that there will never be one collective view from an audience, an audience must always be assumed depending on their social context within society. Using Baudrillards Intervention theory (1981), he speaks of a simulacrum in which he calls the ‘hyper-real, of which there is no original. Representations of experience are mediated to the audience through the use of imagery; television strives for ‘reality, reproducing identities and new found representations of how we should live our lives. Individuals then consume lifestyle produce that equate with that ideological representation. The media produce an ‘ideal for the masses to conform to. Contrasting to this is the Marxist viewpoint in which it is argued that television is in fact constructed around the framework of social order; therefore the knowledge and power dynamic patterns often shift between social classes, thus reinforcing representations. Caughie (2000) speaks of such an instance in new found television drama introduced post 1956, where the central theme was focused around the dislocations of class ability. Caughie (2000:85) states ‘It was a generational identity that seemed new to television, drawing on the culture of commitment and experiencing at first hand the contradictions of class. This occurred right up until the first screening of Coronation Street in 1961, thus offering the fact that social class representations were indeed purely reinforced by the media. Althusser (1984, cited Purvis Thornham, 2005:75) speaks of television acting as a ‘hailing device towards the audience that is difficult to be separate from. Television interpellates the viewer in such a way that it is difficult for them to turn off, transforming the viewer into a subject shaped by an ideological process of representation. ‘The image which Marxism offers of capitalism is that of a system frozen in its fixed modes of representation, yet mobilising a desire which overturns all representation, (Eagleton, 1996:61). Representation of class then, through the eyes of Eagleton (1996) is one which is not only an ‘out of date Marxist theory, but is portrayed in the media in such a way that we can no longer escape from these ideologies of class; a collective class consciousness that we are all aware of reflected through television. ‘Representation in the mediated ‘reality of our mass culture is in itself power; certainly it is the case that non-representation maintains the powerless status of groups that do not possess significant material or political power bases. (Seiter, 1989:131). Relating this quote to Marxist theory and hegemonic social class; through hierarchies, Seiter is stating that in television, the ruling class- the bearers of existent supremacy- do not request mediated evidence, whilst the working class- those at the lower stance of the hierarchy, are relatively ignored by the media. Prohibiting and insertions of such class judgements holds a direct influence on how we view and decode the representations we are presented with in television today; creating a paradigm where identities and representations are obtained, mediated and reproduced by the viewer. After examining how representative UK television output is of the identities of the UK itself, I have come to a number of conclusions. Although television often attempts to construct a believable representation of society as it is today, the way that such representations are interpreted depends entirely on how the audience choose to decode the text. Programme producers constantly need to conjure up new ideas so to keep the general audience interested- this could mean producing new formations of representations that use unexpected ideologies; producers are in competition with one another to cater for the audiences acquired taste; by playing on representation stereotypes or reinforcing previously implemented ideologies, it involves the audience in some way. Siegler, (1994, cited 2000:23) states on the bearing of television programmes, it is ‘what makes the whole thing very precise and empirical, and at the same time totally absurd and unpredictable that captures the viewers attention. Using the theories of Hall and Saussure, I can see how the cultural understanding of language is vital in understanding how representations can be formed and perceived in contemporary society today. Not only is this relevant in the way we subsist our lives, but is also extremely evident in the production of television programmes. UK television output changes with society; when new ideological norms and values are absorbed, television attempts to reflect this. Relating this to postmodernism, we can contemplate the fact that television not only reflects ideologies created by culture, but enforces brand new ideologies, forcing additional representations to be formed. Lyotard (1979:39) sees postmodernism as ‘an internal erosion of the legitimacy principle of knowledge. Therefore, it is questionable whether postmodern television presents a welcomed world of new representations, or whether it simply offends our already imposed knowledge of ideologies, creating new identities. He continues, ‘if we accept the notion that there is an established body of knowledge, the question of its transmission, from a pragmatic point of view, can be subdivided into a series of questions: Who transmits learning? What is transmitted? To whom? With what effect? (48). This clarifies that it is impossible to know how the audience will decode certain television texts thus ultimately it is questionable as to whether television both reflects and produces representations in the UK. Arguably, I can see to an extent how representations are used to reflect a certain stance on society, but at the same time, using the Marxist theory of social class, I can see how representations can sometimes be enforced negatively, and the viewer can either choose to accept and believe it, or oppose it. Overall, I can say that television output in the UK can sometimes represent the UK to a certain extent, through the notion of conforming to certain ideological expectations and values. However, in many ways, it creates false representations of identity and confirms stereotypes, promoting certain feelings and creating a false ideology towards the viewer. Reality television also emits false representations of the UK, as it is never real; it is only an edited representation of what we think is real. UK television therefore is the main bearer and producer of representations within the UK. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baudrillard, J. (1981). Simulacra and Simulation. U.S.A, The University of Michigan Press. Bignell, J. (2004). An Introduction to Television Studies. Oxon, Routledge. Branston, G., Stafford, R. (2006). The Media Students Handbook. Oxon, Routledge. Caughie, J. (2000). Television Drama: Realism, Modernism and British Culture. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Creeber, G. (2001). The Television Genre Book. London, British Film Institute. Dyer, R. (1993). The Matter of Images: Essays on Representation. London, Routledge. Eagleton, T. (1996). The Illusions of Postmodernism. USA, Blackwell Publishers. Gitlin, T. (2000). Inside Prime Time. Berkeley, University of California Press. Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London, Sage Publications. Lyotard, J.F., (1979). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. U.S.A, University of Minnesota Press. Marsen, S. (2006). Communication Studies. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. Purvis, T., Thornham, S. (2005). Television Drama: Theories and Identities. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan. Rushton, D. (1993). ‘Citizen Television: A Local Dimension to Public Service Broadcasting. London, John Libbey Company Ltd. Saussure, F. (1972). Course in General Linguistics. U.S.A, Open Court Publishing. Seiter, E. et al. (1989). Remote Control: Television, Audiences Cultural Power. London, Routledge. Storey, J. (2006). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction: Fourth Edition. Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. Williams, E. Williams, R., (2003). Television: Technology and Cultural Form. London, Routledge.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Effectiveness of Sex Appeal in Advertisement Essay -- Sex Media Ad

The Effectiveness of Sex Appeal in Advertisement Sex is everywhere. It's in every magazine, on every television station, and in every movie. Sex appears in advertisements for everything from shoes to food to computers. It is understandable why advertisers use sex appeal since it sets their ads apart from the countless others. Ads with sex can be more memorable, but sometimes too much sex overpowers the ad, drawing attention away from the brand. Overdone sex appeal can offend the target audiences, therefore causing the ad to be ineffective. Sex in advertising also tends to stereotype women and be bias towards men. Overall sex appeal can be effective if used in the correct context, but can also render the ad ineffective if overdone. Many advertisers view sex appeal as one of the most effective marketing practices today. In the endless number of advertisements out there nowadays, ad agencies are desperate to have their ads stand out. Several research studies have found that sex appeal in advertising is attention-grabbing, likable, arousing, and memorable (Severn, B...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Civil Rights/Secret Life of Bees

Bridget Baker Mrs. McQuade Period 2 4/10/12 Racial Discrimination and Segregation In 1619 the very first African Americans arrived in America, coming over for the purpose of forced slavery. It’s been nearly four hundred years since then and African Americans are still not treated completely equal. But throughout the years major steps towards equality have been made and as a whole the United States is close to reaching this goal. The first key action taken was abolishing slavery in 1865, but African Americans didn’t start gaining equal rights until 1955 during the Civil Rights Movement.The African American Civil Rights Movement aimed to eliminate all racial discrimination and segregation in America and demonstrated throughout Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of the Bees. In America, African Americans were not only treated unequal, but looked down upon to the majority of whites. The Civil Rights Movement was from 1955 all through 1968 and was carried out through bot h violent and non-violent acts with the support of leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. MLK Jr. tood on the side of non-violence, believing that by getting the public’s attention to how blacks were being treated there would be a sense of sympathy and change of heart towards African Americans. During one of the non-violent protests, March of Washington, MLK Jr. gave the famous â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech to 200,000 civil rights supporters who were gathered at the front of the Lincoln Memorial, stretched past the reflecting pool. In this speech he said, â€Å"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. † These were some of the most powerful words during the Civil Rights Movement and exposed to the people the true hurt blacks felt. MLK Jr. s approach was very successful in the gaining freedom from oppression by white Americans, but Malcolm X also contributed to the movement. Malcolm X believed more in black supremacy and not as strongly about white and black integration.Though some views were different than MLK Jr. ’s, the overall idea was the same, which was shown in his famous â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet† speech saying, â€Å"Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth. Malcolm X talks about the human rights, which includes all races. With the help of leaders like MLK Jr. and Malcolm X, the nation focused on civil rights for African Americans, and slowly began to improve. With each year more rights, such as voting, were given to all blacks and the amount of segregation rapidly decreased. Some racial discrimination still exists, but has reduced majorly since the African American Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement is such a significant part of America’s history that it has been an influence in books, movies, and much more.For example, in the novel The Secret Life of the Bees by Sue Monk Kidd black racial discrimination and segregation are exposed. The story is about a young white girl, Lily, who is raised mostly by her nanny and housekeeper, Rosaleen, who is African American. The first obstacle of racism that is shown is when Rosaleen is finally given the opportunity to vote after new law changes, but is taunted by white men on her way and is thrown in jail when she retaliates. Next, Lily finds herself in the house of three African American sist ers, seeking a place to live her.While contemplating lettering her stay, one of the sisters stress, â€Å"But she’s white†¦ â€Å" (Kidd 87). Though it seems as if it’s the white girl being discriminated against, but in reality blacks know the trouble that this gives themselves and how much trouble they could get in for this. The integration of blacks and whites was not only rare because it was looked down upon, but also because consequences would be given. Lily grows more than a friendship with a young African American and regardless of their feelings it’s nearly impossible for them to become anything more because of the fear of him getting in trouble for it.He explains this to her as, â€Å"Lily, I like you better than any girl I’ve ever known, but you have to understand, there are people who would kill boys like me for even looking at girls like you,† (135). Even those whites willing to integrate could not do it by themselves and during t he Civil Rights Movement it brought everyone together willing to desegregate races. It was not immediate, but racial discrimination and segregation have extremely lessoned. From the beginning of America an ongoing battle with African American discrimination has occurred.In the Declaration of Independence written in 1776 it states, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. † The fight for equality of blacks still is present, even though they are citizens of the United States of America. The Civil Rights Movement was a fight for African Americans to receive the rights and equality they should have been given since day one. Racial discrimination and segregation are what America claims to be against, and it was the Civil Rights Movement that slowly gave the equality to African Americans, as they deserve along with all Americans.