Mana Lumumba-Kasongo and Phillis Wheatley Profiles - Essay Example

Task Mana Lumumba-Kasongo & Phillis Wheatley Profiles Introduction Phillis Wheatley and Mana Lumumba-Kasongo play a crucial role in considering the role of women in the society and the ethnicity that exists as a result of gender and race. The two women understood the responsibility and rights of female gender in their line of work; hence, faced many setbacks in their career. This unit closely looks at the life of these two women in details, and the challenges they faced in their course of their career. Phillis Wheatley A Portrait of Phillis Wheatley As a young girl, Wheatley was born in 1753 in Gambia Senegal during the colonial period. She was later sold into slavery at a tender age of 8 years as a result of the slave trade, which was a prosperous industry in West Africa. She was abducted from her residence country and ferried to Boston, in North America. Phillis was transported by ships when she was abducted, since that was the main source of transport back then. At the time, settlers bought slaves who helped them in their house hold chores, and Wheatley was bought as a slave by John Wheatley who took her into his home. The Wheatley’s family later gave her a sir name as she could neither read nor pronounce her name. Phillis was given the sir name ‘Wheatley’ according to rule and guidelines governing the purchase of slaves by the government (Moriarty, 4). Wheatley was a bright girl, and she quickly mastered the arts she was being taught by her foster family. She aptly learned English and accepted Christianity as her religion while working at the Wheatley’s home. The family taught her Latin, history and conventional literature as another added skills. Phillis was immensely talented in arts, and she specifically had a passion towards poetry. Her talent and passion for the subject drove her foster family to grant her the chance to study and write. As a slave, she enjoyed her rights, which were unusual for other slaves to enjoy. She partly enjoyed the life and experiences of the settlers as she was taught how to convert and write like the settlers. She grew to like and love poetry, and this was witnessed when she first wrote her first poem ‘A Tale of Two Men Who Nearly Drowned at Sea and of Their Steady Faith in God’ (Moriarty, 12). Her first poem led to her fame as she was later visited by various personalities from the Boston’s family. Phillis through her poetry works visited various nations like England because of talent in poetic writings (Moriarty, 12). Wheatley received a serious set back when the ‘American Revolution intervened’ in her career. The set back impacted negatively on her career as the public resented and stopped purchasing her writings. She also had her asset back when her Mistress Mrs. Wheatley died. Wheatley found herself constantly on the move as her master changed new homes in sequence and later back to Boston. She was entitled to work and serve the Wheatley’s house hold till they grant her own freedom. Wheatley gained her independence when her master and his daughter died that same year. This is because rules were laid down to govern slaves, and they were considered to be free in 2 conditions, either when their masters freed them or died. She went a head with her career and later wedded John Peters, a fellow gratis black man. As a married couple, Wheatley and her husband settled at Wilmington, Massachusetts where they later raised a family. They experienced relationship disagreements and, unfortunately, lost their kids through death. Wheatley was deserted by her husband John who was later arrested for not paying his due debt in time. Wheatley resorted to support herself and her kid by looking for a manual job. Phillis passed away on December 1784 (Moriarty, 26). Mana Lumumba-Kasongo A picture of Mana Lumumba-Kasongo Dr. Mana Lumumba-Kasongo was born in the present day ‘Democratic Republic of Congo’. She had a passion for medicine, and used up most of her life pursuing courses related to medicine and journalism. Kasongo was a physician and a writer who had printed several articles addressing various issues. She studied and graduated with a master’s degree from the Columbia school of reporting. She worked like a journalist for many institutions such as the Style Magazine, and later started her own news paper focusing on the issue that affected the black community in America (McWhorter, 105). Kasongo named her news paper ‘Black Star News’ and she received financial aid from Bill and Cosby. On her tenure as a journalist tackling issues like obesity, she proceeded to pursue a medical degree from Rush Medical School. She finished her degree course from the university in 2006. Kasongo has published various articles, which are circulating in the society. She has constantly talked a lot about ethnicity in her articles (McWhorter, 105). Kasongo was fascinated a lot on issues concerning health care. She constantly addresses the subject of diverting funds way from the needy African health care in her articles. She is also a motivational spokesperson, and she gives out motivational talk to various institutions like universities and colleges. Kasongo has set backs in her careers like the patients disapproves her as a doctor, and is forced to constantly to capture their attention for them to comprehend that she is a doctor. She complains that while working abroad she is victimized as doctor, since she is black in color. Her patients and work mates do not look beyond her race at her doctor’s white coat to convince them of their credibility, but rather they judge her by her looks (McWhorter,105). She set an outstanding example to the conventional women perceive that they are inferior to men Conclusion In reading about the history of the mentioned persons, the two black women discussed are a driving force to the female gender in the society. This is because they ventured and excelled in career opportunities that were formerly subjugated by men. Wheatley in herself depicts the hard ships that women undergo when faced with conflicts like divorce. She stood out singly and fed her family when abandoned by her husband. She also depicts the ethnicity of diverse races and role of women in society. Kasongo is a source of strength to women as she portrays in her careers that all tasks are assigned to both sexes. Individuals questioned Kasongo’s credibility as a doctor, but she succeeded and became a successful doctor. The two Africa women are credible examples of individuals’ achievements working in different environments and situations. They clearly depicts that, in an environment free from biasness, individuals are capable of working and achieving the best. Works Cited McWhorter, Kathleen T. Efficient & Flexible Reading. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print. Moriarty, J T. Phillis Wheatley: African American Poet. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2004. Print. Read More