Thursday, November 28, 2019

Alphonse Capone And His Rise To Power Essays - Five Points Gang

Alphonse Capone And His Rise To Power During the Capone era many mobsters were in power. As Al Capone grew, he began to associate with many different bosses and was in the neighborhood with many mob run gangs. After being involved and associated with these gangs, Capone then joined one, which just so happen to be run by Johnny Torrio, mobster to become leader of the underworld. There were many influences that helped Capone grow and gain until his rise to power as Chicago's most notorious mobster. One of the most common fictions is that like many gangsters of Capone's era, he was born in Italy. "This is untrue, he wasn't born in Italy but was born in New York"(Bardsley 1). "Alphonse Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, of an immigrant family (Al 2). Gabriele Capone, Al Capone's father, was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the United States in 1894. He was a barber by trade and was one of the few who could read and write his native language. He was from the villa of Castellmare di Stalia, sixteen miles south of Naples (Bardsley 3). Capone's mom, Teresina Capone, came to America with her two-year-old son Vincenzo and infant son Raffaele (historical 1). In May of 1906, Gabriele became an American citizen (Bender 26). Al Capone quit school after the sixth grade and associated with a notorious street gang. Becoming accepted as a member. Johnny Torrio was the street gang leader and among other members was the great Lucky Luciano (Al 1). As Capone grew, Torrio gave him more responsibility and Capone soon became apprenticed by him. "On December 18, 1918, Capone married at the age of 19, to a 21 year old Irish girl names Mae Coughlin. A short time later Albert Francis Capone was born to the couple" (Bardsley 8). At the same time this was going on, in New York Johnny Torrio moved all of his operations to Chicago. Torrio's prospects in New York looked dim because Capone was indicted for two murders. He was released when a witness lost her memory, and evidence suddenly vanished from the court. Capone knew that he had Torrio to thank for his fortunes. In 1920, Capone then joined Torrio in Chicago where he had become an influenced lieutenant in the Colosimo mob (Tyler 1). "He moved his family to a home at 7244 Prarie Avenue, Chicago" (Bardsley 11). Capone was later known as a powerful leader as he stole, murdered, and cheated his way to the top of the Mob. He believed he could do pretty much all he wanted, which made him dangerous on the streets. One day came where he earned his nickname of "Scarface". He was in a bar with his fellow mobsters and leaned over to a girl he'd never met before and said, "honey, you have a nice ass and I mean that as a compliment". The girl's brother was sitting next to her and he punched Capone in the face. Thinking Capone disrespected his sister he pulled out a knife and cut Capone's face three times before he grabbed his sister and ran (Bardsley 7). There were many claimed stories about how he received his name but that was the presumably most believable. Capone later found the man and murdered him (Jackson 3). Capone was very grateful to Torrio and is quoted as saying: "I looked on Johnny as my advisor and friend and the party that made it possible for me to get my start" (world Crime 604). A man by the name of "Big Jim" Colosimo was the new under world leader. Johnny Torrio became jealous of Colosimo and wanted his power. Torrio called upon Capone and "Big Jim" Colosimo was killed on the night of May 11, 1920 (World Crime 606). The reason for his death was mostly because the Prohibition Act passed in 1920. The acts forbid alcohol to be distributed to all the saloons in Chicago. Torrio told Colosimo to start an underground that could supply all the Saloons with beer and Liquor. Colosimo refused and soon Capone was to be his executioner. During this time Al Capone actually became a hero to some bar hoppers. Some say that he was cheered at

Monday, November 25, 2019

Riske Vs. Reserved Essays - The Canterbury Tales, The Prioresss Tale

Riske Vs. Reserved Essays - The Canterbury Tales, The Prioresss Tale Riske Vs. Reserved Riske vs. Reserved Women in the 20th century would most likely stand out if she were to be transported back into the time of Chaucers The Canterbury Tales. Women during the 14th century were to be seen and not heard. Their rights in society as well as their role was subordinate to medieval mans. In specifically two tales of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer expresses his opinionated views of the manners and behaviors of women during the 1300s. In the Wife of Baths Tale, Chaucer portrays an extravagant and lusty woman, where as the Prioress is well mannered with a lady like demeanor. Chaucers descriptions of the two characters clearly depict the Prioress and a better woman than the Wife of Bath according to 14th Century standards pertaining to appearance and general manners, education, and their deportment towards men. The manners and appearances Chaucer gives to each of the characters to bring them alive vary drastically. Women at this time did not posses the integrity, potency, and self-confidence to live, travel, and think independently. In the prologue Chaucer says that the Wife of Bath had thrice been to Jerusalem / . . . to Rome and also to Boulogne / St James of Compstella and Cologne (15) which shows the reader that she is not the average subservient female of Medieval society. Also, Chaucer includes that shed had five husbands, all at the church door (15) which indeed illustrates that she is not the archetypical 14th century woman due to the fact that divorce in the era of Chaucer took on a whole different meaning than in todays society where it is a regular occurrence. The Wife of Bath represents the liberal extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the Middle Ages. She contrasts with the typical medieval woman because she is equip with confidence that Chaucer exposes when saying that s he audaciously showed of her best kerchiefs on Sundays. Her radiating self-confidence intimidates men and women alike. On the other hand, the prioress as speaking daintily and naming her as madam. Her manners were well taught withal and she was pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining / To counterfeit a courtly kind of grace (6). Clearly the ambitions of the Prioress were divergent to those of the Wife of Bath. Surely the Prioress would strongly disprove of divorce nor the idea of numerous partners. The Wife of Bath would have looked seen the Prioress as spineless given that the Prioress used to weep if she but saw a mouse / Caught in a trap (7). The Wife of Bath presumably set the trap for the mouse to begin with. Chaucer delicately, hand paints a tenuous woman Prioress while vigorously painting a robust Wife of Bath. Another aspect that separates these two diverse women is their varied educations. If these two women were to enter a bout of scholarly or book smart education, the Prioress would without a doubt outshine the Wife of Bath. However, if the two were evaluated along the lines of worldly or street smarts so to speak, the well-traveled Wife would come out on type. The Prioress encompasses the ability to speak the noble language of French, which in medieval society, places her in a superior class than the Wife of Bath, while the Wife of Baths nature of education acquires no social status. If anything, her conflicting, liberal and feministic ideals drive society away. But, even though the Prioress attended the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe, French in the Paris style she did not know (6). This small but significant detail shows that the Prioress, although well studied, is not with it on the actual happenings of the world. In spite of this nonetheless, being conversant with worldly issues do not gain you elevated social status. While The Wife of Bath did not gain popularity with her wisdom of scholarly issues, she does seem to exhume a good deal of popularity from the male society because of her attitude towards men. Following with the trend of delineation from societys ideals, the Wife of Bath sets her own standards for relationships with men. Chaucer provides no information pertaining to male relations and the Prioress leading the reader to believe no

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Qualitative analysis of Anions and Cations Essay

Qualitative analysis of Anions and Cations - Essay Example These chemistry aspects become important in conducting the deductive process utilised in analysing the ions. Other than the chemistry involved in the analysis, logic and common sense also play a fundamental role in understanding the qualitative analysis. Qualitative analysis of ions contained within various substances only detect the ion and not the element contained in the substance. In conducting these experiments, there will be various objectives that will be achieved and these will be the main aims of conducting the experiment. The aims of this experiment will include the following. The process of identifying the cations present within a substance involves a series of activities being undertaken in order to deductively determine the actual identity of ions within a substance. This is because there could be more than one cation within a substance and an elimination process must be applied to correctly determine the identity of ions. The ion are grouped in five categories that are defined using specific precipitating reagent. The five groups must be done in a predetermined order. The first experiment will be aimed at determining insoluble chlorides that might be present within the presented substance. This will involve the addition of HCl into an aqueous solution to produce the characteristics of the insoluble chlorides that will be used to determine the present cation. The second experiment will involve testing for insoluble sulphides by the addition sulphuric acid as the reagent. The insoluble sulphides will be the final products that will be precipitated from the reaction. The fourth experiment will involve the soluble substance from the third experiment through the addition of a solution of ammonia. This will be testing for insoluble sulphides that could be formed from this reaction. The separation of ions from the substances that contain them involves the addition of reagents to the substances in seeking enhance the reaction that will

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Sexual Harassment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sexual Harassment - Essay Example The concept of sexual harassment is a conventional phenomenon, which first appeared in the 1970s in United States. The concept also appeared later in 1986 in Europe. The aspect of sexual harassment brought forth a possibility of both positive and negative effects on the society in entirety and on organizations and individuals in particular. This led to increasing attention on the subject from both researchers and organizations alike. Sexual harassment is a severe contravention on the rights of workers with unpleasant and degrading experiences, which often result in emotional and psychological trauma. Generally, sexual harassment is described as the conduct of a sexual nature, which is unwelcome, and aims at intimidating, embarrassing, degrading the victim. Furthermore, sexual harassment creates hostile working conditions for the victim, which eventually hinders productivity and social exchanges within the organization (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2013). Australia human rights commission holds that an individual sexually harasses the other when: 1. The individual makes an undesirable sexual progress or unwanted sexual request for sexual favors to the harassed. Circumstances to be considered might include, but not restricted to; (a) age, sex, sexual preference, color, race, ethnic origin and religious belief of the harassed person. (b) The association involving the person and the individual who started the progress or appeal or who involved in the behavior. (c) Disability of the harassed person or other pertinent circumstance. 2. The harasser participates in unwarranted manner of a sexual character in relation to the harassed person. Sexual harassment is an intense problem in the contemporary workplace that is increasing at a high pace. Thousands of males and females come forward every year to report their sexual harassment and employers and other state agencies. In the beginning of sexual harassment in 1970s, researchers anticipated that one in every two women would become a sufferer of sexual aggravation in the job environment. The quantity of employees who lodge complaints of sexual aggravation in the private and public labor force remains high. Discrimination in employment has been increasing over the decades, but sexual harassment has currently been the basis of 33 percent of all harassment claims (Boland, 2005) according to the national agency charged with examining sexual aggravation in the place of work. The cost of sexual harassment is very expensive to both the employer and the individual being harassed. The United States department of labour holds that millions of dollars are lost in job opportunities, and more are lost in awards after harassment cases. Types and forms of sexual harassment One of the most arising questions on the aspect of sexual aggravation in the office seeks to answer what specific behaviors amount to sexual harassment. However, studies today look at the broader range of sociosexual actions in the work place as well as the conditions highlighted above for advances of sexual harassment. In establishing whether sexual harassment occurred or not, there has to be a complete analysis of actions patterns and aspects that are unwanted. In defining the term sexual harassment, request for sexual favors, sexually oral and physical behavior, as well as the sexual advance must to be ‘unwelcome’. This implies that the person complaining of sexual har

Monday, November 18, 2019

America's Court Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

America's Court - Essay Example As observed in the preface, Supreme Court justices and all other holders of positions under the federal judiciary are tenured to serve for as long as they live and can only be ousted from office by impeachment, a process which has not dismissed yet from the service any justice of the United States Supreme Court. The justices are not as particular as with the high officials in the executive and legislative branches of the United States government as far as concerning media releases. They are of the contention that what is more important is that the public, the lawyers and the judges, both in the federal and state levels, know and understand the rationale and wisdom in their decisions and the opinions stated therein. That explains why the high court did not have formal office for more than a hundred years that would supposedly attend to media matters. However, Chief Justice Warren Burger, with his activist stance, was personally of the view that the press sector could not just be simpl y disregarded. The Supreme Court was provided with its own building in 1935. It was only during this time that the judicial highness hired a Press Clerk in the person of one Banning Whittington, once a reporter of the United Press. The move was intended to accommodate the resident press people. Ultimately, it was deemed necessary to have a Public Information Officer who would connect and relate with and between the judiciary branch, the press, the public and, at times, the people from the movie industry. The justices then believed that the person to fill up the position should not be a lawyer in order to avoid a situation where the latter might venture into giving opinions to the inquiring public with regards to a decision or pending resolution of the high court. Along that line, a situation where the personal interpretation of the office holder might pose

Friday, November 15, 2019

Management Responsibilities at Tesco

Management Responsibilities at Tesco In this study I try briefly to focus on the super market company, Tesco, with emphasis on the operational responsibility of a facility manager, legal, health and safety (HS) obligations, administrative system, day to day responsibility of a facility manager. Introduction: Tesco is one of the largest food retailers in the world (the largest in the UK) and its objectives are to provide its staff with all the necessary training and equipment to perform their everyday jobs efficiently and provide their customers with a service that is second to none. Tesco aims to deliver cheaper and the best available products for its customers, from the best suppliers and also long term reductions throughout the business. Tescos aim is to try and make their customers shopping trip as easy as possible and make sure they spend less per product and get the best value. Tesco are now providing more and more non food products/services including Electrical, Car and Home insurance, Broadband etc. (http://www.tescoplc.com) The responsibilities of the facilities manager for staff engaged in facilities operation (p1) There is a lot of responsibility of a facility manager for the staff engaged in facility operation. The responsibilities related staffs includes Employment condition Pay issue Training and development The wages Holidays TUPE etc. Arranging the appraisal includes certificate safety hand book Keeping report of incident, inspection, HS etc. Legal issue includes Working time regulation ( average 48 hour in a week for full time employee) Rules of dismissal Transfer of undertaking according to the law. The facility manager needs to ensure all the facility according to the law . Responsibility of a facility manager has to operational aspects of the building (p2) Facility manager need to confirm Building space allocated properly. A safe, comfortable and productive environment for the entire employee and the customers visiting the building. Ensure efficient use of building HAVAC, electrical and mechanical system. Demountable walls for office and conference rooms are encouraged for greater flexibility. Flexible modular etc. Manager need follow some regulation The main requirement, workplace (health, safety and welfare) regulation 1992 and their associated approved code of practice (ACOP) Health and safety (display screen equipment) regulations 1992 Building regulations 2000, approved document. (www.HYPERLINK http://www.buildingdesign.co.uk/mech/landisstaefa/landis.htmbuildingHYPERLINK http://www.buildingdesign.co.uk/mech/landisstaefa/landis.htmdesign.co.uk/mech/landisstaefa/landis.htm) Responsibility of facility manager has towards customers using the facility (p3) Customers are most important part for any supermarket. They should provide some facility for customers And facilities manager maintain all of these facilities which are using by the customers. The responsibilities of facility manager regarding this are- Identify the customer and their need. Provide product information to customer Ensure customer service like customer care assistant, customer care department, complaint center etc. Ensure health and safety issue for customer. Good access for disabled customer. Good security policy for customers. I.e. CCTV, security guard. Information center. Disable toilets Wash room Car parking Sign board for identifying the product. Self service till etc. Impact of employers and funding agencies on facilities operations (P4) The facility manager has to know about conditions and regulations of management board. Ownership of facilities, the employers, management board, local authorities and different funding agencies have important role on facility operation. The manager needs to ensure the facility for them as well as to follow the rule and regulation. Time share programme Car parking facility etc. The demand of authorities Their social tradition etc Recruiting policy Customer facility (car parking, security, health and safety policy) Participate in different environmental and social activities (local club, cultural program) etc. The statutory regulation that affects facility operation (P5) Statutory regulations have important effect on facility operation of any organization. The six-pack consists of six key sets of regulations introduced together in 1992. Some of them have been updated. They are * Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (Management Regulations) -make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to employees (including, specifically, young people and pregnant women) and others affected by their work activities. -plan, organize, control, monitor and review health and safety arrangements etc * Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 (Workplace Regulations) -These regulations govern much of the responsibility which facilities managers have for ensure that the work premises are clean, comfortable, well-lit, well-ventilated and well-organized. * Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 -Manual handling is the transporting or supporting of a load by hand or bodily force, including lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving. * Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) -Employers must ensure all work equipment (such as tools, photocopiers, vehicles, manufacturing plant) is safe to use, maintained in a safe condition and is inspected for safety by a competent person, used only by trained personnel etc. * Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (PPE Regulations) -assess whether PPE (such as face masks, gloves etc.) is suitable and provide it to employees exposed to risks, ensure items of PPE worn together are compatible etc. * Health and safety (display screen equipment) regulation 1992 (DSE Regulation) -Every employer shall ensure that any workstation which may be used for the purposes of his undertaking meets the requirements laid down in the Schedule to these Regulations. There are some other key statutory regulations the employer and facility management need to know. Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 (CDM Regulations) Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (CAW Regulations) Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996 Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1989 Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulations 1989 Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 All regulations effects the facilities operations of Sainsburys and the management system need to be care full about this regulations. In every supermarket they have some legal issues that never been changed or broken. These legal issues sometimes affect in different way in business. These legal issues are most important for customer staff. These issues probably made by the government and under the company. As following Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 Sexual Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) 1999 Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) 2003 Facilities manager responsibility is to maintain all of these legal issues. They never did any differentiate between all of these categories peoples. Health and safety measures implemented by a facility manager (P6) Health and safety in work is one of the most important issues. The facility manager needed to follow the rules and regulation of health and safety issues and should have a nice risk assessment procedure. There are two types of risk Pure risk like fire, storm, theft, violence etc. Business risk such as change of customer expectation, Government policy, Economic impact (credit crunch) etc. Organization needs to follows HSEs five steps for risk assessment- Look for the hazards. Decide who might be harmed and how. Weigh up the risks and decide whether existing precautions are adequate or more needs to be done. Record your findings 5.Review your assessment and revise it if necessary. Tesco follow the regulations given below to maintain health and safety in their organization. * Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) According this regulation the employer must follow these criteria- Make a suitable and sufficient assessment of health risks to employees exposed to hazardous substances. In order of preference, prevent exposure, control exposure or provide PPE provide health surveillance for exposed employees keep exposed employees health records for 40 years attach safety data sheets to COSHH assessments. * Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) According this law tacos health and safety executive (HSE) need to make all the reports of injuries, disease of employees and dangerous occurrence in workplace. These health and safety rules are provided for customers and staffs for keep them safe from any unexpected accident. The health and safety measures that implemented by a facility manager, is Ventilation Temperature Lighting Floor space Sanitation Cleanness and waste materials Fire exit Risk assessment First aid Health and safety training (www.unitetheunion.com) The documentation required to statutory regulations and health and safety measure (p7) Tesco follow a proper documentation system and paper work regarding the statutory regulations and health and safety measures. By keeping the paperwork of their annual health and safety reports. This report provides all the data about serious injuries, facility change, controlling health and safety risks etc. Always keep the HSE posters to maintain control the health and safety of employees. Follow the regulations of fire authority by fulfilling their expectation. By ensuring that the stores have enough fire exits, fire alarms, fire blanket, first aid kit, fire exit sign and train the employees about fire risk Employers liability (compulsory insurance) Act1969 is maintained by Sainsbury to ensure the value of employees. Sainsburys supermarkets have active monitoring system and they take proper reaction regarding the results. In the case of safety representatives, the information must also be sufficient to enable them to carry out their functions under the Regulations. These include: investigation of potential hazards and dangerous occurrences and examine the causes of accidents investigation of members complaints making representations to the employer consulting and receiving information from HSE inspectors and other enforcement officers on behalf of members attending meetings of the safety committee The Facility manager must ensure that each safety representative is provided with reasonable training, in respect of that representatives functions under the Regulations, for which the employer must pay. System processing information and maintaining communications (p8) Before setting the system we need to think some criteria. The system need to cover all data and information of customers and its employees. i.e., For management information there should be information on planning, benchmarking and performance measurement. For property management there needs to be information on property, portfolio control, estate diary and real estate development. For maintaining communication there need to effective IT system. Where customers can get all the information. Also communicate with the customers using media like advertisements, promotions and the website. An effective IT systems is using in the organization to keep the records of customers. Control system required for effective facilities operations (p9) The term control system may be applied to the essentially manual controls that allow operating internal facilities operation. An effective and efficient planning system is important for long-term economic progress. In this sector it includes companys financial issues. In this sectors it is include accounting department store lease cost suppliers payment Stores internal wages staff salary sick pay maternity pay paternity cost store maintenance cost Yearly bonus Pensions Training and development cost Customer facilities cost A good recruiting process need to be controlled by their human resource department. Advertising the vacancies through their website. Receive the applications Consider the applications and calling for interview Choose the right person A good control system is being applied in giving salaries and wages. They also expense money for staff training, new technology development etc. System needed by a facilities manager to support effective building management (p10) A building management system (BMS) is a computer based control system installed in building which normally comprises- Power systems Illumination System Electric Power control system Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning HVAC System Security Observation system Magnetic card and access system Fire alarm system Lifts, Elevators etc. Plumbing system Operational benefits like as low operating cost, high productivity and efficient use of building etc. Maintenance companies benefits are effective use of maintenance staff, ease of information, detecting problems etc. The communication maintained by Ethernet and internet both guest and employee. Appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of facility operation (P11) Facility management department need to follow appropriate criteria to keep the quality and effectiveness of facility operations in a good level. This is involves the relation of the cost and level of performance. For that we need to know about the resource drivers which help in deployment of resource. Tescos resource drivers can be classified as Quantitative: the floor area of stores, number of stores etc. Qualitative: geographic location of Tescos, their product quality etc. Economic: tax and interest rates, market condition etc. Operating condition: specific lease condition of buildings. Then the facility manager needs to think about their market targets and current performance data. To ensure the performance data FM can use CAFM facility and helpdesk software. The FM should have clear concern about the facility system of competitor. Moreover, Facility manager need to think about sustainable property idea which is based on the principle that the construction and operation of buildings do not lead to any environmental deterioration of natural world resources. FM should consider following to achieve the objective; pollution: reduction in emissions from service vehicles Waste: recycling of waste material where possible, e.g., paper, batteries. Implement evaluation and review procedures to analyse the quality and effectiveness of facility operation (P12) Tesco aims to deliver cheaper and the best available products for their customer. The FM try to make their customers shopping trip as easy as possible and make sure they spends less per product and get the best value. A proper implementation of facility operation will help Tesco to, Keep the operational cost to a minimum Make a safe and healthy place to work follow all the regulations Make all the systems effective etc. Tesco always collect information and data of their competitors, bench marketing, and share market and to comparing data from different organizations. All written documents and feedback of previous operations make it easy to make the quality and effectiveness of facility operation high. Tesco created different facility like as good customer service good access facility(disabled access, space for wheelchair) Enough information facility for of their products Easy to shop (online shopping, free home delivery) etc. Overall a quality and effective facility operation brings these key benefits for Tesco Effective management of organisations assets Enhance staff skills Enables new working styles and process Enhances an Sainsburys identity and image Delivers business continuity and workforce protection in an era of heightened market turbulence and security threats Conclusion and recommendation: As we have seen the responsibility of a facility manager in terms of facility operation, Tesco has mastered and exploited all the concept of facility operation and become the market leader. As a facility manager would like to recommend my managing director to ensure the IT facility and self service till facility at all the store.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Black Counter-Culture in We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks Essay

The Black Counter-Culture in "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks After reading the poem "We Real Cool," by Gwendolyn Brooks, most people think that Brooks is making an ironic statement. Most will read the poem and think that Brooks is being sarcastic by using simple language and in the end asserting that the seven pool players will die soon, or more broadly that all who speak in this manner will die soon. No doubt some people will see Brooks' statement "We/Left school" as the beginning of her disapproval of a lack of an education, and that the lines of the poem represent the thoughts or statements of the pool players. I disagree. There are too many other factors in and around the poem for Brooks to merely be writing a sarcastic poem about? whom? What Brooks is saying through the speaker of the poem is that Blacks in America are at the fledgling stage of finding their own voice, and they are willing to do anything, even die, in order to be heard and noticed. First of all, Brooks is an African-American individual. She was born in 1917 and would have been discriminated against in Topeka where she was born, and even in Chicago where she grew up and went to school. She lived to see the effects of the ever-increasing freedom of the African-American people, and experienced it firsthand. After Brown vs. The Board Of Education of Topeka Kansas and the end of World War Two, Blacks were embarking on a new journey. They had come from slavery to separate-but-equal, but now the new problem for blacks was identity. What is an ideal black man? What does an African American stand for--or against for that matter? We are, but who are we? These are only a sample of the questions expressed through the action of the poem, and its exposition in t... ... and especially money are not given up easily. In conclusion, the author uses other devices to help point the way to understanding. For one thing, she uses repetition in the word "We" to emphasize the separate nature of the group. But, repetition also emphasizes rhythm in the poem?s reading. When one reads the poem, the "We" should be emphasized as its own separate syllable, when it is at the end of a line. And speaking of rhythm, the poem also exhibits a unique rhythm that goes against the convention of stressed and unstressed syllables. In the poem, the words are stressed syllables and the unstressed syllables come with the periods and at the end of the lines. And so the poem itself is a statement by Brooks that the African American voice is coming into being. It is counter-culture, counter-convention, and it is steadfast to the death of all who hearken to it.