The time period of the 1900s was a very controversial time period. Many rights were taken away from African Americans as well as women. At the time, the act Brown vs. the Board of Education was brought up, over turning Plessy V. Ferguson- that said separate but equal was acceptable- saying that separate but equal was never actually legal and therefore school systems can not be segregated. Although this very powerful movement on non segregated schools was passed in 1954, African Americans still experienced extremely harsh racism and segregation but moving towards the possibility of gaining more rights. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to expose the fact that slavery was still going on around the United States, and blame the United States for it. Although during the time women may have had a few more rights such as the right to vote, women still had a stereotypical image to fulfill. Women were expected to stay home and watch over the children and cook, while the husband goes out and works to make an income for his family. Women were not really though of as superior figures at the time. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "Black Power" by Stokely Carmichael, and "The World House" by Martin Luther King Jr. combined together help provide an understanding of what the time period of the 1900s was like. 

Martin Luther King Jr. was an extremely popular protestor that most African Americans looked up to. He believed in peaceful protests were violence would not be involved. Although slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, it was still being used in other countries around the world. During Kings speech "The World House", he begins to bring up the topic of slavery and the fact that it is still being used in other countries and the United States is buying products from these other countries, saying: "In country after country we see white men building empires on the sweat and suffering of colored people. Portugal continues its practice of slave labor and subjugation in Angola; the Ian Smith government in Rhodesia continues to enjoy the support of British-based industry and private capitol, despite the stated opposition of the British Government policy" (King). Since King is saying that countries are continuing to use slave labor in their everyday life to make products, he means that other countries are following the United States ways in the past- slavery- and not giving equal rights to everyone and since the United States are using buying these products, it's promoting the slavery in these other countries. King had also revealed more about the time period and how its trying to grant African Americans more rights when he says, "the large house in which we live demands that we transform this world-wide neighborhood into a world-wide brotherhood. Together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools" (King). King believes that the World must work together as a family to receive full rights for African Americas as well as others around the World. With this, Martin Luther King Jr. was able to display what this time period is like: still stricken with slavery that the United States was taking advantage of with these outside countries although African Americans were still working for more rights.

Stokely Carmichael was much more different than Martin Luther King Jr. in the sense that Carmichael believed in a more violent way of protesting. Carmichael is able to paint listeners a picture of what the time period was like when he says "No man can given anybody his freedom. A man is born free. You may enslave a man after he is born free, and that is in fact what this country does" (Carmichael). Carmichael emphasizes the fact that everyone is born equal and free, but the United States was taking that right away from African Americans by enslaving them prior to the 1900-time period and then during that time period, having racism be very prominent. Carmichael is able to reveal what the time period was like even more vividly when he talks about African Americans right to vote, saying: "I knew that I could vote and that that wasn't a privilege; it was my right. Every time I tried I was shot, killed or jailed, beaten or economically deprived" (Carmichael). If every time an African American would try to vote they were either shot, killed or jailed, beaten or economically deprived, they were clearly restricted from their rights. With Carmichael saying that the United States enslaves African Americans who were born free prior to the time period and then revealing the racism during that time period and that African Americans were constrained when they would try to vote, he is able to describe what the time period was life very detailed- extremely racist with African Americans having very few rights. 

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an American feminist during the same time period as King and Carmichael were protesting for African American Rights. Women did not receive the same attention as men during the 1900s. Women were seen as being inferior to men. Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes about a woman trying to escape these stereotypical roles that women face. Gilman begins writing about the stereotype women are know for when she writes about her husband's sister, saying: "there comes John's sister. Such a dear as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfect and enthusiastic house keeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick!" (Gilman). Gilman is explaining that her husband's sister is a perfect house keeper which is what the stereotype is for women and that her husband's sister believes that women should not do any work and that is why she would get mad at the narrator if she caught her writing. Gilman also using a form of symbolism to show the negative views on what women do when she writes: 

At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be. I didn't realize for a long time what the thing was that showed behind, that dim sub-pattern, but now I am quite sure it is a woman (Gilman).

Since the narrator sees a woman in the wallpaper being trapped behind bars, Gilman is using this symbolism to portray the idea that women are meant to be restricted and not be seen as equal to men. 

In conclusion, it is obvious that the 1900s were not a very pro equality time period. Both African Americans and women were restricted from their full potential. African Americans were still experiencing racism and women were seen as inferior to men. Martin Luther King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman are able to portray this image of the time period through their writings. 

