Your second paper assignment will ask you to read and analyze selections from the autobiography of Pauli Murray, The Autobiography of a Black Activist, Feminist, Lawyer, Priest, and Poet, in the context of our course themes and the broader historical events and issues we have covered thus far in the semester (through Week 13). Murray’s autobiography should be the central source from which you draw and your paper should pull from various points in Murray’s life, but you are also welcome to incorporate external research within the parameters described.
You will need to choose one of the following options to address in your paper:
1. How does Murray witness and address the role of class (both social and economic) in American life? Consider for the purposes of your answer what impact class identity has in her own life and/or how she approaches and understands class struggle in America.
2. How does Murray experience the intersecting identities of race and gender as she navigates life in the 20th century? Here, you should avoid considering Murray’s race or gender in isolation, but instead address the overlapping and/or conflicting ways in which both her race and her gender affect her life experiences, attitudes, and goals.
3. How does Murray’s life help us to understand the trajectory and/or the connections between various social protest movements in the 20th century? For example, how might an examination of her life experiences and activism change our understanding of the arc of civil rights protest in America? Or, how does Murray’s involvement in civil rights activism and feminist activism help us to understand the links/tensions between these causes?
4. How does Murray protest inequality and injustice (of various forms) in American society over the course of her life? Your answer should address at least one of the following issues as you form your argument: why she feels compelled to act, why she chooses the tactics that she does, or how her strategies of protest evolve over time.