WRITING 1: Analysis of Maya Angelou's 'Champion of the World' Essay

This essay analyzes Maya Angelou's 'Champion of the World,' exploring the impact of Joe Louis's boxing victory on the Black community in the context of racial segregation. The essay highlights the contradictory feelings of joy and fear experienced by African Americans, emphasizing the significance of Louis's win as a symbol of empowerment and resistance against white dominance. It delves into the themes of pride, struggle, and the role of sports in shaping cultural identity, particularly focusing on how the victory provided a temporary sense of unity and hope while the underlying issues of racism persisted. The analysis examines Angelou's use of vivid imagery and emotional portrayal to convey the community's experiences, ultimately portraying the victory as a crucial step toward a better future for African Americans, even amidst ongoing societal challenges.

Running head: WRITING
Writing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The essay, “Champion of the world” by Maya Angelou tells the story of the happiness
and pride gained by the black people when a black man named Joe Louis wins the boxing world
championship. The essay ends with a contradictory line “It wouldn’t be fit for a Black man and
his family to be caught on a lonely country road on a night when Joe Louis had proved that we
were the strongest people in the world. This line indicates the plight of the black people in the
state of Arkansas where Maya Angelou as a child grew up with her family. The words are
contradictory because even though a black man has won the world championships yet still the
black people living in the place is afraid to celebrate their moment of happiness. The essay tells
much more than just a boxing match and the black people celebrating the victory.
Thesis statement: the Black Community takes the first step towards a better future, one with
respect and pride.
"Champion of the world. A Black boy. Some Black mother's son." These words
highlights the struggle of being a coloured person, the boxing match was not just a simple
victory it had bigger implications (Kennedy et al.). The victory of Joe Louis emphasizes on the
fact that the black have the capability of defeating the whites and the system made by them, they
do have that much power. The win gave the African Americans a feeling of empowerment for
the first time. This was a legitimate win against the white people, which could not have any
repercussions against them as a community. "If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond
help." "My race groaned. It was our people falling", these lines portray the years of pain and
struggle that the black people had endured (Kennedy et al.). They had experienced violence first
hand and they knew the feeling. They experienced all these it was not a myth or story to them, if
Louis was defeated then it would be a defeat for the entire Black community. The author said

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that if he lost the match all hopes would be gone for their community they will be again taunted
and tortured and for the white people it will be an accomplishment.
This defeat was a beacon for the black people achieving a great milestone in the history
as mentioned before although this did not change the scenario for the existence of racism. Even
though the White Contender was defeated by Louis and received the title "Heavy Weight
Champion of the World”, the black community faced danger due to the presence of racism. The
whites could never believe that the blacks could defeat them; they believed that they had the
right to win anything just because of the colour of their skin, and at times if the blacks offended
the whites they could take necessary actions against them (Kennedy et al.). Over the years, sports
became a common form of entertainment among the people and a source of pride, sports can
make a person or society better or bring out the worse in them a person can either focus on the
competitiveness of the sports or see it in a positive light or in a negative approach. In other
words, a person can look at competitiveness at a positive or negative approach.
On the matter of positive competitiveness, sports can be looked upon a game of spirits
and a fair way of winning or losing, some people can also tarnish the purpose of games by using
foul words, there has been several instances where people have dragged the issues related to
sports to a huge extent. Many people have even lost their lives in fights of proving their own
form of game better or in silly quarrels regarding the various sports (Kennedy et al.). The games
or sports always has influenced the society to a great extent, it has influenced the culture and
communities. As an example the victory of Joe Louis was more than a simple winning of a
game it was representative to the African American culture and society, it gave them pride, and
for some, who have never experienced anything like this, it was a first. This is just a single case
of the impact sports have on culture. The 16th and the 17th paragraphs were inspirational in nature

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the lines conveyed a lot without saying much. Both the paragraphs focuses on the trials and
tribulations of the black people and contains most powerful forms of emotions related with the
domination of black people in the hands of the whites. The moment felt like the earth had stood
still for the entire community no one dared to blink or breathe and everyone was in suspense.
The black people felt that everything was over for them; the tension of the game was such that no
one could say for sure whether they will win or lose.
The final paragraph portrayed joy, the pride of victory and the black people gaining confidence
in their own race, they never thought that they will be feel such, as they never had any occasion
where they achieved something. The black boxer and the champion Joe Louise helped the black
people in gaining confidence. Although they knew that they would never be able to win a
respectable position in the society, yet the white men will never be able to take away their title.
The African Americans all over the world have become the "Champions of the World" . The way
Angelou utilized portrayal all through the paper helped the readers to get an idea of the condition
of the black people at that time, if she did not portray the condition in that manner then the
readers would never have understood or would have related to the feelings of the black people.
All through the entire essay Angelou's depiction of the Black community painted a clear picture
and depicted all the feelings that were ready to be passed on o the readers.

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Reference List:
Kennedy, X. J et al. The Bedford Reader. 13th ed. Boston, New York: Macmillan Publishing,
2016. P-94-96 Print.