A Race of Heroes

Talin Hansen
Mr. Watson 4th Period
1/19/2011
Hero Paper final copy
A Race of Heroes
Rather than have only one hero, I have many. In fact, an entire race stands out as a hero to me. Black people have perhaps been more persecuted against than any other race, and yet they retain their happiness. Surviving slavery, famines, wars, and persecution, it must be hard to stay happy and optimistic. Yet somehow, they stay content. This makes them my heroes. Humanity itself started in Africa. Africans have forever been plagued with disunity, and yet they have been banded together by language, tradition, family, and other tribal roots. There may be no feeling in the entire world like a tribe of Africans singing harmoniously in Swahili, Mende, or another such language. The brotherhood and loyalty, the feeling of family felt with every beat of the drum, every clap of the hands, every grin on every dark face, this makes them heroes to me. Black people in general can have this feeling, not just tribal Africans. Whether it be the old songs of the African tribes, or the moaning songs of the chain-gang slaves taken from their homes, or the gospel spirituals sang by the in the fields, or the blaring brass and saxophones by Jazz bands, or the slang rap of the ghetto gangs, or the rallying war songs of modern-day African freedom-fighters, music has made the black people tight-knit and loyal, and this is what makes them my heroes.