ALWAYS HAVE FAITH

"Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see." In "Mother to Son", the stairs represent the opportunity to move up and gain freedom. Alan Simpson once said, "There is no ‘slippery slope’ toward loss of liberty, only a long staircase where each step down must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders.” In "Mother to Son", the mother is explaining the necessity of looking up, moving forward regardless of the circumstances one is faced with, you must continue to forge ahead and not tolerate anything other than equality, you must continue to climb the long staircase to equality, even when you are faced with challenges. As she has, she wants her son to keep forging ahead and progressing towards gaining liberties- regardless of his circumstances, she wants him to remain Faithful, Hopeful, and full of Determination. In Raisin in the sun, Lena shows her hopefulness of one day having a garden like the ones down home. The garden represents growth. Although Lena has never had the opportunity to have one of these beautiful garden, her small personal plant represents opportunity, possibilities, growth, and hope. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his, "I have a dream speech", he had to climb stairs to stand on the platform, this was both out of necessity for the people to see him, but it also represented rising up and overcoming. The fact that a black man was commanding the attention of so many followers showed the amazing obstacle that he and others had overcome to have a voice in the conversation. He speech was full of Hope, Faith, and Determination!