Community Short Story Essays

Here is New York

White begins with saying all these things about what New York isn't. White says that New York isn't like Paris or London or Spokane or Detroit. New York is supposedly not as common as other places are but it is very unique. New York managed to "reach the highest point in the sky" with the Empire State Building. It was a challenge for New York , knowing that it was on the deep Depression period. The Empire State Building made New York the loftiest of other cities. The beauty of New York has much to do with many of the problems that the city faces in daily life. It's what makes New York a very unique city. Traveling to New York may be fun but it doesn't mean that it'll be easy to get around. Most of the time travelers have problems getting from place to place. They can ride on the wrong subway or go to the opposite direction that they're heading towards. They might not even have sleep at nights due to the city noises on the streets. Travelers may even have embarrassing moments like not understanding a waiter. But all these bad, embarrassing things don't stop the travelers from having fun. They go visit places like the Statue of Liberty, St. Patrick's Cathedral, radio studios, and stores to at least window shop.
Travelers can have pretty amazing days at New York. New York may be beautiful in many ways but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have many problems. There is mass hysteria everyday in New York. For example, there are always stalled subways but somehow New York people manage to not be claustrophobic. There can always be panic situations  but people get lucky wisecracks. There's confusion and congestion but they maintain grit and patience. People usually use transportation such as taxis, buses and trains. Taking the wrong train can easily get you lost in a place as big as New York and asking a bus driver a small and simple question can get you slapped off the bus easily. It's not so easy to live in New York. There are many neighborhoods everywhere in New York. They are about 3 blocks by 3 blocks. That may seem small but it's really big once you think about it New York related. White refers to this as "city within a city within a city" because the neighborhoods are like actual cities in cities. First it's the actual city, then the neighborhood, and finally the block. Everything you needs is in reach no matter in which block you live in. Literally in every neighborhood you'll find grocery stores, laundry places, newsstands  moves houses, barber shops, and a lot more. Typically everything that you need is on your block or the one next to you. I can easily relate to New York because I myself like in a "city within a city within a city". I live in Chicago. Everything I need is right where i need them at. I have a corner store on the right side of my block, another corner store a block behind my house and another corner store on the block in front of me. If you count the corner stores within 3 by 3 of the blocks near my house, there are exactly 6 different corner stores. There also lots of small dollar stores, bakeries, 2 hair salons and more on the block in front of me. I don't have to walk anything more than 3 blocks to get what i need because it's all in reach.
(593)

                                                                                                                                                                                          

To be Young, Black and Gifted

I think that Hansberry made the best of what she had when she was growing up in Chicago. She knew that her neighborhood wasn't the richest neighborhood in Chicago. Her neighborhood was actually one of the poorest in the city. Hansberry explains to the reader how the homes in the south side of Chicago, where her neighborhood is at, were shabby. She explains how the back porches of her people could explain their tempo and the honesty of their lives in beneath the shabbiness of their back porches. The porches were scrubbed and sagging and "looked like danger." The porches had "dirty gray wood steps" and they always had "a line of white and pink clothes" that had been scrubbed and "waving in the dirty wind." While she grew up in Chicago, in the summers, her family and her would play in the streets and sleep at parks.
The summer days were some of her favorite days but something better than summer was her father. He was like a hero to her. Her father would tell her stories about how the starts came to be and how distant they were. She considered those days the best times of all. Her father was like a king, a king that would have other kings imitated. She thought that were father was always be doing something "brilliant and unusual." Her father knew all the laws of the State of Illinois and even had them in a booklet. He created pumps that were rather complicated and railroad devices and he would talk on and on about American history and private enterprise  He was very intelligent in her eyes. He made himself look as if he wasn't scared of anything that came his way. It made Lorraine think that he must have known about fear before, fear that made him strong.
Hansberry's family believed that no family member would be betrayed. Nothing was ever talked about love either. Her family was not very loving but yet they were passionate in their hostilities. They were a very proud family. Hansberry's familt was taught that there was never anything to difficult in life. The children in her family were taken care of, carefully nursed, and their aches were treated with urgency. Hansberry said that, "one always felt important in my family." She was the youngest in the family. She was seven years younger the the 2nd youngest. She said that the youngest was just an object toy. It's how she felt about being the youngest. She talks about how the youngest child is like a pest to everyone else in the family because before five years old the family members have to change diapers often and after 5 years old they have to take the child to the movies and to the bathroom. You become a nuisance and eventually learn to play alone.
At the end of the letter Hansberry describes her community as being represented as being a "hellishly hostile white neighborhood." Her people were spitted at and cursed at. They were pummeled while fighting supremacy in America.