<p>“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” –Maya Angelou</p>
<p>Do you agree with Maya Angelou that it's pointless to complain? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.</p>
<pre><code>It is pointless to complain because it does not actually solve or change anything. Action, not passive complaints, is what causes change and solves problems. The American Revolution and the Black Civil rights movement are proof that complaint is pointless without action.
In the 1700’s when the American colonies were still under british rule, Britain mistreated the colonists. Britain violated many basic rights of the colonists such as taxation without representation and took advantage of them like in the Quartering Act which forced colonists to house and feed unwanted British soldiers. Eventhough the colonists voiced their plethora of complaints, the British Empire unfairly disregarded their tribulations. Complaints alone were not enough to solve their political problems, so colonial leaders including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison coalesced into one group to act against the British Empire with the Declaration of Independence in 1976 which enumerated their grievances and formally stated succession from Britain. Eventually the colonists won their independence through the brutal Revolutionary War. It is evident in the struggle of the colonists, that complaints alone did nothing to relieve them of oppression and that action in the form of war and politics were what solved their problems.
Just as the American colonist’s complaints were useless without action, so too were the complaints of black citizens in the U.S. in the 1900’s. Since the beginning of U.S. history, blacks have been oppressed by the U.S. and their complaints and grievances were pointless because the white-dominated government ignored them. It was not until Martin Luther King Jr. came along to rally the black people of U.S. and take peaceful action to gain their natural born civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. led the March on Washington in 1963 as a peaceful protest against unfair government policies and eventually was successful when Congress finally enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which gave equal protection of civil rights to blacks. It is evident in the Black’s civil rights struggle, that complaints again were pointless until action was taken to solve their problems.
In conclusion, it has been proven that complaints are pointless without action. As evident in the American Revolution and Black’s civil rights movement, complaints were pointless and not until action was taken did the colonists and blacks attain their goals. If one wants to change something, one must act, not just wastefully complain.
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<p>Thank you for taking your time to contribute any comments, it is much appreciated :)</p>