The introduction will need to introduce Martin Luther King’s speech MLK “The Other America” (when was it given, what is the social and historical context of the speech, what was his point). Then you will need to mention that his term “the Other America” sparked conversation among political scientists, sociologists, and activists and introduce Poverty: The Other America and What Forgotten Americans Really Want as examples. Then you need to mention that King’s point still has relevancy today (see Overview of MLK’s Contribution to American Freedom for more information) and end the introduction with the question “”What does the “Other America” mean?”
Each body paragraph needs to start with a topic sentence that identifies one of the communities in the Other America. For example, you could say “The Other America” is racially marginalized communities” or “The Other America is the urban poor.” Either one of these statements will let you connect to Baldwin’s short story SonnysBlues. Your next paragraph could be something like “The Other America” is also the rural poor” and connect to the ideas in Pott’s book (see Book Review of Forgotten Girls). Then you can bring these together and examine what they all have in common (whether it’s urban/rural poverty or black/white poor): “The Other America” is the forgotten poor. Quote from the King’s speech that addresses the poverty in America as a systemic problem hurting us all.
Your conclusion answers the question “What does the Other America” mean?” with one concise statement then the paragraph makes connections between all of your ideas.
You must have quotes from the readings for full credit.