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Elvis Presley: A Catalyst Cultural Icon

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A Catalyst Cultural Icon People hear the name Elvis Presley and think of his music career and not necessarily by what means the nation looked at him during his own era. There is so much more to Elvis’s inspirational roots from being a poor boy living a rough childhood to becoming a catalyst iconic man for his time. Often overlooked, Elvis altered many views towards racism, music, and how people united. The outcome of Elvis’s upbringings and his assemblings of society changed the life we live today. Our own selves have much to acknowledge for what Elvis has done for us, and the value that he is today. January 8th of 1935, Elvis Presley was birthed to a very poor family. Elvis had not been the only one born that day from Gladys Presley. In …show more content…

Two years after Elvis was born, his father, Vernon, was caught in a forgery fraud and was enclosed in jail for two years (Stanley & Coffey, 1994). Gladys and Elvis were evicted from the house, because they could no longer afford it, incepting the start of their moving sprees (Stanley & Coffey, 1994). In September 1948, Vernon was dismissed from another job and the household was forced to move to Memphis (Stanley & Coffey, 1994). This resulted in Gladys getting a job as a seamstress so the family would hopefully stay put (Stanley & Coffey, …show more content…

During Christmas of 1960 Elvis arranged for her to meet at his home and see if he really was in love with her (Harrison House, 1977). May 1, 1967, in the Aladdin Hotel located in Las Vegas, Nevada, Priscilla Beaulieu became Priscilla Presley (Kemp, n.d.). Elvis and Priscilla married in the Milton Prell’s suite (Kemp, n.d.). The year after on February 1, 1968, Priscilla gave birth to a healthy daughter named Lisa Marie (Kemp, n.d.). Elvis changed a lot between culture and people through his musical influence. When Phillips had said that he had finally found “a white man with a negro” this was a would eventually bring a large change in society. Elvis had spun up the social norm in 1950, with his album “The Hillbilly Cat” by intertwining the music of black people with poor white people to create his unique rock and roll (Hauser, 2013). Elvis had not been very socially accepted by older age groups, for they say it as a disgrace on American culture (Hauser, 2013). Elvis had been able to preserve the sound of black music and was able to attract white culture to the music so well (Hauser,

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