When people see black they think of a goon
Roaming the streets under the black moon
White wants to purge the land of black soon
But black can't be captured or locked in a room
Black is Tyrone
Black is Darius
Neither started black but black now carries it
Black is the pit
Black is the throne
Black is this country, young but grown
Black is the nation, black is my home
Black is our hatred, hidden but still shown
The inspiration for this poem came from "Blacker the Berry" by Kendrick Lamar. The song speaks about the current state of the stereotypical black man or woman; the idea that they are repressed by institutionalized racism. The song also comments on the hypocrisy of this mindset. In the song Kendrick kills some one darker than him:
In conclusion, the poem was used as a key to unlock some of the thoughts the negro had concerning Africa. The negro in this poem was a representative of all negroes during this time; their thoughts and the their feelings toward Africa. Cullen’s usage of the literary devices allow for an effective expression of the meaning of this poem. Poems are intensified language of experience, so the devices assured the connection of the reader to the poem and the experience. This applies to many issues in society today because as beautiful as our country is there are still dark clouds that cover the very essence of what the states once stood
The Black Power Mixtape follows significant events during the 1965 and between 1975 it is directed by to Swedish directors which is very important in the layout of the film it involves that took place during the Civil Rights Movement included leaders such as Stokely Carmichael Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers. This was also at the time of the Vietnam War the Nixon Administration, and the Lyndon Johnson Administration. It includes world-renowned artist such as Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, and historians. Including the author of our classes' textbook, Robin Kelley the film opinionated it is unbiased fact-based. This is a pivotal time in American history from through the eyes foreigners this is my first encounter with a form perspective of the United States during the Civil Rights Movement. Coming up in school no one ever exposed me to any other perspective the American perspective in this part of American history. There’s no way possible they could compile events of ten years into two hours, but they did include information that I have never read before. The Black Panther movement was followed the most.
Robin Thicke’s music video to his song “Blurred Lines” avidly contributes to the patriarchy, while portraying sexism, gender standards, and beauty standards. His music video can be analyzed from a feminist theory approach, as it’s evident that his song and video contribute to a patriarchal society and its inherently sexist and sexualized ideologies. The ideology behind the song and music video is purely sexual and about male dominance. The lyrics to the song and actions in the video exhibit extreme over sexualization and objectification of the women. Analyzing this piece of popular culture through a feminist approach opens up a provoking conversation about how popular culture functions in a patriarchal culture. Analyzing pop culture though a feminist theory can allow for a larger variety and more in-depth analysis about the social aspects and political agenda within popular culture.
Christopher Brian “Chris” Bridges or better known as Ludacris is one of the first and most influential “Dirty South” rappers coming from Atlanta, Georgia. Known for his fast, wild, and comedic flow, Ludacris earned his name and continues to make music to match his name. Coming from Def Jam Records and co-founder of the record label Disturbing Tha Peace, one of Ludacris’ most famous song is his “Southern Hospitality” that made it to the Billboard Hot 100 after coming out in the year 2000. This song is full of catchy alliterations and uses imagery to take the listener on a wild wide to the south, explaining the struggle of the streets and giving credit to slave culture. However, Ludacris doesn't forget to mention his successful ways and how he
Born in the suburbs to a racist mother who would insult him with racial slurs although being his son as it was also her choice to have a child with a black man. His family drug abuse was very large as even his older brothers sold crack to their own father. A song titled, "Gang Related" speaks on this topic. It talks about him having to learn how to make drugs, having to sell drugs on the corner of his street, and having to worry about his safety daily as he worked the drugs around. Bobby talks about the police banging on his door at night raiding their house for drugs and his brother in the crib crying. He talks about these things as an inspirational message that you can make it out of even the hardest situations, and how he states in many
The poem “O Black And Unknown Bards” is an extremely well written poem and contains some themes of Harlem Renaissance poetry. The first stanza questions and states how black poets are extremely passionate and positive considering their awful history. This ties into the theme of identity because black people tried to identify themselves in their work by evaluating their history and its impact on them as a people. This poem addresses slavery, which had been a major part of their history. There are also references to elements of Christianity throughout this poem which is interesting. This poem contains an abundant amount of figurative language that contributes to the overall meaning of the poem. This poem sounds like it was written from the perspective
This poem focuses on the lynching of a African American male. The speaker of the poem appears to console a woman who appears to be distressed due to the events taking place. In the first four lines of stanza 1, the speaker says:
This is a poem that is mainly directed to the violence that was often experienced by children with an African-American ethnicity. The violence was mainly experienced on the streets where a majority of these children lived.
Race plays a big part in this poem. He speaks on Harlem and its culture and this environment but also about mutual interest with people
Throughout the poem, the author chooses simple diction. This makes the tone straightforward and blunt, like a black America who simply expresses himself instead of sermonizing about discrimination. Thereby, readers can accept the poem’s argument more easily. Furthermore, the author writes the poem mostly in long sentences to emphasize on short yet important sentences such as “That’s America.”, “Be we are. That’s true!”
A perfect example of in the piece of how African-Americans are vilified comes at the end of the fourth stanza with the lines "grow a natural and practice vandalism/these are useful games (some say a skill even learned)." These two lines show how the black male, especially the young black male is viewed as nothing more than a thief skilled in the art of crime. Further evidence to the fact is found in the line "I'm told it has full instructions of how to siphon gas and fill a bottle," which is again alludes to H. Rap Brown, his cry of Burn Baby Burn' and the use of pipe bombs and the like to demand equality.
In a piece called, “Why Kendrick Lamar Has Done More for Americans than Fox News Ever Will”, Calum Gordon gives his interpretation on Fox News’ response to Kendrick Lamar’s BET Awards Show performance, and what exactly it has to do with today’s social appropriation of rappers. With a rallying tone and an urban looking website to match, this article is obviously not in compliance with today’s conservatives. Sprinkled about are some references to some of Fox News’ previous statements concerning rap music and it’s, “causal” relationship to damage in the African American community. However, all-in-all the piece is about how as a whole we allow ourselves to attach a violent stigma to all African American
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality,
The above text is the hook to the poem “Mystery of Iniquity” Before going in depth with the first piece of the poem; something stands out in the first two stanzas: “iniquity” and “inequity”. According to Webster’s dictionary, inquity is defined as “gross injustice; a wicked act or thing” and inequity is defined as “injustice, unfairness; an instance of injustice or unfairness” (Merriam-Webster) Here Ms. Hill sets the tone for the rest of the poem. She explains that the unfairness of iniquity and inequity is a miserable feeling. She is talking directly to those that share her unfortunate circumstances of being treated unfairly in a state of misery. The pre verse that follows the hook brings the topic of religion into view. The first four lines in the pre-verse symbolize Biblical meaning and give way to religious pretext. The verse says