Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
More Music
I wanted to share some more music finds. One is a mash-up including Adele and Daft Punk and the other is a mixtape from Quest--an artist from Miami. Enjoy!
1. Something About The Fire - Adele x Daft Punk (Carlos Serrano Mix)
2. Fear Not Failure Mixtape - QuESt
1. Something About The Fire - Adele x Daft Punk (Carlos Serrano Mix)
2. Fear Not Failure Mixtape - QuESt
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Entertained to Death
How important is the need to be entertained? At what point should people want to actually get off their ass and make a difference in the world around them? The Trayvon Martin story has once again catapulted the idea of racial injustice to the collective forefront of everyone's mind. For beginners, people should realize that certain trends are not okay to simply "follow". I understand how wearing a "hoodie" is a great way to raise national awareness about the situation, but raising awareness is just the beginning of the fight. The ultimate goal is to never have a crime like this committed in America again. Many feel like they've done their part by changing their Facebook profile picture or sharing a video. This immediately brings to mind the "KONY 2012" campaign that went viral. People jumped on their moral high horses and pleaded with their cyber buddies to watch the documentary. Instead of most people actually being moved to educate themselves further than watching one video, many people accepted everything shown as truth, even though there was much more background information to be understood. Therein lies the problem; people have no genuine interest to learn about the world around them until a problem occurs. There's no one course in school or documentary that will provide enough knowledge about any topic.
However, referring back to the Trayvon Martin story, people did just that. People turned on the news, wore a "hoodie", updated their Facebook statuses, and then went on their merry way, back to their regular lives. Not too long ago, November 2011 to be exact, a black veteran was shot dead by police officers. Click the link for the following story...
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/29/killed_at_home_white_plains_ny
This story went almost unheard in the public sphere. Once again, an innocent black man, shot dead! I feel as though changing our course as a country can only be done by educating ourselves, one another, and especially, our children. In this technological age, one would think that getting information to people would be rather easy, and it is, but the information that's shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like, is usually trivial nonsense, merely there for entertainment. Many believe that watching television news--a profit making corporation, controlled by a handful of people--serves as the most realistic and factual way in educating themselves. This remains a huge error on the part of the people. I can give thousands of examples of disinformation, propaganda, and outright lies that appear on "The News", but I digress. The quandary with watching the news, and visiting some websites, is the fact that they too become ways of consuming entertainment rather than education.
I always hear black people, friends and family, complain about being misrepresented on television; whether it's a movie, show, or a music video. Interestingly enough, most of them will continue to watch that very channel and support the very show they claim depicts them so negatively. According to many, the reasons behind murders, such as Trayvon's, are due to racial stereotypes that people all over the globe see on television. Let's revisit the question posed earlier, "How important is it to be entertained?" Especially entertainment that may cause a David Zimmerman to stereotype a Trayvon Martin and unjustly execute him! Do we need to digest so much of this entertainment on a daily bases, that also teaches young kids to imitate and idolize. I always hear, "This show makes us (black people) look so bad, but it's entertaining." I loathe that comment because it suggests that it's okay for other people to see us act a fool, fight and bicker, but it's acceptable because it's "entertaining". Many will be entertained to death, literally, only to realize that you didn't like the way the world treated you based on what the world saw on a television screen.
Hypocrisy is the most fitting adjective. A Facebook friend of mine had a status strongly criticizing some Trayvon Supporters, and made a very valid point. Her argument was a challenge to mindset that many embody. She asked, and I'm paraphrasing, how can we as black people be so upset one minute, when a black person is murdered, when we shoot and kill each other in our own neighborhoods and tell each other "Don't Snitch". Let's get someone if they kill us, but let's not help people next door to us find justice when we have information. Can you imagine someone who knew the truth behind the Trayvon Martin murder knowing exactly what happened and then responding with, "I'm not a snitch, so I don't talk to cops." Asking for justice one minute and purposefully denying justice to each other. I'm not suggesting all musicians, actors and directors cease talking about, or displaying violence in their art, but at what point does one draw the line, when blacks continue to be victimized in America.
However, referring back to the Trayvon Martin story, people did just that. People turned on the news, wore a "hoodie", updated their Facebook statuses, and then went on their merry way, back to their regular lives. Not too long ago, November 2011 to be exact, a black veteran was shot dead by police officers. Click the link for the following story...
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/29/killed_at_home_white_plains_ny
This story went almost unheard in the public sphere. Once again, an innocent black man, shot dead! I feel as though changing our course as a country can only be done by educating ourselves, one another, and especially, our children. In this technological age, one would think that getting information to people would be rather easy, and it is, but the information that's shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like, is usually trivial nonsense, merely there for entertainment. Many believe that watching television news--a profit making corporation, controlled by a handful of people--serves as the most realistic and factual way in educating themselves. This remains a huge error on the part of the people. I can give thousands of examples of disinformation, propaganda, and outright lies that appear on "The News", but I digress. The quandary with watching the news, and visiting some websites, is the fact that they too become ways of consuming entertainment rather than education.
I always hear black people, friends and family, complain about being misrepresented on television; whether it's a movie, show, or a music video. Interestingly enough, most of them will continue to watch that very channel and support the very show they claim depicts them so negatively. According to many, the reasons behind murders, such as Trayvon's, are due to racial stereotypes that people all over the globe see on television. Let's revisit the question posed earlier, "How important is it to be entertained?" Especially entertainment that may cause a David Zimmerman to stereotype a Trayvon Martin and unjustly execute him! Do we need to digest so much of this entertainment on a daily bases, that also teaches young kids to imitate and idolize. I always hear, "This show makes us (black people) look so bad, but it's entertaining." I loathe that comment because it suggests that it's okay for other people to see us act a fool, fight and bicker, but it's acceptable because it's "entertaining". Many will be entertained to death, literally, only to realize that you didn't like the way the world treated you based on what the world saw on a television screen.
Hypocrisy is the most fitting adjective. A Facebook friend of mine had a status strongly criticizing some Trayvon Supporters, and made a very valid point. Her argument was a challenge to mindset that many embody. She asked, and I'm paraphrasing, how can we as black people be so upset one minute, when a black person is murdered, when we shoot and kill each other in our own neighborhoods and tell each other "Don't Snitch". Let's get someone if they kill us, but let's not help people next door to us find justice when we have information. Can you imagine someone who knew the truth behind the Trayvon Martin murder knowing exactly what happened and then responding with, "I'm not a snitch, so I don't talk to cops." Asking for justice one minute and purposefully denying justice to each other. I'm not suggesting all musicians, actors and directors cease talking about, or displaying violence in their art, but at what point does one draw the line, when blacks continue to be victimized in America.
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