Our art is a reflection of our reality…….

                A powerful statement stated by Ice Cube. Not only, is it powerful, but it’s true. This group of “thugs” was the voice of a whole generation. For, them to have the impact they did on a generation in turmoil, tells a lot about the hard times our country was going for. Racial inequality and prejudice was running rampant across the country and we were in an economic downfall of sorts. At the center of all of this, was the city of Compton. It was notorious for gang violence and poverty; drive by shootings were a common place. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for the murder rate to exceed 50 a year. Drugs were rampant with the rise of cocaine and crack heroin emerging in the 1980’s. Despite all these problems, these 4 young men emerged speaking the truth. But, they weren’t just speaking they were rapping. Their words told what life was like. They told about the drugs and the shootings. To many it was shocking; their words were so straightforward and brutal that they had their music banned in many places across the country. Was it because of the fact that we were offended by their offensive lyrics? Or was it the fact that we were offended by the lyrics because of the fact that they were telling a dark story of what happens every day in these ghettos. As controversial as they were, we can’t deny the influence they instilled on a younger generation of artists. N.W.A is the grandfather of rap. They were the first super group of the Rap genre. They influenced the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and even 50 cent.

 It was the first time we heard the other side to the stories about violence in the ghettos. That didn’t settle with a lot of people.  We deny the fact that we have the white privilege. We wonder why we don’t have many white gangs and violence in our neighborhoods. Then, we look at the ghettos that are home to minorities and we can see why they are fighting for turf and drugs to keep their minds off the conditions they are living in. We ignored them too long and they let us hear about it through the power of rap.

                Although, this saying did hit home with many people. The people of Compton and ghettos all around LA now had a voice to channel their anger and despairs. Through its lyrics we discovered that we weren’t all that powerful. We found that people are simply mistreated based on the color of their skin. White Privilege was becoming a term we could relate to ourselves. Believe it or not, we are higher up on this social scale. And all below a certain line are living in poverty and in the threat of violence at all times.

                This brings up the point of the LA Riots. They were protesting the acquittal of 4 police officers in the beating case of Rodney King. To riot and break into buildings is being hypocritical. If they were protesting police brutality, then why would you kill multiple people on the streets? It makes no sense. If you are going to protest brutality; then don’t do it by yourself being brutal. Do it through a peaceful march or something along those lines. Don’t take a semi driver out of a semi, beat him to near death, and celebrate as he is lying dying in the streets. If the race card is being pulled, then represent your race with some pride. Be the better person and don’t go shooting up a city and stealing things to show, “we are being victimized’. Express yourself through music or peaceful talks. Of course, NWA added fire to the flame as if it didn’t already have it. With the song, “F the police”, it riled people up. It was a deadly combination of anger and a willingness to break the law. Overall, these riots were nothing more than hypocrisy. By protesting violence, they went against themselves and did exactly what many people were trying to get them to do. This all bleeds down (figuratively and quite literally) to the cities and how their lives exist in them. The only way they know to solve problems is how they have always been solved in those communities. It’s the fact that they were being so long ignored to the fact that when they finally got the spotlight; they were flustered and were so desperate for attention they did this. If you look at it from this point of view, it is almost understandable, not excusable, but understandable. Sadly, in this country we only found the negative in the situation. We became scared of these places and instead of help we isolated them more. Not in presence, but by laws. With all these laws, it just isolates the group. In the end, it was an idea that could have had such a positive impact but instead it was taking the wrong way because of the sheer chaos of the situation.

                NWA was influential. There is no doubt about that. They expressed their voices through rhymes and beats. Explicit language was the only way to reach the ears of a whole country. They went against the grain and went into unnamed territory. They brought hip hop to the world; and it took it by storm. The media loved to hate them. To them, they were a bunch of thugs and murderers singing about killing police and doing drugs. But, they weren’t just a thug group, they were artists. They were painting a picture of their lives and the lives of millions of people in the U.S.  They appealed to the younger audiences and said things that we have never heard. Stories were told and it impacted our country in both positive and negative ways. N.W.A truly did show the world what it was like in the streets of Compton. But more importantly, they showed us that their art is a reflection of their reality.

1.       $25 an hour or more

2.       You will find some teen moms, drunks, and even some pretty normal people.

3.       Because it’s 98% white people

4.       There is no way to leave this place; it is just like the reservations. Economically, it’s just too difficult.

5.       Of a human animal

6.       People are trading boxes of Pepsi for cash and even food stamps.

The whole fact that there is a white ghetto goes overlooked. Appalachia truly is the closest thing to a third world country that we have. To be in such a hardship to have to trade pop to gather enough to live on, is a travesty. But, it isn’t easily changed; economic hardship will always be here. There is just not enough money to change this area. It always will be a White Ghetto.

Donald Trump  

                Where can I begin with this man? As a country that tries to base itself on moral integrity, how can we elect a man who has none?  Electing him would only make our problems worse! He has said some of the most racist, sexist, and outright idiotic comments. Not to mention the fact that he has filed for bankruptcy four times! Here are a few examples of Trump saying some outrageous and boneheaded comments

·         “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are little short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”   ----Huffington Post

·         “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest—and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure. It’s not your fault.”-----  Twitter

·         “Laziness is a trait in blacks.”----- Huffington Post

·         ‘Look at that face... “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”----- When talking about candidate Fiorina

He has said quote, “John McCain isn’t a war hero; He is a war hero because he was captured? I prefer people who weren’t captured.”  This is just plain and outright disrespectful to all of the servicemen who have served and are now listed MIA. They have shown more courage and faith than Mr. Trump has shown in a lifetime. For him to bash the people who have been captured in war, by saying he prefers the ones that come home not captured, is plain and outright disrespectful. Speaking your mind is one thing, but for him to say these things consistently just says what type of person he is! Just because he is a billionaire doesn’t mean he has the right to be above everyone and say anything he’d like. Being a president comes with some necessary norms. It involves you acting like a civilized and a generally good person. It is like being a player on a team; you represent your town when you put on that jersey. Same with presidency; he is representing the whole country. We can’t have a bigot and sexist man who makes derogatory comments at everyone he sees representing us. There are better options for president! Making America great again won’t start with Trump.   I’ll finish with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

Sources: http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/donald-trump-said-a-lot-of-gross-things-about-women-on-howar#.hswMkm42aA

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/30/the-dumbest-stuff-donald-trump-has-ever-said.html

NRA and White Privilege

               

                After reading these extensive amount of articles and acquiring information our first question was asked. The question is “What is white privilege?” and is it real? I do believe that after reading these articles that it does in fact exist. It is an everyday deal. There are multiple examples stated in these articles and the more I think about it the more it makes sense. This totally exists based on the sheer fact that our country has come to model everything on the white man. As appalling as it is, there is a reason behind this. It’s because of as of now there are more whites than minorities. But, as we saw, it will not be this way for long. The privilege that we have had in the past and present will be history. And, to me that’s a good thing! As long as we are all equal, we are truly free.

                Now comes the question of who the mass shooters are? I believe that they are the rejects and the ones who are stepped on. These people are the lowest of the low. To earn attention that they have been so desperately seeking for years; they go and shoot up a school or church in desire of getting some news time. It’s so depressing that this is what our society has come to! Instead of giving them help we toss them in a reject neighborhood and they just get worse and worse. So in the end I believe that the shooters are all races but the lowest of those races.

 

                As for the NRA, I believe the fact that they directly influence the political theatre of today’s world. It is the main drive behind the pro-gun debate. The Republican Party is basically supported by the NRA and the many members. Whereas, the Democratic Party is very against the gun rights we have. I think that as long as you have the support of the NRA you can actually win the presidential election. This connects to the articles because they are the main driving force behind the fact that many people aren’t supporting gun rights in this nation of ours. And those very people are calling for universal change. The NRA sadly won’t be around much longer due to its controversial nature. It’s really a shame because of the impact they can have on us gun lovers. It’s sad to see that people don’t value the guns and weapons like they used to when the NRA was founded. As long as the NRA is around we can have a political safety valve and have the support of millions of gun loving and respectable Americans.

                With Gun Control Laws, I believe that we will be very limited in the effect of the fact that we are going to end up having the 2^nd Amendment changed to the point where it will be useless to have it in the first place. It is a shame that people don’t realize that people kill people not guns. As long as we have the NRA’s support we will have our rights but I do believe that because of the fact that there will not be the NRA in the coming years. The 2^nd Amendment will be changed without it’s backing and we won’t have guns before long. Maybe control laws are what we need but not to the point many are proposing. It just isn’t worth making millions of Americans angry.

Overall, in the end the connection between White Privilege and the NRA is the fact that because we have all these rights and such that we are the main driving point politically. As long as we are the majority and have the NRA backing us up, we will have it our way. But, when the NRA is gone, so will our gun rights and even some political power that we have. We need peace and we need to learn to compromise or in the end all we will have is more violence and death. All, we need to fix what we have before it is gone. This needs to be done for the sake of the nation and the future people as well!

How Society Let Freddie Down…….and How He Was Still Responsible.

•      In the wake of all these instances, this is just another story on the news. Actually, it’s more than that. This is the story of a man who was doomed from the start. He was in a low-income neighborhood and he wasn’t about to go anywhere anytime soon. Baltimore is one of the most dangerous cities in the US. The housing of these places is just atrocious. It makes a typical trailer park look like Beverly Hills. The environment he was in is tough enough to get out of. The ghetto life isn’t one for people who want to strive and succeed. He just wasn’t able to! This can be attributed to the crime in that general area. Freddie was a criminal in retrospect. Although, he wasn’t convicted many times because of lack of evidence. He still committed these crimes. Yes, he had control over what he could do, and running was not the smartest thing to do. He needs to know although and people need to realize, that running from the cops and showing an aggressive attitude towards them isn’t smart! In that respect, Freddie let us down. Another reason, people can peacefully march or stay peaceful. It’s when people start burning down businesses and setting things on fire is when people have crossed the line. So, really instead of making your voice heard in a positive way, you have now made your reputation bad and your whole race is affected otherwise. There were others ways of protesting police brutality, it just wasn’t worth it. Am I being too tough on Freddie, maybe, but I just firmly believe if you did wrong and you need to be arrested. Just listen and turn yourself in. This is where the cops did wrong though. They need to learn after all of these news stories of kids being shot in black neighborhoods, which they need to approach this in a manner of care. They needed situational awareness and it wasn’t the smartest thing to do! In the end, it wasn’t just Society but it was just as much Freddie!

Saints and Roughnecks

1. After reading this article, I can conclude that the only reason the saints were viewed as better than the roughnecks is based on social standing. To me, it’s the only reason that makes sense. Because, of them being rich and coming from middle to high class families made them better received. Compared to the roughnecks who were equally the same troublemakers but came from lower class backgrounds. In return, the Roughnecks were unfairly received because of that exact point. The saints were even proven to be and have worse wrongdoings in a shorter time. Often, they got drunk and drove around every night and vandalized actually quite often. Roughnecks weren’t involved in this stuff for weeks at a time but when they committed a deviant act they were judged vastly and often truly hated upon. It wasn’t fair.

 

1. In my report, I talked about Jim Jones. This man was a crazy cult leader who actually committed a mass murder suicide. He was a crazy man who was obsessed with power. He was loved but hundreds of people but also hated by officials and people with common sense. The acts he carried out until the mass murder suicide weren’t all terrible. He provided medical care programs and he heavily promoted social equality. What made him sadistic was the fact that he told them he was Jesus Christ. He was all powerful to the few that saw him as a leader and he sought an exodus. So, he moved all his followers and traveled to Guyana. And, he named the town Jonestown. The conditions were terrible but they still stuck with him. Eventually, being studied for crimes and going to be observed he urged 900 people to drink flavor-aid mixed with cyanide. Only a few survived and he didn’t live to tell the tale as he too drank the lethal mixture. It was largely known as the greatest loss of American citizen’s lives until the date of the September 11^th attacks in 2001. So, of course, he wasn’t able to be tried of murder because of the fact he died but he is largely known as the single greatest killer in US history as he was directly attributed to 900 deaths. Not to mention the fact that a large amount of the people who drank the mixture were children. If he was on trial and charged with murder, he would almost surely have been put on death row. In conclusion, this man was a terrible man who was so caught up in himself that he urged 900 innocent souls to kill themselves and also issued the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan as he was at the airfield outside of Jonestown at the time of the deaths. He truly was a terrible man.

 

Digital Piracy…… and Deviance

After reading this article which stated that teens and adults nowadays are pirating movies are in fact committing deviant acts. Although, as a normal individual who doesn’t partake in the illegal downloading of movies or entertainment in any certain way….. That may be. But this author proved that in fact, these kids that are partaking in these illegal activities don’t find these truly illegal because all the kids around them do it too! Thus, it proves the statement that if you are around peers of deviant nature, you in turn will turn deviant and rebellious. It can all basically boil down to the nature vs nurture argument in a way. As long as you are in constant contact with deviance it will make you become deviant. This author also states that because of everyone doing this it blurs the lines for what’s right and wrong on the internet in today’s world. If everyone is doing it, then they really can’t stop it because there is too many to catch. So, really all the enforcers can do is warn and give idle threats because it’s almost out of their boundaries to deal with it. In the end, deviant acts such as piracy are still highly illegal but so many people commit the deviant acts that it makes it near impossible to combat. Its a battle that isn't easily won and the only way to win it is by taking a stand. Staying smart and staying within legal boundaries on the internet is the only way to combat digital piracy.... The Digital Deviance.