Year: 2019

Karina Ramsey

Dr. Carrie Hall

English 1121

03/26/19

Kesha  #MeToo

https://youtu.be/zrXf841YEeY

I am doing a documentary shining light on sexually assault and the some of the people who we as the next generation look up to, who has been sexual assaulted. Sometimes we look at these people and at their lives like it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but in reality, they go through a lot of things as well because at the end of the day we are all human. The pop culture artifact that I’m basing my project of off is Kesha. Kesha was sexually assaulted by her music producer Dr. Luke. In my opinion I think that people who feel like they have “power” over someone else, they like to abuse their “power” and do horrible things with that power. However, this power that they have is their own self-given power. Kesha wrote a song called praying where she addresses the fact that this man is a monster and she’s is praying that he gets better and that he doesn’t do what he did to her, to someone else. She also shows in the video for this song how lonely she was dealing with this situation by herself. I will also be highlighting some celebrities who have gone through similar situations, that many people wouldn’t have think when though something like this. Far too often people are afraid to talk about this because it’s hard to and they are in the public eye. In light of this #MeTooMovement we have seen many celebrities and regular people come out with stories about how they were sexually assaulted and now they are trying to get justices against the people who sexually abuse them.

I started out my documentary with this powerful quote by Eleanor Roosevelt“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” I used this quote because it speaks to the strength of the woman and men who are brave and were able to look these monsters in the face that sexually assaulted them and say I’ve been through this, I survived, and now I want justice. I provided statistics of SexualAssault in the United States to show that this happens far too often, and the more people who come forward the better it is for the little boys and girls who are growing up in this world. I then went on to talk about Kesha and her case with Dr. Luke. I spoke about the facts of the cases presented in court and the reason why Kesha was really suing Dr. Luke. However, over the course of my research, I have come to realize that many people don’t believe Kesha’s story, especially when Dr. Luke has very compelling evidence that he has presented in court. I made it a point to say that if Kesha is telling the truth I hope she gets the justice is deserves. However, in the case that she is fabricating her story, I hope that this situation doesn’t prevent other brave human being from coming forward in hopes of getting justice for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

The Black Lives Matter movement is a campaign for violence, racism and prejudice acts towards the black race. After years of numerous senseless killings as well as police brutality being directed at this particular race stirred up the idea and along with that came some very brave dedicated activists.to fight for what is happening in our community and the people who’s skin colors are affected by it. Around the time the social movement started back 2013 the people decided it was enough. Rather you knew who or even if you did not know who Sandra Bland or Trayvon Martin were amongst others, the affects of their passing’s have weighed on the entire community throughout the world. Mothers, fathers, uncles, nieces , nephews and sons are tragically murdered because of the color of their skin in which they cannot change, didn’t ask to have and should not be looked down upon or discouraged for, let alone be killed. So many legends before this movement put their lives and safety in danger so that equality is spreaded to everyone no matter their appearance or source of income and though America has grown as a nation from this it is still not all blue skies and sunny days. This senseless act of violence towards the black race has grown significantly within the past few years and it doesn’t get easier for anyone, it’s almost contagious.                                                                                                            Singer/songwriter and vocalist Andra Day broke out in 2015 with her debut album Cheers to the Fall, along with this amazing hit album that charted 48 on billboard was a very popular inspirational song called “Rise Up”. This song was used in numerous platforms regarding the BLM movement and with it, uplifted millions of hearts around the world. The singer is known for her beautiful voice that falls into the Jazz/Soul R&B category and her ability to capture tears and chills from her listeners. Rise up was built on chills, in fact this song has unofficially become an anthem for empowerment and protests all around the globe all because of her lyrics. Someone to be considered a voice for the voiceless and using her platform to send a clear message while providing hope for those who may have lost their own.                                                                                                                                                             At the very beginning of the song she starts off by singing “You’re broken down and tired of livin’ life on a merry-go-round and you can’t find a fighter but I see it in you, so we gon’ walk it out and move mountains”. Andra Day refers to the continuous acts of violence and dehumanization African Americans face time and time again throughout history. As if it’s something the people within the black community cannot change or move forward from because the world is stuck in one mindset, that mindset being “this is how it’s always been, so this is what it will be” but then she reminds her listeners to be patient. To know that the time for a change starts with the people. For whatever reason they are unable to stand up for themselves possibly in fear of being unheard or ignored are people who stand with them and they are not alone. The tone of voice allows you to feel the hurt and the aching pain around the BLM issue and the way she feels about what seems impossible to overcome but not impossible at all. There is a tremendous comfort in hearing this song at a time when Arican Americans are feeling hopeless, it then gives them that fearlessness to be great and being true to themselves.                                                                 In her chorus she says “I’ll rise up, rise like the day I’ll rise up I’ll rise unafraid I’ll rise up and I’ll do it a thousand times again, for you”, this is a clear message about how she is feeling on being silent about what’s happening around us and that she is not afraid and she will take a stand for whats right. Many African Americans are silent, they believe injustice to their race is to be expected and so it should not be challenged but Day expresses the exact opposite.  No matter the costs no matter the risks she’s aware of the effects rising up has on everyone surrounded by the issue. Followed by that lyric she sings “i’ll rise up, rise like the day i’ll rise up in spite of the ache” in many cases for many causes all it takes is one person to help break the barrier, take action or see what needs to be done and Andra Day supplies her own voice so that it can be someone else’s in hopes that people will hear her and be inspired enough to stand on the issues they are passionate about and with doing so not being afraid.

This particular movement has become one of the many reasons African Americans are able to build up courage, courage that was taken away from them so long ago as well as for so long. Andra Day’s “rise up” became the anthem because it supports all people in whichever side of the movement your standing on. The voiceless, the fearful and the hurt are all encouraged in her lyrics to be fearless and to take those necessary steps for change to happen.

Almost towards the closing of her song she says “all we need, all we need is hope and for that we have eachother and for that we have eachother” and in a welcoming tone she invites her listeners to lean on one another through the dark times because that is all we need to achieve greatness with togetherness. Be a whole so that the chances are greater, the love is stronger, the cause is deeper and the feelings all mutual .This is something Andra Day emphasizes all throughout the song, she is vivid and demanding with her words. Not in a forceful manner but definitely an encouraging one, something to look forward to or be excited about. The Black Lives Matter movement matters because it is the black communities voice against acts of violence that happens based off skin color and stereotypes. It is a community fighting back from so much loss and suffering at the hands of people who do not want change just power. An influential person being Andra Day took her voice and used her platform to raise awareness about taking a stand aside from the risks or what people say. This movement might not have started with you specifically but it affects everyone because it could be you, your daughter, a friend of the family, your son. It is both uplifting and motivational to the cause in this on-going issue, the anthem of hope.

 

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David Wu

3/25/19

Prof. Hall

Eng 1121

Police brutality is one of several forms of police misconduct which involves undue violence by police officers. Police brutality against African Americans is one of the most serious social problems that affects many states across the US. This issue has gained special attention in recent years due to the numerous killings of young black people by police officers. This issue has gone so far that it has sparked various movements, such as the well known “Black Lives Matter” movement. One of the main stereotypes against the police officers across America is that they unfairly discriminate against people of color, while being more lenient towards white people.

Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly” is a multiple Grammy award-winning masterpiece. Its mix of hip-hop, jazz, soul, funk, and other styles is a testament to the incredible range of the Compton-born rapper. This album won Kendrick four Grammy awards in 2016. More than just a great album, it features several singles that have gone on to become anthems of the modern social justice movement. Most notably, the 2015 single, “Alright” has become the anthem of a generation.

On March 2015, Kendrick Lamar made his message on the music video “Alright.” This song became the anthem of the nation’s rallying cry, especially for the Black Lives Matter movement. The troubles of police brutality victims can be heard in every breath of Lamar’s takes on “Alright” as he states with “Homie you fucked up, But if God got us then we gon’ be alright.” Pharrell Williams can be heard on the chorus, chanting “We gon’ be alright!” The music video starts by showing shots of life in a neighborhood. A young African-American man is seen lying on the ground and Kendrick begins speaking. Police and destruction flood the scene as the music starts, Kendrick and friends are seen riding in a car. As the camera rotates, we can see that the car is being carried by 4 white police officers. During the video, Kendrick flies through California, while his friends are throwing out money to everybody and dancers performing in the streets. At the end of the music video, Kendrick stands on a lamppost and a policeman shoots him down. Kendrick falls to the ground finishing his statements from the beginning of the video, but ends the video with a smile.

The video contains themes of the relationship between the black community and the police, an issue that was a serious topic at the time and still is today. The message of the video indicates that everything will be alright despite the hardships and injustices that Kendrick and in this case, black people  struggle with as Americans due to institutionalized racism and prejudice in the face of protest. The anthem of the song, the symbolic importance of its chorus, and its deep references to African American history are all cautious. And it’s clear that it took much more than the beat and hook coming together for “Alright” to become “the protest song of our generation”, as Rick Rubin puts it. “That song could’ve went a thousand other ways,” Lamar states.

The song is an anthem of positivity written amongst a backdrop of civil unrest. For some context, these all took place in the last six months of 2014 (during the recording of “To Pimp a Butterfly”): The shooting death of an 18-year-old black man named Michael Brown by a 28-year-old white police officer, and the weeks of protest that followed. The death of a 43-year-old black man named Eric Garner at the hands of two white New York Police Department officers; Garner was being arrested for selling loose cigarettes at the time of his death. The shooting death of a 12-year-old black boy named Tamir Rice by two white Cleveland Police Department officers.

“Alright” is the song that moves beyond Kendrick’s personal tragedy by directing his words to be relevant to the Black Lives Matter movement. “Alright” is used as a protest song that affirms Black humanity in the context of police killing:  “Wouldn’t you know, We been hurt, down before, Ni**a, when our pride was low, Looking at the world like ‘Where do we go?, Ni**a, and we hate po-po, Wanna kill us dead in the streets fo sho’/Ni**a, I am at the preacher’s door, My knees gettin’ weak, and my gun might blow, But we gon’ be alright.” These lyrics acknowledge years of collective struggle and perseverance through those struggles. Kendrick understands the killing of black men by the police to be another obstacle in the Black experience that can be overcome through spiritual strength to survive (the preacher’s door).

Despite this message of black determination by Kendrick Lamar, people found Kendrick Lamar as an artist for the Black Lives Matter movement. According to music journalist Jamilah King, Kendrick Lamar had a disputed relationship with a Black Lives Matter activist because of his statement about Ferguson. Kendrick, in an interview with King, stated: “I wish somebody would look in our neighborhood knowing that it’s already a situation, mentally, where it’s fucked up. What happened to Michael Brown should’ve never happened. Never. But when we don’t have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don’t start with just a rally, don’t start from looting, it starts from within.

It’s no question that Lamar deserved the honors of Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song. He sings about the oppression of the African race in the modern day context, and translates these personal stories into artistic masterpieces. The music video for his famous rap song “Alright” brought Lamar on the headlines of social media because of the visual elements used in documenting the historical and ongoing struggles of African Americans. Kendrick Lamar isn’t the voice of a single rapper. He’s the voice of millions.

Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY

 

 

 

Minhaj Uddin

English 1121

Professor Carrie Hall

March 25th, 2019

Logic has wrote a very inspirational song about suiciding and it is called 1800-273-8255. The title of the song is the suicide line. He grew up in poverty and lived a hard life. His dad was a drug addict and his mom was a racist. When he was a kid he use to live with his god mother and not his parents. He knows what it feels like to want to suicide but he says that you should always talk to someone its not worth it. Many people make fun of other kids not knowing how hurt the other kids get. Bullying and cyberbullying is one of the main factors of suicide. Many kids go to school and get made of fun of what they wear and how there as a person and the feel really bad about themselves and they don’t know how to deal with is so they feel that they should end there life and thats the only way that is the only way that the pain will go away and logic explains in the song that suiciding is not the solution to those problems. The reason that I have picked this song and wrote about is because I find this topic a very important. What I have drew in this drawing is a bunch of kids making fun of another kid and they are making him feel bad. One girl is recording him crying which shows that he will have to deal with cyber bullying as well to. These bunch of kids are having a really good time laughing and make fun of the kid but they don’t know what the other kid is going through and they are just adding onto his sadness that he feels. The sun in this picture represents the happiness that the kids are having and how they are enjoying themselves just by making someone else feel bad. The lightning and rain represent the hurt that he is feeling because the kids think that kid doesn’t feel bad but even on a nice and sunny day for everyone in his world it is always ugly outside and it is raining because he never feels happy due to the fact that he is always being bullied and feeling hurt.The suicide rate in this world has risen by a lot and people feel that it is ok to make fun of others and hurt people just so they can feel cool or better about them selves just because they made a couple people around them laugh. They don’t understand that the person that they are making fun of is really hurt and they don’t know what to do with themselves and they don’t have any friends. They cut themselves and hurt themselves even more just creating more pain and they feel that physical pain will over go on the emotional pain but that is the wrong thing to do. Suicide is a major issue in todays world and should be talked about more in the world. Logic has wrote a song and he has made it known that it is wrong and people shouldn’t feel alone and they have someone to talk to and they will feel that they are worth being in the world.

Scanned Documents

Stanley Desir                                                                                                      ENG 1121

03/11/19                                                                                                               Pop Culture

 

Ain’t No PTSDs, Them Drugs Keep It At Ease

 

Post traumatic stress disorder. Or as we call it PTSD, is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. A very prominent figure in the rap culture had suffered Ptsd and shaped him into the person he is today. On his latest anticipated album “Championships” Meek Mill has a song named “Trauma”. From the beginning of the song to the end you can feel the soul samples and the beat.

The name of the song is more of a meaning then just the name of a song. It’s the reason why Meek Mill is a rapper today. When the video was released, Meek’s son is playing the role of youth meek. His childhood self sits next to a photo of his deceased father as he pens a letter to him. He also appears in the present, reflecting on his experiences, from tragic deaths to court and prison, in a mirror. Flashbacks of street life populated with drugs, money, gambling and police busts are seen throughout.

There are many lyrics through out the song that dictates Trauma as a serious issue in American culture especially within the black community. In the chorus we hear the lines “See my brother blood on the pavement, How you wake up in the mornin’ feelin’ evil? Uhh, trauma” Imagine being around the age of 14-15 and seeing bodies drop like flies. It does something to you. Later on at the beginning of a verse Meek says “Ain’t no PTSDs, them drugs keep it at ease”. In an interview with the breakfast club his response to this bar was that “It’s real life, sometimes,  You might gotta get prescribed some sleeping medicine to got to sleep from trauma, shit you’ve seen. And I was really speaking of like, when you go to court, you can’t go to court and be like, “You honour, I was carrying this gun ‘cause 50 people in my neighbourhood got killed when I was young and I got Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. They ain’t tryna hear that. You come from the army or something’ like that, then it makes sense. But from our community, if you come talkin’ that talk, that’s like a foreign language. I never even heard of nobody getting’ in court saying’ that. Even, having that to be a backup.” You see the issue Meek is arguing against, a young black individual can carry a firearm for their own safety because of all the trauma they’ve experienced. In the court of law it won’t be valid but for a veteran it makes perfect sense. Both a veteran and an individual whose watched people getting killed both experience the same level of trauma. Meek takes on the responsibility of using these experiences to educate his fans.

The first time I heard of the song Trauma was when it was released as a single off of Meek’s album, “Championships.” It was towards the end of my first semester of college and I was going through a stressful time with the idea of moving back to Brooklyn and transferring schools. Meek’s album gave me a good feeling. Trauma hit home because I dealt with trauma through out my life growing up in Brooklyn. In “Trauma”, I feel like Meek is explaining his views of it. I feel like he can’t escape it. The lyrics in the song that depicts that idea are “11 years going to court knowing they might keep you or drive you crazy.” Meek was placed on a 15 year probation after being convicted of aiming a firearm at a police officer.

Meek tells the story of how young kids become products of traumatizing situations when living in poor areas. serves to put the song’s lyrics of witnessing death, police abuse, drug use, and unsupervised children on display to drive the point home. It’s a reminder of the message and activism Meek Mill is trying to focus on even more in his raps. Meek has toured and gave press attention to advocate for criminal justice reform, focusing in particular on the unjust structural quirks of the probation system. Meanwhile, Meek’s legal team continues to fight for a retrial in his original 2008 case for allegedly brandishing a weapon at a police officer, though repeated attempts to remove the ethically controversial judge overseeing his probation have been denied. Meek even states that the judge has a lot of self hate for her own people being the same skin color as Meek and causing a lot of controversy for the rapper.

PTSD doesn’t get as much attention it deserves. It’s a social injustice. The audience Meek tries to connect with through his song Trauma is the justice system and white America and how they need to stop demonizing the character of black men who were arrested for possession of a firearm. Some times the trauma comes from witnessing your own kin or friend get murdered in front of your eyes. So it’s ideal that you walk around strapped up. Black men have an unbelievable weight on their shoulders. The stress comes in every direction on a daily basis. The impact of walking down the street in your own neighborhood can be a traumatic experience in itself. You don’t know who to trust. You would love to trust your brother who shares the same melanin as you, but he’s bound by that same fear that has you tip toeing on eggshells just to walk to work or school.

Going forward, I feel as a country we need to shed more light on PTSD within black communities. This disorder is developed after being exposed to something that is highly stressful, scary or dangerous. This exposure doesn’t have to happen directly to the person with PTSD. For instance, seeing your friend be killed and even being in the home of domestic abuse can all trigger PTSD in a person. Marked by frequent flashbacks, hallucinations, mood changes and avoidance behavior, PTSD is a disease that gets overlooked in our community. Meek’s past experiences still affect him till today. “It can be intrusive symptoms such as thoughts and emotions that intrude into his life and causes him to re-experience trauma such as flashbacks, nightmares, and sudden feelings of terror. Another way of knowing is his attempt to avoid re-experiencing trauma, and constantly feeling threatened,” Dr. Holland-Kornegay explained. PTSD can be a host of things, but for many Black men these things will be looked at as oh the “normal” experiences we go through. Our Black men have a distrust of the medical institution in America. Black men at home self-diagnosing or coping in ways that are detrimental. Researchers in Atlanta interviewed more than 8,000 inner-city residents and found that about two-thirds said they had been violently attacked and that half knew someone who had been murdered. At least one in three of those interviewed experienced symptoms consistent with PTSD at some point in their lives According to Dr. Kerry Ressler, “The rates of PTSD we see are as high or higher than Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam veterans.” This quote is absurd. And I don’t understand how this country has a blind eye to this topic.

Invisible Man: Black Men & PTSD

https://www.spin.com/2018/12/meek-mill-trauma-video/

https://psmag.com/social-justice/ptsd-crisis-thats-ignored-americans-wounded-neighborhoods-75564

The above link is to the song “Trauma” and some details about Meek with his experience with trauma.

 

 

Pavel Nunez

English 1121

3/11/19

Dr Carrie Hall

                                                         Don’t do Drugs or Die

Every day,  a lot of people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. “The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious crisis in the United States that affects everyone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total  cost of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States was 1 trillion dollars since 2001 including the costs of healthcare, addiction treatment, and criminals”. Before the 80s-90s this wasn’t even happening and everybody was fine, So what happened?

 

How did all of this began? “Well In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers, and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates. This subsequently led to widespread diversion and misuse of these medications before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive. Opioid overdose rates began to increase. In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose, including prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.That same year, an estimated 1.7 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers, and 652,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder”. Based on the text you can see that drug overdoses are a huge problem in the United States, you can easily get addicted to it, Most of the drugs mentioned can easily be accessed by going to the doctor and getting prescriptions for it even if your not in pain(this can quickly be abused in a way to get more of the drug you want), while doing so they also recommend more than the safe dose you’re suppose to get so that is another unfortunate cause, Another is how potent the drug is. Some drugs are stronger than others and can make you develop cravings for it which prevents people from having a normal life without the drug(which they are addicted to). Biologically most drugs affect the brain’s circuit by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. Surges of dopamine in your brain circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy activities, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again.Which what causes addiction in the first place (Learned in Psychology).

 

Before,the government overall is not doing a lot to help prevent this epidemic from getting worse but instead chooses to do other unimportant things like getting involved in another war that has nothing to do with us, increasing taxes, and increasing the military budget which is more than the 7 next countries budget combined . The amount of people getting killed by overdoses of certain drugs just keep increasing and there seems to be nothing being done to help prevent this tragedy.

Now, Donald Trump(our current president) has shed some light on the opioid crisis happening in the United States and has declared  the opioid addiction as a national emergency in 2017. One year later he signed a bill to promote the development of non-addictive pain medications. It’s a right direction towards ending this crisis but there still needs to be a lot of work done in order to make a dent on the staggering statistics of drug overdoses

 

Also drug addiction isn’t just a problem , it’s also a proven disease like cancer, diabetes etc, and if left untreated(like any other disease) it could be fatal and cause death. But unlike other diseases having  mostly physical health symptoms, drug addiction is all mostly emotional and social based. This drug addiction can destroy friendships, family, maybe lose their jobs and harm themselves physically also or harm others since they end up crazy or turn into a “crackhead”.

 

Also these days, one big influence that is probably increasing the amount of drug use leading to the increase of drug addicts and drug related deaths is music. Since the 80’s there has been a lot of music that has been growing popularity and mention drugs and during that time was the, which helped fuel substance abuse since people thought it was “cool” to use drugs and it killed a lot of people in mostly poor neighborhoods.Crack was one of them, it is basically a free base form of cocaine that can be smoked.This drug was cheaper than regular cocaine, so this was bought and distributed to mostly low income neighborhoods in cities in the United States. One rap artist was 50 cent. 50 Cent actually wrote his experience selling drugs into his songs. In the song “Corner Bodega,” he raps about his young years of being a drug trafficker, and he spoke about being  a cocaine dealer in his other song “Ghetto Qu’ran.”. Another could be depression, ironically crack can give you depression after the effects wear away, but depression can make you take drugs as a way to cope with it, or maybe being around drugs make you do it. Let’s say you in a party filled with delicious fried food and everyone’s eating it.This makes you want to eat that too. It is sorda the same with drugs, but drugs have more consequences that will impact your life in many ways negatively. Another could be a way to deal with their personal problems that deal in family,school,job etc.

But some people don’t know how to treat drug addiction and they end up dying. The first way to prevent overdose when it comes to prescription drugs, like opiate painkillers, is to follow prescription dose described by the doctor exactly. This alone can make it less likely that addiction will develop in the first place.

For people who are already addicted to drugs, the best way prevent overdose is to get into and complete a rehab program to achieve recovery from addiction, Even though the recovery rate for rehab is low there is still a chance that you should go to it in order to straighten out your life and get it back into the right path like Macaulay Culkin( kid from Home Alone).

Overall, please know what you’re doing when taking prescription. Measure the right dose, be sure it’s the right amount, Afterall please be a regular working person instead of a statistic of a great drug epidemic killing lots of people who made mistakes using drugs and abusing them in the first place.

Mentor Article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/learning/learning-with-nine-key-questions-about-the-green-new-deal.html

article of drugs dealing with songs: www.drugrehab.com/featured/substance-use-and-rap-music/.

 

 

 

Allen, Greg. “Cost Of U.S. Opioid Epidemic Since 2001 Is $1 Trillion And Climbing.” NPR, NPR, 13 Feb. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/13/585199746/cost-of-u-s-opioid-epidemic-since-2001-is-1-trillion-and-climbing.

Gonzales, Matt. “Rap Music and Substance Use: Addiction and Mental Health.” Drug Rehab, www.drugrehab.com/featured/substance-use-and-rap-music/.

Lopez, German. “The Opioid Epidemic, Explained.” Vox, Vox, 21 Dec. 2017, www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/3/16079772/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdoses.

offutt, Lindsay. “Trump Signs Major Opioid Crisis Measure into Law.” Jurist, 2018, www.jurist.org/news/2018/10/trump-signs-major-opioid-crisis-measure-into-law/.