Hend Elwahwah

Dr. Hall

                G.O.A.T

 

J.Cole is one of the greatest rapper of ALL time. He is the GOAT! Not many rappers could relate to J.Cole or his music game, especially in the trashy generation we are in. He has recently released a major fire hit called, “Middle Child.” Cole mentions so many topics during this song. The title on its own has a large meaning. Cole expresses himself as the “Middle Child” in the rap game in today’s generation.

Cole mentions in the song, “Everything grows, it’s destined to change, I love you lil’ niggas, I’m glad that you came I hope that you scrape every dollar you can I hope you know money won’t erase the pain.” What he means by that is actually really deep. Nowadays we got rappers like lil pump and every other “Lil” in the rap game being the “shit.” Sadly, that’s what our generations into. Cole knows that those “Lil Niggas” are way up there and he’s not bashing or hating on them. But what he always tries to do is give them a heads up of how this rap game works, or give them some advice about what it’s really about. Cole also speaks about how he’s wishing the good on them and hoping they can make every dollar they could but just a heads up and a warning, MONEY DON’T ERASE THE PAIN! Every person no matter who you are, famous, rich, poor or a regular person, you’re still going to go through obstacles in life, bad or good. Many people start to think “oh if I had this or that this wouldn’t happen,” truly, that isn’t true. It may seem like having money could clear all your problems and make you live your best life but honestly it makes a person sick. It doesn’t erase any pain, it’s like a temporary medicine that heals you for a little and than it starts all over again. The artist J.Cole is important because he is always trying to send a message to his fans.. and haters believe it or not. You can think of it like this, J.Cole is a wake up call for this generation and upcoming artists. Another lyric the artist shared that caught my eye was, “Im dead in the middle of two generations, I’m little bro and big bro all at once.” He’s acknowledging that he’s learned a lot from the legends before him and is looking to help the new artists coming up.          

Cole is trying to show this generation the perspective of today’s hip hop and how he feels he fits in. He definitely feels that working with the older and younger generation in the industry makes him feel like the, “Middle Child.” You can say, something different. He also mentions older generations in the hit. He mentions drake and how his bond with drake is something different in a good positive way. Both the goats in our era. But in my opinion J.Cole is the OG!

While watching J.coles music video for his hit, “Middle Child” I’ve realized a lot. One of the scenes it shows the audience J.cole driving around in a Bentley, for those of you that aren’t into cars, just know that’s an EXPENSIVE car. Real expensive. As he’s driving around in the Bentley with his boys he’s driving into mud and getting the Bentley all dirty with no care in the world about it. He’s trying to send a message to the audience that money don’t buy you happiness and it most definitely doesn’t erase any pain. Another scenery from the video that caught my attention was the ALL female, powerful marching band, setting the perfect beat for the song. That scene was followed by a white women noticing a black women’s baby hairs and right after that immediately scene switches to the white women in the grocery store shopping for a black women’s face. The black face had a red “special” sticker on the packaging. The video showed lots of appropriation of different levels. How styles of black women are only honored when they are not on black women.

In the video he seems to reference the fact that he’s yet to win a Grammy and that he’s awkwardly stuck between two hip hop generations. He also seems to tackle the topic of cultural appropriation of black people and artists. In the beginning scenery, Cole was in the middle of a crowd. To his right was the older generations, he’s in the middle, and to his left was this generation we are in. That’s how cole really feels. Another scenery that really caught my eye and made me stop and think what is cole really trying to say here. This scene was when the whole crowd ended up lying dead in the morgue and they were wearing Louboutin‘s red bottoms, which are overly expensive and one of the most high end shoes. Those red bottoms end up having dirt come out of them which makes you think how fake and ingenuine the wearer is. Ironically, that scene was followed by one of the dead bodies wearing louboutin heels and has a huge tattoo saying, “Loyalty.” Clearly, there isn’t any loyalty there. Stay aware of your surroundings.

All in all, behind one song it can mean so much. Behind every song there’s some deep meaning behind it. Especially with an artist that’s one of the deepest in our generation, since he is the Middle Child in this rap game. My first time listening to this song I stopped and thought to myself, I know J.cole about to hit us with some heat and most definitely trying to send us a message. When it comes to J.Cole you gotta stay woke! Paying close attention to a rapper as great as Cole, it’ll really open your eyes to a lot. I’m really glad I got to write about this song because once it came out I was hoping we got assigned this assignment! A message I hope y’all get from this is money don’t buy you happiness and choose wisely on what you do, who you with, your circle, stay woke!

 

References:

• https://revolt.tv/stories/2019/01/24/5-takeaways-coles-middle-child-song-0700a6ecf8
• https://www.complex.com/music/2019/01/j-cole-middle-child-5-takeaways/traditional-album-rollout
• https://youtu.be/WILNIXZr2oc

 

One afternoon, while I was working as a hostess in a restaurant, I overheard a song by Kendrick Lamar on the speakers. I only heard about two minutes of this lengthy 12-minute song. But, within those two minutes, I knew it was a song that I had to constantly play. I adored the soothing tone of his voice, and that is what made me fall in love with this song. No, not a song, a story. “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” is composed of two parts. The interesting fact about Part One, “Sing About Me” is that it is broken down into three points of view. Part Two “I’m Dying of Thirst” includes a skit and ties back into the lyrics of Part One. Kendrick not only raps about today’s social issues; he raps about the social issues he’s personally gone through, as well as his friends, and how he overcomes these trials and tribulations.

I love Kendrick Lamar as lyricist because he is cut from a different cloth than today’s rappers. In my opinion, he is undeniably one of the greatest hip hop artists of his generation. I say this because all of his music is a story. He is not the usual artist that you’ll hear on the radio rapping about having sex with women, smoking weed or drinking “lean”, finding himself in trouble with the law or getting to the money. At least, you’ll probably never hear him rapping about these topics as a means for fun; he’s actually mentioned these topics to tell his story to his listeners to make them aware of the everyday life of a Compton teenager, even though we may just listen for entertainment.

 

What makes “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” so fascinating is one: it actually happened, two, this song ties into the whole album, which is a story line, and three, Kendrick wrote this song with three different points of view. In verse one, Kendrick is rapping, in his friend’s [named Dave] brother’s point of view. The brother’s name was never told; however, it is obvious he is speaking to Kendrick.

“Just promise me you’ll tell this story when you make it big…” ~ Verse One, Part I

He is telling Kendrick that he wants him to share his story with the world when he became famous. He tells the story of his brother getting shot right before him and his friends, including Kendrick. He also goes on to say how much he loved Kendrick for being a brother to his brother and for being there for him and his brother during the time of his death, as Kendrick is the one who held Dave in his arms as he was bleeding out. This verse was an example of a heavily common social issue, gun violence. Gun violence also corresponds with gang violence in this case. Kendrick raps:

“This Piru shit been in me forever
So forever I’ma push it, wherever, whenever…” ~Verse One, Part I

This clearly meant that Dave’s brother was gang-affiliated. This was more than common growing up in the 90’s and 2000’s in the wicked streets of Compton. Dave’s brother’s tone is angry and resentful towards the guys that killed his brother. It is also a tone of love admiration. As stated previously, Dave’s brother loved Kendrick as if Kendrick was his own brother. He says:

“I wonder if I’ll ever discover a passion like you and recover
The life that I knew as a youngin’;
In pajamas and dun-ta-duns” ~Verse One, Part I

This conveys that Dave’s brother’s wants to find “a way out” like Kendrick did with his music. Unfortunately, he never did. The verse ends with Kendrick rapping, and being interrupted by the sound of gunshots, indicating that Dave’s brother’s life was also cut short due to gun violence.

Verse two sums up the story of a teenage girl who follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Keisha. Again, the point of view is in that of Keisha’s younger sister but rapped by Kendrick Lamar. Unlike Dave’s brother, Keisha’s sister did not want Kendrick to sing about her. He starts the verse off by saying:

“You wrote a song about my sister on your tape
And called it Section. 80

The message resembled “Brenda’s Got A Baby” ~Verse Two, Part I

In Kendrick Lamar’s 2011 album “Section.80”, he wrote “Keisha’s Song (Her Pain)”, which was a story about a woman he knew, named Keisha. At the time, she was a 17-year-old prostitute. The message of the song was similar to Tupac Shakur’s “Brenda’s Got A Baby”, a story based on 12-year-old Brenda who got pregnant, became a prostitute for money and was slain. “Keisha’s Song” was a story that told the life of Keisha as a prostitute, with the same outcome as Brenda. The lines after this clearly show Keisha’s sister’s tone of disapproval after hearing the song about her very own sister. Keisha and her sister were prostitutes, and Kendrick did not mention that so abruptly; but there were parts of Verse two that hinted the profession of Keisha’s sister, which stood out to me:

“Even if I got to fuck, suck and swallow

In the parking lot, Gonzales Park, I’m followed

By a married man, and father of three

My titties bounce on the cadence of his tinklin’ keys

Matter of fact, he my favorite ’cause he tip me with E’s” ~Verse Two, Part I

This is one instance where a listener would find out that she’s a prostitute. Kendrick’s use of E’s is a homophone because this shows that he tips her easily because she’s a good prostitute and also tips her with ecstasy. Keisha’s sister is a teenager herself, and this is proved when she speaks upon running away from her foster home and not missing it; she believed that she was just another girl whose life was damaged by the system. She also shows a tone of slight regret and felt that if she was brought up by a family that actually loved and supported her, then maybe she would have learned to respect her body and become a woman, a leader.

Keisha’s sister’s tone of loathe is persistent throughout the verse. It became clear that her and Dave’s brother had opposing tones. Dave’s brother wanted Kendrick to tell their story when he made it big. It appeared that Keisha’s sister did not:

“…what point are you tryna gain

If you can’t fit the pumps I walk in?

I’ll wait… Your rebuttal a little too late

And if you have a album date, just make sure I’m not in the song…” ~Verse Two, Part I

Verse three is more centralized on Kendrick on verge of life and death. The tone of this verse is very unhappy, disgusted with himself as he stares into his reflection, and it becomes worse and worse every time he stares. It, more or less, becomes the rebuttal that Keisha’s sister claims (verse 2) was “late”. He reflects on both instances in verses one and two:

“And you’re right, your brother was a brother to me

And your sister’s situation was the one that pulled me

In a direction to speak on somethin’

That’s realer than the TV screen” ~Verse Three, Part I

The first line aimed at Dave’s brother, and corroborates verse one, which mentions that Dave’s brother sees Kendrick as a brother of his own. He is making sure that he’s telling Dave’s story and his because it is something that should be heard. The next three lines, and some after that, explain that Kendrick didn’t sing about Keisha to put her business out there and judging. It was instances like Dave’s and Keisha’s (and ultimately their brother’s and sister’s) that drove Kendrick to focus on his music, and not the sad life of the Compton streets. Kendrick hopes that one day, when he dies or retires, that someone will rap about his legendary days as a rapper, just as people do now with BIG and Tupac:

“…And hope that at least one of you sing about me when I’m gone

Am I worth it? Did I put enough work in?” ~Verse Three, Part I

At this point in the song, Part one’s (Sing About Me) beat is simmering down and the skit is arising. In the skit, Dave had just been killed due to gun violence, and Kendrick and friends are trying to figure out if they want revenge or to run. Dave’s brother concludes the skit by fumingly yelling that he’s tired of running. Kendrick starts off Part two (I’m Dying of Thirst) by stating:

“Tired of runnin’, tired of huntin’

My own kind, but retirin’ nothin’” ~Verse One, Part II

This is a never-ending cycle of violence in the black community; this is black-on-black violence that he partakes in because of the death of his friend. “Retirin’ nothin’” is in reference to not losing anything of value (besides involved loved-ones) after this is all said and done. Essentially, nothing is gained from violence.

Part two more so shows Kendrick’s relationship with God.

“My momma say “See, a pastor give me a promise

What if today was the rapture and you completely tarnished?

The truth will set you free, so to me be completely honest

You dyin’ of thirst, you dyin’ of thirst

So, hop in that water, and pray that it works.”

This is in reference to holy water. Kendrick is seeking salvation; he is talking about being baptized with the spirit of the Lord. The tone of Part two is reflective, and Kendrick just wants forgiveness from God.

I enjoyed listening to this song the first time; and I felt exactly the same way after dozens of listens. What I learned about Kendrick Lamar, and more so on this song, is that it ties into the whole album. Kendrick Lamar is very descriptive, and I believe that is what drew me into this song out of millions I could have chosen from. Not only did he tell a story of four people he deeply cared about, he made people aware of their situation of gun/gang violence and prostitution. I love music; however, I don’t listen to a lot of songs that will tell the story of the person rapping it. I will never have that problem with Kendrick Lamar.

 

 

 

 

Brandon Ma
English Composition ll

Finding your own identity

In the early 1900’s, there has not been much acceptance to individuals who identify as LGBTQ in our communities. Everyone has their own journey in what they want to achieve and become later in life, and shouldn’t assume how others think and act in finding their own identity.
Here we are in 2019, it’s more acceptable as compared to the 1900’s but its hard for people coming out to society as their safety is still a factor. People should express for who they are without opinions of others that impacts their life.

According to the TV show “I am Jazz”, the focus of this documentary revolves around this transgender child from male to female at a very young age. It is very slice of life, but outside the TV show, she’s an advocate for trans rights. This reality show can target any audience who is curious to learn about the community out there and what a transgender individual will go through everyday. Such as waking up everyday and looking at themselves in the mirror, and say how their body doesn’t match with their psychology. These symptoms often lead to depression and anxiety, and worst case scenario is suicide.

For a person growing up at a very young age can be very shocking when they explain it to their parents. For example for Jazz said,”the moment she was able to speak, she told her parents that she was transgender”. Telling her only family, her brothers and especially her parents was really tough. They feared what will happen if they allowed Jazz to dress up the way she likes and get bullied at school. Or fall into deep depression and commit suicide. When coming out to everyone, it is a very hard topic to discuss at a very young age. Jazz’s parents may believe they might’ve nurtured them in a way that affected their perspective in life. While there are some researchers that say its the nature, down the biological psychology.

Even though there is more acceptance compared back to the 1900’s, but there is still some anti-trans people who despise trans individuals. Jazz and her mother “ decided confront an anti-trans group that has been targeting the family. In this auditorium with intensity in the air, one of the audience came and said “you should be discussing these things with your parents” like they haven’t discussed at all to begin with. Another thing he asked was “what bathroom do you use” which can be sounded offensive. Jazz said she uses the female bathroom because she identify as a female,however , this individual spoke his opinion saying “it’s a sick thing basically”. This showed how there will always be people who will in doubt hate transgender people by speaking out their opinions. This influences can change how a transgender person will come out because of threats they may receive. Some even argue the question , “ When is it a good time to transition as suppose you’re only a child”, because the brain of an infant hasn’t fully matured to think logically. This controversial topic led to people believing, that these parents are trying to brainwashing their child into doing something that changes their psychologically and physiologically.
It can also be hard for people who may not be transgender, and your sexual attraction can be homosexual relationships. Coming out to your most supportive family members and even friends can be challenging. Depending on your ethnicity it can be viewed as shameful act because of expectations the family. This can lead to individuals to not be supported by their family and often be depression. Eventually, keeping these emotions in will later on continue to make your life more miserable. Especially millennial will not understand the terms of LGBT, and it can be even harder for them to understand what a child will go through.

In the 21st century, there is a lot of hate and discrimination in our society. Such when Trump was campaigning for presidency in 2016. In his term, Trump’s administration has announced a plan to thin out the terms of gender to the biological male and female characteristics. This caused the LGBTQ community to question what will happen to them, and started protesting. This can be very drastic to individuals, this can mean removal of LGBTQ centers that offers healthcare, therapy, programs, and etc. For the millions of people in the United States will no longer be comfortable for they express themselves. If the term was justified, people of the LGBTQ community would not be safe because of the violence against LGBTQ individuals.This type of violence against the LGBTQ wouldn’t be considered an hate crime and can be viewed as crime.There are also people who are still not public about their identity because of the dangers that are imposed by these changes as increase to discrimination towards these individuals.

Another action that Trump has done in the past was by removing everyone who identify as transgender to resign from the military. According to Independent, “The administration had also attempted to ban transgender individuals from serving in the US military, but was blocked by several federal judges and opposition from military leaders” (Sampathkumar). This impacted individuals who are passionate to serve their country, but now they can’t. This is also a good reason that we have balanced of powers, thus people who are public about their identity will not be shamed for who they identify as. This shows Trump revisions into the regulations, however, it is not being enforced by every departments of the military. While there are higher powers in our society, everyone should be able to express freely without discrimination.

While not going too deep into my story, I went through this process. My parents thought it was a phase and ignored it and thought it was normal for every child to have, eventually this feeling every time I would try to forget about it. Having the feeling of anxiety and nervousness emotions held in for so many years that it became unbearable as time continued as if nothing has changed everyday I would wake up. I never had a consistent therapist that also helped me in my journey, and this often led me to having no one to talk to. I always feared telling my parents what I believe in, and worried what their next steps was. There is still tension about this topic because of that it’s not often discussed between my family.

As we move into the future, there are still many people hiding their identity even today to their parents or friends because of uncertainty if they will be accepted. Now after Trump has proposed this new identification, people would have to be even more cautious because that shows how our society is moving forward today in our era. However New York City is a great place to be in, New York City wouldn’t enforce these changes because of its democratic standpoint. New York City has even “pushed for the rights for a person to use a single-sex bathroom that aligns with their expressed gender identity, established by the Obama administration” according to Independent. There has been implementation that individuals are treated equally in our schools, such as the implementation of unisex bathrooms, dorms, programs that are individual sex, and more. Everyone should be able to express themselves their gender identity and/or sexual orientation freely without the toxicity holding them back.

Works Cited
Green, Erica L., et al. “’Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html.
Hobbs, Allegra. “Threat to Roll Back Trans Rights Sparks Action.” Am New York, Am New York, 23 Oct. 2018, www.amny.com/news/transgender-rights-nyc-trump-1.22354107.
Sampathkumar, Mythili New York @MythiliSk. “Trump Administration Considers Elimination of Transgender Recognition.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 21 Oct.2018,www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-transgender-rights-lgbtq-gender-identity-bathrooms-military-education-a8595131.html.

Latrell Greene

ENG 1121

Dr. Hall

3/26/19

X-Men and Representation

 

Marvel’s X-Men are a symbol for the struggle of people who are seen as different to achieve equality. Created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the X-Men weren’t created in a vacuum. They were written into existence during a time where the civil rights movement, the fight for racial equality and the end to racial segregation, was reaching its peak. The struggle of the X-Men being ‘mutants’, and putting up with those of society who hated them, and discriminated on them simply because they were different was an effective way to get readers who might not have experienced racial or cultural discrimination, to put themselves in the shoes of, and to care about those who do.

The comics gave people who had experienced that kind of discrimination a form of representation, while giving those who might not have faced it an understanding of the ever-present situation of minorities in America. Marvel Comics are also known for its social commentary in a lot of their other properties too during various time periods, but the X-Men perhaps delves the most deep into those issues, and is perhaps the most inspired by those real world issues in comparison. In the series, the topics of racism, diversity, and antisemitism are explored.

Going further than just connecting the issues between in the comics and real life, characters are even heavily paralleled to real life figures that really embody the issues being explored. The leader of the X-Men and the Leader of the opposing team of mutants, Professor X and Magneto, respectively, are representations of their real world counterparts, the Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Professor X has connections with Martin Luther King Jr. in that their ideologies share hope that everyone can coexist peacefully in the future despite the hostile discrimination occurring in the present, while Magneto and Malcolm X hold the more opposing ideology; they’re inclined to the notion of embracing their differences but they advocate for separating from the rest, and don’t shy away from violence as an end to their means due to the discrimination.

Some might argue that: because they incorporated these issues into a comic book during a time where these issues were serious, that they made light of these issues. But in reality, including something serious like this in a comic book or a similar piece of entertainment allows it to reach more people, and its demographic being younger, it can influence and teach the next generation to be greater. It can give those who are able to relate some representation, and lets them know that their problems do matter. On top of this, it can be a lot more impactful by getting a reader to care about the characters, and then by effect, getting them to care about their problems. It gets the reader to do something watching or reading the news might not be able to for them; it takes a magnifying glass and helps the reader understand why those problems matter.

And representation in pop culture can be a wonderful experience for people who don’t normally see people like themselves in those mediums. Looking at today and our modern pop-culture, with films like Black Panther giving people African descent representation by having a blockbuster superhero movie with a black lead and mostly black cast, and having so many show up, and having it happen with female-led ones too, with Captain Marvel, there’s something about being represented in a medium you enjoy that’s so thrilling, and having the X-Men first appear and embody the struggles of those who were discriminated on probably was probably even more thrilling and satisfying for those who struggled, and also enjoyed comics. Even taking a look at one of the most iconic superhero characters from today, Spider-Man was created to be a representation of the everyday man. In contrast to the problems of heroes like Superman and Batman, Spider-Man was mean to have struggles just as much outside of his superhero life as within. His emphasized problems with his relationships, school, having to keep a job to help his aunt pay rent and time-management all while having to be a superhero were revolutionary in that he was someone everyone could relate to, and at the same time, having him be a superhero that was a kid, and wasn’t a sidekick gave younger readers representation too, and it’s one of the reasons Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes of all time.

Dotting our i’s and crossing our x’s, the X-Men contributed a lot to the discussion of racial and cultural politics, and did a fantastic job of introducing the topic to young readers, allowing them to empathize with and understand what is so wrong with racial and cultural discrimination, and still with one stone, giving minorities  representation and letting them feel like they could be superheroes too.

Celebrities, everyone in the world has a celebrity which inspires them to do better and one day become like them or maybe people want to become like them. Well, what if everyone is going to start doing what most celebrities do. In some cases this can be a tragedy, because in the past few years many known celebrities committed suicide. If everyone would start doing the same the world population would go down pretty quickly, which is not a good think. A study released in February by researchers at Columbia University said there were 18,690 suicides in the four months after the death of Robin Williams in August 2014, suggesting an excess of 1,841 cases — nearly a 10% increase, based on previous monthly suicide data from 1999 to 2015 (Fottrell 4). In the past year celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain had ended their lives which has caused a lot of rumor in social media. This means that celebrities are effecting other people when committing suicide. It is important that people understand that we should stop the spread of suicide, and once for all end it. Many factors are not helping stopping suicide from happening but instead numbers of people committing suicide are increasing and reasons are unhappy environment, social media and substance abuse.

Woo and Postalache states “Behind the curtain of world economy globalization, the occupational environment is delivering increasing stress, such as job insecurity, increasing workload, and the burden of lifelong learning. Larger proportion of employees became involved in service- and knowledge-based industries requiring heavy technological preparedness and mental stress. If the pace of change exceeds the capacity of the workers to cope, negative stress reactions can occur.” (2) Woo and Postalache states “The relationship between occupational environment and mood disorders seems to be reciprocal, creating vicious cycles in many cases. For example, depressive episodes resulting from work-related stress can impact vocational performance by ‘presenteeism’ due to decreased concentration, reduced motivation, and decision errors, as well as ‘absenteeism’ Negative feedback from the organization, decreased self-esteem, and reduced salary may follow and add on the stress level of depressed workers.” (9)  This evidence is showing how bad environment can effect people in a way which most of the times leads to suicide. Most of us spends at least 5 to 8 hour s a day outside, this is why environment has such a big effect on us. What then people experience when outside effects them in different ways and those can vary. A bigger part of people are effected most by their work environment. This is crucial because by understanding what is frustrating many of us can result has a better environment and that can then lead to an happy environment and suicide rate caused by unhappy environment might reduce.

Brueck states “More people in all but one state and across every age group — from 10 to 75 years old — are dying by suicide. But Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters on Thursday that ‘middle-aged adults had the largest number of suicides, and a particularly high increase in rates.’”(10)  Carey states “The death of famed chef Anthony Bourdain, who apparently killed himself in a hotel room in France, caps a week of unnerving news about suicide. Rates are climbing across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday — in some states, by as much as 30 percent since 1999.”  Through social media a news can be spread all over the world in seconds and can be heard by millions. Social media does play a big role on people life’s and the news that it spreads most of the time can be negative like in this case the suicide of chef Anthony Bourdain which has caused a lot of rumor when happening in the same year of Kate Spade suicide’s. Celebrities and social media are two of the most powerful way of spreading ideas and rumors but these can also affect people all over the world. The group of people of has being affected the most by all of the rumors and social media are the middle-aged adults.

Ilgen and Kleinberg states “Although it is difficult to compare the relative impact among different mental health problems with the risk of suicide, alcohol and drug use disorders have been found to be strongly related to suicide risk. 3,5  Individuals with a substance use disorder (ie, either a diagnosis of abuse or dependence on alcohol or drugs) are almost 6 times more likely to report a lifetime suicide attempt than those without a substance use disorder.” (3) Juergens states “Suicide, addiction, and depression have a very close and interconnected relationship. More than 90% of people who fall victim to suicide suffer from depression, have a substance abuse disorder, or both. Depression and substance abuse combine to form a vicious cycle that all too often leads to suicide. Many who experience such severe depression (as a result of Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and other conditions) frequently turn to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other risky behaviors to numb their pain and/or alleviate their negative feelings.”  Most of the times, people who are thinking of committing suicide are relatively connected to problems such as depression and substance abuse disorder, these two together can be lethal and has stated from Juergens “… often leads to suicide.” This is important to understands that substance abuse can kill them. This should help people that are going through these problems so that they can stop and be free from substance abuse and it will only help them and also it will help reducing suicide rate.

What many people think is an act of craziness sometimes can be an act of good. As stated from Burton “For Hume, a person does no harm in committing suicide, but merely ceases to do good. Assuming that he is under some obligation to do good, this obligation comes to an end with death; and even if it does not, and he is under a perpetual obligation to do good, this should not come at the expense of greater harm to himself, that is, at the expense of prolonging a miserable existence for some ‘frivolous advantage that the public may perhaps receive’.” This is wrong. Living a person killing him/her self is extremely wrong. In most cases people who are thinking on committing suicide have a related problem which had brought them to the point of suicide. What instead everyone should do is trying to help them and understand what problem has brought them to the point of almost committing suicide. By helping people in difficult moments will only help them to do better.

During the past and present years, people all over the world are being influenced by celebrities. In some cases celebrities had committed suicide, and that has brought a lot of rumor all around the world and many people are being affected from it. Suicide rates are increasing every second of our life. Stopping suicide can only be beneficial for our world population. Factors that brought people committing suicide are unhappy environment, social media and substance abuse. Nowadays we have the technology and the experience of stopping and helping reducing what ever we want. We as humans should help each other out, by helping everyone in need almost every day, like people who are trying to commit suicide can help reduce death rates and can be beneficial every single person in the world. Today we should start thinking of what is better for all the people in the world including ourselves. Instead of still fighting for something that in 20 or less years will not exist anymore is stupid. We should help each other instead of bringing people to a state that they feel like there is no need for them to live anymore, we need to understand that life is limited and we’re unique. From now on let’s embrace the meaning of life and let’s start helping each other out. One day we should be a free suicide world.

 

 

Bibliography

Burton, Neel. “ Can It Be Right to Commit Suicide?” Psychology Today, 22 May 2012, Google,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201205/can-it-be-right-commit-suicide

Carey, Benedict. “ How Suicide Quietly Morphed Into a Public Health Crisis.” The New York
Times, 8 June 2018, Google https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/health/suicide-
spade-bordain-cdc.html

—-. “ How One Suicide Lead to Others.” The New York Times, 8 June 2018, Google,

Fottrell, Quentin. “ Studies show suicides increase in the months after a celebrity takes their ownlife.” Market Watch, 10 June 2018,
Googlehttps://www.marketwatch.com/story/there-was-a-10-rise-in-suicides-after-the-death-of-robin-williams-2018-02-08

George, Donna. “Suicide and social media in the suburbs: A cascade of hearts, a sense of loss.”Chicago Tribune, 25 November 2018, Google
https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-suicide-and-social-media-in-the-suburbs-20180102-story.html

Ilgen Mark and Kleinberg Felicia. “ The Link Between Substance Abuse, Violence and Suicide.”Psychiatric Times, 21 January 2011, Google,
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/substance-use-disorder/link-between-substance-abuse-violence-and-suicide

 

Name : Tohuratun Chowdhury

Class: English1121

Prof. Hall  

                                                Women Empowerment

Gender equality is, first and foremost, a human right. A woman is entitled to live in dignity and in freedom from want and from fear. Empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty. Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities and to improved prospects for the next generation. They place themselves on pedestals and force women to believe in their own inferiority to men and their incapability to excel educationally, politically, economically, and domestically. But the truth is that women will eventually advance in all these areas and come to realize that they do not need men to survive.

Many countries don’t give women the right they deserved as a human. I read the book “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban”.  This theme is the central focus of all of Malala’s activism. Growing up in and around a school, Malala learned quickly the power that education has to shape a child’s life, determine their future prospects, and give them the courage to speak up for what they believe in. It was because of her education that Malala was empowered to stand strong against the Taliban occupation of her home, and she has used her fame to try to give as many other children as possible the opportunity to go to school. On 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. She changed her fear to her strength.

I made an artist statement about women empowerments. It’s not easy to being a woman every stapes they have to face a lot of conflicts. Women are the roots of the nations. They are the one who helps their child to take a leap in life, women are always ready to face any hardship in their life to raise their child. When a woman can plan her family, she can plan the rest of her life. When she is healthy, she can be more productive. And when her reproductive rights including the right to decide the number, timing and spacing of her children, and to make decisions regarding reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence are promoted and protected, she has the freedom to participate more fully and equally in society. Without women, the world cannot exist just give them a chance their one voice can change the whole world.

Amani Nassar

English 1121

Dr. Hall

March 12, 2019

We Gon’ Be Alright

Music has become the most expressive form of power in times of struggle. The Compton born, Kendrick Lamar has been making history all throughout his time in the music industry with one of his most groundbreaking album “To Pimp A Butterfly.” The multi Grammy winning album speaks on many problems people of color face from police brutality to mental health issues in songs like “King Kunta”, “The Blacker the Berry,” “U”, and one of the most influential songs of our time “Alright.” This notable hip hop/rap song and almost the entire album, pulls a rally of emotions from its listeners to call for a push for change in the world we all live in. Who would have known the tremendous impact this song would have on our generation?

I’ve always loved Kendrick Lamar from the very beginning of his career. He is such a diamond in the rough standing out in crowd of rappers who only rap about sex, drugs or money. His music hits you like no other, you can feel the pain, the sadness, the hopefulness and so much more in his songs. Lamar is able to take his tragic life experiences from times of depression to the struggles of growing up as a black man in Compton and turn it all into something so beautiful that the world can relate to. I remember when I first heard Kendrick was coming out with a new album back in 2015, I couldn’t wait to hear what he was about to release. At the time though, I felt that Kendrick Lamar was so underrated because no one commended him for the work he was doing and the difference he was making in the world of rap. I bonded over Kendrick’s music with some of my friends, constantly listening to his songs saying that he will make it big one day as soon as people started listening more closely and appreciating the music he made. We spoke it into existence. He has become the poet of the hip-hop world.

The song “Alright” has reached many platforms from people chanting “we gon’ be alright” at rallies for protest during Black Lives Matter events to even protest at presidential campaign when Trump was running for office. The chants have become so symbolic as the people look for a reason to keep hoping for change. Past acts of oppression and current acts have inspired songs like “Alright” where artists like Kendrick are able to create music that resonates with so many people, helping them get through their own tragedies that they may face on a daily basis. Lamar brings a sense of unity in the song as he creates a reflection that there are better days ahead for those in the black community and it all starts with change within themselves as they persevere through tough times.

Throughout the song, Lamar alludes and makes reference to God quite a few times. The most obvious reference are in some of the opening lines where Kendrick says

Nazareth, I’m fucked up

Homie, you fucked up

But if God got us then we gon’ be alright

From these lines I feel as though Lamar addresses God as the main one who can bring change to anything. With real faith, nothing can harm him or anyone else who truly believes that God will make sure that they will be okay despite their circumstances. The reference to Nazareth, on the other hand, has more of a deeper meaning in the song. Nazareth is said to be the place where Jesus grew up, the city was thought to be a foul place which resulted in Jesus being shun by those who did not like the city. The allusion given to Nazareth can be looked at through the eyes of Kendrick as a comparison to the struggles he faced in Compton being looked down upon as a young black man.  

But homicide be looking at you from the face down

And we hate the po-po

Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho’

In these lines, although they are not in this particular order in the song, all make reference to the constant killings of innocent African Americans by police. The hip-hop world has always made music that reflects the hatred felt towards the officers that should protect us, but rather kill us. “We gon’ be alright” is repeated several times throughout the track to give the people hope that they can survive through all the pain and suffering they face. The injustices the people face will only make them stronger in the long run, so no matter what we go through rest assure “we gon’ be alright.”

The music video starts off with a monologue where Kendrick talks about his journey growing up as a young black man, fighting for himself and those he loved in a society that despises him. Throughout most of the video Lamar is floating in the air, which I found very interesting. I think having Lamar flying in the air is a metaphor for him being a butterfly, watching over those he cares about, alluding back to the album title “To Pimp A Butterfly.” Acts of police brutality are clear within the video as in the song. There are scenes where police officers are shooting at innocent men who solely resisted arrest. In the very last scene of the video, Lamar is standing on top of a lamp post and was shot at by only the fingers of an officer and not a real gun. I believe that this is one of the most symbolic scenes throughout the whole video because to me it meant that black men are being killed by more than just guns.

There are several visuals that Kendrick Lamar uses as metaphors to allude to the black community being able to rise against oppression and police violence. One scene in particular that really caught my attention was when we were showed 4 white police officers carrying a car in which Lamar and his friends sat in. The symbolism behind this scene is so important because it signifies that the black community can and will be alright despite the hardships they face. There are other scenes in which we see singers and dancers on top of police cars acting almost as if there was nothing bad going on around them. This seems to bring a hopeful feel and reassurance to the video that together we are strong and we can get through anything.

“Alright” is an anthem that encourages positivity to influence change, it’s a call for protest. Lamar speaks for so many people in the world who feel like their voices aren’t being heard. We need more artist like Kendrick Lamar who can influence the next generations to come for the better.

 

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

 

Haider Mahmood

Dr.Carrie Hall

March 26, 2019

English 1121

 

 

NBA YOUNGBOY is a rapper from Baton Rouge, who real name is Kentrell Gaulden. Youngboy is a 19 years old and he is averaging the most views on YouTube. One of his most famous songs is Genie. The reason why people listen to that song a lot is because it describes certain pain that most rappers don’t show. Youngboy grew up poor and doesn’t really care about money. He wants to make sure that all 4 of his sons have enough to live their life.

Youngboy starts of by expressing he doesn’t care about anything and on this song he is going to say everything on his mind. NBA Youngboy is known for his violent activities as there is multiple videos show online of him fighting people and getting in altercations. Some of Youngboy’s song are about him doing violent things that are proven.  Youngboy continues the song by saying “to may problems, thinking how I’m going to solve them, so much pain in my body, they selling lies and I bought it”. This is one line most people can relate to because everyone has believed a lie and been taken advantage of. We all been at a point where we had a life problem with no idea of a solution. Youngboy continues the song by throwing a shot at his ex, Jania. Youngboy says “saying you would never leave how can you just lie to me, get from your knees you aint gotta cry to me”. Jania is known for being the one who gave Youngboy herpes. She cheated oN him with a rapper named Gee Money who she got the herpes from and then gave to Youngboy. Jania was a person Youngboy trusted and to betray that trust really shows that you have to watch out for these females. Youngboy continues the song by saying “I’ve been giving you all my love do you feel it, never learned how to trust sittin in penitentiary, all for you I take a slug baby who the realist, had to tell her I’m a genie I can answer wishes”. NBA Youngboy has been to jail for years and currently has cases pending against him. This line is basically Youngboy saying that if he ends up trusting and loving you then he will give you anything you want. Youngboy continues by saying “I got my static when you ridin with me, we get pulled over know you ain’t gon no time for me, I put my hands up police drew down on me, so many charges make me want to go way oversea”. This is an important line because Youngboy is saying how loyal he wants his female to be to the point where she is willing to go to jail for him. Also he is saying how he is tired of his criminal charges that it just makes him want to go to another country where he has a clean slate. Youngboy has been to jail many times for having weed on him, having a gun on him and assaulting someone. So the next line is “Reminiscing ’bout them days I was sittin’ up in that cage. I was begging you to stay and you hung up in my face.”  This is a very rare side of youngboy because there are multiple videos online where youngboy states that he doesn’t need anyone or never will, so for him to actually beg a girl to not leave him while he’s in jail is rare and obviously it hurt him because she hung up on him and he put it in the song. “I been rolling through the streets and been clutching on my heat. I put blood all on my feet and I put cameras in my trees (baby)” this is a very important line because this is when his girlfriend gave him herpes and he ended up killing the guy who gave it to her. Most of the rappers don’t really write about the things they actually do but it is confirmed that Gee Money was shot and killed after the truth of the herpes came out. Youngboy continues by saying “I been taking Adderall mixing it with lean (mixin’ it wit lean).Hope I don’t wake up out my sleep.” This is a very depressing line because you don’t drink lean while taking other drugs. Especially Adderall because they drugs have opposite side effects. Mixing these drugs shows that Youngboy is hurt and doesn’t even want to live anymore. Youngboys lyrics show you inside of his mind and emotions, as you can see herpes has youngboy suicidal. As the song ends youngboy says “Been in love never help me solve my problems (my problems).I wish that I could find a girl just like my momma..” which shows you the women youngboy loves are the one who care about him and love him just like his mom.  The last lines says “I don’t wanna hurt nobody, but still ride around with that chopper (yeah).Zoe life to the end, tell them free the main sniper (tell ’em free Kodak). Which shows you a different side of youngboy where he isn’t violent but can be and Kodak gives a shoutout to his friend Kodak Black who was in jail.