Weekly Blog

This past week we got a chance to break down the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar's new song DNA. I was looking forward to this class activity the most because I had been listening to the song back to back since it was released and it no doubt my favorite song off of this album (followed by LOVE.).

The song is filled powerful juxtapositions and descriptions of what being Black means to him. Like I stated earlier, this song is my favorite on this album for a few reasons. The first being the audio sample used on the track in juxtaposition with the lyrics of the song. I believe the sound bite is from a Fox news segment.

The next thing I really like about this track is the raw emotion Kendrick spits with. Right off the bat I was just stuck and was lost for words. This coupled with a beat that scratches in its introduction that commands the listeners attention and proceeds with an even and methodical bass that makes me nod my head while I follow.

And lastly, the best thing about this song is the lyrics! Kendrick Lamar's lyrics lay the way for his Black listeners to remembers why the should be proud to be Black in addition to having everyone get that the "they" cannot break, mimic and take advantage of the Black community anymore.

Weekly Blog

This week in class we talked about African American women and their role and influence in the Black Panther Party.

I realized that I was very familiar with the things we talked about for a couple of reasons. The first being that as I mentioned during the first week of class, my my father's parents were Black Panther Party members. I can't remember which city chapter they were involved with the most though because they moved around a lot. Each time their is a family reunion all of my family members, myself included, are graced with stories of their time during the era. I can always tell that my grandmother and grandfather miss the times where they involved in social justice and an opportunity to protect and be involved in a community of their like-minded peers.

My grandmother in particular always says that she misses the time because of how well Black women were regarded and appreciated. She felt like a true equal.

When I asked my grandparents about their opinion on the Black Lives Matter Movement and compared it to the efforts of the Black Panthers. We agreed that both movements' platform was based on police brutality on Black people. However, my grandparents both agreed that the BLM movement does not "make enough noise" and shake up the government the way the Black Panther Party did.

Weekly Blog - Week 5

I'm not entirely sure how to go about this blog business, as I not one to put my personal business out there for the world to see. I don't understand how this current generation has an obsession with doing such, but oh well.

Last week I missed class because I was shooting my thesis and since Thursday's class was cancelled, I can only make connections to the assigned readings.

Last week we were assigned to read about the "Rebirth of Caste" in the New Jim Crow book. In the book, the author goes on to discuss how the birth and death of slavery, Jim Crow and the new Jim Crow (mass incarceration).

When I was reading the first few of chapters I began to remember the stories that my great-grandmother and my grandparents told me about their time growing up during their respective eras.

Weekly Blog - Week 6

So over this past weekend I went to see the movie that everyone seems to be buzzing about... Get Out. As it turns out I only saw the movie by chance because I had originally gone to see another movie but it was already packed. So, my friend and I went to see Get Out just to see what all the hype was about. I have to say that Get Out, along with Moonlight, is not something I was rushing to the cinema to go see. Admittedly I have to say boy was I wrong about Get Out.

The film on the surface did not look like it offered a whole lot based on what I saw from the trailers. It looked like just another B-horror film that was looking for an excuse to kill a bunch of Black people. This was definitely not the case.

I could go on for hours talking about all of the symbolism and little nuances that were included in the production of the film. I have to give the writer/director Jordan Peele his dues. Peele, who is biracial (African American and Caucasian), is incredibly meticulous in showcasing a variety of different symbolism.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The film had a number of different little moments. When the main character (Black) goes to visit his girlfriend's family (White) we get the moment where the family make what I can only describe as those cringeworthy moments when White people make racist comments without realizing how racist they are. Or when they tried to ensure how not racist they are by saying things like "I love Obama. I would have voted for Obama twice".

Another moment was during the silent auction scene that reminded me of the slave auctions back during the slave era in America.

Or how the White people that were looking to get their consciousness transferred to a Black person because being Black "is in".

Another moment was how cotton and red and blue colors were used in juxtaposition throughout.

All and all, the film could definitely be analyzed and talked about endlessly. Definitely go see!

Key Concepts from Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow

3. In what way was raced used to justify slavery?

Because African Americans were deemed as "less than" and inferior to their Caucasian counterparts, religiously and scientifically, slavery was justified.

5. What is the purpose of black codes in general?

The purpose of Black Codes was a way for the legal system to supply for-profit prisons with plenty of able bodied Black men (and women).

10. What is the Southern Manifesto and who drafted it?

The Southern Manifesto was a document written in opposition of integration of Blacks into public places (schools, dining venues, transportation, etc.). It was drafted by Senator Sam Erban Jr. from North Carolina.

12. How was mass incarceration used to re-enslave non-white and poor Americans.

Because crime is correlates with economic class, poor Americans fell victim to mass incarceration. Also, Black Codes were a way to target and incarcerate Blacks.

14. War on Drugs
    The War on Drugs was initialized as a way to target and imprison African Americans.

The New Jim Crow: “Rebirth of Caste” - 5 Quotes

1. "Under slavery, the racial order was most effectively maintained by a large degree of contact between slave owners and slaves, thus maximizing opportunities for supervision and discipline, and minimizing the potential for active resistance or rebellion. Strict separation of the races would have threatened slaveholders' immediate interests and was, in any event, wholly unnecessary as a means of creating social distance or establishing the inferior status of slaves". 


2. "Convicts had no meaningful legal rights at this time and no effective redress. They were understood, quite literally, to be slaves of the state."
This quote is a great extension of  what we talked about in class. Black men and women, despite being "freed", were still slaves but now under a new name. 




3. "Conservatives blamed liberals for pushing blacks ahead of their proper station in life and placing blacks in positions they were unprepared to fill, a circumstance that had allegedly contributed to their downfall."




4. "Some segregationists went further, insisting that integration causes crime, citing lower crime rates in Southern states as evidence that segregation was necessary."


5. "...a disproportionate share of the costs of integration and racial equality had been borne by lower- and lower-middle-class whites, who were suddenly forced to compete on equal terms with blacks for jobs and status and who lived in neighborhoods adjoining black ghettos."

Key Ideas to Know from: A Critique of “Our Constitution is Color-Blind

1. Discuss the Supreme Court’s color-blind constitutionalism that uses race to cover four distinct ideas: status-race, formal-race, historical-race, and culture race.  Be able to define each one.

Status-race is described as being used an "indicator of social status".
Formal-race is defined as "socially constructed formal categories" and hold no connections to social constructs such as "culture, education, wealth, or language".
Historical-race takes past accounts of "racial subordination".
Lastly, culture-race is said to describe "Black" as a reference to African-American.

2. Who is German comparative anatomist Blumenbach?  How did he classify race?
   He was the one who classified race into five different categories (Caucasian, Mongolian, Malay, American and Ethiopian) based on the structure of the skull. 
    
   

3. Provide two examples of the scientific legitimization of race.
(1) The use of physiognomy.

(2) The use of the past (ancestry).

4. What terms were used to justify the political status of black Americans?
  "Heathen", "infidel" and "negro".

5. In what year was the first recognizable slave code created?  In what state?
   1705; Virginia.

6. According to the article, what is the purpose of race? 
   The purpose of race is to serve as a method to categorize and help support hierarchies where they stand.

7. Color-blind constitutionalism implicitly adopts a particular understanding of race as objective and immutable, which may be less obvious than legislative enactments, but is no less significant.

8. Provide an example of a case whereby the Supreme Court used status-race, formal-race and historical race and cultural-race to render its decision..

Status-race; the example used in the reading was the Dred Scott v. Standford case. In this case, the ruling judge found that Blacks were indeed inferior and thus were not subjected to the same rights as whites. 
Formal-race; the example of this used in the reading was the Plessy v. Ferguson case which validated the separation of Blacks and whites (Jim Crow).
Historical-race; Brown v. Board of Education
Culture-race;  Metro Broadcsting, Inc. v FCC
 

9. Provide an example of assimilation and cultural genocide.

An example of assimilation and cultural genocide would be in the case of when Native Americans were forced to surrender their children over to Christian missionaries and were sent to boarding school to be "re-educated".

10. Provide an example of alternatives to color-blind constitutionalism.

 An example of an alternative to color-blind constitutionalism would be to revise the way race is approached and defined within law.