Rap and Responsibility

A group of my peers recounted one of the hottest topics in the music industry: censorship. Not general censorship of all music, but the exclusive censorship of the hip-hop industry. It's odd to think that when censorship comes up, it seems to target forms of entertainment that are primarily or stereotypically enjoyed by African-Americans. Regardless of where the censorship is aimed, it is an issue and it seems no one is taking responsibility for it. The group members felt that the hip-hop music industry should take responsibility for censorship. They cited a couple of song lyrics that contained gender deprecating and alcohol appreciating subtleties. They told us about videos that contained vulgar images and glamorized "gangsta living". The industry should be responsible for the messages they send out to the masses. In some ways I agree with my peers, but then I remember that the people that put out these images are entertainers. It is not necessarily who they are. Actors, writers, directors, and rappers should all be held to the same standard. No one should be held more responsible than the other. Perhaps there should be a rating system for music like there is for movies and video games.
In my opinion, the bulk of censorship responsibility lies with the parents. A child will naturally develop an affinity to what is seen and heard in the home. Yes it is true that the "corridor curriculum" of school life and peers can starkly contradict what is taught at home, but there is no substitute for a solid foundation.

Self Assesment

All week I have been having troubles trying to get in contact with Ms. Claudia Dezak, Head of the Foreign Language Department in the Washington DC public school system. I was told she has all the answers to my question when trying to figure out why is the foreing languages not flourishing in the DC public school systems. I have a list of questions pertaining to this topic that I need to have answered before it is our time to present. Earlier during the week, I believe I had to make at least eight calls just to get in contact with Ms. Dezak and then she did not have time to entertain my questions. I must say she is a very nice women with a sweet attitude but by her eagerness to end our conversation I could also tell she was very busy. Fortunately, the following week I receive a call from the Mayor's office of Employment and Services. Ms Elba Garciez from Washington DC, member of the foreign language department in DC public school systems allowed me to give her an interview covering the issues pertaining to our group project. She quickly answered my questions and was actually expecting for more. I email the information received from the interview to my group-mate and she posted it on our power point. I was the last one to hand in my information but I think my persistence in helping the the group along the way made up for it. This is the final week and we are doing pretty well as a group. We scored a 93 on our group project presentation, but I feel we did much better than the previous groups.

"Black on black" "Crab in the Barrel"

Shareef Abdul Malik
On November 2, 2010 I listened to the group of students give their presentation in the Tubman Quad Building. I was very alert because the topic of slavery is my subject. I am very critical when it comes to information of slavery. The students made questionable point that I feel were invalid but were good observation. They mentioned that there are reasons why African Americans take on the mentality of "crab in the barrel." The student said that there was a great majority of African American slaves who were owners of other slaves. He said that the owners would beat the slaves brutally like the white man and there would be no difference in the treatment from the white and black slave owners. I totally disagree. I believe some black slave owners bought the slaves to help free them and give them a better treatment. There is no way possible for a black slave master fresh from Africa to abuse and torture his people the way the white man did. From my understanding the people who helped enslave the Africans were of their own people. I believe that the students should not have given a presentation in which they are blaming the negative mentality of black on the blacks. There are reasons that the students did not state on why the blacks share a mentality of a "crab in the barrel" which are: White slave owners, during the winter time use to give a group of slaves who did not really know each other one small blanket to share, they use to give only a limited amount of food for a whole group of slaves, and the use to show a little favoritism and reward those who told on one another. The is the reason why we have many "house niggers" and "crabs in the barrel."

reflecting on my INTERVEIW for the presentation

During my interveiw with a student athlete, I learned that participating in extra curricular activities, such as sports can help develop solutions to human social problems and challenges. Using skills to develop characteristics such as team work and leadership can train one to work well in society with others. Society could use more indivisuals with the understanding of how to be a leader and/or effective group memeber. In sports it is important to know your position and job with in the team. Determination and attitude are more skills that can be generated through students by studying sports. It has been said that athletics could negitivly effect students' grades, due to the time and energy it calls for. But on a diffrent outlook, with the GPA requirements, pressure to do well and expectaions from the coaches, athletics can be used as motivation for students to do well in their classes, knowing that with the lack of good grades, they can not do what they enjoy. But this is only the mental content of playing sports. On the physical side, development in athlets can be used in society and spread to others. When learning, playing or practicing a sport, there are many components that can be transferred into one's physical ability, like reflexes, health and stamina. These are things that we use in everyday society. Imagine the social awareness, situational awarness and toughness that can be bulit into a child if an athlete were to take the time to experience sports with him or her. As simple as it seems, it could possibly combat a social challenge. After this interveiw I veiwed sports in a more useful manner.

Howard Boys presentation response.

Of course everyone has noticed the ratio difference of male students verses female students here at Howard University. Until my classmates’ presentation, I just assumed this was a “girl school” and that is how it has always been. But now I wonder, what the ratio was in the founding or beginning years of Howard University? I believe that everyone (male or female) has their own reasons for attending their college or deciding whether to attend school at all. But it is in our history as African Americans to not be equal enough to receive a healthy opportunity for education. In some cases that I have witnessed, it is not expected from African American males to be successful. Society takes on a major role in raising young men; older men and the media often influence them. If their influences are not encouraging them to be successful in school, then it is partially society’s fault for them not achieving. I think we need more black lawyers and doctors. Nevertheless, I do not agree with the comment “they turn to sports as the easy way out”. There are plenty of talented males who can actually make a living off of athletics. Other factors in the denigration of black men achieving are location and finance. I understand that when there is a hindrance that you cannot control as a child, it takes one with great ambition to aspire a good education. In some cases that is the least of a black man’s worries (after staying alive and making money). The time and hard work it takes to receive the proper education seems so long and hard compared to illegal hustles. I do wish that more men would strive for a school like Howard but the least I wish for is that they strive for something period.

Rap Music's Affect on Communities

Today, the Freshmen Seminar 7 group presented a question asking whether or not rap music negatively or positively affects a community. They were able to conclude that it negatively affects the community. Rap music openly talks about sex, drugs, and violence. The women are looked at as simply sex tools. Some songs that talk about women and sex are Make Dat A** Clap by Project Pat, Becky by Plies, and Some Cut by Trillville. Another aspect of rap music is violence. Rappers promote shooting and killing rivals. They also promote gangs. For example, Lil Wayne talks about being a Blood and Snoop Dogg talks about being a Crip. These artists will sometimes mention the gangs in their lyrics. Artists and groups that speak of violence in their songs are Crime Mob (Knuck if you Buck), Devin the Dude (Just Because), and Lil Scrappy (Head Bussa). The last component that the group spoke of was drugs. Many of the artist in the rap community speak of smoking marijuana. They glorify this drug by making videos where they are smoking and promoting the drug in their music. Groups such as Crucial Conflict speak about the drug in the song, Hay.

These aspects of the hip hop community play a major role when it comes to influencing the youth. Freshmen Seminar 7 believes that rap music should be better censored. However, I do not think the artist should have to censor their music because they have a right to freedom of speech. I think it is up to the parents to set an example early in the child’s life as to what music they listen to, especially in the presence of the child.

Black on Black Crime

On November 2, 2010 a group of my peers alerted me to a topic and not even heard of before. It's strange to think that this could have even existed, they say anything is possible. But the thought of African-Americans, blacks OWNING other blacks is barely within my reach. Their study focused mainly on slaves of the North and South Carolina, but that was enough to tickle my fancy. That first thought most would have is that the Black slave owners simply "owned" their friends and families. Those black slave owners simply bought freedom for other slaves and by the legal definition, they were slave owners. However, according to the research, those black slave owners "owned" their family as well as other slaves for the purpose of financial gain. The only thing different from white and black slave owners was their skin color as a lot of black slave owners were as cruel as their white counterparts. You would think that the common ancestry would beg the idea of benevolence, but it didn't. Perhaps the black slave owners felt they needed to be cruel to garner the respect the white slave owners probably received automatically. I'm not sure because I wasn't there, but I imagine that I would be more bother by a black man beating me than a white man. This person was supposed to be my brother. However, one of my group members brought up a valid point when he stated, "It's not a surprise there were black slave owners. It was black people that sold other blacks to whites in the first place. They captured their own, locked them in shackles, and guided them on the ships that brought them here." When considering that truth, the idea of black slave holders is not so crazy.

Alexandria Igwe

Interview with a Sociologist

Our group topic focuses on the lack of foreign language education in our elementary schools despite the growing emphasis on globalization. As a group we determined several reasons as to why these programs aren't implemented and it seemed that Dr. Marie Jipguep and we had the same principle reason: Money.
Foreign language education programs in elementary schools do not make fiscal sense according to Dr. Marie Jipguep, Urban Sociology professor at Howard University. Dr. Jipguep admitted to not being an expert on the American primary school system as she attended primary school in her native country Cameroon, so she asked of my experience. After detailing to her my short stint with foreign language, she was shocked. After making comparisons between my experience and her experience, it is easy to see why. I began foreign language education in the 6th grade and was allowed to stop in the 10th grade. Dr. Jipguep began learning English in the 5th grade and by high school she began learning Italian, a language of one of Cameroon's many colonizers, and she had to have fluency in both in order to graduate.
When asked why Americans don't stress the learning of foreign languages as Cameroon does, Dr. Jipguep responded with her original answer: it doesn't make fiscal sense. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the biggest stock exchange in the world and it is located in New York where everyone speaks English. Therefore, other countries that wish to do business in New York will learn the language. In Cameroon, it was necessary to learn the languages of the colonizers if you wanted to make money. Americans don't have that need yet. Everyone speaks English so there isn't a rush to learn another language. However, in light of China possible new world standing, some colleges have begun to introduce Chinese culture and language courses because it is important to not only speak their language, but understand their way of life.
Dr. Jipguep also noted that America is a big country. She compared it to a continent where each state is analogous to a country. Each state has it's own culture, so within these continental confines there is already so much to learn.
I agree with Dr. Jipguep that if change in the foreign language curriculum will come, it will be at the community level not the national level. Each community will serve according to its needs. In the South where there is a large hispanic population, Spanish is a must. Some places have a large Indian population and Odu is the language of choice, but if this was a national requirement people in Wyoming will most likely question the purpose since they don't have a large Indian population.

Alexandria Igwe

Interview

Dr. Marie Jipguep is an assistant professor of Urban Sociology. The interview done with Dr. Jipguep not only helped our group understand more about our own assumptions but it tied our presentation together. In other countries it is far more important to learn foreign languages that it is here in the United States. Learning foreign languages here is only a requirement in which teachers pass us through the system even if we have not mastered or even come close to understanding the language. Here we are required to learn one foreign language to graduate, even in college. But in other countries it is mandatory to learn more than one language as well as master them. She spoke about Cameroon but I've talked to friends from other countries who know multiple languages.
She spoke in terms of things that are deemed more important in school systems in the United States. Which happen to be reading, writing and arithmetic. She expressed that those classes are more important for elementary school students and foreign language classes are not as important at thst point. She also made it clear to say that since she did not go to school here she does not know all of the school systems details. Her input was very useful.

Richelle Jenkins