According to Jordi Oliveres, “Afrofuturism is not black sci-fi. It’s not black fantasy. It’s not an easily definable artistic genre but, rather, a sweeping, cultural aesthetic that examines issues around black representation, the black future and black agency using music, novels, visual media, history and myth to create something else entirely.” This means that afrofuturism is an idea/ movement in which black people have the chance to show how they want to be represented in the future. Whether it be their fashion, dance moves, or their music, Michael and Janet Jackson are the definition of afrofuturism in my book. This especially is seen in their music video they did together called Scream. In this music video, you see the both of them, Michael …show more content…
Dancing is something that the Jacksons are just naturally gifted at, not only because of how they execute it, but the way they can tell a story just from their movements. The dance moves in this music video reminded me of a fluid robot. When it comes to Michael Jackson’s legendary moonwalk, it truly embodies what I think of someone from the future. His dance moves resemble to me, what I would think a robot or alien-like lifeform would move like. His dancing is so animative and futuristic, but he completes each move with such ease to the human eye, but that if we were to try it we would fail …show more content…
It expresses what Michael Jackson had envisioned for his future as a black person. He wanted to see technological advancements and a future where black people don’t have to answer to the pressures around them. The electronic beats and noises create a futuristic sound that combines with the breaking glass and the alarm signifying that they will not tolerate what is going on around them anymore. With them screaming throughout the video, it shows how vulnerable they are but at the same time how brave they are for fighting and showing how fed up they are with
... song entitled “Formation”. The filming took place in Los Angeles, but features references to Hurricane Katrina, with Beyoncé on top of a police car in a flooded street and later cuts to a man holding a newspaper with Martin Luther King Jr.’s face on it with the title “The Truth”. Later a young hooded boy dances in front of a line of police officers with their hands up before the video cuts to a graffitied wall with the words “stop shooting us “ tagged on it, at the end of the video the police car sunk with her on top. Not only did this song, bring awareness to the 10th anniversary of hurricane Katrina it also brought awareness to police brutality, racism, and the “black lives matter movement”. I stand with Lil Wayne, Beyoncé, the people of New Orleans and the countless others who are pushing for a change in the way minorities and the lower class citizen are treated.
The whole music video is in remembrance of the little girl Aiyana Jones and to show its audience the injustice it served in America (Alexis 5). The music video does not focus on the lyrics, but focuses on a whole different story. Although the music video is about the war between the government and drugs, the lyrics and the music video share a mutual message and that is to seek peace not only in the community, but also in our minds. Today, there have been issues on police brutality and unlawful arrests. This music video really illustrated different point of views of different people such as the victim and the policemen. Although the music video displayed a different message, the lyrics also provided a great message to people especially young women. Both music video and lyrics
Since the decade of 1920, America has been the setting for a progressive "Black Arts Movement." This African-American cultural movement has taken shape in various genres, gaining mass appeal, through multiple capitalistic markets. Even with the use of capitalism this cultural arts movement has stayed set upon its original purpose and direction, by aiding in cultural identity awareness. The knowledge of the duel-self through community awareness as it pertains to economic perceptions and other social boundaries or the metaphysical-self; what W.E.B. Du Bois coined as "twoness," or a division of one’s own identity as a African-American. (Reuben 2) A realization of the existence of two beings within one’s mental identity, where time alters attitude and identity through environmental influence of passing events. The discovery of the "New Negro" in the Harlem Renaissance marks the beginning of this essential philosophy contributing to the 1960’s Black Arts Movement and the Civil Rights Movement; continuing to be evident in current forms of black art, such as within the lyrics of hip-hop music. These revolutionary Ideals of reform have been voiced in the lyrics of many rappers of urban realism, like the New York M.C.’s Rakim, Run-D.M.C. and west coast rapper Tupac Shakur. Though this form of expression is opposed by most academic elitists and fundamental conservatives due to their vulgar expressions of sex and violence depicted within the genre of Hip-Hop; it in opposition actually presents an internal cultural conflict revealed through the redefinition of one’s own identity with poetic lyrical expressions of realism.
Marcus Garvey once said, “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness,” exemplifying not only that the African blood that flows through our veins is indeed wonderful, but is more a national treasure than a national tragedy. Countries across the world, in some form have been altered by the touch of the African influence whether that is socially and/or culturally. The same fate lies with the islands of the Caribbean, especially the island of Puerto Rico located in the Greater Antilles. Of all the African influential branches, Puerto Rican music would be one social phenomenon to be ultimately shaped and modified by African influence directly. Beginning with the African slaves, this paper covers the musically genres created over time containing West African elements, as well as covering the ways in which the Puerto Rican society influenced the music as well as how the music effected the society. This paper will also include the ways in which African descendants in Puerto Rico [musicians] would rise to fame despite existing in an era of open racism. Ultimately, explaining how the music and the people go hand in hand.
The Black Panthers formed once they were fed up of police brutality, which is somewhat similar to how The Black Lives Matter Movement began. This shows that all the senseless killing of African Americans by the police can lead up to a new group similar to the black panthers. The outfit Beyoncé’s was wearing also had a meaning; it was very similar to Michael Jackson’s outfit from his performance at the super bowl XXVII. Michael Jackson also addressed race during his performance with his songs “Black Or White” and “Heal The World”, saying we all are equal and instead of killing each other we need to work together to make the world a better
African music has had a major influence on Cuban culture beginning in the early 1550’s through slave trade. Thousands of slaves were brought to Spain in the 1400’s and eventually migrated to Cuba. Since these “Ladinos” were accustomed to Spanish culture and language, they easily were able to get by in Cuba and even escape slavery. As a result, Slave owners in Cuba brought more slaves directly from Africa. In 1526, a Royal Decree allowed slaves to buy their freedom, resulting in increased interaction and ethnic mixing among Cubans and Africans. All aspects of both cultures began to blend, especially among working class Cubans and Africans. Music became a common bond between the two groups
In this paper I’m going to show how African Americans have used hip hop and black hair are two ways in which African Americans embrace their culture and fight oppression. However, as we have reviewed in many classes, oppression is not easily escaped. So in this paper, I’m going to show how cultural appropriation is used as a way of oppressing black culture. So this paper is an expansion of what we have learned in the class.
Perry Henzel's The Harder They Come is credited with a significant and unique role in introducing American audiences to reggae. Whereas earlier cinematic crossmarketed films like A Hard Days Night or Help! were adjunct to and dependent on a group's previous commercial musical success, Henzel's film was for many an introduction to reggae and both precursor and impetus for its international impact and commercial popularity. The film's status as a cult classic and phenomenon, to the extent a phenomenon can be explained, perhaps rests on its lack of commercial pretentions or promotional glitz, and thus its authenticity. The rhetoric of this film -- its images, words, and music in complementary array -- is rhetoric in the best sense because it uses the power of language to reveal, not to disguise, the unconscionable constraints on the lives of poor Jamaicans. Principally it's a film by a Jamaican artist about some musically and culturally significant events happening in Jamaica at the time, and though it is formulaic as films tend to be, it also encompasses all of the majors themes and conflicts that define and swirl around reggae music: spirituality, sensuality, commercialism, social justice, the messiah, and even Armageddon, though its tenor is decidedly secular
Have you ever taken offense when you saw someone dressed in traditional garments from your culture? In America, this happens quite often. Some people may not recognize it and some refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. Cultural appropriation is a situation in which a dominant culture steals aspects of a minority culture’s, such as hair, clothing styles, and music.
Imagine being at a concert shouting lyrics at the top of your lungs along beside hundreds of others who enjoy the same kind of taste of music as you do. The power of music connects people from all over the world. When it comes to music, people often express their views, opinions and their feelings. As of today, the combine genre Hip Hop/ R&B has taken over and is now the most popular genre. It became well known that it has entered in today’s fashion and the way we speak. Hip Hop is a form of art that can be express through rap songs, breakdancing, and graffiti art. It is a cultural movement that started in South Bronx, New York in the early 1970s in a home of DJ Kool Herc and the movement later spread across the entire borough.
The relevance of the song was portraying that using drugs and alcohol will help you escape life situations. Regardless of how hard or tough it is. All you need to do is to get drunk or get high, than your problems will flush away. But the video don’t explain the reality of the outcome of how drugs and alcohol will or could affect your lifestyle and how it could lead you to lose your job, family and life. All it shows is the fun side of being intoxicated. Which, it raises a big flag on kids or teens that do have access to the media like the
While the song was supposed to help resolve conflict, it actually created conflict because the message was misconstrued by the public. In Michael Jackson’s music video for “They Don’t Care About Us”, the preamble of the Official Music Video (Prison Version) States, “This Film is NOT degrading to any one RACE, but pictorializes the injustice to ALL MANKIND. may GOD grant us PEACE throughout the
Along with a drummer beating wild on the drums. This is a part of the African culture. Many visuals signs were in the film one a bird, the last supper image, and the mother with her baby. I believe these images pertain to strength, determination, and freedom. They used many literary devices in Sankofa such as “snakes will eat whatever is in the belly of the frog”. This meaning eventually if the slaves were quiet and conning enough they would get the opportunity to receive whatever the white man had. Blacks were very capable of running away the fear of the whites is what kept them in captivity. Whites knew the power blacks had so the only way to keep them as slaves was to put fear in their hearts. Viewing both the documentary and the fictional film people will understand what black history is about and what our ancestors did to get us here today. Many of don’t believe but colorism, racism and fascism still exist today. We all worked for the same rights. Blacks faced slavery for many long years but they never lost hope. Both movies showed how we as African Americans deserve to be treated equal plus
One of the first techniques that produces meaning is the use of music. Bob Marley’s “Burnin’ and Lootin’” plays over a montage of newsreel clips of rioters and policemen as well as in the background when Saïd watches the police. This song as both a political message and a relaxing feel to it. The lyrics include words about being prisoners, uniforms of brutality, the ghetto, and of course burning and looting which seem to mirror the actions in the news clips of the police riots. The song is still heard softly in the background during the scene with Saïd and the policemen, suggesting continuity between the riot footage and Saïd’s story. We can expect that Saïd will be placed in similar situations as the rioters before him. The choice of Bob Marley helps underscore the tension between the youth and the police and sets up conflict.
In essence, this song carries various sociological concepts. It concentrates on the main idea about the social construction of reality and talking about how reality is changing. The song questions the actions and mentally of individuals violating the norms and values of society. The band takes into consideration various factors of why it is happening including the media and religion. As a result they talk about such influences taking control building and developing a sense of self. This is a great song about present day problems and how society changes with them.