Persuasive Essay: 'I Can T Breathe'

1503 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Music as an agent of social change

When I turn on my television screen all I see is my kind. My kind lying face down on the ground surrounded in a pool of their own blood. It is not only adults but kids that had dreams and aspirations in life to become something that will never come true. Then I see retaliation some are peaceful protest and other are violent, only making matters worst. This playlist goes out to the young black souls that lost their lives over the past four years. (1). Warzone - T.I I choose warzone to be the first on my playlist because it touches the subject on Trayvon Martin, Hanging in Piedmont Park, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, and Alton Sterling .The chorus addresses Eric Garner 's last words “I Can’t Breathe.” On July 17,2014 Eric Garner was …show more content…

In the lyrics “If Trump want war I give to him, gon buck em, America with three K’, Freedom got a shotgun, For all the homies shot down by white boys and not one convicted, Of wrongdoing, is it justice we pursuing” Scarface mentions Donald Trump and the KKK. Scarface also spoke about how we are not equal, it is not about the flag, change the people. There was a whole conversary about the Confederate flag and what it stood for but the flag wasn’t the problem, the problem lies within the people and what they believe is right and wrong. The songs ends with a different tone saying that we as in black people have to stick together. We are the same color, we have a beautiful culture, there is nobody that is high or lower than one another, and that we are all …show more content…

No justice, No peace - Z-ro (Prod. Mike Dean) No Justice, No Peace was written on July 8, 2016 soon after Alton Sterling and Philando Castile lost their lives. In No Justice, No Peace Z-Ro discuss why black people don’t trust the police. His lyrics states “You just told me to reach for my wallet, so I reached for my wallet, now I 'm dead.” Those lyrics related to Philando Castile, when the officer ask him to reached for his wallet and with doing so he lost his life. He also made reference to Alton Sterling when he said “Am I next to get shot for selling CD 's in front of my favorite neighborhood store .” A verse that stood out to me is when he said “Black men, Black women the time is now, come on everybody let 's man up Put our differences beside because we understand each other, They don 't understand us.” It is such a powerful and meaningful verse, we have to have each other 's backs because nobody else has them. (5). Be Free - J. Cole J. Cole wrote Be Free as a tribute to Michael Brown. Michael Brown was an 18 year old who was shot six times by a police officer on August 9th, 2014. Many people have different stories onto how this incident happen, but this is what we do know about the case. Michael Brown was shot 6 times and twice in the head which caused a fatal injury. People started to protest directly after the shooting; declaring a State of Emergency. In the song “Be Free” J cole has an eye witness talking in the background telling the

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Lil Wayne 's ' Georgia Bush '

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... 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.

    Read More

  • Racism And Sexism In James Baldwin's Going To Meet The Man

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    Police brutality has been an apparent mark on the struggles, trials, and tribulations of people of minorities for years, primarily Black people. From the times of slavery to the present unlawful targeting and murders of black citizens with no justification, police brutality has been an enema in Black American culture for hundreds of years. Seen both in James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man” and in the current happenings of the United States. The hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter” has been a focal point in the current struggle for equality of the races. The current outpouring of support for black lives and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The Mystery Of The Inquiry'

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this song, she sings about events that have oppressed the African American people and other ethnicities in the United States for many years. In the song she states (line 60) “Mafia with diplomas keeping us in a coma trying to own a piece, of the "American Corona”, The Revolving Door, Insanity every floor, Skyscraping, paper chasing, What are we working for? Empty traditions, Reaching social positions, Teaching ambition to support the family superstition?” In this part of the song she is saying that everyone today is trying to be successful and trying to accomplish the American dream. She says that trying too hard to be successful is toxic and it will mess with one’s traditions that he or she does. She also is saying that in some ways it will mess with one’s social abilities with one’s family and friends. Success is only good if one is doing good and feeling good in the end. It is not good when there is no good in involved. Therefore, that’s why she calls it

    Read More

  • Equal Representation and Heritage Preservation in Lemonade

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Formation”, a young African American teenager is seen hip hop dancing in front of a white wall with “Stop shooting us” painted over it. A barricade of cops is then shown, raising their arms as they stand across from the child when he surrenders and raises his arms. This scene signifies the antagonization of the black people and culture by the police around the country, and calls both sides of the scale for truce making. In the track “Freedom”, Kendrick Lamar, who has been vocal about police brutality for most of his career as a rapper, has a guest verse where he criticizes major news media companies for misconstruing the messages in his work. Responding to Geraldo Rivera of FOX News, who concluded his critique of Kendrick Lamar’s song “Alright” by saying that it has done more damage to the black community than racism, Kendrick Lamar inserts a bar which goes “Channel 9 News tell me I’m moving backwards.” The lyric also creates a contrast between the previous track “Forward” with the use of the adverb “backwards”. Lamar continues with an emphasis on the feeling of confrontation and oppression when an African American encounters the police in the United States with the following self-explanatory

    Read More

  • Social Injustice In Kendrick Lamar's 'Alright'

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 2015 BET Awards, Lamar performed the song on top of a police car, solidifying the song’s purpose as a protest against police authority and brutality. The next day Fox 5 News aired a segment on the performance and in the editing of the video they highlighted certain lyrics such as: “We hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the streets fo sho’; My gun might blow” leaving out other crucial lyrics and context to understanding the song. This gave the impression that maybe Lamar’s “gun” would kill a police officer, when in fact he’s talking about killing himself. One of the anchors described Lamar’s performance as “damaging to young African-Americans” and “giving exactly the wrong message.” Lamar responded to the comments in another interview by saying “Hip-Hop is not the problem. “Our reality” is the problem of the situation. This is our music.” He explains that he was rapping about “hope” not “violence.” The messages he sends through hope are within God and using God as a source of relief and belief that eventually, everything will be alright. Lamar insists in the interview that the album is about hope, and that you cannot deny that there are instances of social injustice that or that the judicial system is racially biased. But at the end of the day you cannot take away their hopes and privilege that “we gon’ be

    Read More

  • J Cole Be Free Analysis

    161 Words  | 1 Pages

    In many countries freedom is a right reserved to an individual. However, this right is not always followed or distributed and acted upon equally for everyone. The song by J. Cole entitled “Be Free” is a song standing up to human rights violations. It was written after the shooting of an african american man, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri that caused people to become outraged. This event sparked protests and public figures such as J. Cole to speak out on behalf of individuals who are affected by discrimination and mal action taken by police officers. The song brings awareness to tragic events that are preventable and creates awareness that progressive change needs to take place. Be Free by J. Cole should be included in the list of 1000

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Cuz He's Black

    1303 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the poem, he mentions black people that were treated unfairly and how many of those people are not recognized as much. He powerfully wrote: “Names lost. Know too many Trayvon Martins / Oscar Grants / and Abner Louimas, know too many / Sean Bells, and Amadou Diallos / Know too well that we are the hard-boiled sons of Emmett Till” (Lines 53-60). This quote shows how many of our black people are discriminated by their skin color are mistreated. Abner Louimas, Sean Bells and Amadou Diallos were men that were victims of police brutality and were shot several times by police officers. Specifically, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin’s deaths were great examples as to how people were and still are racist. To take a case in point, Emmett Till who was African-American was tortured and killed because he flirted with a white woman. Trayvon Martin was a teenager who was shot and killed just because he went to grab a bag of skittles from his pocket, which the person who shot him thought he was reaching for a weapon. The many examples that Johnson makes help show how racism and stereotypes play a major role in our society because many people are still victims of discrimination. They are automatically stereotyped into a criminal who is about to do something that is illegal. In the society that we live in, blacks do not have any power, they do not get the benefit of the doubt whether or not

    Read More

  • Farkhunda Gender Equality

    325 Words  | 1 Pages

    A number of African American people have been murdered by members of the police force and there still has yet to be any justice for them. The fact that members of a force that are meant to protect us, are actually killing many, brings on a feeling of uneasiness and distrust. They’re targeting innocent members of society for no other reason than their skin color. And justice hasn’t been accomplished in honor of all the people that were murdered. This proves just how unjust the criminal system is and how much work needs to be done to bring justice and equality for every gender, race,

    Read More

  • Essay On Police Brutality In America

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    This year there's been a lot of brutalities. In fact, there have been at least 500 people killed by the police officers this year. In this article, we are going to be talking about police brutality against African Americans. We are also going to talk about the differences and similarities of different cases that have been in the news this year. For example, the Sandra bland, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and the Walter Scott cases. Also, we're going to talk about how these cases have affected the African American community.

    Read More

  • The Positive Impact Of Hip Hop Cultures And Movements

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    “ The politics of Spike Lee and rap groups like Public Enemy and NWA ( Niggaz With Attitudes ) were strongly reminiscent of early “ Black Power “ politics, and the reactions among mainstream America to rap echoed earlier reactions to the struggles of other social movements, such as the Black Panthers. “ ( Chasteen, 2014 ) Many celebrities like Spike Lee, a man big the entertainment business, and Public Enemy were one of many who were the voices of African Americans. When knowing that people in your community are being mistreated, no one can just sit there and not say

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay Smoking

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every year in Australia, according to Australia’s national Smoking Quit-line 15,000 people die from smoking. This number included, mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, husbands and wives, which leaves a lot of irreplaceable vacancies in families across Australia. These losses could have all been avoided if smoking was banned in Australia. Which us to my point; I believe that smoking should be made illegal across the whole of Australia. Not only does smoking have a detrimental impact on our already fragile environment but the overall cost of cigarettes also has a negative impact on households. Smoking also tears apart our priceless families, as the impact of this nasty habit can be fatal.

    Read More

  • They Don T Care About Us Rhetorical Analysis

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    This song intends to bring awareness, so it hinders White Supremacy (Jude). The lyrics,“tell me what has become of my rights...your proclamation promised me free liberty...they're throwing me in a class with a bad name” relate to White Supremacy because they represent the “marginalized” group, non-whites, rebelling against the oppression of the “dominant group”, White Supremacists (They). On the contrary, the media has harshly criticised the song, labeling it anti-semitic (Jude). The media fails to acknowledge White Supremacy.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: Overcoming Adversity

    2057 Words  | 5 Pages

    Overcoming adversity is imperative. In fact, you can 't have the happiness and success you want unless you have adversity in your life and overcome it. It is essential for progressing into who you want to be. It shows you what you are made of. It teaches you more about yourself, how to approach what you want, and how to maintain the success that you have. Without it, you wouldn 't know how far you could go or how capable you are because you wouldn 't have anything to push you or compare to.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: The Dangers Of Smoking

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the biggest problems that people are faced with on a day-to-day basis is cigarette smoke. The sole cause for 480,000 deaths each year just in the United States is accredit to cigarettes(CDC). For a lot of the smokers the habit of smoking happens to assist them when under stress and dealing with issues that are unmanageable. Some smoke to appeal to their peers or simply because it “feels good.” Smoking one cigarette can lead to a major addiction. The effects of smoking hurt oneself and those amongst us. Smoking Kills as the ad portrays this revolver and cigarettes as the bullets, and also lists the side effects of smoking. Cigarettes causes cancer, increases the risk of you getting a stroke, highly addictive and causes a lot of health problems. Nearly 16

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay: The Road To Success

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many don’t realize that the road to success isn’t so much a road as it is a winding,

    Read More

More about Persuasive Essay: 'I Can T Breathe'

Open Document