Post for 4/20

I really liked this weeks material and topic. I have never fully recognized the power of music, as I had always kind of viewed it as another form of speech. Oddly enough, I believed that singing was just a product of the written and spoken word- just another way for people to talk. When in reality, Bezio’s podcast and the works of both Beyonce and Childish Gambino both prove that songs have a unique capability of expressing ideas. In a lot of ways, it seems as though there are some messages that will carry the most weight as a song. I think about what is said in This is America, and if you look at the content of the song, it is no different than what Malcom X, MLK, and countless other civil rights activists have been saying for a long time. However, I guarantee you that for a lot of people, This is America is the first time they really recognized their own privilege and the systemic forms of racism that Black Americans have to experience every single day. There also seems to be a great irony in the fact that the US is not willing to acknowledge systemic racism as a whole, but This is America has over 770 MILLION views. If even HALF of those people demanded justice for the murder of George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, or the countless other victims of police brutality, maybe their families/ communities would know justice.

5 thoughts on “Post for 4/20

  1. Evie Hanson

    I think your last point is really insightful looking at the number of views of the music video and the amount of power those people could hold in finally reaching justice for the countless African American wrongly killed. It is crazy how so many people are exposed to these incidents in some form of media, yet are willing to turn a blind eye. At what point do people stop ignoring these acts of injustice or questioning their validity before seeing the pattern and wanting change?

  2. Nichole Schiff

    I really like your point about the power of music to express ideas and change minds and make people think about important concepts. I also think the combination of the visual rhetoric and someone famous who people admire/look up to helps the message to be empowered even more, as when someone people look up to fights for a cause and shows its importance, it can help to make people think about the topic deeper.

  3. Sean Corbett

    The power of music truly is such an incredible thing. We surely would have justice if even a fraction of those people who watched This Is America were out demanding it. Unfortunately, watching a video is so easy, and so many people do not have the effort or care or time to do anything more. It is in the same way performative activism is easy, but doing things that could create tangible change is far from easy.

  4. Jennifer Schlur

    I would hope that the This is American music and music video would help people to realize their privilege and demand justice but I think you point about the number of views would tell us we still have a ways to go. I wonder how many people saw this video and rejected the prevalent social issues depicted in the video. Many people have this positive idea of what America is that this video would be incompatible with.

  5. Miriam Gilman

    I think your point about how listeners and fans translating into actual allies is important. While it is great to enjoy songs at a base level, This Is America calls for so much more than a thumbs up or a view on YouTube. There is the power behind these songs and I think listening for content is critical. We will not get anywhere if we sit idly by and just listen to songs about a topic. Real work is needed and these songs are just the call to action, not the whole movement.

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