Beyoncés Formation is one of her most popular songs but it is so much more than just a song. As a very big Beyoncé fan, she oozes confidence in everything she does, especially in her music. Formation is no different. It’s easy to listen to a song and disregard the words being said. When you take a close look at the lyrics you can see Beyoncé instilling confidence and power in women. The music video does this on an even greater scale. Women of all ages are primarily featured throughout the video. Beyoncé herself is depicted in a variety of settings with both men and women surrounding her. However, Beyoncé is the center of attention and the men standing by her side know this. In other words, Beyoncé is a badass. She knows her worth and is extremely confident in herself and her abilities. She is an icon. Formation is just one of several tracks that empowers women in a variety of ways. Something I have always admired about Beyoncé is that to me, she intertwines music with social justice almost flawlessly. Haters will always be there to judge and pick apart her lyrics and music videos but at the end of the day, she doesn’t care one bit. Music can be an extremely powerful tool. It can bring people together from all backgrounds and all walks of life.

While this podcast was very confusing to me at times, the topic of close reading and symbols/symbolism really spoke to me. I believe that today most people do not utilize close reading in almost every aspect of life. I also believe that people abuse close reading in the sense that they only practice this when interested or when trying to make/prove a point. I think this is extremely dangerous especially with the control that social media has on people. The old saying “don’t believe everything you see and hear,” is often disregarded. People fail to fact-check the outlets in which they receive both significant and insignificant information. A prime example of this is what is happening with COVID vaccine distribution. Over the past year and a half 500k Americans have died from COVID yet people fail to educate themselves about the virus, which has led to the politicization of the virus. With the recent pulling of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine people are freaking out and spreading rumors like wildfire that the J&J vaccine will kill you or even give you COVID. People are failing to utilize close reading. Instead, people are continuing to freak out when in reality the data does not lie. Close reading must be utilized more than it is.

Symbolism is present all throughout life. When I think of symbolism I often think of the emotions that come with different symbols. Symbols bring out emotions that help us understand a moment, location, or action. Symbols can be extremely powerful, especially in the darkest of times. Symbols can also bring out immense fear and hatred. All in all, symbolism can be extremely impactful.

This episode was by far my favorite of the series. Over the past several years we have seen more and more leadership in pop culture, especially in music. A lot of the time it is easy to disregard what an artist is singing or rapping about but when you take a closer look you can find all sorts of unimaginable deep meanings. One specific example I want to talk about is H.E.R.’s song I’m not okay. When you first listen to the song you hear the sad piano and breathtaking voice of H.E.R. singing about the anxiety and pain that comes with a relationship, specifically when worrying whether or not your significant other is drifting away or even worse, cheating on you. These are the exact same feelings I felt when I first listened to this song. Then I looked up the music video and my perception completely changed. The song came out in 2019 but in the wake of George Floyd’s death, H.E.R. released a music video for the song that featured dancing that depicted the emotions and actions of police brutality. In that instance, I looked up the words to the song and quickly saw the connection she was able to make to police brutality. While the song expresses all of the emotions discussed above, the song has an even bigger meaning. I’m Not Okay depicts the emotions of worrying about whether or not a loved one has been the subject of police brutality and if that same loved one is still alive. The song is so much more than it appears to be. The video features dancing that helps to perfectly describe the actions and emotions of police brutality. H.E.R.’s I’m Not Okay is just one instance of leadership within pop culture. Artists have taken an enormous leap in our lifetime in regards to creating emotional and impactful music about issues such as racism. I think that the continuous growth of leadership within pop culture is both impactful and necessary for the next generation. Artists are able to give voices to the voiceless. There is still work to be done in order to eradicate racism from the world, but seeing leadership grown not only in pop culture but also in places such as professional sports is extremely powerful.

Here is the music video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DYiZgahAk4

This week’s podcast presented me with an idea that I have never thought about before. The idea/realization that not everything in history has been/is recorded. There are parts of history that we simply will never know because nothing exists on that topic. A lot of this is by choice. Like Bezio touched on, thousands of white men were praised and written about over the course of time. On the other hand, women were nowhere near written about as much as white men. There were no laws of equality or laws that stated that everything had to be written down no matter what. Moreover, there are parts of history that we will never know about. Another thought that popped into my head was the old saying that history is written by the winners. While it might sound cliche it’s true. There are so many pieces of history that we will never fully understand because of the lack of evidence of all parts/sides of an event. My main takeaway from this podcast was that it’s okay to question what we hear and see. It’s encouraged, but most importantly necessary, to understand a situation from all angles to the best of your abilities. 

My favorite ad from this week was from the 1964 election between Lyndon B. Johnson and Barry Goldwater. The commercial that stuck out to me most showed a little girl eating an ice cream cone. While this little girl was eating her ice cream the narrator began talking about the science behind atomic bombs, highlighting Goldwater’s plans to continue research on the topic. I was shocked during my first watch-through that this was an actual commercial for a presidential election. Taking another look at the commercial I was able to see that the commercial appears to several different audiences. The main audience is parents and those with young children. The action of a child eating an ice cream cone is so innocent as their only care in the world is making sure they don’t get their hands sticky. If Goldwater is elected and funds more research into atomic bombs then there is the potential of war which could involve young children as they grow older. In comparison to modern-day campaigns, I am still shocked at this commercial. It really does not have any significance let alone convey a compelling message at first glance.

What stuck out to me most from podcast #7 was the statement that “Systems management should not be done by a single leader.” This quote truly stuck with me throughout the duration of the podcast as I kept realizing how many forms of system management exist within everyday life. While I agree that multiple people are needed to maximize system management I also think too many opinions make for a disaster. A happy medium must be found in order to successfully go about systems management.

Another point of interest for me was the claim that systems management is “most successful when run cooperatively.” Cooperation in any scenario has multiple sides. However, one question I have is what if the system trying to be managed refuses to cooperate? What happens then? This can be seen all throughout the world and especially within the United States. With our country extremely divided, how do we begin to not only compromise but cooperate to build a better future?

This week’s podcast resonated with me in several ways, especially in the wake of the decision to keep the names of Ryland Hall and Freeman hall. I have had several conversations with people ranging from complete strangers to loved ones about racism over the past year. I have made it a priority to not just have difficult conversations but to educate myself outside of these conversations and be an ally in the fight against racism. As discussed in the podcast, it’s easy to assume that someone sees and shares the same beliefs as you. The fact of the matter is that most people don’t. Living in Richmond this past summer I vividly remember going on my daily walk down monument avenue and thinking to myself as I passed each statue, why is it that racism is being celebrated? In the blink of an eye the Lee monument was covered with various messages and in various colors, a call and demand for change and justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Many people, including those with who I lived with, failed to see the reasoning behind the need to take down the statues, often saying they are “part of history.” They became extremely uncomfortable when talking about racism. 

In this moment I recognized that both myself and society need to be better. We cannot just stand by and expect someone else to fight racism. It takes every single one of us to eradicate this hatred. These conversations are difficult but they are necessary to have in order to understand the situation at hand and to learn how to be an ally. The arrogance of my roommates and failure to even acknowledge the reasoning behind the need to take down the statues infuriated me. I realized that not everyone will see eye to eye, let alone be willing to listen. At the end of the day that is their choice. I learned that the most important thing that matters is that I am willing to educate myself and others regardless of their views and also be an ally to others in any way I can.  In the wake of the university’s illogical decision to keep the names of Ryland and Freeman hall, I am ashamed to be a student of this university. This place supposedly prides itself on making a difference and listening to its students. The fact of the matter is this notion is a lie. At the end of the day, the University does not care what we have to say or what we believe in. I stand with every single organization on campus and my friends who have disaffiliated and been hurt by the university’s actions. We as students demand change and expect more from the university than a heartless letter with no reasoning behind these actions.

One of my favorite ads ever is from the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final. The ad is simply titled “Name.” This is one of my favorite ads for a number of reasons. The first reason is its simplicity. The ad focuses on your name and what it does and stands for throughout the course of your life. However, the ad reminds us that your name ultimately ends up being “how you’re remembered.” The second reason is the visual aspect of the ad. NHL legends both old and new are shown along with iconic NHL moments and calls. Unforgettable moments that all begin with someone’s name. Names can even bond others from different generations. In the end, your name is permanent, and depending on what you do with it, people will never forget it.

In comparison to today’s reading and podcast, this NHL ad does a great job at portraying both verbal and visual messages. Both the words and video portray a message of belief and glory. They also help to show that winning something such as the Stanley Cup is not a fantasy, but something that a group of people makes happen. From a visual message standpoint, the ad does not show anything too flashy or too boring. It shows simplistic clips and players that everyone knows because of the names of these players, many of whom will never be forgotten as they are Stanley Cup Champions. The ad obviously is targeted toward hockey players but can be used as motivation for almost anybody. All in all, this ad does a great job of appealing to both a small and large audience.

My main takeaway from this week’s podcast and reading is that statistics are extremely powerful and can be used in a variety of ways. Most importantly, statistics matter in regards to history. My mind often gravitates to sports when I hear the word statistics, so the chart I chose for this week’s post is of course about sports. Before we get into the chart, the second most important lesson I learned was that presentation matters. Going back to the 25% chance of winning vs 1/4 chance winning analogy, this also happens when comparing athletes to one another. Ultimately, as we saw from the reading, statistics can be used to lie not just to others but ourselves.

The chart below is from January of 2020 and needs to be updated as Ovechkin has scored many more goals since then. The point is that looking at this chart can be deceptive. On one hand, we can see Wayne Gretzky’s “unbeatable” NHL goal record. Comparing him to Ovechkin it’s easy to assume that Gretzky’s record is unbeatable. However, if the chart was displayed in a way that showed how many goals Ovechkin needs to score vs. how many he actually has, people would be more optimistic that Ovechkin could break the record. In reality, just like the 25% vs 1/4 chance example, these two thoughts are the same thing. This chart helps emphasize that presentation matters when discussing statistics, especially when comparing statistics from two separate time periods. 

I’m not surprised at this point anymore when the university makes decisions like this. The way I interpret those emails is that the university does not want to make these changes to “protect their image”. It is obvious that the university is still salivating for money, even though they have much more than they need. Eventually, the people, alumni, donors, and even major benefactors will die, and with them, this so-called “need” to keep these names. If the university does not change its ways, current students and recent alumni will choose not to support a university that fails to listen to students. The fact of the matter is that the people who are making these decisions are not living through what current students are living through on a daily basis. They should not be the ones making the decisions. Students are deeply offended and hurt by the history of both Ryland and Freeman. It’s time for a change.