Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Spoken Word

These are two of my favorite pieces by black spoken word artists. The first expresses an issue of a contemporary stereotype, the second expresses an issue rooted in African American history. 



Siaara Freedman - "The Drug Dealer's Daughter"
Written from the perspective of a daughter impacted by her father's embodiment of the black drug dealer thug caricature, Freedman examines what it feels to be a real person confined to a stereotype, burdened by a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Javon Johnson - "Last Conversation Between Malcolm X and His Daughter"
Johnson takes on the character of Malcolm X and imagines what he would have said to his daughter before being assassinated. He forces the listener to imagine Malcolm X's humanity, to see him as a person who lived and loved and fought for equality, rather than just a figure or a martyr,

Chaining Day J.Cole

[Verse 1:]
Look at me, pathetic nigga, this chain that I bought
You mix dream pain and fame, this is heinous result
Let these words be the colors I'm just paintin' my heart
I'm knee-deep in the game and it ain't what I thought
Copped the Range Rover, my girl got the Mercedes
Iced out crazy I wanna shine like Baby
Compared to that nigga, I ain't even got a bib yet
Truth be told I ain't even bought a crib yet
This is everything they told a nigga not to do
Image is everything I see, it got a lot to do
With the way people perceive, and what they believe
Money short so this jewelry is like a weave
Meant to deceive and hear niggas say I see you
Now bitches wanna fuck you and niggas wanna be you
And police wanna stop you, frisk you wonder what he do
If a hater snatch yo chain, I bet it still won't free you
Cause I'll be right back grinding 'til I cop another
I sit and think about all this shit I coulda copped my mother
My partner said that's just the game my nigga
So I heard my jeweler say, here go your chain my nigga

[Hook:]
This is chaining day
(I need you to love me, love me)
Chaining day, oh my chaining day
(I need you to love me, love me)
My chaining day
My last piece, I swear, my guilt heavy as this piece I wear
They even iced out Jesus' hair
My last piece, I swear, they even iced out Jesus' hair

[Verse 2:]
Ice on this white Jesus seem a little unholy
The real strange thing about this iced out Rolly
It's the same shit a broke black nigga get gassed at
The same shit a rich white mo'fucka laugh at
Well laugh on white man, I ain't paid as you
But I bet your rims ain't the same age as you
And I ain't got no investment portfolio
But my black and white diamonds shinin' like a Oreo
I know back home where niggas sit today
He rock a chain and he always got some shit to say
Even back when I was broke I knew his shit was fake
He'd prolly sneeze too hard and his shit could break
But hey, you know the sayin', "Fake it 'til you make it"
Me, I did the opposite, made it then I faked it
And actin' like I gave a fuck, money I was savin' up
To buy a crib that's gated to that hundred racks, I gave it up
For what

[Hook:]
(I need you to love me, love me)
Chaining day, oh my chaining day
(I need you to love me, love me)
My chaining day
My last piece, I swear, my guilt heavy as this piece I wear
They even iced out Jesus' hair
My last piece, I swear, they even iced out Jesus' hair

[Outro:]
Lord
This is the last time
Told my accountant, it's the last time
I swear this is the last time
I know that I said that shit last time
But this the last time
Mama I swear this is the last time
So don't take my chains from me
This is the last time
Cause I chose this slavery
This is the last time
Don't take my chains from me
This is the last time
Cause I love this slavery
I need you to love me, love me, love me...
I said this is my last time

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Morrison on Colbert

Toni Morrison spoke about race as social construct and her works on Colbert on Wednesday.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/9yc4ry/toni-morrison


Saturday, November 8, 2014

Black or black?

When I was working on my paper, I stopped for a minute wondering if I should capitalize the word "black" when referring to black people. I think it's interesting that we rarely every capitalize the word blacks even when it is a name for a group of people. After all, we usually capitalize the word Caucasian, or Hispanic. What is so unique about the word black that makes it different from these other words?