Whats up world! I just wanted to take this time to shout out to people in my life...you know, my inner circles. It takes alot to be in one of my inner circles. If you are, u r truly special!!!! Probably in more easy than ONE...LOL. SO HERE GOES. Hopefully I dont forget anyone. Mitch is the best boyfriend I could ask for! My best friends!!! Gotta luv Kayela and Cartwright... The roomies Sasha and Tiffany...our time together is almost up. I will miss them so much. They have kept me sane through college. They say college is supposed to be the best years of your life, without them this statement would be FALSE! JAK'D: Janae, Alexia, Kesha, and DeShana!! My adopted lil sisters at OU. Well Alexia is my cousin and her crew fell under my wing by default LOL. I have not forgotten BEN, Nikita, and Gernethia! Thats all for now folks. I really need to start getting on here more often...I know I know. I will try. But lastly, to the people pictured in this blog, I love u and appreciate u. [TEAR]...lol
So I'm a senior at the University of Oklahoma and I have just finished my second to last semester. I was busier than ever this semester. I started a new job, had two leadership positions in my sorority, and took two classes that would determine if I will be able to graduate in Dec. Maybe that doesn't sound like much to you but believe me I felt the pain. I guess this is what growing up is about...please don't remind me. As a whole, I could have done more this semester but its over, so let's look to the future. Summer plans....Birthday in Houston[YAY], scholarship grind[BOO], and preparing for graduation in December[ FINALLY]. I'm sure my summer will consist of more, but I will save that for a later blog.
Race, gender and ethnicity are subjects that need to be discussed more often then they are. I think individuals in this class took something away from it. In the beginning of Race and Gender in the Media I believed that most people in the class would not take important ideas and insight away from the class. I thought it would go one ear and out the other because the topics that we discussed such as white privilege and institutional sexism, are sensitive subjects and require everyone to step outside of their comfort zones in order to initiate dialogue. As a future media professional, it is important to be aware of stereotypes that are present in the media. If the class is to be successful in the media industry, we must use what we have learned to better the industry. It is up to us to change what is being portrayed or continue to produce the same stereotypical images. We discussed how changing the media will be a great to leave out effect on society but I don't know if everyone is willing to take on that responsibility. When we graduate and begin our perspective careers in journalism, then it will be time to use what we have learned in Race and Gender in the Media. Then we can work on eliminating the subtle prejudices in every day television shows and commercials. Another conclusion that I have reached from this class is how much economics controls everything. So many times throughout the course it was said that "Sex sales". But we never went further on to ask the question, does that make it right? I personally do not think it does but my fear is so many other people feel it does make it right if it helps profits and some are just indifferent to it. Also I will never look at media the same. It will take me a while to get back to the regular consumer that I used to be before this class. Everyday I find myself being critical of commercials, advertisements, newscasts , etc. A lot of things that were in presentations shocked me. One of the commercials that I saw this semester that was really shocking was this Dove commercial featured below. It illustrates how women in advertisements are not realistic because of how much altering that is done before production. In that class we discussed how women have a false or unattainable view of a perfect body because of such advertisements. Also is one of the funnier videos that were viewed this semester is also featured below.
This video to the average viewer may be extremely funny. But after being in this class all semester I noticed other things in this video. It displays several different stereotypes blatantly. The very loud and obnoxious black male, the uptight white female, and the hispanic mechanic. It is unknown on whether or not this was intentional but after learning about race in the media, it is pretty evident. Using blogs for an educational tool was very interesting. This was my first time using blogs. I thought that blogs were only used for gossip pages and sort of like update portions to some websites but with this class I realized they can be used for other purposes as well. It is a little scary knowing that pretty much any one can read what I write but I have tried to get over that fear. In the future, I plan on using blogs frequently. Its sort of like a diary for the world to see. It was also interesting reading my fellow classmates blogs to get there opinions on topics that we may have discussed or read about in class. I really enjoyed the class and would recommend it to any student who wants to take an active role in changing journalism as we know it.
Hip-hop to me is more then just a genre of music. Its a way a life, a style of dress, or an artistic expression. Hip-Hop is a culture.
Here are five hip-hop songs I heard for the first time during this week and five videos I saw for the first time.
Songs: Slick Pulla "Gettin to the Money" K'naan New Boyz "Your a Jerk" Travis Porter " Black Boy White Boy" GLC " I Ain't Even On Yet"
Videos followed by brief descriptions: Rick Ross Ft John Legend Magnificent The visual story line is about Rick Ross gambling in a horse race. Kid Cudi "Day N Night" It is cartoon and regular video coming together to reality and what the person on the character views as reality F.L.Y. " Swag Surf" People on a bus performing and people in front of a bus dancing. At the end the group is a t a club performing the song while the crowd is dancing. Young Money "Every Girl" Alot of girls get out of a car and are dancing around it while the artists are rapping their parts of the song. Through out the video there are cartoon word pop ups that are random people. Here is the video if you would like to see it.
Busta Rhymes ft. T-Pain " Hustler's Anthem" Busta Ryhmes and T-Pain are just in extreme close up shots and they are playing on the screen. They have numerous wardrobe changes.
Corporations have taken advantage of the scope of Hip-hop in their advertising's. Scion car company( video below) and Orbit Gum are recent commercials that utilize hip-hop in its attempt to sell.Hip-Hop has influence television shows such as America's Best Dance Crew and mostly in advertising for some of the countries most well known companies. Hip-hop crossed over into mainstream language with words like "crunk".
My parents listened to Jazz, R&B, and Contemporary when they were my age. Rosson Rolland Kirk, a saxophonist, would play at local Jazz clubs in Houston, which is where I am from. My parents would go to see him regularly. My mom says that her favorite R& B song is " With These Hands" by the Temptations. They cited Michael Rolled the Boat Ashore as a contemporary song that they remembered. My mom thinks that music just isn't the same any more, while my dad listens to more hip-hop then I do.
When I had to look for Hip-Hop songs from artists that I had never heard before I thought it would be impossible. I listen to mostly hip-hop and R&B so I am aware of most artists. I actually had to look for artists who where more popular in other regions than the south and midwest because those are the regions I knew most of the artists from. Looking for videos I had never seen before was easier because I don't have time to watch television as mush as I used to. I tried to listen and look at these videos with more of a critical eyet than usual which was extremely difficult because I consider myself a part of the Hip-Hop community at large. Hip- hop in the media has gotten a lot of negative feedback from those outside of the community. I believe this is because most hip-hop videos feature's women in less flattering ways then people want. Women are most often seen having little to no clothes on and treated as sex objects. This is also an issue when listening to lyrics of certain hip-hop songs. Women are referred to as tricks , sluts, and more vulgar forms of the previous words. This is the negative side of hip-hop that gets the most attention, along side the gangster stereotypes being associated to some lyrics and videos. These negative attributes of hip-hop are how some black people get stereotyped because this is a predominate image in the media. I am often asked by others if I become offended by hip-hop songs that exploit women or videos that do the same. And most often than not i honestly don't. Sex sells. Thats why it is used in every form of advertising and media. I guess I can say I have almost become immune to it. Is this a good thing? It is probably not a good thing at all. I often do listen to songs that say things that are unnecessary about women, but like so many women that listen to those same songs, we tend to disassociate ourselves from the females that are being described in the songs or the videos. I do struggle with this because it honestly is not progressive for women at all. But does that mean that I can't listen or support the music?
For the past week I have been observing advertisements that I see daily. I observed these advertisements in three different ways or mediums, these beings a magazine, two newspaper inserts, and television. Below are brief descriptions of some of the advertisements and specifications on the race and gender present in all of them.
Liz Claiborne Ad in Glamour (April '09) pg 39 There are 6 individuals in the ad and five were women. One is black and one woman is clearly older. The older woman is positioned in the front of the ad. The black woman is in the background. She is not as easily seen as the rest of the models in the picture.
Here is an example of an ad similar to the one that I viewed in the magazine.
Lacoste Ad in Glamour There are four people in the ad. 2 men and 2 women. The only there are two people whose faces are not all the way in the ad. One of them happens to be an Asian female. Her face is cut in half by the edge of the advertisement. It makes me wonder why did they do this. They could have easily fit her into the ad. I know it could have been done when editing this picture.
Community Ad's for the week
Ad for Dots: Dot's is a new fashion store opening in the Norman area. There are two different girls featured in the add. There are two females one seems to be South American and the other seems to be black or of mixed race. The women who seems to be black or of mixed race is light skinned with a less ethnic grade of hair.
Swing Set at Walmart There are five children playing on the swing set. There are three girls and two boys. Three out of the five children seem to be non white.
Television ads
Cars (Disney XD) Commercials During the movie that were not Cartoon commercials: Fashion n' Studio: Three white girls Hot wheels: Black and white boy Disney Vacations: 3 different minorities and whites in the commercial
Catch Me if You Can (TNT) Centrum Silver: White couple Verizon: White customer and an Asian Salesman DirecTV: Black and White men in a bank robbery Maybelline: White Woman Colgate: Brooke Shields Sports and Movie Ads:
Coming to America ( Bravo) Cheerios: White Man, white woman w/ Child, Black Woman with Husband Turbo Tax: Same as above Slumdog Millionaire Movie Hoover Vacuum: White woman and Man Joe's Crab Shack: White group of friends
This is what I observed from the magazine ads. When there we ad's with African American women as the only model they fit a certain type. They were light skinned and and had more of white features( Beyonce, Halle, random black model with green eyes). For advertisements on television it is only natural to notice that they reflect the type of channel that is being viewed and the actual individual show. Most shows that are most likely to be viewed by adults were the ones that showed non whites in the typical ways described by the Coltrane reading. That is being in the background and subservient to white authority figures. Most of these advertisements illustrated these roles and did not deviate extremely from commercial to commercial, the trend was similar I noticed that when I viewed a cartoon(Cars), which is geared towards children the ads had more minorities in roles. In a typical commercial break, there would only be one commercial with n all white cast. This makes me think that the generation that watches these are going to be more receptive to diversity on advertisements that were before hem. This is a good thing because they are starting at a younger age. As far as gender goes, most of the commercials had females in them. They were in typical roles though. For example in the Joe's Crab Shack commercial their are several people sitting at a table and one of them is a female. Her food comes out and it has a cover over it. The guy asks her to take her top off, referring to the top of her food but it does have a sexual undertone because the female misunderstands him at first.
In my opinion, the advertisements were disappointing. I wanted to believe that stereotypical roles no longer prevalent in todays advertisements but I couldn't. It is very evident once I began to observe the trends in the advertisements.
After tracking the crime sections of news cast I was not surprised. It really did not seem to be anything strange about the way the stories were being displayed. I saw no correlation between the anchor of a crime story and the offender. I also saw no correlation between the race of an victim to the race of the offender. Most of the time the race of the victims were not obvious.
The main things that I noticed were that most crimes that were being seen on the newscast were done by people who were not white. I don't know if this says that white people do not commit crimes but it does seem to subtly give that impression. This seems makes me wonder why it seemed that most criminals were not white. I know that people do not want to see people that are similar to them being portrayed in a negative light and if the majority of a news audience is a certain race then maybe they are less likely to cover those stories in their newscasts. If so, this is not right but it would help in making the audience favor their news over other news channels.
Do minorities tend to do more crimes than whites? Are the only news worthy crimes being done by minorities? These are questions that need to be answered in order to figure out if the news fair and balanced. If this is not what statistics show about crimes in a certain area then more accuracy need to be displayed in the news. Fair and balanced news goes beyond whether or not both sides of a story are being covered. It needs to illustrate all standpoints of society. If their is proof on whether a certain race does more crimes than the other then that can be displayed in the news, if not then whatever the crime trend is should be reflected in the news.
After watching Bill Moyers " Buying the War" it is hard for me not to say that political figures and media heads do not control the news and set the agenda. The news should be determined by the people. Both sides of issues should be covered even if it will cause tension and go against the common goal or trend. In "Buying the War"it states that during the beginning of the war it was hard for the media to show that they disagreed with the war because it might have been seen as Anti-American. There is conflict in this to me because is not freedom of speech something that is apparent in America. Therefore not being able to publish and cover stories that did not agree with the war is Anti-American.
We need media that addresses the interests of people of color because to often do those interests get over looked. American media should cover American people and American people include people of color that are a minority. One reason is that people of color are a minority and their interests may or may not be the same as that of the majority. In order to increase the mainstream media's interest in other topics the mainstream media must first have diverse representation. After there is diverse representation then topics and concerns will follow that trend. This may not solve the case of diversity in coverage but it is a start. Also I will argue that the interests of people of color are not always the same as everyone else's. People of color deal with issues like under representation that may not even be an issue or even a thought of someone else.
Media coverage over the war in Iraq has changed from when it first began. I remember the war being reported on as something that had to be done. It was told over and over to Americans that the people in Iraq were the ones who bombed the World Trade Centers and they must be punished. Like Iraq had done something terribly wrong to the people of the United States and we needed to retaliate. At that point in time that was thought to be the truth even thought there was a lack of facts that supported these claims. America did not know for sure but we still went to war.Everyday there was something different about the violent bombings and other things done to U.S. soldiers. But civilian casualties were not shown in proportion the the actual number of those casualties, they were shown in proportion to the number of soldiers being killed. This in many ways slanted the news coverage of the war.
The media was beneficial for the Civil Rights Movement because the rest of the world did not know exactly what was happening until the media covered it. Civil Rights Movement had came along because African Americans felt like they were being ignored. Media outlets were a sure way to get the attention they deserved. Without proper media coverage, pictures like the one shown above would not have been circulated.
Recently, in the Jenna Six campaign the media also played a major role in getting the attention necessary to result in action, similarly to the Civil Rights Movement. The media covered protests nation wide that were part of the collective effort. If it was not for media coverage the news would not have gotten as much action and speaking out that it needed. Here is a link to the CNN story.
It is important to cover local issues so that others in the community and city are aware of those issues. Media outlets are people's main source of information so if it is not covered in the news broadcast, radio , or newspapers, then how will they know. News should be balanced and not slanted to keep from stepping on any ones toes, even if it the president. News should also cover every ones issues, not just the majority.
The Law Center showed a documentary of the Tulsa Race Riot called 'Before They Die'. It gave a historical account of the riots and what is being done about them today.
The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 is an event not known by many. Even those who live in present Tulsa do not fully recognize the impact that this riot had on the Greenwood community that it took place in. The riot took place on June 1st 1921. There were 300 people killed and 10,000 displaced. The riot was said to be started because of an event that happened on May 31, 1921. A black shoe shine boy was attempting to get on an elevator and tripped onto an elevator operator, who screamed. The elevator operator happened to be a white 17 year old. After the scream was heard, there was no questions asked. The white people who heard the scream assumed that the shoe shine boy had attacked her. The word got around Tulsa and the white people were going to hang the black boy. Several black World War II Veteran's went down to try and prevent the hanging. White men at the door were said to meet them at the door and as a result a fight broke out. That night and the morning of June 21st would change the Greenwood community forever.
The area impacted by the Tulsa race Riot has come to known as the Black Wall Street. During this time in Tulsa the black community in Greenwood was thriving. They had their own businesses. Everyone from the community doctor to the grocery store owner were all black. They had everything such as a bus systems to cab routes. Some say that it was not a reason for people of the community to leave because everything that they needed was in Greenwood. On June 21st the Greenwood that they had grown to love would change forever.
The night of May 31st and day June 1st 1921 white mobs stormed the Greenwood community. They were said to go to all of the houses and take all the men out of the houses. Some were shot and killed on site. People were said to use machine guns and airplanes to shoot most of the black people in the community. If the black men were not killed they were marched down to Convention Hall in Tulsa. Many were detained there for several days before they were allowed to leave. After most of the black men were out of their homes, the white people went back into the community and burned most of the houses. Many people fled to get out harms way. Only women and children were left in most of there houses to fend for themselves. Over 300 square blocks were burnt to the ground.
Many blacks after the riot were very silent on the matter. It was there view that they had caused a riot. Many people who grew up in Tulsa were not told about what happened in Tulsa in 1921. It was not until 2001 when a Commission was released to actually draw more attention to the adversity that the community.
After watching the Tim Wise video in class, what do you think about the idea of privilege?Please support your answers.
In my opinion,privilege is when a certain group is awarded more perks in life. Most of the time the group is oblivious to the fact that they are alway's one step ahead. Other groups who are outside of the privileged easily recognize that the one group is afforded things that they aren't.
How does the media utilize privilege in media representation? Give examples.
Whether it is in print media or television media, privilege is being displayed. In print media, such as advertisements and magazines the privileged race is being represented regularly. Seldom will you see others besides the race of the majority being used to promote products or used to persuade the masses. They use the faces that are most comfortable to the majority of the people who will be viewing it. It is more likely to see an advertisment of the privileged race than any other race.The minorities or groups besides the privileged take a backseat on the priority list because they are not the ones that need to please in order to make a profit. Television shows and newscasts also display mostly the majority. Popular culture and most of society are drawn to the privileged and what they represent. In television shows out of a 10 person cast, it might be two minorities being represented and less than that if you talk about being represented positively.
For the next several days, please keep a list of the privileges you see in your daily experiences. They can be your privileges or what you believe to be someone else's privilege.
These are the privilege's I noticed in my daily experiences.
1.Being on a predominately white campus, minorities are preferenced in receiving scholarships and financial aid.
2. Being black or a minority on campus means that you will be one of the few of your race in classrooms or maybe the only.
3. Blacks as athletes are shown privilege over others because of the thought that they are the best at what they do.
4. At workplaces, minorities get treated as if they do not fully understand or do no know how to correctly do their job.
5. At workplaces, there are certain things that women are expected to do, while mean get exempt.
6. More pressure on minorities in the workplace to earn their keep.
7. A member of the privileged group prefers a member of the privileged group to assist or teach them in different aspects.
8. The predominate race does not have to worry about being followed while shopping.
Do you think society still believes in the one drop rule?
I do not think society still believes in the one drop rule. presently I think that most classifications get based on someone by their appearance. There are so many different combinations of races that a one drop rule would not help.
Reflection: At the end of the video Tim Wise talked about responsibility of knowledge and Beverly Tatum (1992) suggests that as adults we have a responsibility to identify new information and change our behavior based on this new found awareness. Please discuss from your perspective.
I agree with Beverly Tatum because once an adult is no longer ignorant of a different perspective outside of what they were taught all of their lives then that should shape a new outlook on their world. Often this is not the case. When something has been perpetually been said to be right then it is not as easy to persuade someone of a different right. Most people do not want to accept this responsibility of knowledge, they would rather just pretend not to know. Also behavior is a very difficult thing to change when it goes against the way you live your life daily. Knowledge sometimes makes people uncomfortable in the world they have been living in.
The Inauguration of President Barack Obama signified a type of progress that the United States has made. Through all the publicity surrounding our new president, one can not help but notice how the media portrays President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama. There has been countless pictures of them holding hands ,showing intimacy towards one another, and interacting with Maleah and Sasha, their children. This image is seldom displayed by an African American couple in mainstream media. These images will also have an effect on how African American couples are viewed and how they view themselves.
Usually the only positive black couple on television that people can readily name are the Cosby's. Now we are able to add one more couple to the list. Michelle and Barack exemplify the ultimate power couple to me. It is evident in their interaction with one another how genuine their relationship is. The camera's can only catch what is being displayed especially, if it is a candid shot, which most of the pictures of Michelle and Barack are. Stereotypes are being challenged every time the president and his wife step in front of a camera. They are not fighting nor cursing each other out. Barack has 2 children which are both by Michelle. This may seem a little strange that I am using those as examples but that is what is commonly thought of when thinking of a black couple.
The view of African American women in the mainstream media will also be altered by the presence of Michelle Obama. Michelle will provide a much needed positive role model for African American young girls. It has been long over due for a counter against the video vixens of rap videos. The role of media in the lives of young people is evident so I believe that the site of Michelle Obama by some little girl will alter her perspective of herself that will ultimately change how she lives her life, what she hopes for, and how much self esteem she will have. You can call me an optimist, but these type's of images can often shape a culture.
President Obama himself is also a figure in the black love. He represents something that is rare in the media's eyes. He is a black man, who is married to the mother of his two children. He is not afraid to show attention to his wife in the public eye, which is often seen as a problem for black men. President Obama is also taking care of his children while with their mother. A stereotype of black males is that they are not married to their children's mother's and are " dead beat dad's. President Obama is exactly the opposite, a much needed portrait in the black community.
Together, President Obama and First Lady Michelle are a role model for black couples. When looking at them in the public eye, aspiring couples should see something like a prototype for their relationship. Although I do not know what goes on behind closed doors, from the outside looking in, they seem very supportive of one another. Black couples should be able to work through issues and stay together and build stable families for their children. One look at statistics and you will know that presently this is not the case.
One can only hope that black couples will take their cue from the Obama's and change how they view themselves and how the world see's them.
Ever since I came to the University of Oklahoma I have made a conscious effort to relearn American history from a different perspective. During the 12 years that we all spend learning history before college, it is from a westernized perspective. We have been taught that in every history book Christopher Columbus discovered America, then when we get older just to discover that that is not entire the truth.
When I took my first African and African American(AFAM) History Class, I began to realize that the history that I have been taught my entire life is not necessarily the whole truth or even part truth. Since then I have made AFAM my minor. This is my attempt to try and discover a different history, one not recognized in the history books of a High School. In most American history books slavery is simply a section in a chapter, not even being recognized as the cause of an entire war. Also Native American's are viewed as a people who started wars and not the true victims as they really are.
I honestly was upset when I started to learn new things in my AFAM classes but I got used to it as time passed. I felt as if I had to go back and re-learn everything that had been taught. So now I am still on my mission to re-educate myself while I am on my journey of higher education. It's great. I learn new things almost everyday. It may sound cheesy but its the truth.
I am thankful for this opportunity to take classes that interest me and impact me in such a tremendous way. Other Universities do not have an actual degree program dedicated to such topics. I am taking this time to learn more about myself and my ancestors history that was never taught to me previously.
