“Words I Never Said” by Lupe Fiasco
Are we being brainwashed by the government? Are we scared to stand up for our rights and speak the truth? Lupe Fiasco, a political activist, tackles such questions in his rap “Words I Never Said”. Lupe Fiasco raps about political matters such as 9/11, the American government, and the Islamic-Palestinian conflict. Lupe Fiasco rants about how our society is being brainwashed by the government and the only solution to this problem is if the people rise up together. I chose this song because it has a strong lyrical message that left a powerful impression on me. Throughout each of his three verses, Lupe Fiasco conveys his opinion on the critical matters at hand, the government fiscal policy, the war on terror, and
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He talks about how we do not understand the conflict that is occurring in the Middle-East. This is also in his second verse of the song “Now you can’t say it ain’t our fault if we heard it/But if we know better then we probably deserve it”. The second part of this quote uses an antecedent-consequence relationship. Lupe Fiasco extends his critic by calling out the uneducated people on this sensitive topic in “Jihad is not a holy war, where’s that in the worship? /Murdering is not Islam!”. Jihad is the Arabic term for “struggle” and murder is forbidden in Islam contrary to the Islam-phobic propaganda among daily news. Lupe Fiasco defends Islam and speaks about how the religion is more than just the extremists that frequent breaking news headlines. "And you are not observant, and you are not a Muslim" is a form of anaphora scheme, which uses the first part of the phrase more than once. In addition, Lupe Fiasco wants the public to know that he does not take sides in the line “Israel don’t take my side ‘cause look how far you’ve pushed them” referring again to the Islamic-Palestinian conflicts in the Middle
The purpose of this section of the talk is to show people’s desire to ignore the truth about the state of their country, and to warn against doing so.
With terror, comes peace and harmony, but not all the time, two speeches are evaluated to determine its effectiveness, [Former] “President Obama’s statement on the Orlando, Florida shooting”, and “President Trump’s remarks on the Las Vegas shooting”. The link which connects the speeches is the rhetorical devices, word choice, tone, persuasive appeals including many others, granting the ability of a stronger claim. The speakers – Former President Barack Obama, and President Donald Trump – incorporate similar ideas and how these ideas had been portrayed throughout their speeches. There are other essential details that fortified their speech, contrariwise there were details that hindered their speech, displaying weaknesses when discussing certain points. The affinity between the two speeches is intricately filled with minutiae – making them harder to spot in comparison to the distinction amongst both. Although, Former President Obama’s speech had plenty of emotionally inducing words, Trump’s speech was more effectively written with informative statements strengthening his speech.
History has constantly brought upon leaders and individuals who stands up against the corrupt society he and many others face. Those “leaders” express their profound thoughts for both him and the many others that are too afraid to speak out. One of the most notorious writers in American history and is known for his transcendental ideals. However, today’s society lacks individuals who parallels with Whitman. Lupe Fiasco represents the Modern American voice speaking out against the degrading world society and does so by influencing the public through their appeal of music. He rejects and contrasts from the negative influences of the world and uses his music to contradict those who degrade our society. Born in the west side of Chicago
The momentous tragedy that occurred on September 11th, 2001 has been engraved into the memories of United States citizens. What began as an ordinary day quickly evolved into an tragedy no one could have predicted: thousands of lives had been taken and countless more devastated and ruined by the acts of terror. Although unpredicted, the horrific and frightening news affected all. The four planes individually plummeted into their targets—two crashed into the Twin Towers, another struck the Pentagon, and the final hurtled into an empty field—eliciting a wave of panic throughout the nation. The jarring images of commercial airplanes hijacked by members of the terrorist group Al-Qaida managed to instill a fear. As the terrified country anxiously fretted about the future, President George W. Bush delivered a speech to address the nation in order to soothe the tensions and worry. In George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation,” the terrorist attack orchestrated against the U.S. is addressed with rhetorical devices such as parallel structure, imagery, and various appeals in order to inspire and heal the country.
“None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.” That was one of George W. Bush’s many emotional yet strong sayings in his speech of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York city. His goal of unifying, making the country feel bonded together, was achieved through vivid and organized word choice. He chose these words to connect with the people of america's emotions and feelings, while also displaying authority and logical sense that terrorism is a threat to the world.
In times when the U.S. confronts serious threats extremist rhetoric sometimes seems appropriate and necessary. One could argue that speeches advocating the end of slavery or the fight against modern terrorists was justified. However, those well meaning words can plant thoughts of violence in the minds of the easily persuaded to commit violence to gain results (Davis upenn.edu). Rhetoric used by political leaders is sometimes uncivil because politicians do not consider the consequences of what they say or do before they execute their plans. With this being said, it would be extremely difficult to remedy the incivility of political discourse without damaging the right of free speech granted by the first amendment; however, President Obama’s speech in Tucson, Arizona offers sound advice for political leaders, speechmakers, and those who have a wide reaching
I disagree with Lauren Slater’s theory that throughout a person's life, one will only surround themselves with ideas and people similar to their own because, it is easy to see that people enjoy controversy and over the course of our lives, our beliefs and ideas can change.
The world we live in has made many mistakes, and it’s far from perfect. In Chip Wards letter “We Screwed Up” 2012 to his granddaughter Maddie. Chip tells us that he wants to apologize for his and past generations mistakes of being ignorant. He is sorry for depleting all the natural resources, the species going instinct, the chemical obsession and the increase in advertising he refers to as confusion.
America: Land of the free and home of the brave. That was the idea that the people had hundreds of years ago. How they would feel now that we are a country that is enslaved to profit and not the least bit brave when it comes to speaking truth. Mark Shield, author of the article “Missing: Any Challenge for the Common Good,” brings to the attention of how todays tactic of running things has become more than a little undermining. The presidential campaign of 2016 has been no more than a bumbling mess for the past few months. Republican front-runner and celebrity, Donald Trump, has led his campaign with racist remarks and the promise of a wall he will not pay for, to separate borders. While the popular vote of the Democratic Party,
From the early 1980’s into the early 1990’s, hip-hop was an integral tool in the dissemination of young people’s voices against mainstream politics. These times were tense and rather controversial. It began with Reagan’s call for the reemergence of state rights; this call was a form of political messaging which utilized coded language targeting different groups with dual messages also known as dog whistling. It allowed individual states total power and control in instituting their own policies including segregation. On top of the aforementioned and in light of the increased state regulation, intense and increased police brutality became an unfortunate reflection of the times. As a result, many people, especially those of color, lost trust in
There are many political messages in every part of our live, but Hip-Hop has transcended ethnic boundaries. Because of its eclectic audience, it has the greatest opportunity to build ethnic bridges and mend ethnic relations. Hip hop has taken hold and permeated significant regions of the world. The clothing, music, mannerisms, and lexicon, are unmistakably the same in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Zurich, Milan, and Tokyo. Indeed, this culture has the potential to make it cool not to commit hate crimes, not to discriminate or be homophobic or misogynistic, and to have political influence in American
Millions of people in the world listen to music for all different reasons. Most people all over the world listen to different genres of music in order to relax, but not too many people pay attention to the actual lyrics of a song. If you listen to the lyrics of a song you will realize that many songs have important messages or themes to them. An example of this is the lyrics of the song “Changes” by Tupac Shakur. If you listen to this song, you will realize that Tupac raps about not only the problems that African Americans face from society, but also the struggles that poor people in society have to endure and overcome. Many
Many contradicting views surround rap music’s controversial subjects and use of language. While some consider it highly offensive, there is some validity to the rhetoric applied in political rap. In the 1990’s racial inequality is rampant with uprisings and segregated neighborhoods that condemn minorities and lower socioeconomic classes to inhumane living conditions. Specifically, Tupac Shakur’s posthumous song “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto” combines an emancipatory lyric with a hopeful and upbeat instrumental to assess the racial inequality in society and the possibility of a better future.
Artists across music genres are at the forefront of new protest songs in response to the rise of President Donald J. Trump and his words in the media. One political track, titled “Land of the Free” by Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott, speaks to society through a bouncy beat in contrast to its blunt, politically-charged lyrics. Brooklyn based rapper Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott, otherwise known as Joey Bada$$, released his single “Land of the Free” on January 20, 2017, the day of President Trump’s inauguration. According to Scott, “Land of the Free” was inspired by African-American civil rights leaders such as Marcus Garvey, Dr. Umar Johnson, and Malcolm X (Scott, 2017, Land of the Free). In the song, Scott discusses the racism and prejudice today towards minority groups, especially African-Americans. He also touches on how former President Barack Obama’s presidency was not enough to cause big enough change on the inequality in America. The message in the track, along with the correlating album, “All-Amerikkkan Bada$$”, challenges Americans to speak up and “start a new coalition against corrupt politicians” (Scott, 2017, Land of the Free). Using the cluster analysis method, the song’s word choice is accurately analyzed since clustering the words gives the lyrics a fresh perspective on the political meaning, and it helps evaluate Scott’s motive for wanting change. Scott critiques the political indifference America has towards the ongoing issue of inequality using the key terms free, just,
The term “War on Terror” alone has created a psychological phenomenon that struck fear in the minds of many Americans. The Bush Administration elevated those three words to a national mantra that had impacted the American democracy destructively. It had impacted the American psyche as well as the United States’ standing in the world. In an article by Zibigniew Brzezinski, he explains, “Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us.”