The And Its Effects On Society

Gene Weingarten’s “Pearls before Breakfast,” published in 2007. It was originally published in the Washington Post. The targeted audience includes general newspaper readers. The purpose of the text is to enlighten the value of free God gifted talents that are hidden somewhere in the ignorance of people who remain busy in their personal lives. Nowadays, people usually favor and follow popular artists by their titles, and bands names. On the other hand, artists who perform on streets, bus stations, and subways their talent become viral through modern media. When unknown talent captured in cameras by unknown spectators and the unusual performances become highlighted than people show empathy towards them. Although adaptability of poverty and ignorance of the world makes unknown artists so much ignorable in the eyes of the world that donations make their day and they come to know at the end of the day that how many spectators did observe them. However, I argue that people shouldn’t build an invisible wall between stage and street artists by ignoring artistic languages, disliking of physical appearances, and focusing on price tags rather than originality of artistic work.

Ever since its creation America has always been seen as the icon for peace and prosperity; however, just like every other nation in the world, America has encountered some exceedingly dark and sinister incidents of the past years. Like David Berkowitz’s killing spree in New York City during the summer of 1976, the Virginia Tech shooting that took place on the college campus in 2007, and even the horrific Oklahoma City Bombing that Timothy McVeigh orchestrated in 1995. But there is one event in particular that was even more heinous and stranger than any of those – the Jonestown Massacre. It was a mass suicide that occurred on November 18, 1978, in Guyana that took the lives of over 900 innocent people (The Stigmatized Deaths in Jonestown…

On August 9th 2014, an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. A day following Brown’ s death, a riot broke out in Ferguson which caught the attention of the entire country. The fact that black people suffers disproportionally from police violence isn’ t uncommon given that deadly use of force by the police towards blacks under 21 years of age is 20% compared to 8.7% to whites (Johnson et al., 2014). Perhaps what is surprising is the speed of organization and the intensity of young people in Ferguson to use the death of Michael Brown as a final straw in the injustice and racism blacks suffers to this day. For this paper, I shall analyze the Ferguson riot under the #BlackLivesMatter

Every day, people make noise whether it be gibberish or intellectual thinking. It comes to many of us naturally and we use our voices all the time to communicate with others, to sing, to yell, and to ….. But many of us are left to ask, what is voice? Voice is a way to express yourself intellectually, make other minds think for themselves, and analyze the world around them causing change in society.

There is no question that mass shootings are happening more frequently. The question is are they happening to often? They have become more common, but have always been a problem in the world. Shootings have been happening since the invention of guns, but as we come closer to our era mass shootings have been happening more regularly. These shootings need to be stopped and put an end to. But how can we as a whole all come together and put an end to it? The statistics and facts that are going to be used give valid reasons to where the shootings take place, how it happens and the number of casualties and lives taken from these shootings.

"I'm angry someone would do this to us. There are lives ruined, families ruined, and our whole school year is ruined" (Brackely 1). Casey Brackely, once a student that attended Columbine High School, remembers the tragedy of the horrific Columbine shooting that killed and injured many students. Mass shootings in the United States have been on the rise since the 1980’s, especially in the last decade. These shooters motives and profiles are almost all terrifyingly alike. Many of these shooters try to imitate and parallel the tragic shooting of the Columbine High School in 1999. These shootings have made peaceful organizations, such as an elementary school; become a place of violence and death. Currently, in the United States, an epidemic of

It took one gunshot to put a city into an uneasy frenzy throughout the day, and utter chaos at nightfall. It began with policemen standing side by side and protesters ready to strike; came face to face. All around there were Ferguson citizens, each standing tall defending his or her respective sides. Protesters were holding signs with powerful words like “Black Lives Matter.” In a split second, havoc was reached, and in a blink of an eye, everyone was encircled by the fog from tear gas and flipped police cars. With the sound of sirens echoing through the streets and fires set all around, no one was safe in the city of Ferguson.

On May 18, 2018 there was a school shooting at Santa Fe High School making it the 22nd one this year. The 3rd within a one week span. With each shooting happening more frequently and being covered by the media more we find ourselves becoming desensitised. Some people start to lose hope with the movement because every time they open their social media there is thoughts and prayers, but no action. Paige Curry, a student at Santa Fe was asked if she was surprised by that something like this could happen at her school? She replied with a “No” then said, “It’s been happening everywhere. I’ve always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here, too.” Curry had become so desensitized by gun violence because of its frequency and prominent place on media. Although some teenagers have become less sensitive to school shootings we also find ourselves with others who see the constant coverage of shootings and become enraged. With the help of media and platforms like Twitter tragedies have become more spread showing their frequency in our nation. Upsetting people who have never been affected directly by gun violence. It has allowed for organizations like Students March and The National Walkout to form which are comprised mostly of people who have never experienced violence like

With all that has been examined, it is somewhat troubling to see that 21st century America today is very similar to America from the 1960’s. While it is true that Black Americans have gained civil rights and liberties, it is the current state of American society itself—as well as white fright—that dismisses these rights. The most infamous example of this is, of course, police shootings. Since the Trayvon Martin case, the United States seems to have exploded with more police shootings in which white police officers shoot unarmed black men. According to Mapping Police Violence, “Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, nearly twice each week” (Police Violence). Indeed, America is now like the 1950’s because while Black Americans are now free to vote, walk in public, and partake in public programs of U.S. society, certain institutions still attempt to suppress their rights. This attempting at suppression of Black civil rights, moreover, can be attributed to white fright.

The only thing more powerful in mobilizing symbols, sentiments, and sensibilities than popular culture, is personal and shared experiences. What is so potent about pop culture however, is the ability of its participants to share their personal experiences to audiences than can both empathize and relate to the realities these artists present. This extended period of the civil rights and black power era can arguably be defined as the mobilization of the larger public by popular black figures whose individual charismas and drive inspired collective action. Some of these figures were exclusively political, many of which prominent intellects of race academia and/or known for their discourses that captivated thousands. And then there were figures that used their influence as musicians or writers who, with access beyond those with a conscious interest in politics, could incite people to think and reevaluate their lived realities through song and performance. Nina Simone is perhaps the most politically significant figure of the latter group, as she not only actively participated as a proponent of civil rights efforts, but became a pioneer in black power and feminist ideology.

Police brutality and gun violence that is associated with the police is continuing to be a topic that is constantly in the headlines. Gun violence is a huge problem in our society, but what is an even bigger problem is that most of the gun violence occurring these days is from our local police officers. George Wayne Smith wrote the article, “Blood Cries Out from the Ground: Reflections on Ferguson” with the hope of informing people of this type of violence. The article focuses on the wrongful death of Michael Brown, who was shot in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. This article was a good way to reach people and tell them about the emotional effect that this shooting had on the country. He was able to use his first-hand experience, knowledge about Ferguson, and its history, to communicate with his audience about why we need to be aware of what is going on in the world. Smith used the rhetorical strategies; ethos, pathos, and logos to effectively showcase just what a big problem gun violence is becoming in the world, and informed us on how we can play a part in getting justice for all of its victims.

Voice has power. One’s voice can be an agent of change when coupled with two other essential components: golden words and a golden a heart.

Looking back, on this year, and many others; it seems theses shootings bring up discussion, dialogue and controversy about the following issues;

In 2013, what started as a Facebook post stating “Black Lives Matter” stemming from the death of a 17-year-old boy who was shot in Florida would develop into a movement over a year later. The Black Lives Matter movement would be heard loud and clear nationwide after an 18-year-old boy was killed by an officer in Ferguson Missouri in 2014 which provoked grief and outrage as many recognized that this killing was just the latest in a long and rapidly growing succession of cases involving police use of lethal force against unarmed people of color. With the outpour of these protest, law enforcement would be targeted with animosity and hateful chants such as “Pigs in a blanket, fry-em like bacon” and “What do we want? Dead Cops!” (Blackwell, 2016).

Wellesley has been known as a well to do community with good school systems. The neighboring communities such as Weston, Wayland, and Needham are also comparable in terms of real estate values and excellent educational systems. However, in Wellesley, there has been a rapid change in landscapes throughout the town due to what is described as a demolition haven. Although the culprit of the recent high-end building boom is unclear, new constructions replaced by the teardown act are popping up to be transformed into mansion size houses. What is Wellesley trying to compete against? What impacts do they impose on seniors who are retiring or have retired? Many old houses have their inconveniences but have characters which have painted a part of beautiful Wellesley scenery. The recycled properties increase the value of the houses on the street, which in turn increases the property tax bill due to increased assessed values. It resembles a domino effect. Many elderly people are trying hard to stand firm on their feet to avoid being knocked over, but controlling their environment is nearly impossible and seeing annual updated assessed property values with increased appreciation may only be described as a nightmare.