The Pursuit Of Freedom And Justice There Was A Hurricane

Lauryn Hill was and still is an iconic individual of the African American Hip Hop genre. She is known for her enlightening lyrics and historical puns that resonate with her listeners. During a time where blacks were being served with the injustice of society and being defied the moral code of citizenship, Ms. Hill released a song-like poem that not only told our story but spread the message of frustration and struggle so those without a voice can be heard. “Mystery of Iniquity” is poem that transcribes three main topics and unifies

Music is a creative art form that allows the artist to construct something that expresses a purpose. It evolves over time and changes as the world changes, taking on many different motivations behind the melody and lyrics. In today’s society, anger, oppression, racism, and negative opinions rule the media and popular culture. I believe that African Americans need to show their self worth and not let white people hold them back. With the music in white culture often mocking African American culture and portraying negative stereotypes, African Americans have to find ways to gain respect. In acknowledgement of the negative portrayal of their culture, African Americans respond by creating songs and videos that express their pride in their culture and heritage, react to white oppression, and communicate their independence.

Beyoncé Knowles, a well-known singer, songwriter uses two of her songs: “Freedom” and “Formation” to tell the story of herself. “Freedom” is the beginning of her story where she is searching for freedom and equality showing that there is still much inequality and injustice for African Americans in America today. The song slowly transitions to a more positive tone when she seems to have made something beneficial out of her difficult situation. “Formation,” however, has a completely different tone. While she does address negative situations from the past at the beginning of the song, she quickly transitions to a more positive tone full of pride in where she came from, who she has become, and what she has overcome. Together, the two songs

Over the past few years tragic events seem to be surrounding our society. An array of killings, social protests, police brutality and racism have startled the nation. Lately celebrities have been addressing these issues more and more on TV, in interviews and in the public eye. One incredible artist just used her talent to address all of these issues and more in her new music video "Formation". Beyoncé is an iconic figure in our culture, spreading her talent, feminist views and activism worldwide. This video is one of a kind. It is not centered on her but on Black America. There have been many critics disagreeing with Beyoncé 's video. They felt that she spread negative messages of police throughout her video. Others, however, loved her video. They felt she used her platform to reach out and address issues. Supporters and critics of the video have expressed their opinions in many different ways. In this paper I will analyze this video that has been shared worldwide. The question I ask is: "How does Beyoncé depict the complexity of Black Americans?" In order to answer this question, I will apply Pentadic criticism to analyze this discourse.

In reading Djanet Sears’ Harlem Duet, and listening to Public Enemy’s song “Fight The Power”, one can immediately notice the significance of similarities. Both texts take a stand to racism and all aspects of inequality within it. Although Djanet Sears and Public Enemy express their views on the cultural conflicts of race, opportunity for freedom and political authority/leadership inequality in these two different mediums, play and song, they both share the same message of discrimination and a demand for amendment. In making this critical analysis of how these texts use aspects of their medium to comment on social problems and cultural conflicts, this paper will first discuss the similarities in views of racism within both texts, and how the

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.

Although the critically acclaimed album titled Lemonade received positive feedback for the way its visuals captured the struggles of black Americans, specifically black women, there is one song off the album that obviously emphasizes the adversities they are facing. In the beginning of the first verse of Freedom (featuring Kendrick Lamar), she uses the imagery of storm to reference her struggle towards being free. This is a reoccurring theme throughout the song, she continues to use words that are synonymous to disaster and generally negative.

Freedom songs were a key element to the development of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. During mass meetings, marches, and violent confrontations, music offered an outlet for people to express their emotions and a place to draw courage from. The ability of songs to draw together communities in order to build morale and support for the movement, while reaffirming the need for a nonviolent Movement in America during this period of time, profoundly contributed to the development of protest movements across the nation. However, though freedom songs appeared in many styles during the 1960s, with songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and those associated with Black Power like “Mississippi Goddamn” appearing in the same period, the role

The song “Freedom” by Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar provides the central idea of redemption through the use repetition. The singer repeats the word “Freedom” to express that the black community needs to be freed from oppression. This is illustrated by Beyonce singing “Won’t let my freedom rot in hell.” This connects to the central idea because Beyoncé encourages her audience members around freedom, however specifically the freedom of Black ladies. African-American ladies are frequently at the bleeding edge of social equality yet their necessities are more than once pushed to the side for the requirements of Black men, as though their needs are the requirements of the entire, or take point of reference. This is important by Beyonce singing “...

A profound number of the college students I interviewed felt that Bob Dylan’s 1960s “The Times They are a Changin” and Tupac Shakur 1992 “Keep Ya Head Up” a reference to the L.A. riots, spoke more to their reasoning. They talked about how these two songs relied on human logic to establish their arguments and convince them of their meaningfulness through their lyrics. “Appeals to reason are derived from logic and adapted in such a way as to appeal to and have an effect on an audience” (Bailey, 2006). The songs, The Times They Are a Changin” and “Keep Ya head up” both explores the illogical nature of the traditional way of thinking at the time. Throughout the songs, both artist use verbal opposition and argumentative statements to logically criticize the traditional way of thinking about race and war. In various stanzas of Tupac song, he draws attention to various injustices and how blind the nation is when it still comes to race. He says “They got money or wars, but can’t feed tha poor, say their ain’t no hope for the youth and the truth is. It can’t no hope for tha future. We ain’t meant to survive cause it’s a setup and even if you’re fed up, ya got keep your head up” (Shakur, 1992). In the case of this song many of the students felt Tupac gave great reasoning with how we have money for wars but not to feed the poor and how the government and society does in fact setup some races to fail more than others. The students came to the revelation through the reasoning given how this still holds true even in today’s society, with police brutality and unlawful stops because of the color of a person’s

Josh White, in his music, repeatedly states his passion toward protesting the importance of black people being a part of American. In the lyrics of “Freedom Road,” this part is repeated the most, “That’s why I’m marching, yes, I’m marching, Marching down freedom’s road. Ain’t nobody gonna stop me, nobody gonna keep me, From marching down freedom’s road.” Marching for freedom is a goal for colored people, and to receive their equal rights, nothing will stop them from protesting. Each stanza gives a reason to the importance of his march and the obstacles that must be faced to succeed. In Josh White’s music, “Freedom Road,” His lyrics stands out to the direct way of conversing with

Artists like Bruno Mars, John Legend, and Alicia Keys have reflected that in their recent music by using the same melodies that were used by the slaves and civil rights activists calling for young African Americans to follow in the footsteps of those like Martin Luther King Jr. and search for the “liberty for all” that is spoken of in the Pledge of

Tupac Shakur uses the songs “Keep ya head up” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and on the other hand, Kendrick Lamar uses “Alright” and Element” to describe the struggles that African Americans go through within both Eras and the changes that needs to become in the community. All four songs related back to the topic of black culture, everyday life, and poetry where our people can relate. The words that we speak define us in ways that connect within the roots of our people and a language that was adapted so we could survive. Since the year of 1619 our people have been captured, dehumanized, and hung for being one of God 's precious creations, which mean we had nothing to stand on or depend on within our Culture as Africans. That was until we took advantage of our everyday resource, which was “language”. As African Americans when we realized that our way through depression and hardships was through our secret language “ African-American language”, we used it in ways that no one could understand, figure out, or use against our people. Our language was what set us free, kept us striving, attached us to our roots.

“The Blacker the Berry” by Kendrick Lamar was released February 9th, 2015. This incredibly racially motivated song has created controversy throughout America because it tackles racism, hypocrisy, and hatred head on. Although Stephen Best argues that the past defines the present without question, and Hartman believes that many important African American stories have been silenced due to lack of evidence, Kendrick Lamar’s song “The Blacker the Berry” complicates and adds to their arguments by introducing a certain level of hypocrisy that forces the listener to understand a much more complicated moral position than is generally allowed, perhaps an inevitable one.

On February 15, 2016, Kendrick Lamar took the stage at the 2016 Grammy Awards show. Shackled in chains, he moved lethargically across the stage in a prison uniform. Words began to stream out of his mouth and I imagined the elephant that filled the room as an unapologetically black male made a statement to the world about African American oppression in the United States. Kendrick Lamar’s showcase included an intricate set that addressed social issues such as mass incarceration with song, “The Blacker the Berry”, while keeping hope towards better days with song “Alright”. The elaborate performance on February 15, 2016 would be a performance that will go down in history. An artist used his platform to discuss important issues in the United States to a diverse audience. With so much passion invested into the song, it was almost impossible to pick any other song besides “The Blacker the Berry”, as it discusses a wide range of issues within the United States, especially related to the black body.