Expert answer:Annotated Bibliography for Black music and the com
Expert answer:ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Your Annotated Bibliography will consist of fifteen (15) articles used during the semester. Twelve (12) of the articles must be peer reviewed and obtained from one of the numerous databases in the CSULB Library. We will attend a Library Orientation to support this effort. Use MLA formatting to citing each source. Following each citation, your will summarize the articles using a minimum of five (5) sentences. There is an example of an annotated bibliography in the LDK handbook and on the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab). Each peer reviewed article (12) you select for your bibliography must address a topic that you will possibly use for Essay #3: The Researched Argumentative Essay, and a minimum of four (4) of these sources must be cited in Essay #3. The remaining three (3) articles may be chosen from articles that we have (will) read for class. You may use your CBEQs and ATOs to support this effort. This assignment must be formatted using MLA and is due on the final class meeting along with Essay 3.
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Music and racism
Abstract
Music is the art of combining instrumental or/ and vocal sounds combined in such a way as to
create beauty of emotional expression, form, and harmony. Music has played a key role in the
fight against racism all over the world. Many musicians find music more convenient way to pass
their message because the message can reach many people within a short time.
Music has for quite some time been a great uniting force, contributing to social unity and thus
increases the efficiency of group activity. In the 80s, songwriting and direct political statements
received at least some cultural criticism – which was necessary. For instance, the song by
Specials neatly, Ghost Town, expressed the sad mood of the Thatcher era (Goodyer).
The music done by Black performers was an important planks for a drive that bolstered the
“music that breaks down people’s fear of one another” slogan. Formed in 1978, Rock Against
Racism (RAR) was a platform that united white and black musicians. White persons began going
to concerts with black artists. The public started to learn about various dances, cultures, foods
and languages. Today music still stands as an excellent means to associate with young generation
(Bradley).
Music has an extraordinary power, politics and music ought to always be blended. In Brazil, for
instance, music constantly assisted the young generation to comprehend what was happening in
politics and to martial against them, particularly in 1960s when they had the Military as tyrants.
Any person who frequently listens to a song will over time get carried away by the message
conveyed by the song and definitely rises awareness. Glenn, Sydney, Australia composed a song
named Sharpesville, which expressed and fought the apartheid rule in South Africa. This
particular song demonstrated to be an illustration of the great influence of music against racism
since it led to press interviews in German media that boosted cognizance on the theme in
Germany. It also caused defacement of the Band van of Sunny Jim by white racist graffiti in
South Africa.
Despite the fact that music is one of the ways of fighting racism, the music industry has faced
many challenges. The separation of target audiences and genre implies that much of that
harmony and unity becomes decreases and vanish. In addition, performers and bands joining the
movement to protect their individual image and for their own benefit. These artists separate from
the bands that really do a lot in dealing with the social discrimination, for instance Propagandhi.
Music is an art that can be used to pass message either positively or negatively and that depends
on the intensions of the writer. Music has contributed largely in the fight against racism all over
the world. Musicians should pass message in their songs that portray unity among the audience
irrespective of ones race. Furthermore, the music should not stray away from provoking issues,
and stating dissent.
Currently music has diversified in styles, genres and types. However, musicians should remain
focused on the social issues affecting society such as racism.
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Work Cited
Bradley, Deborah. “Music education, multiculturalism and anti-racism: Can we talk.” Action,
criticism, and theory for music education 5.2 (2006)
Lund, Jens. “Fundamentalism, racism, and political reaction in country music.” The sounds of
social change (1972): 79-91.
Goodyer, Ian. Crisis music: the cultural politics of rock against racism. Oxford University Press,
2009.
Dawson, Ashley. “” Love Music, Hate Racism”: The Cultural Politics of the Rock Against
Racism Campaigns.” Postmodern Culture 16.1 (2005).
ANALYSIS OF ARGUMENTS FROM ARTICLES
Perhaps, let it be noted that racism is measured and understood from three parameters:
that there are superior people over the other because of their race, that a particular group of
individuals, by their belonging to a specific race have an entitlement to some privileges that are
denied to others, of different races. Lastly, that aspects such as intelligence and beauty are an
endowment to a specific race, and thus those who do not belong to these races have a deficiency
in these factors. Having put these aspects into focus, there is need to mention that arguments take
place from different inclinations and that the objectivity of any argument is best understood from
its ability to address and support a particular position that has been taken. Racism in America is a
divisive topic, and with the recent calls by President Trump that patriotic citizens should stop
attending the National Football League games due to what he has described as a lack of
patriotism and disrespect for one’s country ad flag, it is only imperative that one has to wade in
this debate. Perhaps, retaliation should be applied that racism is a divisive issue in America,
which has been termed as post-racial, but one that one has no skepticism, racism is still alive in
the country. There does not need to have much proof about it; one just has to look at the events at
Charlottesville and understand why race supremacy, with white supremacy being the underlying
cause of these events showing why racism needs to be tackled before it shatters the national
covenant that the country has always esteemed itself to uphold. It is neither here nor there, and it
is not the intention of this essay to play some activism but rather give different positions that
have been taken by different authors on the action of Colin Kaepernick, who started kneeling
instead of standing when the national anthem is sung. It is an act that has caught even the
presidency, and perhaps, there are more than it meets the eye, and the emphasis of this essay is to
try and explain these arguments, and perhaps, come to a position.
Article one
The article starts by mentioning Tim Tebow, the first person believed to have started
kneeling when the national anthem was sung, but when Kaepernick repeated the act, he was
branded a ‘traitor, ’ and some people did not fall short of threatening to assassinate. Well, there
have been racial deaths, starting with the millions who endured slavery, and of course, Martin
Luther King Jr. who ensured that there was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The
article alludes to the role of faith in these actions, and the premise is that Kaepernick was pushed
to do this because of faith. Even the Bible says that faith without actions is dead, and these acts
are seen as expressions of faith, on what a person believes. However, what has been baffling is
that the response of white Christians and those of color have been different. It raises the bigger
issue of, is Christianity universal, and if so, how should it be when called to act?
Quoting one of the letters that Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to a Birmingham church
alluding to ‘white moderate’ as being the main stumbling block to the fight against racism, there
is the creation of a pattern. In the latter, Luther says ‘I have almost reached the regrettable
conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White
Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to
‘order’ than to justice.’ There are Christians who have condemned the actions of Kaepernick and
like-minded athletes, with some Christians saying that these players should be grateful that they
are in a country where they can protest without persecution, and the attorney general, a liberal
Christian has chirped that they should protest at ‘any other place.’
Those who support these actions tell that a time has come to ‘show the hypocrisy of our
national narrative’ and the use of NFL games as a means of this expression is perfect because
‘Americans worship football and gather weekly to watch many black bodies endure physical
abuse for their pleasure, and then go home to [neighborhoods] where those same black bodies are
not welcomed to live’. All this is tied to the belief that Jesus came to speak to the captives and
the oppressed, and thus, their expression is just a perpetuation of the mission of Christ. It is an
argument that says that time for justice is now and that the actions of Kaepernick should not be
condemned by all those who share the notion of justice. The conclusion of the article that the
national anthem, the flag and all other symbols of patriotism ‘are only as sacred as the
willingness of those who sing and salute to stand up for the lives of all Americans, to stand
against white supremacy ― the white supremacy that built this land on the backs of enslaved
Africans’.
Article two
The article starts by saying that the action of kneeling during the singing of the national
anthem, with the presumption of highlighting the injustice and inequality is a fallacy. As such,
the article assumes that the act should not be analyzed from this perspective, but rather as a call
for national dialogue on ‘the underprivileged, inherent bias, or anything that’s not about the flag,
the anthem or race.’ So, the implication being that the people of color, through their involvement
in kneeling during the singing of the national anthem is not some hatred to the flag, but rather a
resentment on the acknowledgement that ‘the Stars and Stripes have always billowed blindly
over the centuries of beating and brutality that black people have endured’. Ironically, these same
stripes are a birthright to the oppressors, who are white in this case, and their freedom, which the
people of color can only aspire to. It is an ironic and unlikely duality. Thus, the flag is just a
justification for the subjugation of the people of color, and the rope that is used to lynch them,
while the flag is just a form of another white supremacy.
As such, the flag is just a reminder of the pain that the blacks had to endure to build the
American nation. As such, the tradition of standing and reciting the national anthem is out of
habit, not because of national pride or patriotism because as the article observes, ‘this home has
never been free or brave.’ In its evidence, the article utilizes the words and deeds of Frederick
Douglass. As such, the article sums its main argument that while one may stand or kneel for the
national anthem, it should not be lost that it represents the triumph of the whites and the disgrace
of being a black, and the actions of Kaepernick are not about the flag or racism, but they are out
to show the true America.
Analysis
The author who logically makes their point is the second, who does not just seek to
justify the acts of kneeling or standing for the flag as tied to religious beliefs. There is the
reasoning that none of that matters if one does not understand the symbolic value of the flag, and
if it does not offer this to the people of color, it does not matter what they do unless it captures
their ideals of equality and dignity just as their white counterparts. The justification that this does
not count as being unpatriotic only makes the argument to be valid, as there is more objectivity
rather than the populist views that these acts have been accused of. It shows that the author is
better informed on the inherent value of national symbols, and they should capture the needs of
all the citizens. Thus, any national symbol that does not serve this aspect is by itself, a failure and
thus people have the right to express their need for inclusion.
Response
If one were to write to the writer of article two, it would be only a reaffirmation of what
he says. When the president and others say that kneeling while the national anthem is unpatriotic,
their argument is fallacious, at best. Perhaps, the author could have tried to show some national
symbols that are not in dispute to make the argument more valid and understandable to the
readers.
Works Cited
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heres-what-many-white-christians-fail-to-understandabout-the-nfl-protests_us_59cbbd56e4b02aef6cd6a031?section=us_black-voices
http://www.theroot.com/please-stop-defending-colin-kaepernick-youre-doing-it-1818999019
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ANALYSIS OF MUSIC AND ITS IMPACT ON RACISM
There has been a lot of issues that have been surrounding the issue of racism in America.
There have been some Hollywood stars that have undertaken the cause and decided to use music
as a means of giving their opinion on racism in America. Some recordings show that one of the
ways the American citizens, especially those of African descent could find grace was by singing
songs of a better tomorrow. In fact, in the inauguration speech that President Barack Obama gave
in 2008, he remarked that ‘We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it
must not break our bonds of affection, ’ and this was an attempt to rally the nation by using the
words of Abraham Lincoln who had the first onus of ensuring that the nation could not
disintegrate due to the racial sentiments. The states that were calling for the upholding of the
slavery institution almost managing to secede from the larger America. Music has been one of
the tools of that has given a voice to the fight against racism in America and beyond. The music,
with its use of harmony, can use the appeal to the people in a way that other tools may not; and it
is an issue that the essay will try and highlight in its content. The working thesis of the essay will
be; music has been one of the ways through which the society has fought against racism, but it
has not been able to realize its potential due to its contextualized understanding and the need to
serve other purposes such as commercialization, which override its integral goal.
Even before one goes through the music that has been influential over time in the
American history, one needs to have a psychological understanding of how music affects the
psychological understanding of an individual. Music is made up of sound, and music combines
sound to form a rhythm of the words that are used. Interestingly, most of the sounds that people
experience are accidental, and the inclination is that in most instances, people find most of the
sounds they experience as unpleasant. The major point that one needs to understand is that music
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has been known as the most affective form of sound that can have a bearing on the emotional
state of human beings. It is not something that is just confined to humans, even in the natural
world, one can see the effect of music. Scientists have found that when the birds are singing, it is
an indication that it is safe, and when they are quiet, it is a sign of lurking danger. There has also
been empirical research that has shown that listening to Mozart music can lead to an
improvement in the tasks that a person is engaging in, commonly known as the spatial-temporal
reasoning. It refers to the ability to conceptualize and manipulate spatial patterns of a sequence
that is guided by time. The implication is that music has been one of the ways through which
people can place a perspective on some of the issues that people face on a daily basis. The spatial
manipulation can bring the solutions that the society needs in areas that require the multitasking
abilities such as architecture, arts, daily chores and engineering. Music has also been found to
have a positive transformation on health, education and the welfare of all the people. The one
point that one takes away from all this is that rejuvenation and rest can be enhanced by music. It
may also enhance the learning process and the intellectual development, especially among the
children who may require repetition and rhythm as a way of learning. It can also be used to boost
creativity and the imagination of an individual. People may be wondering, what makes music to
be so powerful? It is all because the music can be recognized and people can associate with it,
which then results in power (Dawson, 99). What most people do not recognize is that music even
affects the mood, and later the heartbeat. There is some music that has been found to be
depressing, while others have been described as uplifting. One wonders, why? It is from this
background that one needs to understand how music has and continues to be used as a tool for
fighting racism in America and beyond.
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It is important to have a view on some of the music that has had a lot of influence in
fighting the battle against racism. The major perspective of the essay is to try and see how music
can be used to fight against the demeaning nature of some races by the police, the human and
civil rights violations by the law enforcers. It is important to have a statistical understanding of
this issue, a national shame that the authorities and the American nation have tried, in vain, to
hide. It is true that an individual of African descent is four times more likely to be arrested
compared to a white person. The current trend of the majority of the incarcerated population
consists mainly of people of color. The recent events of Charlottesville and the Los Angeles
killings show why there is a need to have this conversation and some musicians such as the
Specials was a direct attack on the era of Margaret Thatcher, one of the most controversial
leaders of Britain. It is not only these groups that have been using music as a way of pushing the
political views that they consider as relevant to the society. Some music has also sought to bring
the people together, such as the Black performers who had a message that they needed to
showcase ‘music that breaks down people’s fear of one another’ (Bradley, 45) as a way of
pushing for reconciliation and social cohesion among different individuals. For some countries
such as Brazil, the music was used as a way of informing people on the deeds of military tyrants
and helped rally the nation against such leaders. In South Africa, which was one of the countries
that had to struggle with apartheid and crimes of hate up to 1994 also used music as a way of
making their feelings known of the oppressive system.
However, there have been challenges that have rocked music in its quest to be a tool of
social change. One of the major challenges is that there has been a trivialization of music due to
commercialization and the hijack by some personalities. There was an incident at the Video
Music Awards in2015 in which Nicki Minaj questioned the criteria that had been used to deny
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her the best video, considering that her music video had proved to be more popular than those
that had gained nominations. She argued that it was because of her physical appearance that she
did not fit into the Caucasian definition of beauty. Sadly, she was right. It is a moral shame that
this is the extent to which the music has been reduced to; a cry for a personality. The song for
which she was talking about, with all due respect, did not have any content that could be said to
talk about racism; the very solace that she ran to when she could not compete favorably, the
model of nomination notwithstanding. So, how many artists have been able to be on the right
side of history? Most of the artists have been trying to gain commercial mileage, rather than have
the interests of the people at heart (Lund, 80). There are not many artists that have been able to
speak of the police brutality, the killings in Ferguson that shocked the nation. There are not many
artists who have joined movements such as Black Lives Matter that has been waging war against
racism. It is only when their self-interests are threatened that these artists find the moral authority
to speak out. It is a cause of concern to all the individuals who recognize the power that comes
from association and recognition that music generates, and the artists need to.
Rap music is one of the most controversial forms of music, with the people going in as far
as describing it as ‘jungle music.’ The rap music is mainly sung by the African Americans, but
the worrying trend is t …
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