Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery.

    Oh God, this is intricate. Immigration, the act of moving from one place to another is a form of flattery? I believe that to a certain extent it is. It’s flattering the place you decide to move to. It subliminally expresses that the formal place where you reside is less worthy of your presence and effort. It’s saying that the new of location of migration is better and is a blessing in disguise. It’s also a form a flattery to oneself for it represents a time of g=growth and change. Immigration is a message to yourself stating “You’re capable of enduring the challenge; the challenge and risk of whatever this new world may bring. It’s a form of flattery from the highest, explicitly demonstrating that the place behind you is holding you back and are equipped to break free. Enjoy the journey of change and independence. It’s flattery to be chosen to embark and embrace the uncomfortable and have to learn to become adaptable. It’s flattering to be chosen to become stronger, wiser and of course flexible by having to experience the trails that come with immigration for truly it will be one’s moment for Metamorphism.

                                                                                    Ismmaelly Guaba

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

    The development of a human being relies heavily upon imitation. When we are young, our facilities are developed through imitating those around us. The way in which we talk, act and even how we dress is determined through some extent by imitation. I think that socialist call this socialization. But, there comes a point in one’s life, over time, where you start doing things your own way. It’s that moment where you become intoned which your personality and your unique identity. It’s that moment where you chose to disassociate yourself with the ways you were taught and begin living by your own innovative ideas. It’s that time where you decide you will no longer conform to the way you are so accustomed to see everyone else play it out. It’s over time where the realization journey takes place, you realize that imitation was innate and a form of survival; survival you know, of being accepted. The fear of being different consumed you and you resumed to conform. The subconscious desire to be accepted played strongly in becoming you. But then after a long time you understand that survival and success doesn’t depend on the imitations of other successors, but in becoming in tune with you. Holding on to your strengths and playing off of them. It’s about playing the game a new and different way. That’s where you achieve success, when you play it guided by
YOU.

                                                                Ismmaelly Guaba

Macklemore

PROMPT: “Rap’s conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous parody of sixties black pride.”- David Foster Wallace

I honestly have no idea how to respond to this prompt. I don’t know whether or not to analyze Wallace’s words, to deem them wrong or right, impulsively rant about some vaguely related matter, or just take the easy way out and ramble about some dream I had last night. And I think that’s the point. I, as a young naïve white woman, have no idea how to feel about the way rappers present the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks because I have absolutely no idea what should be conveyed. I can listen to Jay-Z and Kanye and Andre and Frank to my hearts content, and I often do, but, at the end of the day, who am I to say whether or not their lyrics have weight?

In terms of popular, realistic songs about poverty and oppression, there aren’t many. The last successful, semi-weighty song was “Same Love” by the very white, very clean Macklemore, and it was about accepting other sexualities. That’s the extent. This generation’s music taste is widely saturated with songs about fame and fortune and Fireball and fucking and no one who isn’t a Tumblr social justice warrior or fervent Buzzfeed viewer wants to take on the reality of racial oppression when they’re working out to Taylor Swift’s bullshit.

Our (and by ours, I’m speaking for white people because, let’s be honest, we’re pretty basic) parents and grandparents and news forums continually treat rappers like hoodlums, undeserving of their wealth and prowess as if they haphazardly stumbled upon a better life between peddling their drugs and pimps and sipping malt liquor at one of their trap houses. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but, at the very least, they aren’t regarded as intellectuals worthy of being listened to when presenting any kind of truth about the oppressive nature of growing up and being surrounded by anything that wasn’t white-picket-fence. Wait, I almost forgot. White Macklemore had a gay uncle, so I guess we’re getting somewhere.

            The problem is not that rappers don’t belong in a socially conscious discussion about poverty and oppression. I personally think they deserve a spot at the forefront (people who know what their talking about usually do). The problem is that we white people love to choose the truths we’re exposed to. We excuse our behavior by speaking about music as if it only serves to entertain us and play into our own perceptions of the idealistic world we’d like to think we live in. The “hideous parody” is not in the actions of the rappers themselves but in the utter absurdity of the white majorities response (or lack thereof).

Where did the Black Man's Hope go?

"Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of US blacks is like some hideous parody of sixties black pride."     - David Foster Wallace

People believed that discrimination against the black community would be over once Martin Luther King stepped in as some form of personal savior for the hopeless. However, discrimination is still alive today and whoever denies this is either white or wealthy and famous. The methodology of making blacks feel inferior has changed but that surely does not mean that racism is gone. It is clear that a few of them have made it into the professional world, sports teams and the music industry. But the success of a few is not enough to cover up the fact that the freedom and the right to equality of the black man have been taken away almost without their knowledge.

In the past, there were physical protests against discrimination but today, all people seem to do is one of these three things: nothing, sit back and sing along to the rap songs that express how they are feeling or they might just turn their problem into a hash tag and wait for someone to pay them the attention they deserve. There are no more sit-ins or any other type of non-violent manifestations; there are only hopeless black men living on public assistance and believing that their lives are supposed to be that way.


- Bremda Acosta 

The Fake Muse...

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Jenesis Veras

10/28/14

Prompt: "Rap’s conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S blacks is like some hideous parody of sixties black pride.” –David Foster Wallace

The Fake Muse…

            Many rap artists who once lived on quote on quote the “hood” believe that because of their personal background, their rhymes preach the truth about not just their former lives but also the lives of all the current oppressed. For the most part, many rappers do connect to the black population who are victims of their own environments, poverty, and oppression. However, the conflict arises when there is a million dollar rapper like Jay-Z, preaching lyrics about how hard his life is due to the color of his skin, but is his life really that hard with his million dollar mansions, luxurious cars, and gorgeous trophy wife?

            The value of the rap genre starts to get diminished when it displays to be a façade and plain hypocrisy. The black minorities, who are actually dealing with difficult times, may feel like their life is just a fake muse for music.

           

Minority Independence

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Jenesis Veras

10/21/14

Prompt: "Nobody can give you your freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice. If you’re a man you take it.” –Malcolm X

Minority Independence

In this world, many individuals have violently fought for freedom and independence. No one wants to feel like they are being ruled by a higher or greater power than themselves. If you are a true moral human being, you take any opportunity possible to break away from restraints and oppressions just like many minorities did before you. As a minority, one does not want to feel like they should be told what they can wear, what they can afford, and what kind of knowledge they are capable of accumulating…

Pop Culture is Dead

Popular culture, I believe, is derived from what once was. Look at Ariana Grande, for example, she is always doused in 60's glam, but the question is, how much does she actually know about the 60's? I think the problem with popular culture is that there is no meaning to it. No one asks why they are doing something. Why are you taking selfies? Why are you listening to Justin Bieber? Why?

Every day brings in new news about some celebrity doing something stupid or doing something great. But why do we care so much? I think one of the reasons why popular culture is dead is because we give what it craves the most: attention. Pop culture is a spoiled child whose omnipresence is embraced by everyone and it grows every single day because it feeds on our attention. The beauty of not knowing something is forgotten; everyone seems to feel obligated to know the latest news or gossip. The word "mainstream" is too frequently seen and portrayed by the mass media. Maybe this is partially why I am drawn to Indie music; it is something undiscovered, showing the beauty of the unknown.

10.09.14
-Lucy Yeho Hwang-