Bring the noise! {Kanye West/Common}

Kanye West and Common are two of the most realest artist in my book. I don’t even like to call them rappers but more outspoken poets. They advocate so clearly on realistic things. Visual situations that are happening right here and now but actually have a point and a meaning to them. Their lyrics make you think of things that everyone worries about but are never brave enough to come out and say. Although they seem to have the same qualities and values they have a couple differences. Kanye West was born in Atlanta, Georgia but then moved to Chicago due to the divorce of his parents. He attended Chicago State University but dropped out because of poor grades. I believe his album college dropout was meant to depict that he made it anyway. Common, other wise known as Lonnie Rashied Lynn, Jr. was born in Chicago but was moved to Denver, Colorado by the divorce of his parents as well. He attended Florida A&M University and dropped out also. I feel that both Common and Kanye were dogged in their music career because people tried disparaging them most of their lives. They went through much and still managed to find a way to the top.

Eyes on the prize part 2

Forty years ago on December 1, 1995, a young woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. Rosa Parks was tired from a long day's work and was tired of the treatment she and her other African Americans were exposed to everyday. She was surely not craven that day if she were any other day. She was too fed up with the situation to be dispassionate about it. Rosa was a quiet, soft-spoken and diplomatic person. You can see from her pictures that she wasn't far off from how she presented herself. Parks had courage that day to go to jail for what she believed in. She wasn't trying to abscond but simply make her voice heard. In doing this she was able to fawn the people back then and the people that came after. This led up to the Montgomery's bus boycott and the supreme court's ruling in November 1956 that segregation on transportation was unconstitutional.

**Ballot or the bullet**

I found the speech " Ballot or the bullet" surprisingly interesting. It was mainly about getting the people or African Americans to join together as one.

He says that they needed to amalgamate in unity and harmony and that black nationalism is the key. Malcolm X spoke about how the blacks would move out of their own community to move into a white community to soon be left by themselves once again. Black people should own, operate, and control the economy of their community but they allowed the white man to cadge them every time. Only because black people didn't have the sense to look out for themselves. He made it clear that his speech was not based on religion because everyone was facing the same problem. They didn't hang anyone because they were Baptist, Christian, or Muslim but because they were black. In those times black people needed to aver what was politically and economically wrong. Malcolm stated that they were all living 'second class citizenship', which was nothing but 20th century slavery. Not only did Malcolm's blandishment make sense, but it was true and that's what the black people expected from a leader like him. His honesty.

Eyes on the prize part 1

The story of Emmett Til was about a 14 year old boy from Chicago who was murdered for whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. It breaks my heart to know that the people who killed him had such antipathy for Emmett to do this to him. He was beaten with an eye gouged out and thrown into the Tallahatchie river with a cotton gin tied to his neck by barbed wire. How could anyone be dispassionate about this situation? His mother insisted to have a public funeral for the world to see the brutality that was taken place. Different stories about the incident were told when the word spread throughout Tallahatchie county. It was said that Till went in a grocery store with friends after cotton picking. He was dared to speak to the woman and said bye baby on his way out. Till's cousin told people that he had only whistled to the woman but she had a completely different story. The actual event that took place is still an enigma. Even though the men that did this to him are dead now, I still feel that this story should be told over and over to show the world how malevolent people can be.

Time for a change

I love the idea of John Legend turning Obama's speech into a song. Its like watching history in the making. Most of us know that Barack Obama is strong, sagacious, and has what it takes to be our next president. For the people that don't or that doubt him, this video proves them wrong. There were so many ways to catch America's attention in 'Yes we can'. The sign language and saying "yes we can" in Spanish was a wonderful touch. It was beautiful to hear the guitar and the violin as well. Two of the most beautiful instruments that you don't hear in music too often made it even better. The different people involved like Common, Nick Cannon, Tatyana Ali, and Will-I-Am also gave the video a good amount of efficacy. I don't feel that there is anything I would change about it.

Sammy

Hi my name is Samantha Brown. I want to start off by saying that God is the head of life and without him I am nothing. I was born in Manhattan, NY and raised in New Jersey by two of the most wonderful parents in the world, my mother and grandmother. Sadly I'm the oldest of three

(she could have stopped when she had me.) I'm kidding, I love my brother and sister as long as their not destroying my things back home. My entire family is from Jamaica so you can imagine what its like for me to go out there and visit. I love each of them dearly and they all buttress me in any way that they can. No matter what country I am in, i'm in the church. My parents grandparents, and uncles are pastors so even if I wanted to there was no getting out of it. I graduated in pre-medicine from Inlet Grove High school in Riviera Beach, FL. I came to Bethune Cookman to aggrandize my education and prove to myself that I can do anything I believe in. I'm grateful for my life and everything that came along with it because it put me where I am today.