General Instructions:
Answer two questions (the first one and one having to do with one of
the song lyrics below), using the guidelines at
http://www.marthabianco.com/Courses/Cities/RAID.html.
Be prepared to be randomly selected to lead and/or actively
participate in discussion about any one of the questions
during your mentor session, particularly if you have not yet led a RAID
(including the Emergent Issue RAID); this will be the last RAID this
term and, hence, your last chance to be a RAID leader.
If you are a leader, you will be graded on how prepared you were to
lead the discussion, how well you succinctly presented your responses
and arguments, how professionally you handled the process of
facilitating group discussion, and your overall response to the
question. If you are a participant, you will be graded on how attentive
and responsible you were during the leader's initial presentation, how
well (extent of preparedness, ability to respond, etc.) you engaged in
dialogue about the topic after the leader finished, how professionally
you participated in discussion (not taking up too much time or
interrupting), and your overall grasp of the subject matter.
Each student will also be graded on the written RAID
response: format, content, thoughtfulness, professionalism, etc.
Please include each question (you can just copy and paste from here) or
a short (paraphrased) version. Your discussion points for
each question
should not be much longer than
one page
(per question). Remember a Works Cited page and MLA format if
you paraphrase, cite, or refer to material to substantiate your
assertions.
I.
Understanding Community
We have spent a great deal of time discussing the concept of
socioeconomic class,
and in doing so, we have followed a thread that weaves its way
from the changing economy of the Industrial Revolution, the first and
second waves of immigration to the United States, the emancipation of
slaves, urbanization and suburbanization, further changes in the
postindustrial (technological) economy, the growth and persistence of
ethnic enclaves and inner city ghettoes, and a persistent gap between
the "have-gots" and the "have-nots."
What has all of this meant, for you, with respect to understanding the
concept of "community"?
As you attempt to address this question, be sure to review Chapters
6-11 and 18 in Phillips, thinking about how the following concepts,
terms, and phrases relate to the issue at hand:
- social stratification theory
- "dual nation"
- clientelistic hostility
- ethnic enclave
- melting pot versus stewpot
- symbolic ethnicity
- acculturation
- assimilation
- American dream
- class consciousness
- capital: cultural, social, political, etc.
- means of production
- bourgeosie, proletariat, alienation
- hegemony
- status
- anomie
II.
Message in the Music
We have listened to and/or viewed films about hip-hop music and
(sub)culture. These include
Gangsta King: Raymond Lee
Washington,
Letter
to the President, and
Do
the Right Thing (you can find citation information on
www.imdb.com; refer to an MLA style guide for citing films).
Choose
one of the following hip-hop songs (2Pac's "Me Against the
World" or Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" -- one of the main
"hip-hop nation anthems," and a recurrent song in
Do the Right Thing)
and deconstruct the lyrics, looking for ideas and issues related to
what we've been studying in class. Feel free to use the "deconstruction
word bank" terms listed below (most of which come from Phillips or
class discussion) to talk about what you think the lyrics are saying
(don't just guess at the meanings of the terms, though; look them up in
your text). There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do this.
Just as you might try to find the "deeper meaning" in a poem
or a painting, look for the "message in the music" in these lyrics.
Use the Internet to find the full citation information about these
songs and an MLA citation guide for citation purposes (do
not
use the Internet to help you do the job of deconstructing the songs;
that will probably just result in plagiarism, and you know me:
I'll catch you :-)
Deconstruction Word Bank:
central city
inner city anomie
"us" versus "them"
pecuniary nexus
alienation
"dream up and blame down"
"ending welfare as we know it"
oppression
acculturation
assimilation grassroots
activism/empowerment zone hegemony
stewpot
civics versus ethnics
peoplehood minority-as-victim
symbolic ethnicity
Grand Canyon
underclass
ghetto
generational shifts class consciousness
ideology
minimize involvement/maximize social
order functional interdependence
community
Artist: Tupac Shakur (2Pac)
Album: Me Against the World
Song: "Me Against the World"
Can you picture my prophecy?
Stress in the city, the cops is hot for me
The projects is full of bullets, the bodies is droppin'
There ain't no stoppin' me
Constantly movin' while makin' millions
Witnessin' killings, leavin' dead bodies in abandoned buildings
Carries to children cause they're illin'
Addicted to killin' and the appeal from the cap peelin'
Without feelin', but will they last or be blasted?
Hard-headed bastard
Maybe he'll listen in his casket -- the aftermath
More bodies being buried -- I'm losing my homies in a hurry
They're relocating to the cemetery
Got me worried, stressin, my vision's blurried
The question is will I live? No one in the world loves me
I'm headed for danger, don't trust strangers
Put one in the chamber whenever I'm feelin' this anger
Don't wanna make excuses, 'cause this is how it is
What's the use unless we're shootin' no one notices the youth
It's just me against the world, baby
..................................................................
With all this extra stressin'
The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath
When will I finally get to rest? Through this supression
They punish the people that's askin' questions
And those that possess, steal from the ones without possesions
The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less - even the genius asks-es questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essence
The power is in the people and politics we address
Always do your best, don't let the pressure make you panic
And when you get stranded
And things don't go the way you planned it
Dreamin' of riches, in a position of makin' a difference
Politicians and hypocrites, they don't wanna listen
If I'm insane, it's the fame made a brother change
It wasn't nuttin' like the game
It's just me against the world
Artist: Public Enemy
Album: Fear Of A Black Planet
Song: "Fight The Power"
1989 the number another summer (get down)
Sound of the funky drummer
Music hittin' your heart cause I know you got soul
(Brothers and sisters, hey)
Listen if you're missin' y'all
Swingin' while I'm singin'
Givin' whatcha gettin'
Knowin' what I know
While the Black bands sweatin'
And the rhythm rhymes rollin'
Got to give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say
Fight the power
Chorus
As the rhythm designed to bounce
What counts is that the rhymes
Designed to fill your mind
Now that you've realized the prides arrived
We got to pump the stuff to make us tough
from the heart
It's a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothin's strange
People, people we are the same
No we're not the same
'Cause we don't know the game
What we need is awareness, we can't get careless
You say what is this?
My beloved lets get down to business
Mental self-defensive fitness
(Yo) bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say...
Fight the Power
Chorus
Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant shit to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Motherfuck him and John Wayne
Cause I'm Black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
Don't worry be happy
Was a number one jam
Damn if I say it you can slap me right here
(Get it) let's get this party started right
Right on, c'mon
What we got to say
Power to the people no delay
To make everybody see
In order to fight the powers that be
(Fight the Power)
Any questions, contact me at biancom@q7.com.
Good luck, and have fun!