Barack Obama's race speech a hit on Yuotube - Media Blog 10

Fri Mar 21, 6:51 PM ET



SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Barack Obama's stirring speech on racial division in the United States has become an online hit viewed nearly 2.5 million times on YouTube by Friday afternoon.

ADVERTISEMENT

A video clip of Obama's speech lasting 37 minutes and 39 seconds, an epic by Internet standards, has attracted the most viewers while video snippets of the presentation have been seen by tens of thousands of people.

"This speech made my eyes to water" one person wrote in an online discussion forum attached to the full-length Obama video.

"I almost started to cry."

Online searches for "Obama speech" rocketed 7,627 percent the day after the US presidential candidate took on the sensitive issue of race in a March 18 oratory, according to a Yahoo Buzz service that tracks what's hot online.

"Some folks placed the talk in a grand historic context. Many pundits praised it for its record-shattering honesty," Molly McCall of Yahoo Buzz wrote in a posting detailing a surge in interest in Obama's presentation.

"We can't tie them together for sure, but it's notable that queries for 'I have a dream speech' and 'Martin Luther King Free at Last speech' both spiked the day after Obama spoke."

In his speech, the Democratic presidential contender described being the son of a white mother and a black father and then laid bare racial tensions in US culture that politicians usually avoid discussing.

The impetus for the speech was controversy over remarks made by Obama's religious mentor and longtime pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

"So Obama's got buzz," McCall wrote. "Whether it hurts the candidate or not remains to be seen."

Among popular speech-related videos on YouTube is a satire by comedian Jon Stewart on his politically oriented program The Daily Show.

In a video clip viewed more than 123,000 times by Friday night, Stewart made sport of "Obama talking to Americans about race as though they were adults."

"This is a speech for intelligent Americans," a person identified by the online name Quake132 wrote in a YouTube discussion forum.

"This is why I fear most Americans will not understand it."

source http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080321/lf_afp/lifestyleusinternetpoliticsobama_080321225155


I chose to use thixs as a media blog because I felt it was not only a historic moment for America but it showed that many people today are getting more and more into politics especially younger adults. Even though I personally am a Clinton suppporter I also think Barak is a great candidate and the fact that I can vote for one or the other is a great feeling. What stood out the most for me in the speech is when he talks about coming from a family that has different races in them having a white grandmother and growing up not knowing where he belongs in society and the way society treats use because of our race. Obama spoke on alot of issues many or really no other political candidate has spoken on and I think mainly due to the fact that we havent had diversity until now and race was never an issue for other candidates. This reminds me of "Paths of least resistance" and Individualism that we discussed in class. That the "white" candidates didnt feel the need to make speeches like this and of this caliber because race relations was never their problems and to believe that you can change a melting pot like america without addressing racism is somewhat impossible. For the first time in my life I have never watched full debates or even speeches like I am now with the democratic candidates and I feel like everytime either Clinton or Obama speaks I feel like change is coming and at this point it can only be for the better.

10 Most Racist Moments in in TV (Don Imus) Media Blog 9

10 most racist moments in TV - Watch more free videos

I posted this video to show that in recent years not even more than 5 years ago all these things were said on tv and most were racist comments even though the people who said it didnt realize that at the moment they would be criticized and crucified for making those statements. Even though I think the Don Imus quotes with the "nappy headed hoes" comment he made should have been #1 and the Michael Richards statement should have definitely been included I think alot of these people saying these things were left unpunished for it. And even though Don Imus got fired he is now back on the air with a new show. Don Imus and alot of white media went on to blame Hip Hop for alot of the things that had been going on in the world and said the lyrics were to vulgar and that they disrespect women all the time. But at the same time Don Imus isnt the type you would think of to listen to rap music so how can he speak on music he doesnt even listen to. And to top it all off whore, slut or whatever you want to call it dates back way before rap music ever existed. Being a minority in america watching videos like this of different stereotypes and misconceptions of different races it disturbs be somewhat especially in this day in age but it showed me that some people will never change and that there are alot of people that are alot more hidden with their racism than they like to put on.

Like the last clip with the teacher who called the little boy in his class the N-Word which was also spoofed a bit on the show The Boondocks you can watch the episode here http://www.watchboondocks.net/

The teacher is either really ignorant or just doesnt get what he is saying was wrong. But he wasnt fired and got to come back to work even after the statement that was made. He reminded me of the librarian who lived in Jena when asked about if she thought the noose and the rope signifed anything racists and she said "No". I dont think she was lying about what she thought i just think she never cared to find out just like this man with the N-Word incident.


This relates to different readings we have done in class like the Wu article, the Sarah Barnes article as well as Johnson. I see the relationship with this and the Wu article because in the article where he mostly talks about trying to fit in as an Asian American he talks about stereotypes and recalls the children on the subway or where ever he was emulating karate chops they saw in movies which can be said in the clip with Rosie O'Donnel.

Wu talks about his encounter with children who have the wrong perception of him;

" At an airport of riding a subway, boys will see me and suddenly strike a karate pose, chop at the air, throw a kick, and utter some sing song gibberish, before turning around and running away. pg 416"

Clearly all Asians dont talk like that but she made the sounds that we "Connect" with how they talk and it further more proves his point. Also relating this as well with the Sarah Barnes article she clearly made comments about affirmative action making statements about how it shouldnt exist anymore and that we have to get over what happened in the past. But, how can we when things like this continue to happen on a daily basis and on such a national level.

comment by Sarah Barnes:

"My biggest concern is that people in this country have taken their freedom too far. Yes, there was slavery many years ago and it was a horrible time, but there is no need to continue to dwell upon it."

Ethnic NewsWatch: COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY AT WORK: HOW STEREOTYPES AFFECT OUR OPINIONS OF OTHERS - Media Blog 8

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY AT WORK: HOW STEREOTYPES AFFECT OUR OPINIONS OF OTHERS
Hispanic Times Magazine. Winchester: Nov 30, 1995. Vol. 16, Iss. 5; pg. 18

Abstract (Summary)
Every one of us, to a certain extent, believe some of the old gender stereotypes. Especially if stereotypes are viewed as descriptions of general behavior tendencies. Regardless of the significant progress in diversity issues being made throughout the workforce, stereotypes of some sort will always exist. The important thing to remember is that the simple presence of stereotypes is not the problem. The problem occurs when stereotypes are used, however subconsciously, to prejudge people's abilities and competence and develop unfair and incorrect expectations. When that happens, effective communication is jeopardized and thwarted.
The following simple yet meaningful exercise will help demonstrate the effect of seemingly innocent stereotypes on judgements of others. It will take only a few minutes, and there are no wrong answers. Very quickly, using your first impression, indicate beside each adjective below which sex the word best describes. Use "M" for Male, "F" for Female, and "B" for Both only if the word immediately brings to mind both men and women. Be honest and record your very first response! Entrepreneur, hiker, likes children, good cook, horseback rider, impatient, assertive, committed, scuba diver, funny, lifeguard, romantic, skydiver, too sensitive, intense, talkative, dynamic, independent, outspoken, logical, warm, emotional, critical, cheerful, intelligent, fussy, impetuous, persistent, nurturing, aggressive, daring, compassionate, intuitive, likes flowers, competitive, hates spiders, fashionable, competent, driven, gentle self-starter, football fan.
Stereotypes are just that...stereotypes. They are not dependable job performance indicators nor accurate descriptors of someone's complete personality. During communication, before responding to another's "stereotypical" behavior or comments, evaluating all the clues available offers several benefits. Searching for more of the whole picture will enhance communication to be more objective, meaningful, and productive.


read full article here http://0-proquest.umi.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/pqdweb?index=1&did=612310281&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1206605405&clientId=3340

I chose this article because I felt that it touched on a few things we have discussed in class lately based on different stereotypes we have towards each other and gender. Again I refer back to Wu and his article about being asian in america but this also relates somewhat with Kindred and the female character in that story how she wasnt just facing the racisms and sterotypes but also being a woman and what a woman was thought of as being during those times. I think the article was pretty much when it said we do have stereotypes unconciously but once you act on them then thats when the problem persists. Alot of my blogs were based primarily on stereotypes and how we see each other because I think that is what we discussed most in class this semester.

Movie: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Media Blog 7

Plot
John Cho plays Harold, a young Korean-American man working at his first job in banking, sick of his white co-workers' assumption that, as an Asian, he surely must love to crunch numbers. Kal Penn plays his friend Kumar, a second generation Indian whose family assumes he will become a doctor like his father and brother, though he does not want to. The two simply want to smoke marijuana and put off making adult decisions.
While smoking some marijuana in their apartment one evening, they see a TV ad for White Castle and decide to make a trip for some hamburgers. Finding a White Castle ends up being more difficult than they imagined, and they find themselves on a chaotic road trip full of drug-fueled, politically incorrect philosophy.
During their quest for a 24-hour White Castle their trip becomes more and more bizarre. They eventually are attacked by a raccoon and attempt pass themselves off as surgeons (in the hopes of finding access to medical marijuana).
A hideous but helpful tow truck driver later proves to have an unbelievably attractive wife. Their excitement when she propositions them, however, is short-lived; when it turns out she expects her husband will join in.
Buying drugs from a college hippie ends up being a mistake. It turns out he is self proclaimed "business hippie" who grossly overcharges them.
They blow off what they think will be a boring, highbrow gathering with an ethnically-identified collegiate club for "some fun" with two promiscuous college girls. The pair discovers, though, that their hot dates are gross and their intellectual friends really know how to party.
They also run into Neil Patrick Harris (playing an alternative-reality version of himself), who is strung out on ecstasy and hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere. Harris plans to use his child star status to get laid. Harold and Kumar later see Harris flying down the road in the car he stole from them while snorting coke off the buttocks of a partially naked hooker.
Stealing a truck from a stupid, macho jock allows them to uncover the jock’s secret love of cheesy ballads.
Happening across Harold’s unrequited crush, they discover that she shares his love of John Hughes’ 1980s Americana films.
After being arrested by a racist cop for looking different, the two encounter an African-American man, arrested, of course, for being black. The pair break out of jail and steal a huge bag of marijuana from the police before returning to their on-going quest for fast food nirvana.
In the end, the duo gets their "Sticks and Sliders", find a small measure of revenge against Harold’s co-workers and have their car returned by a repentant Harris. As they dine on their burgers, Kumar observes that there are many kinds of “burgers” in America, and all he really wants is the right to enjoy them all. (wikipedia)

MY THOUGHTS
I think this movie was a great choice for my media blog because it dealt with a lot of different racial issues that wasn’t about blacks and whites but about many different races and stereotypes we have about each other. The things that Wu talked about in his article about Asian Americans not being treated like they are Americans but from other countries and that they are stereotyped like he said when the little boys were doing karate chops at him. In this movie there are different moments that are stereotypes for both characters but one in particular relates to what we discussed in class about how we can stereotype other races in negative ways with knowing it like saying all blacks love rap music. In the scene that I picked that stood out for me in the movie was the beginning when Harold is finishing up his work ready to go home, and chill and hang out with his friends but two of his white co-workers go up to him and traps him into doing their work for them making up lie why they couldn’t do it themselves. Then once outside one guy makes that comments that Asians love to do a lot of work its fun for them. That white guy clearly stereotypes Harold and made him look as if he didn’t have a life like he did and didn’t want to go out and have fun like that were planning to do.

The character Kumar who in the movie is clearly an intelligent guy and very knowledgeable about being a doctor doesn’t want to do that. And what I found funny is that their behavior is usually stereotypes as how blacks would act because they were acting lazy and wanted to smoke weed and do drugs all day every day. The reason I say its usually stereotyped as black traits is because when you think of a guy who smokes a lot of weed a lot of times a blacks guy with dreads will probably pop in people heads not a Asian and a Indian guy. The movie proves that everyone is different that we shouldn’t judge people and their actions because of their skin color but we should judge based on their personalities. If the two white men in the beginning of the movie took the time to get to know Harold and actually hung out with him they would see that he and Kumar are just like them. And maybe they would have a lot less rude and did their own work or took responsibilities of their actions. Also another scene I thought was great was when Harold and Kumar went to a Ivy League school and Harold met with a group of Asian students who was interested in his job and basically fit the stereotypes of how Asians acted and were. They were nerdy and eager to work and do what Harold was doing. They held him on a pedestal and even Harold had his own stereotypes about his own race because this young Asian student that liked Harold invited him to a party that they were throwing and of course he wasn’t going to go because to him a group of nerdy Asian students couldn’t throw a great party. But as him and Kumar was leaving the school they run past this wild party and coincidently enough it was the Asian student being all crazy, drinking, and partying hard. That scene was also great because although Harold was subjected to those guys at his job stereotyping him he did the same to his own race which we all do. The movie was great because both Harold and Kumar didn’t fit the stereotypes of their respective races and wanted to step out of that box they were both put in.

Movie: The Associate - Media Blog #6

The Associate is the title of a 1996 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Dianne Wiest, Eli Wallach, Timothy Daly, Bebe Neuwirth, Austin Pendleton and Lainie Kazan. It is a remake of René Gainville's 1979 film L'Associé.

Plot
Laurel Ayres is the smart and single woman trying to make it up the Wall Street corporate ladder, until one day she finds out that she is passed over for a promotion because she is a woman. Unable to face that fact that her less smart and sexist male protege (Frank) has now become her boss, she quits and tries to start up her own company only to find out that the male dominated world of Wall Street is not interested in taking an African American woman seriously, and thus is forced to create a fictional white man (Robert S. Cutty) in order to be judged on her own merits. Ayres financial wisdom is joined by the intelligent and computer-savvy secretary Sally Dugan who also was not properly recognized for her talents, and together they are able to become the most successful independent stock brokers in the world while helping a struggling high tech computer company stay afloat.

However, the ruse eventually runs into problems, as Cutty is still getting credit for Ayres great ideas, and competing firms and tabloid journalists are willing to do anything in order to bring the wealthy and elusive Cutty into the public and on their side. Thus Ayres is forced to get her gay best friend (who works at a nightclub as a female impersonator) to create an effective disguise in the mould of Marlon Brando to try and fool the naysayers; when that fails, she and Dugan decide to kill Cutty only to be charged with his murder. Frank uncovers the ruse and pretends that he is now the front man to world famous Cutty.

The film ends with Ayers donning the Cutty disguise one last time to attend a meeting of the exclusive gentlemen's club to accept Cutty's awards and unmasking herself in order to teach the male dominated industry the evils of racial and sexual discrimination. Ayers is finally given credit for her work and creates a huge business empire with her friends at the helm. (wikipedia)

MY THOUGHTS
This movie had similarities to my last blog White Man's Burden but I think this one dealt more with the female vs. male aspect of it then the same white vs. black situation. This movie taught me that sexism and male dominance still exist in the workplace and that women have to go through drastic measures to be heard. I'm sure not to the extent that Whoopi's character did in the movie but we do have to work harder and prove ourselves more in fields thats dominated by men. This movie also related to the Wu article in that women dont really know where they stand sometimes when it comes to working in a white male dominated society, Because like Wu even though he is'nt a black male he isn'r white either so he would still be subjected to racism maybe not as bad a blacks but he still would would be profiled. And that can be said about white women. In the movie Whoopi's assistant who is white is really great at what she does as well but like Whoopi is not taken seriously because she is a woman but like Wu the white woman is still stuck in the middle because she is a woman yet she is the dominant race.

I chose to use this movie because so many aspects of it touches on what we have been discussing in class about racism and sexism and how recently in class we had to talk about if we experienced those things and one girl in class spoke about car shopping and the male car salesman just assumed she couldnt drive a stick because she was a woman. I think this not only brings race in the picture but for the most part this movie is more about sexism and the male vs females aspects just as much as it is about race. I think readings that relates to this movie was the Wright article "The Ethnics of Living Jim Crow" when he was trying to move up in his factory job but once he asked about learning new things to hopefully move up the ladder he was treated horribly and ultimately driven away from the job.

The scene that I love the most is the unveiling scene at the end. I think if anything even though it wasa movie it opened those men's eyes and showed them that put aside the fact that she is a black woman she is incredible at her job and has been over looked all this time. Whoopi character pretty went up to accept an award she got for being accepted in a gentlemens club when she was portraying a man, then unvelied herself and end up taking the award and keeping it which i thought was great. She forced those men to pay attention to her even though they didn’t want to she earned her respect. I also feel that even if they were to try to take her award back and try to discredit her in any way it would reflect badly on them and their politics. I highly recommened this movie its not only funny but it has a good message with a great ending.

Movie: White Man's Burden - Media Blog 5

Louis Pinnock (Travolta) is a hard-working, blue-collar family man in an alternate society where the roles of blacks and whites have been reversed. Blacks are well educated, have good jobs and are in the majority. Whites fill the inner cities, have less advantages and are in the minority.
Louis works in a candy factory owned by Thaddeus Thomas (Belafonte). Thaddeus is a rich man of privilege who is more than happy to spout his views regarding the white problem to his equally privileged black friends. Of course, Thaddeus doesn't think he's a racist.
As a favor, Louis delivers a package to Thaddeus's mansion, but he accidentally looks in the wrong window and sees Thaddeus's wife partially unclothed. When Thaddeus catches Louis looking at his wife, he gets angry and offhandedly tells the factory foreman not to send that "delivery boy" around anymore. This causes a chain of events that leaves Louis unemployed and he and his family evicted from their home.
In an act of desperation, Louis confronts Thaddeus about the firing and ends up taking him hostage. Louis brings Thaddeus to his lower-class world as the two begin to learn more about each other and the separate worlds they live in.
Writer/director Desmond Nakano has chosen an intriguing subject by switching the roles of whites and blacks in White Man's Burden. But while there are certainly moments of truth, the film has little to say about racism except that it's bad. (ouis Pinnock (Travolta) is a hard-working, blue-collar family man in an alternate society where the roles of blacks and whites have been reversed. Blacks are well educated, have good jobs and are in the majority. Whites fill the inner cities, have less advantages and are in the minority.
Louis works in a candy factory owned by Thaddeus Thomas (Belafonte). Thaddeus is a rich man of privilege who is more than happy to spout his views regarding the white problem to his equally privileged black friends. Of course, Thaddeus doesn't think he's a racist.
As a favor, Louis delivers a package to Thaddeus's mansion, but he accidentally looks in the wrong window and sees Thaddeus's wife partially unclothed. When Thaddeus catches Louis looking at his wife, he gets angry and offhandedly tells the factory foreman not to send that "delivery boy" around anymore. This causes a chain of events that leaves Louis unemployed and he and his family evicted from their home.
In an act of desperation, Louis confronts Thaddeus about the firing and ends up taking him hostage. Louis brings Thaddeus to his lower-class world as the two begin to learn more about each other and the separate worlds they live in.
Writer/director Desmond Nakano has chosen an intriguing subject by switching the roles of whites and blacks in White Man's Burden. But while there are certainly moments of truth, the film has little to say about racism except that it's bad.(http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue21/movie.html)

MY THOUGHTS
I chose to use this movie for my 5th media blog because during most of the class we talked about and read about white being the oppressors and basically being the majority and having white privelege but this movie clearly shows a reversal and shows how things would look in reverse. I

The scenes the most stood out for me in the movie was John Travolta's daughter in the movie when she wants to get a "Black" doll and basically every image on television and in stores in black. John Travolta doesnt want to get her the doll and wants her to want toys that look like her instead. I think the scene stood out because it shows that whoever is in power whether white, black, asian or whatever if given the power to change television and the images it portrays that people perceptions would change reallyeasily. And even though in this movie the roles were reversed I think that if the black images on TV far outweighed the white than the economic structure would change and more black products would be used. This relates to whats Johnson was saying about Capitalism and that at the end of the day money is the deciding factor more so than race. And because the Travolta character was a single parent who just lost his job he resorted to drastic measures which anyone would do in his position which to me proves that given the situation that any race would turn out like most blacks living in single parent homes with no jobs and on welfare would do. The movie shows whats going on now which is the rich outweighing the poor which is another fight we are in.


But i also found that the movie still had racial stereotypes when it came to the poor whites and rich blacks. In the movie that blacks were seen wearing african attire and the poor whites had factory jobs and was seen as hillbillies and i think the way they acted in the movie even though it was still reversal of which race had the most power there was still strong stereotypes. This movie also relates alot to Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow" in which he recalls moments in his life that he lives and situations he was in that he couldnt do anything about because of the color of his skin which was similar in this movie. The scene when John Travola is caught supposedly looking at the black mans wife and instantly fired is somewhat similar to when Wright explained about getting fired from the factory because he tried to know to much and tried to move up which was exceptable for blacks.This movie actually relates to alot of the reading we have done in class but i think its one of those movies that was just looked over because for the most part it was safe. The movie wasn't as gritty and hardcore as movies like Roots and The Color Purple but I think that was do to the tables being turned and maybe white people wouldnt have taken well to whites been battered, beaten and belittled from another race on camera so this movie definitely kept it to a movie and that is where the movie failed. But it was a great concept overall. This is a good movie and I suggest anyone go out and watch it if they get a chance.

Ethnic NewsWatch -Dealing with the N-Word : Media Blog 4

THIS IS LIFE: DEALING WITH THE N-WORD
Bob White. Montreal Community Contact. Montreal, Que.: Nov 22, 2007. Vol. 17, Iss. 22; pg. 20, 1 pgs

Abstract (Summary)
Welfare Westley was reading an article in a recent issue of Community CONTACT (October 26, 2007), "The N Word at Vanier College." "I'm sure an**ger like you would understand. These words were told to a student at Vanier College, Christina Mottley. The student was in a state of shock and later when she went home, she cried..."
To tell you the Truth said, "Racism is ingrained in our society. Racism is like the air we breathe; it's all polluted. Racism will always be here; it's built into the capitalistic system that we exist in. So Blacks should not buy into the "system," don't hope, don't cope and never be surprised or get upset when you hear the N word. This is why knowledge is so important, why reading is so important, why a library is so important. Learn the five Ps: Proper preparation prevents poor performance."
Da Genius was telling Da Professor, "The only way racism will change a little, is when solid white people (and there are a lot in Montreal, solid white people who have wealth, pick up the telephone and tell someone, "We don't need those kinds of people" and that's it. You need the white keys along with the black keys, to play good music."

link to the whole article: http://0-proquest.umi.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/pqdweb?index=3&did=1404186991&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1203010569&clientId=3340

I chose to do my fourth media blog on this article because it is pretty recent and shows that racism still does exist and alot of what this article is saying is in compliance with alot of what we were discussing in class. Christina Mottley the girl that was called the N-Word let it get to her and she went home and cried instead of taking a stance and laughing at the ignorance of the teacher. I like the fact that the author is saying the Nigger is just a word and we as a people are giving it way to much power.

This article to me brings up alot of thing Johnson spoke about with "What it All Has To Do With Us" And the article on capitalism and the dominance of a matrix. Johnson talked of how the capitalist gave "blacks" the name nigger to degrade them and make them feel lesst than nothing so that they would stay in line and not jeopradize the social order of things.

Janet Jackson Superbowl Controversy Media Blog 3

Super Bowl XXXVIII, which was broadcast live on February 1, 2004 from Houston, Texas on the CBS television network in the United States, was noted for a controversial halftime show in which Janet Jackson's bare breast was exposed by Justin Timberlake in what was referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction".The incident, sometimes referred to by the portmanteau Nipplegate, was widely discussed. It, along with the rest of the halftime show, led to a crackdown and widespread debate on perceived "indecency" in broadcasting, leading to a record $550,000 fine levied by the Federal Communications Commission to CBS, as well as an increase of FCC fines per indecency violation from $27,500 to $325,000. Additionally, the halftime show was seen by some as a sign of decreasing morality in the national culture

Impacts on Jackson and Timberlake
Jackson's career began to decline since the incident. Her first album released since the Super Bowl, Damita Jo, was released in March 2004 to poor critical reception yet high worldwide sales and three Grammy nominations in 2005. However, her following album, 20 Y.O., did not sell as well despite better critical reception overall. Jackson's music videos have since lost considerable airplay on channels such as MTV and its sibling channel, VH1,mainly because those network decided to decrease continuous airing of music videos 24/7 (restricting them to overnight hours, or being put on separate digital networks such as MTV Hits or VH1 Soul), thereby turning around 180 degrees the original reason music videos were created along with their original channels.
Eventually, Jackson appeared on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman on March 29, 2004. In April 2004, Jackson made fun of herself in a Saturday Night Live appearance, first while playing Condoleezza Rice in a skit, nervously answering a question by exposing her right breast, which was pixelated by NBC, then by viewing a mock "home video" from her childhood when her bathing suit top came off in a wading pool. In 2006, during an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jackson stated that the Super Bowl scandal was an accident.
In the meantime, after the Super Bowl, Justin Timberlake won two Grammy awards in 2004 and put his musical career on hiatus to focus on acting. In 2006, Timberlake released an album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned several number-one singles. Timberlake also told MTV that he "probably got 10 percent of the blame", later explaining that "America's harsher on women" and "unfairly harsh on ethnic people", referring to the backlash suffered by him and Jackson. In 2008, MTV began rotating Janet Jackson's most recent video "Feedback", while Timberlake starred in a Pepsi-Cola ad airing during Super Bowl XLII.

I chose to do my media blog on this because it created such media attention for both artist but only one got singled out more than the other who happened to be a black female while the other was a young white male. The impact on both artist speaks for itself and shows that even today their are going to be double standards and less punishment from the white male.

This definitely relates to Zinn Ch. 2 "Drawing the Color Line" where he talks about whites getting less of a punishment because they are white and an example of that is when Zinn said 10 slaves escaped and only one was black but he got the worse punishment and had to stay a slave for the rest of his life. We also talked about white privilege and because Justin Timberlake is white and this country is ran mostly by white males he was'nt at all hurt by the incident and instead of his career declining he became even more successful going on to win grammys and selling out tours as well as 7 million records while Janet Jackson can barely sell 500,ooo copies of her new cds and has been ridiculed as if she pulled the cover off her breast herself. Til this day Janet's career has yet to prosper and be where it used to be she is gearing up to release a new album later this month.

Movie: "School Daze" Media Blog 2

School Daze is a 1988 musical-drama film, written and directed by Spike Lee, and starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Based in part on Spike Lee's experiences at Atlanta's Morehouse College, it is a story about fraternity and sorority members clashing with other students at a historically black college during homecoming weekend. School Daze was the second feature film directed by Spike Lee, and was released on February 12, 1988 by Columbia Pictures.(wikipedia)



Plot Summary (wikipedia)

Vaughn "Dap" Dunlap (Laurence Fishburne) is a politically conscious African American student who leads anti-apartheid demonstrations encouraging students and school administrators to completely divest from South Africa. He also eschews the buffoonery and social climbing of the Greek fraternal system. Dap's craven younger cousin, Half-Pint (Spike Lee), is pledging Gamma Phi Gamma (also known as G-Phi-G or simply G-Phi) fraternity and is willing to endure any humiliation to join the fraternity. While Half-Pint tries unsuccessfully to impress the Gammas with his inept womanizing, Dap engages in philosophical debates with Rachel (Kyme), his girlfriend, as well as other Mission students.
Half-Pint eventually survives the pledge initiation and joins G-Phi. Shortly afterwards, his house president Julian, aka Big Brother Almighty (Giancarlo Esposito), manipulated his girlfriend Jane (Tisha Campbell) to prove her love to him. He brings Jane to Half-Pint (whom he discovered was a virgin during pledge) and tells him, in order to become an official Gamma man, he must lose his virginity by having sex with Jane. After Half-Pint's last test, Julian ruthlessly breaks up with Jane, claiming she loved Gamma Phi Gamma and not him. After Half-Pint brags to Dap about his episode with Jane, Dap loses all respect for him and shoves him away, declaring "You're not my cousin!" The movie ends the following morning, with Dap running through the campus and to the middle of the school courtyard, yelling "Wake up!"
Throughout the film, light-skinned African American women of the Gamma Rays (a women's auxiliary to the Gamma Phi Gamma fraternity) battle it out with their, Afro-headed fellow co-eds. The students at Mission College also battle with the local unemployed and uneducated people living around the campus, who resent the Mission students for taking all of the good jobs.
Musical performances are throughout, including the production "Good or Bad Hair", a fantasy dis-fest between the Wannabes and Jigaboos, and "Be Alone Tonight" performed by Campbell (as Jane Toussaint and her Royal Court) at a talent competition. The go-go anthem "Da Butt" is performed by the group E.U. during the after-party for the Gammites.

I chose to use school daze as one of my media blogs because I think they touched on alot of controversal issues that dealt with racism among blacks and how we see each other based on our appearances and beliefs. Alot of different scenes stood out in this movie but for me it had to be the scene where the Gamma Rays and the Afro centric women did the musical number "Good Hair, Bad Hair" in which both poke fun at eachothers appearances and make claims that on is a "jiggaboo" and the other is a "wannabe" mainly because the wannabes were the blacks that were lightskinned, wore lighter contacts and had the long hair which did boil over with the "jiggaboos" who felt that they were trying to be white and were neglecting their black heritage by not wearing their hair natural.

I think this scene in this movie connects with Johnson's article "Capitalism, Class, and the matrix of domination because in that article Johnson explains how capitalist came up with different ways to seperate whites from the blacks and even from each other so they can continue to gain profit from it. And it also connects with Takaki when he talked about the Giddy Multitude and the ways the slave owners manipulated blacks and turned them against each other by splitting them up into categories like field slaves and house slaves. I think this movie touches on how we as a race are told to look and act to be considered beautiful and to blend it and that racism still exists within our own race.

watch the video of the "Good Hair, Bad Hair" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtfEmTHeYNw

The Boondocks Media Blog 1

For my very first media blog I decided to write it on the show Boondocks. The Boondocks is an American animated television series created by Aaron McGruder for the Adult Swim programming block of Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network, based upon McGruder's comic strip of the same name. The Boondocks is a social satire of American culture and race, revolving around the lives of the Freeman family – ten-year-old Huey, his younger brother Riley, and their grandfather, Robert. The series is currently airing its second season on Adult Swim. The Freeman family, having recently transplanted themselves from the South Side of Chicago to the peaceful, fictional suburb of Woodcrest, find different ways to cope with this acute change in setting as well as the drastically different suburban cultures and lifestyles to which they are exposed. The perspective offered by this mixture of cultures, lifestyles, and races provides for much of the comedy on which the series plays(Wikipedia).


I chose to discuss a particular episode in the Boondocks though there are many episodes that will have you think but one i thought related to what was being discussed in class now was the episode called "Ballin" in which the younger brother Riley tries out fora basketball team he thinks he will dominate because he's black and everyone else on the team is white. And even though he is great a dribbling the ball he soon find out that he has to learn the fundamentals and most importantly learn how to shoot the ball.
I think this episode has many valuable lessons because not only is he not the best player he is outplayed by a white female player on an opposing team which makes him want to work hard and become a team player not a show off and ball hog. The show tackled on the issue not just sterotyping a certain race but also gender and it factors in working together as a team not just one person. Being a female athlete myself I think this episode shows that females are just as good as males at sports no matter the color.

I think this episode coincides well with the Video we watched on Race The Power of Illusion because its shows that race is something we personally feels makes us different from one another. Like one of the students on the video said there might be truth of blacks having an extra muscle of something in their genes that make them better at track or basketball even though blacks werent always dominate in those sports.
The Boondocks is still a new show only in it's second season but its very controversal and tackles alot of issues particularly in the black communities that most shows will not. You can view the whole episode here http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=24591091

Check out this video: the boondocks



Add to My Profile More Videos

Examples of my Work

Drawings and pictures I did when I went to London the summer before last of St. Paul Cathedral. And alittle help from Photoshop.

This is a design I did in my senoir studio.

This is a design I did my junior year in my architectural studio of a college dorm.

About Me

My name is Telicious Robinson and I am currently a 5th year senior at Bowling Green State University majoring in architecture. I love designing an coming up with ideas for new buildings and structure and I truly because that architecture is the backbone of how this world was founded. I want to learn more about myself as far as heritage goes and I want to be more knowledgable about the world and its past.