jgparra

[jgparra]

Black Lives Matter

https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/

A huge initiative started in the year 2013 was the Black Lives Matter initiative. The main goal as described by its founders is to "eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by state vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvement in our lives" (BLM, 2023). This organization continues to support help the black community by offering student relief and loan forgiveness. They empower the African American community, similarly to the efforts seen during the civil right movement.

Throughout the semester we looked at various examples of how people of color are treated differently within the U.S. As mentioned in my previous blog where we talked about the film Black Panther, Peggy McIntosh's realization that society placed barriers for people of color. This has been an ongoing struggle, from the foundation of our country to this day. We've seen multiple efforts to combat white supremacy but have continuously fallen short. Another example that we learned about in class was the March of Milwaukee.

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1967)

In the 1960's, Milwaukee's African American population was facing a housing problem. They were being kicked out of their neighborhoods and were not being turned down when they tried to buy or rent in neighborhoods that were not "their confined" areas. As we see in the image above, a group of counter-protestors hold signs saying "God is White" This comes to show the racial prejudice that exists against the Black community. Unfortunately, the struggles that citizens were having back in the 1960's are still happening today.

https://blacklivesmatter.com/black-lives-matter-global-network-foundation-statement-on-the-murder-of-tyre-nichols/

Part of the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement, is to share the stories of those that unfortunately have lost their life due white supremacy. This is done in hopes to inspire more and more people to support the movement and make a change. One of the stories shared on the website is the one of Tyre Nichols. Tyre lost his life at the hands of the Memphis Police Department. An argument that the media was making was that the police officers who beat Tyre to death were black but BLM board member states, " ALL police represent the interest of capitalism and impel state- sanctioned violence. Anyone who works within a system the perpetuates state-sanctioned violence is complicit in upholding white supremacy" (Parker, 2023). This just comes to show how our society and our political system continues to be based on racism.

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BLACK PANTHER

Black Panther tells the story of a King of Wakanda with superhuman abilities. He has these abilities thanks to a metal called vibranium, which also allows them to develop highly advanced technology. The king at the beginning of film vows to share Wakanda’s technology with people of African descent around the world to conquer their oppressors but his brother had other plans for the vibranium. He gets involved in the black market and tries to negotiate the vibranium. Besides the action battle scenes and the emotional family scenes, this film portrays an unapologetically Black universe, a world filled with culture rich in color and texture.

AN ARMY LED BY ALL WOMEN!

Black Panther does a great job representing cultural diversity within the five tribes that are part of Wakanda. Regardless of their differences they were willing to come together to help the king out. Killmonger, character played by Michael B Jordan, grew up in Oakland California. He goes back to Wakanda searching for revenge. His life represents the life of many immigrants. He was raised in the U.S but his roots were from Wakanda. The reason why he wanted to go back to Wakanda was to get revenge for his father. Yet, he didn’t completely understand the culture that he was going into. He decided that he wanted to get rid of the heart shaped plant which was extremely important to the people of Wakanda.

As I mentioned before, the color and textiles that are in the movie represent the African culture. This reminds me the Harlem Renaissance movement that we read about Week 6. This was a period of great artistic creativity among the African American population. Takiki explains this is an era that was used to overcome the racial mountains that have been created towards black people. Artist Hughes talks about celebrating the life of African Americans, being happy, using color to represent their culture, and being proud of their culture. Ryan Coogler, Black Panther’s director, does a great job of captivating the beauty of their race. 

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ALL AMERICAN

All American is a drama TV show that reflects the life of NFL player Spencer Paysinger. The show follows the life of an all-star football high school player from South Central LA that gets recruited to play at Beverly Hills High School. In order to chase his dream of becoming a professional football player, he must leave his mom and brother behind and live with the Baker family. These two families live in vastly different worlds, and Spencer James who is the main character finds himself stuck between these two worlds. I believe that this TV show reflects the concept of cultural identity that we have been talking about from week one.

Although people might think this is a football show, the show addresses a lot more than just sports. It represents what it’s like to live in the United States as a black man. The show does a great job of including current issues in the show. For example, one of the episodes was inspired by George Floyds brutal death at hands of a police officer. This opens the conversation of race and how we should be able to live in a world where race doesn’t define us as a human being It’s time to get rid of any racial prejudice and embrace the cultural diversity in our country.

There is an episode in All American where the Baker twins get pulled over. Jordan and Olivia Baker are son and daughter to a Black dad and a White mom. They grew up in Beverly Hills living what’s considered a privileged life. The encounter with the police officer shines a light on current social issues like police brutality and racism. Billy Baker calls this the “ugly side of being a black man in America”. This connects back to Peggy McIntosh white privilege check list. There’s a checklist item that states “If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tac return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race”. Even though the Bakers were raised in a privileged neighborhood, that did not make them immune to racism.