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"Politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics."

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I used this picture of Kendrick Lamar because it illustrates how he uses his influence to speak on political issues such as racial injustice. He makes a ton of great music and is always great about including a political message in his song that makes you question the way things are. I think Kendrick Lamar is probably the best political rapper of this generation because of the sheer quality and quantity of politically motivated songs that he has been able to make over the course of his career. It is smart of him to use his big influence to try and bring about a positive change in society.

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I used this picture of Martin Luther King Jr. because the quote the picture includes is just as relevant today as it was all those years ago. America has a long ways to go, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to fix the social injustice that still occurs to our citizens in this day and age. I love when music reiterates this message. Artists like Kendrick Lamar reiterate this message and help America not forget that we still have a long way to go to achieve civil equality for all, and that we all still need to fight and work together to bring about these positive changes in our country.

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The song I have chosen to use for this Padlet is “I’m not racist” by Joyner Lucas. I feel like I need to give a trigger warning for this song as the first time I listened to it, it invoked a lot of emotion from me as the first half of the song has very strong alt-right racist views. I had no idea that this part was used to build up to the second half of the song and thought it was an actually racist song. This song is so painfully accurate on the racial separation still in our society today and hits all the current issues in my opinion. The first half of the song I felt like a complete outsider, but the second half of the song I felt like an insider on the issues mentioned because I spent a portion of my studies in college studying the history of African Americans, and I see the history of slavery that is still left in society today with economic injustices and social prejudices. This song also hits on the viewpoints of both sides of the spectrum of the argument on the state of race in America. When he says the song “I wish we could trade shoes or we could change lives so we could understand each other more but that'd take time, it's like we livin' in the same buildin' but split in both sides, but there's two sides to every story and now you know mine” is incredibly powerful because while we all live in the same nation, it is a very different place for each of us. We don’t know any other perspective besides our own until we open our minds to others’ perspectives. It is incredibly depressing when he says “I wish we could trade shoes or we could change lives so we could understand each other more but that'd take time,” because I know he is right, racial understanding and fixing the inequality isn’t something we can fix in a day but will take time. It is so hard to accept that because you want to see these issues fixed immediately, to wake up tomorrow and for it to be gone, but it will continue to take time and open mindedness. I understand the perpective of each of the people in the song as the opinions shared by the white man are those that my family constantly expresses becuase they have never seen the world from outside thier perspective, and I also know the perspective of the black man as well because I’ve studied the injustices committed on blacks, I’ve looked at how it affects them even to this day, and I’ve been taught about it from my african american friends. These things I never knew about until I learned of a perspective beyond my own, beyond a life in a small town full of whites where you don’t get to witness the actual inequality that still occurs today. I feel like this song shines a light on the real problems still facing America.

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Listed below is the song I have decided to choose for this project. I love how relevant this song this is and hate it at the same time for the same reason. It is sad that this is still a relevant issue in the modern age. This song is just so full of raw emotion and hits the political problems right on the head. I think if several of the problems addressed in this video were addressed politically, we could come closer together as a nation.

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The other piece of media I have used is a song by Kendrick Lamar called Alright. It came out when all the police protests were going on last year. It is actually directed to the protesters and encourage them with the line "We gunna be alright" and focuses on the police violence throughout the song. I think it is just one of the many great songs that Kendrick Lamar does with a political motivation. Not only is it a great song but it holds a message that is still current.

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Kendrick Lamar - Alright (Official Music Video)

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"Racism is taught in the home. We agree on that? Well, it's very hard to teach racism to a teenager who's listening to rap music and idolizes, say, Snoop Dogg. It's hard to say, "That guy is less than you." The kid is like "I like that guy, he's cool. How is he less than me?"