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 Muslim cool: race, religion, and hip hop in the United States (database) 

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 Muslim cool: race, religion, and hip hop in the United States (database) 

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Throughout this novel American Muslim citizen issues are highlighted through music. Music is very important to some Muslims. The book brings many of the scary realities of traditional Muslim culture. Hip hop is frowned upon by the religion, but used to help with race issues. The book shows this irony between trying to the end American muslim prejudge, and muslim laws. I really enjoyed learning about Muslim culture and music.Even though hip hop is frowned upon by many in the muslim religion, many young Muslim Americans use it to express themselves and the complex emotions they fell behind the oppression that they are forced to life with. I choose this be

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I loved the idea that Jim was Huck's key to live without fear Toni highlighted this factor. I agree with this idea and Twain showed Jim's this to highlight the fact that African American's are just as intelligent, important and equal to "White America".  The scary truths about America's southern history and possible present day tradition truths come forward through Twain's social commentary. This social commentary at times can be very strong and sometimes disturbing, for that is why this novel has been banned from schools across the country. I Agree Twain created an amazing novel with many mysterious truths hiding in the shadows. For that is the reason why the novel was so legendary to me personally.

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Portland Harold - LePage Endorses Racial Profiling - (database) (local)

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Portland Harold - LePage Endorses Racial Profiling - (database) (local)

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“Look, the bad guy is the bad guy, I don’t care what color he is,” LePage said. “When you go to war, if you know the enemy and the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue, then you shoot at red."
On a local level, racism isn't something I really think about at all to be completely honest. Here in Maine we live in a predominately white location and I don't really think about race issues, and what is happening behind the scenes. Governor LePage, who I have never been a fan of made this horrific racist remark at a press conference recently. Here LePage is telling officers that it is ok to racially profile, he is letting cops know it is ok to shoot at black people bc they are the "bad guys". He would probably argue with me pretending it wasn't what he meant, but after listening to him say these words it is obvious that that is untrue. These harsh segregating words, and others like it are the reason we are where we are. After reading this I will keep my eyes open to more unjust realities in our nation.

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The N word, this is a word that will always be bad in my opinion. It has always been a sensitive topic throughout all of American history. During the video there was a section about how if black comedians use that word they will get more of a laugh. This is really disturbing when you look at it in a literal sense of the word. Obviously when a comedian is using the word, they are most likely using it in a different context. I think that is where the true issue lies. Americans have become so desensitized by the word, I honestly think that most of our population hears this world everyday. How are we suppose to move past racism as a nation if we are looking up to people who are using these words. At the same time I feel like within music the N word is used ironically when sharing ones introspective emotion. Calling oneself that usually has some deeper meaning that the general public is too ignorant to dig up. I feel like humans need to start thinking for themselves creating there own morals based of there emotions and stop following what the majority does, it is the "mob mentality" that is going to be our downfall that Tom sawyer addressed in Huck finn.

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In this hip hop masterpiece Kendrick Lamar does an amazing job at painting a picture of how he feels racially. The song is called DNA, he raps about how his DNA (as a black male) carries many untrue stereotypes and he feels as if he has a target on his back. He Raps about constantly having to be paranoid. At the end of the song Kendrick says something that really moves me.
Tell me when destruction gonna be my fate
Gonna be your fate, gonna be our faith
Peace to the world, let it rotate
Sex, money, murder — our DNA
He is saying that Americans have created these racist stereotypes. Someone is going to kill him, and if you are black someone is going to kill you too. The he uses the word "our" to bring them together as a family with a shared "faith" of world peace.

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Clint Smith - How to raise a Black son in America (Ted Talk)

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Clint Smith - How to raise a Black son in America (Ted Talk)

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Mr. Smith does an amazing job at capturing my attention and sharing his emotion with me as the listener. The speech is about about his life as a young black male growing up in America. He starts with a childhood story. Clint and his friends were outside playing with water guns being kids. His dad walked outside and grabbed him by the wrist and brought him home. He looked at his son in the face and told him that he couldn't play the same way his white friends did. He goes on to speak about how his parents had to raise him in fear. They had to teach him many lessons that I have never had to learn. It makes me feel guilty for getting to walk outside without the fear of being shot, for never having to worry about equal pay, for being born with this white privilege that others don't have. I really don't want to live in a world where this is the reality. It has gone on and been ignored for too long.

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Music has always had a very important place in my heart. Hip Hop usually gets overlooked by our society, because of the sometimes crude subject matter and language use. I agree that some of hip hop can be crude, but shouldn't be overlooked. The crude subject  matter may be sometimes hard to hear, but for the most part it's just shared emotion and real life experiences. In this song J Cole raps about how he has bought new house in a white area and his Neighbors think that he is a drug dealer. When in reality he just is a successful musician.
Some things you can't escape:
Death, taxes, and a racist society that make
Every n***** feel like a candidate
For a Trayvon kinda fate
Even when your crib sit on a lake
Even when your plaques hang on a wall
Even when the president jam your tape.
Here he brings up the fact that even though he has money, he will never be able to break away from the racist society that he is a part of. Music is very important to me and it is great because it is easy to share a topic and make it relateable. It can really do a lot to change someones opinion.

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I choose this poem because of how beautiful the symbolism comes across. Once the confusion settled, then everybody realized that she was just like them. The violence of the scene settled. The Arabic speaking woman became friends with the others in the gate because everybody realized that she wasn't a bad kind of different, they just had to speak to her. I see this as a symbol for how we should treat everyone. It's theme in my opinion is based of the over spoken idea "not to judge a book by its cover." The reality is people need to get past their egos and except people of other backgrounds in their life.

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Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination

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Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination

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I choose this article because I found the polls to be very interesting. The polls really shared a view into the everyday life of a African American in our country today. As a white male it is hard for me to fully grasp the idea of being discriminated for  skin color, these polls really put everything out on the table. 54% of black men said that they feel they have been discriminated by police in the past. 24% of Black Men believe they have been discriminated at the polls. After reading this it makes me ever more upset with the people that deny race issues in our country today. If over half of a race believes there is an issue then then there is defiantly an issue.

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This is a very emotional and powerful poem. When read correctly it sounds like a presidential speech. The poem highlights the idea that the new generation of African American people have forgotten their past. Because they have forgotten their past they have started to except new untrue racist stereotypes. Also with the absurd amount of struggling that the past generations of the "Black Family" had to go through is something that should never be forgotten about in my opinion. I really enjoyed this and choose it because I think it lays a good foundation for how much passion lies within this issue. I can feel every word that Maya says. I can feel the pain in her words. It is something only art can convey.