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"The More Things Change" by Adrianna Johnson

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"The More Things Change" by Adrianna Johnson

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I feel a sense of nostalgia from this song, just because I grew up listening to this when I went over to my grandma's house. My initial thoughts were that I knew this song, so I started to sing along, and that it was really soothing. Lauryn Hill was a 12 -time grammy winning artist. Who by performing this song brings to light the pain and frustration that the black community feels after decades of endless racism and oppression. She had a lot of pressure to really do this song justice while keeping it spiritual.

My initial interpretation is that this was a Civil rights anthem that addressed social problems in a direct, explicit way. Reading the lyrics made me get out of that feeling of nostalgia and immediately bring my attention to the immediate message at hand. That sooner or later this change of racism, oppression, supremacy, and more for the black community is coming. I relate to this song due to the fact that I grew up on it, and mostly because I can proudly say that I am a part of the balc community, the community that has longed for and deserve that change.

Sam Cooke  was a well known African-American singer songwriter who wrote the hit song “A change gonna come.” He had the high stakes of writing a civil-rights-themed protest song that conveyed the urgency, hope, and confidence of the message behind it.

I think at first I didn’t really see the message as much as I felt it, but now I have a better and more clear understanding of the message being conveyed. In the first version it gave me a more laid back and just brought me down memory lane and felt more of a personal connection to it. But in the second version, it opened my eyes to the persistent relevance of the issues presented in the song. My original response/interpretation in part A and B is just as important here as part C because they all revolve around the same idea and message but are just presented through different perspectives and styles. These two renditions of the song share a connection because they both brought a powerful impact to the world and shared a meaningful message by talking about the low points in their life.

This activity is related to what we talked about and covered in class because not only from using my Rhetorical reading skills but also from mimicking what we did for the Haas/flowers article. We are making analysis from lyrics and connecting them to what is going on in real life. We are prompted to think deeper and build better analysis of the words and instances used, to make more profound connections. We also had to use rhetorical thinking in order to analyze what message the author wanted us to take away. Overall, I found myself making better interpretations of written pieces by using my rhetorical analysis skills.

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"Through this Lens" By:Sharmanda Jean-Francois 

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"Through this Lens" By:Sharmanda Jean-Francois 

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A. At the end of this song I was left feeling hopeful for redirection in a world dominated by racism and supremacy. While I listened to Lauryn Hill repeat the words “It’s been a long time coming” I couldn’t help but notice how she sings it in the calmest tone. Behind those words comes anger,frustration, and pain that the Black Community feels in the midst of all we have been through both the past and present. Lauryn Hill did an exceptional job singing this version of “A Change is Gonna Come.” She added her own interpretation of this song through her vocals and style of singing.

B. My interpretation of this song is that it is meant to be a symbol of hope to the violence, racism, and white supremacy we have had to endure all these years. As I read these lyrics over and over, trying to isolate each word, the song as a whole resembled an imaginary alarm clock that went off in my head notifying me that the fight for equality is not far from over. Though racism is an apparent thing in our world, and is very hard to forget, I feel as though living through the Covid-19 Pandemic has shifted everyone’s focus on other issues we are still fighting with today. This song resonates with my personal life because, I feel as though now in my current life I am going through a rough patch,  but I feel as though God is planning hope, peace, and happiness in the coming future for me. Each morning that I wake up and get ready for the day, serves as an opportunity to become a better version of myself and be the change for both myself and others.

C. The original maker of this song Sam Cooke wrote this song based on his experience at a hotel that resulted in him getting discriminated against because it was whites-only. He wanted to write a song that spoke of the struggles he faced, which would later be used as an anthem for many social justice movements across the world.

D. Hearing both versions of this song had many impacts on my personal life. I felt as though Lauryn Hill’s version had more of a correlation to how I was feeling as well as my mindset. Whereas the original version with Sam Cooke hit home to all the social issues going on in our world today, after watching the video with all the different movements in history.  These different interpretations are important because they all revolve around the same concrete idea, but are presented through different lenses as well as perspectives.The connection between the two renditions of this song is, both artists relate this song to a low moment in their life. In Lauryn’s version she writes about how her mom struggled to pay rent, whereas in Hill’s version he speaks of being told not to be around certain areas. These two insights are very important in showing how each artist interpreted the song to their personal lives.

E. This activity has a correlation to the lecture material because I used rhetorical reading to strategize ways to see the similarities between both versions of “A Change is Gonna Come.” Rhetorical thinking was used in analyzing the message the artists wanted the listeners to take away. This activity relates to the Haas/Flower article because, during this reading I found myself making inferences on what the author was saying, and trying to understand what was going on at the same time. Furthermore, I found myself doing the same thing with the lyrics by: Sam Cooke and making a conclusion to how these words have an effect on my personal life.

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A change in the Making : By Anychie Jones 

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A change in the Making : By Anychie Jones 

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A. This artist who was singing this song is Lauryn hill. She is really known for her inspirational rap lyrics and her powerful voice directly toward her struggles and the black communities struggles. When I was listening to this song, I was really focused on the vibes and emotions it brought me. Hearing this song in a lot of African American movies really made me connect way more with the lyrics because I picture the struggles and all the hard times that my people have been through.

B. I feel like this song in my point of view , relates to the segregation times and how people of color had it more harder back then. Deep reading about this song helps me as I said in part A , visualize myself in the 60s, or 50s, time. The changes that my people had to make themselves just to be treated equal makes this song hit more harder , and for Lauryn Hill to make those lyrics so much more relatable gives me more respect for her. I personally relate just because as the lyric said " just like the river, I've been running ever since", I feel like that's my whole life summary. I never truly express or understand myself, and I don't try to understand myself, I'm just happy that I am on this earth.

C. The artist singing this song is Sam Cooke. He had to deal with the racism and segregation during the 50's, 60's which was harder to talk or be an activist during that time. . He sung about his troubles in his songs being a pioneer and advocate for the black community with knowing famous activist like Malcolm x, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye etc.

D. My feelings about this song has changed because of how the artist who wrote this song actually related and was in that position that in which I related the song in. In my previous responses, I talked about relating to this song in a different way. In Sam Cooke's generation, African Americans just wanted equal rights and would go through in shape, and forms to get their message around to bigger leaders. Him being murdered just for voicing his opinions make this song more heartfelt because of how it played a part in his death. I can connect both artist because they both know how to spread the word using their voices. With Lauryn Hill doing a cover to this song, it was just as impactful from when Cooke made the song. For him to sing about a change is gonna come and not being able to stay alive long enough to see that change come is upsetting. The civil rights movement played a main part in our history and this song had to of helped many get through the days.

E. This activity relates to the Haas/ Flowers article because of how we are making these connections from lyrics to real life. They both had us looking deeper and thinking deeper on situations mentally using a lot of " what if " statements. We also talked a lot about this in class, seeing things from your perspective and going through the ladder of abstraction. Making a build up of these connections, and using informational wording / abstract words.

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A change in the Making : By Anychie Jones 

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A change in the Making : By Anychie Jones 

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A. This artist who was singing this song is Lauryn hill. She is really known for her inspirational rap lyrics and her powerful voice directly toward her struggles and the black communities struggles. When I was listening to this song, I was really focused on the vibes and emotions it brought me. Hearing this song in a lot of African American movies really made me connect way more with the lyrics because I picture the struggles and all the hard times that my people have been through.

B. I feel like this song in my point of view , relates to the segregation times and how people of color had it more harder back then. Deep reading about this song helps me as I said in part A , visualize myself in the 60s, or 50s, time. The changes that my people had to make themselves just to be treated equal makes this song hit more harder , and for Lauryn Hill to make those lyrics so much more relatable gives me more respect for her. I personally relate just because as the lyric said " just like the river, I've been running ever since", I feel like that's my whole life summary. I never truly express or understand myself, and I don't try to understand myself, I'm just happy that I am on this earth.

C. The artist singing this song is Sam Cooke. He had to deal with the racism and segregation during the 50's, 60's which was harder to talk or be an activist during that time. . He sung about his troubles in his songs being a pioneer and advocate for the black community with knowing famous activist like Malcolm x, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye etc.

D. My feelings about this song has changed because of how the artist who wrote this song actually related and was in that position that in which I related the song in. In my previous responses, I talked about relating to this song in a different way. In Sam Cooke's generation, African Americans just wanted equal rights and would go through in shape, and forms to get their message around to bigger leaders. Him being murdered just for voicing his opinions make this song more heartfelt because of how it played a part in his death. I can connect both artist because they both know how to spread the word using their voices. With Lauryn Hill doing a cover to this song, it was just as impactful from when Cooke made the song. For him to sing about a change is gonna come and not being able to stay alive long enough to see that change come is upsetting. The civil rights movement played a main part in our history and this song had to of helped many get through the days.

E. This activity relates to the Haas/ Flowers article because of how we are making these connections from lyrics to real life. They both had us looking deeper and thinking deeper on situations mentally using a lot of " what if " statements. We also talked a lot about this in class, seeing things from your perspective and going through the ladder of abstraction. Making a build up of these connections, and using informational wording / abstract words.

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A. While listening to this song, a wave of sadness, acceptance, and realization came over me. I feel like this whole song screams “Sunday”. You know, the feeling when the sun starts to go down and you accept the fact that the weekend is over and that you have school tomorrow. But even though it gives me that feeling, I can’t stop listening to it. I assume Lauryn Hill, the artist performing this song, had a lot of pressure on her to make it a “hit” while also being sentimental.

B. My initial interpretation of the song was her accepting her fate ( whatever that fate may be). I couldn’t help but imagine her or another black person being very depressed by that. But after reading the lyrics, it sounds like this song is more about having suicidal ideations. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to unpack this because of how depression affects my everyday life. The constant feeling of wanting to give up, but also wondering if there is more than what I am currently going through. But no one seems to understand how intense the battle of fighting these feelings can get.

C. The original songwriter and performer of “A Change Gonna Come” is Sam Cooke. The stakes in writing such a personal and symbolic song were extremely high because the risks of the song not having the right melody could have been detrimental to his career. He could have possibly lost a part of his fanbase, been scrutinized by his audience, and shunned by the music industry.

D. After learning more about Sam Cooke and his influence to write “A Change Gonna Come”, my interpretation of this song has changed from dealing with internal conflict to dealing with external conflict. Initially, I thought the song was about giving up on life because the artist’s fate was already sealed. But in actuality, it is about the fight against racism and injustice against African Americans. Of course both of these interpretations are important because the context around the performer of the song influenced what I thought the meaning of what the song was about. Since Lauryn Hill is a multi-grammy winning artist and performed the song in 2009, I thought it was related to the pressure of being famous. I believed the pressures of being famous like being followed by paparazzi, always being known by the public, and everything you do being under scrutiny would not want her to live that life anymore, but be forced to.

However, after learning it was written and originally performed by Sam Cooke, a famous music artist in 1964, I realized the song was about dealing with the hardships of being black in America during the Civil Rights Movement. Now just because both artists do not have the context , each artist's renditions of the song are very melodic. They both extend the verbs such as “go” and “know” and  get louder and perform longer fermatas (the hold of a note) and riffs (to repeat a sequence of notes) throughout the song.

E. This activity is related to the lecture material from this week because we are practicing how to use rhetorical reading strategies to analyze a text. The tasks in this activity had me pay attention to my emotional response to the performance of each song, research the context of each artist, and synthesize my findings with my own interpretation. At the beginning of this activity, my interpretation was very vague. I didn’t understand why the performance was so depressing and what the depressing melody was about. But as I did more research, I found that this song is related to the civil rights movement and has cultural significance for African Americans. I would have never gotten to that conclusion without engaging with the text.

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Sharing our experiences start spaces for empowerment, change,  and activism!

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Our Voices Empower Change :Gabrielle Jackson

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Our Voices Empower Change :Gabrielle Jackson

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A. The artist singing “A Change is Gonna Come,” is Lauryn Hill. Lauryn Hill is tasked with singing a very influential song that speaks to a black person’s experience and struggle while empowering people to continue on. Personally, I felt that the song brought about a clear message of motivation to push forward. I truly connected with this piece because I felt the pain and hopefulness of our black experiences aligning in that moment.

B. The original artist, Sam Cooke, singing this song was talking about the racial unrest he faces. I alluded to this conclusion because he talks about not being able to go certain places, and struggles with this issue when going to his brother for answers. Although time has passed from him singing this song to the present day I can relate to his exact emotions given the state of racial injustice in America today. Physically reading the lyrics allowed me to create that connection between my experience and his.

C. At that time, Sam Cooke was writing this song during the Civil Rights movement. He wanted to express his feelings during a time of segregation and inequality. The stake for Sam Cooke writing this song now speaks to universal issues of injustice and brutality throughout the world

D. Since I was a little girl, I have grown up knowing this song. Doing this activity has restored my black joy because this song continues to bring me inspiration.All of my interpretations of the song are equally important because they convey the same message. Each of my interpretations address the problem of injustice and inequality in America and around the world. Lauryn Hill and Sam Cooke rendition of “ A Change is Going to Come,” align when speaking to different struggles they face in their upbringing. Lauryn Hill speaks to her mother facing financial issues that affect their living environment.Sam Cooke speaks to the segregation he faces when not being allowed in various spaces. This is a vital connection because it speaks to the truth of their black experience.

E. This activity has been a direct reflection of this week's learning material because I have learned how to successfully conduct a rhetorical reading. The Haas/Flowers article redirected my thinking on how to comprehend and read materials such as books,news reports, and articles. For such a long time I had been interacting with the text in a way that wasn’t beneficial, but through this activity I was able to understand how to rhetorically read “ A Change is Going to Come by Sam Cooke,”. During this activity, I analyzed the lyrics so that I could find connections while letting the lyrics challenge me to find deeper meaning. Overall, this activity and lecture material from this week have helped my reading and comprehend process.

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" The time is always right to do what's right" MLK

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Standing Up & Speaking Out By: Trinitee Howard

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Standing Up & Speaking Out By: Trinitee Howard

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A. Lauryn Hill's song " A change gonna come" made me feel all sorts of emotions. The first one that was noticeable to me was empowerment. I felt empowered to reflect on the history of my people and really understand where we started and where we are now. My initial thoughts on the song was that is was amazing it gave and still gives hope to the black community that change will come. It felt like the song was telling us to stick together and to never give up on the change because if we were all stand up and speak out change there is no telling how fast and beneficial the change will be. Lauryn hill is one of the front runners of black women in the music industry and the time and era that the song was produced it greatly influenced people to have hope and get out to make a change.

B. My initial interpretation of the song is that its being sung in the perspective of someone who has been through a struggle but still has faith that one day things will be different. The lyrics deepened my initial feelings because when you hear it sometimes the music over powers the words and you can't fully understand what the artist is trying to portray. Since I was able to read the lyrics I now can see the struggles the artist meant and see the passion and feeling through the words. I can relate to this song because in my life there has been times when I thought I wasn't ever going to overcome and doubted my life, but I kept telling myself that it will only get better and change will come. That mantra kept me going and I no longer feel that way about my life and to this day I am still telling myself that change will come for the better.

C. The artist is Sam Cooke a well known singer from the 1960s. The stakes of this song was way higher because of the publication in the 60s discrimination and segregation was still enforced in some areas in the south and slaves were still owned by people. So, this song is what the people needed to hear to let them know to still have hope and don't give up. This song is what kept people going, it even influenced people to come together and start their own change.

D. My feelings, knowledge, and interpretation of the song has not really changed, but in my opinion I do prefer the Sam Cooke version just because I think the way he is singing the song came from a special place and it resonates with me more. My original response is just as important C than A and B because the artist of the song changes which could mean different interpretations of the song. This could change how you feel and understand the lyrics of the song. One artist may exclaim a lyric more than the other changing your perspective on the words. Or an artist might stay neutral and focus on just delivering the lyrics as they should be delivered. I can connect both artist and the songs because  ultimately they both have the same message just delivered differently. They both want to convey hope and togetherness, and successfully they did its now just which rendition do you prefer more.

E. This activity is related to the lecture material because the challenge that Haas/Flower gives us is to dig deeper into the text and try to get a new understanding of the material. The song ultimately has the same meaning but were given to us by different artist which can influence your understanding of the song. If we choose to understand it from a context reading view we wouldn't fully be diving into the song in its entirety and miss out on potential information. But with rhetorical reading this can be broken down in many different levels and that is why our lecture material is connected to this activity. It is just an example that no matter how similar a text might be our interpretations can always be influenced.

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The Fight to Equality Continues: Khaliqua Goodwin

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The Fight to Equality Continues: Khaliqua Goodwin

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A. The song "A Change Gonna Come" was not new to me because my family repeatedly played it at family events. When hearing the Lauryn Hill version of this song, I realized that in the beginning, it was not the same as the original version. By her adding the lyric, "my poor mother, she could hardly pay the rent." I knew the song was significant to her; you could feel the pain and power in her voice. The stakes Lauryn Hill had in performing this song is that she could relate to it, being that she is an African American woman and was in her prime during her music career. I believe she was one of the best at interpreting the message of change and hope this song brings.

B. My initial interpretation of the song was that it gives a strong message, saying that the change between the discrimination, oppression, and social injustice that black people are enduring in America needs to end. After reading the lyrics, it deepens my initial feelings towards the song. The lyric "I say brother help me please, but he winds up knockin' me, back down on my knees, oh" made me realize that this song is not only talking about the racial conflict between black and white people in America but also the conflict within the black community. Such as our people killing/fighting one another, whether it is gang-related, domestic violence, or an innocent bystander. I can personally relate to this song because not only have I been discriminated against as a black woman in America, but I have also had friends and family members that got murdered/injured by a person from within my community.

C. The artist of the original song "A Change is Gonna Come" is Sam Cooke; 1964 is when he released this song, the same year the Civil Rights Act ended segregation. I believe Cooke had stakes in writing this song by observing the time he was in; he wanted to write something that people could relate to and inspire them not to give up. In the 1960's era when Cooke wrote this song, people were being hanged, beaten, wrongfully convicted, and even murdered because of the color of their skin. This song was very significant because these were the years when many civil rights movements and activists fought for change in American.

D. My feelings, knowledge, and interpretation of the song broaden. I understood the song is not only asking for change about racial injustice but also for unity. My initial response in parts A and B is just as important here as part C because both showed how I got more in-depth through my writing. I not only used the lyrics in the song, but I also used my memories and opinions to answer the questions. I can connect both artists, Lauryn Hill and Sam Cooke, because their both are/were African Americans living in America. When Sam Cooke sang this song to the time Lauryn Hill did is decades apart, they both can relate to being racially discriminated against. Even though laws such as the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act have passed since Sam Cooke wrote "A Change Gonna Come." The fight for equality and social justice for black people in America still continues.

E. This activity is related to the lecture material my Professor talked about this week about rhetorical reading. Though we were only given both versions of the songs and the lyrics, I had to dig deeper to answer the questions.  I had to use my own personal meaning and response to get my point across in my answers. This activity relates to the Haas and Flowers article that reading is constructive. When answering the questions, I had to constantly ask myself "so what" or "why" and figure out how to use inference to draw a conclusion myself.

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Stratified Examinations of Protest  By: Morgan Hall     

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Stratified Examinations of Protest  By: Morgan Hall     

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A. The end of the song, “A Change is Gonna Come” sung by Lauryn Hill made me hopeful initially but also sad at the same time. This is because in the song she says that ‘A change is gonna come” referring to the injustices and oppression that African Americans face daily and have faced throughout history. She is hopeful and inspiring in saying so but I know that there is still a lot of change to come and it feels like a never-ending issue.  Lauryn Hill is an award-winning artist who was at the peak of her career in the late 90s and early 2000s. By covering this song she could’ve had a lot at stake. This is because some people may not like protest music or what the message is about. She honestly had her career and fanbase at stake.

B. My initial interpretation of this song is that it is about issues that a man has faced throughout life but he still has hope for change. Looking deeper into the lyrics helped to find more meaning by seeing that this is a song about oppression but it is hopeful that there will be change and progress. I personally relate to this song because I’m a black person living in America and I’ve seen the history that my people have gone through and still go through today. It still has a very powerful meaning and is relevant in today’s climate.

C. Sam Cooke is a singer and songwriter who was alive during the Civil Rights Movement. He wrote and sang the song, “A Change is Gonna Come” in the ’60s. The stakes were very high for him. As the Wiki page says, he could’ve lost his fanbase and support but he also would have lost much more because of the climate of the country at the time. It could've ended his career or possibly his life.

D. Though I had prior knowledge of the meaning of this song, my feelings and interpretations have deepened since listening to it from Lauryn Hill first. From listening to her version, reading the lyrics, the wiki page, and listening to Sam Cooke’s version, I now further understand the pain and struggle that this song holds within itself. Reading the Wikipedia page put into perspective that the situations that Sam Cooke was singing about, had actually and were still happening to him and many Black Americans at the time. But my original response in parts A & C is just as important as this response because they show how my original interpretation gradually deepened into something much more meaningful and in-depth. I can connect both Sam Cookes and Lauryn Hill’s rendition of this song by relating to the fact that they were/are both Black people living in America, living in times that are still hard for people of color. This connection is important because it speaks to the magnitude of the issue. A little over 40 years later, Black Americans are still facing this injustice and oppression. Though it is in a more systemic and systematic way, it still shows how there is still a lot more to change to come.

E. This activity directly relates to the lecture from this week and the Haas/Flower article because it showed and allowed me to build on my interpretations of the song by rhetorical reading. By the activity being set up the way it is, it allowed me to do this in a gradual way that helped me to understand this method of reading better. In class, we talked about how rhetorical reading involves integration which means to construct meaning by integrating the concepts we read into our frame of reference. This is exactly what I did with the song because I already had somewhat of a frame of reference for what the song was about. In the Hass/Flower article, they talked about reading as being a constructive act which means people use different strategies to interpret meaning. I used both integration and constructive reading to interpret and build upon the meaning of this song.

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Working Towards Change: By Jazmyn Hughes

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Working Towards Change: By Jazmyn Hughes

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A. When I heard the first line of this song I immediately felt like it was about struggle. At the end of the song I had a familiar feeling with what the singer is expressing. Another initial thought I had about this song was that its message was finding hope. Hearing this song gives me a little bit of a push to keep going and says that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The artist is singing this is Lauryn Hill and she is very popular for promoting emotion in her songs. I believe a stake she had in singing this was to properly convey the feeling and struggle that is present in the original song.

B. My initial interpretation of reading the lyrics is that the song is referencing segregation among people of color. I didn't actually realize there were more references besides the first sentence of the song. Reading the lyrics deepened my feelings of the song by giving me a bit more to go on. It reinforces my idea that the message is that even though things are hard and scary in one instance, circumstances always change and things will get better. This sticks out to me a lot in the lyric 'It's been a long long time coming  but I know a change is gonna come', which explains things have been the same for a long time but hope is still present. A way I personally relate to this song is  I frequently tell myself things will improve when I feel bad about something that happened to me.

C.  The original artist of this song is Sam Cooke. He wrote this song to speak on his struggles as a black musician during segregation. I think this song holds a personal stake to Cooke because he is singing from his own personal experiences and how he wants things to change regarding civil rights for people of color.

D.  My views on this song have changed a little bit since completing parts A-C. I learned about how the original artist came to make the song and the impact it had on people and still currently affects people. My original interpretation is just as important as my view on it now because in order to fully understand the evolution of a concept you need all stages of it's development. It would be inaccurate to state my final view as my original thoughts and say it never went through change, because it did. This isn't to say my views at the beginning were wrong at all, just the first stage. I connect the two artists in a few ways. One way I connect them is the fact they are both artists of color who used music to express how they feel about inequalities in the world. Another way I  connect them is seeing Lauryn's version as a tribute to Same Cooke and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.

E. I think this work pertains to the material we learned this week because I had to go through the steps of rhetorical reading. I had to go through a vague understanding of the material and connect to my prior knowledge. I also got to use my prior knowledge of the information to further my understanding of material I hadn't seen before (information on Sam Cooke). It also gave me the opportunity to think deeper on the connection between music and expression and how it can influence major movements.

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The struggle may continue but we will fight to overcome. 

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A. When I first heard the song I felt calm and relaxed. I enjoyed it because the original song is one of my favorite songs to sing at church. Listening to this song I felt motivated to keep going and not lose focus. The artist singing this song is Lauryn Hill, an African American woman who took this song and made it her own.

B. This song is not new to me. I used to sing this song in church on youth Sundays and during black history month. My initial interpretation of the song when I was younger was that although things may be rough in the beginning a change will eventually come. When I listen to this song I always think about how far the black community has come. When Sam Cooke says “It’s been too hard living, but I’m afraid to die ‘cause I don’t know what’s up there, beyond the sky” I related to that because growing up in church when I was younger I always questioned what was up there beyond the sky. With the passing of my mom at 6, I was always curious about what it was really like.

C. The artist of this song is Sam Cooke, an African American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Cooke originally wrote this song to talk about his struggles and the black community around him.

D. After reading about why Sam Cooke wrote the song. I have grown to love it more. I have always had a strong connection to this song because the lyrics always spoke to me, but knowing the root of why Sam Cooke chose to say what he said makes me feel motivated and encouraged. My interpretation of the song hasn’t changed. I now feel a different kind of connection towards the song. I would connect both renditions of the song by relating it to the fact that they are both about overcoming struggle. In Lauryn Hill’s rendition of the song, the only thing she changes is the first verse where she sings about how her mother can’t pay the rent but a change is gonna come. She made the lyrics more relatable to her situation. In both versions of the song, the overall message was that a change was going to come. This connection is important because most artists who remake or cover different songs completely change the overall message.

E. In this week’s lecture, we discussed Rhetoric reading and how in order to truly understand what you are reading you have to use integration. Which involves you constructing your meaning and integrating those concepts into your perception and allowing yourself to view the reading in new ways by combining it with your own experience. The lecture is related to this activity because throughout this activity I used integration to get a better understanding of the song. The first thing I did was listen to the song, and then I went in deeper by gathering information on the original artist and getting a better context of why the song was made. I then took my own experiences, related them to the song, and in the end got a better understanding of the song as well connected with it more.

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Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights- Azziah Hunter

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Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights- Azziah Hunter

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A. By the end of the song, I felt like hope was restored. I believe this is such a powerful song that makes you feel like a storm won't last forever and things will get better with time. The artist covering this is Lauryn Hill and she is an African American woman singing this song that was originally about civil rights. By her singing, this makes it more real and people enjoy listening to her.
B. My initial interpretation of the song is that it is full of emotion and it's so powerful. There was a struggle and people had to try their best to adjust. It was an extremely difficult time and they just had to be patient. By reading the lyrics my feelings definitely deepened. I feel like I was able to retain the meaning behind it way better than just actually listening to it. I personally relate to this song because I have been through hardships and all I could do was wait for everything to get better because it was out of my hands. I just had to have faith that everything will work itself out.
C. The original artist of this song is Sam Cooke. The stakes Cooke has in writing this song was opening up and letting everyone feel his pain as the fight for civil rights was happening. Throughout the song, you can hear the pain and emotion in his voice and it really makes you think about life.
D. My feelings, knowledge, and interpretation of the song changed drastically. As many times as I have heard this song, I never analyzed it as I did just now. I believe that since I am older I can fully understand the meaning behind this song and why it is so strong. Being African American has never been easy and will never be because there are always people who will try to oppress us. My original response/interpretation in parts A and B is just as important here as part C because it shows how the song truly makes me feel. The connection between both artists is that they are both African American. This connection is important because it makes people pay closer attention to what the song is conveying. The fact that an African American woman covered an African American man's song only makes the message so much more impactful.
E. This activity is related to the lecture material from this week and/or the Haas/Flower article because we used rhetorical strategies in order to complete this assignment. This strategy involves interrogation and becoming aware of the impact of the text on yourself or other audiences, which is exactly what I need. As I listened to the song and read the lyrics to fully analyze I realized that I was using this strategy as I tried to think about the meaning behind it. The article touched base on this a lot and it is extremely important. If it wasn't for the article or the lecture material I would not have known I was even using this strategy.