Massive media Intake. Pg 14 "young people of today derive the bulk of their ideas not from traditional institutions, but from the growing number and more intrusive forms of mass media." I agree, seeing the influence the media has on my generation. The media has impacted a great number of people's thoughts, concerns, actions...... overall Identity and Idealogy
I feel that by saying flaws in the system are a blanket for some people to hide behind.(its thier problem not mine) If there is a issue in which you do not agree with then by all means fight against it, but i also feel that the system cannot be sensitive to every situation. There has to be a standard in which they base their rules upon or anyone could run over the system. Also i feel that because people run over the system and manipulate it to the most address those individuals because they are the reason why rules are made more difficult to get past.
I definitely agree with what both Airian and Ashley are saying. I believe that the media does play a big role in the post hip-hop generation. I think the media makes it very easy for people to but on a facade. Everyone wants to be like the people they see on t.v but the truth is that the people on t.v are even putting on an act. To add onto what Ashley was saying, we do need to try and change the system but there should be a standard for how the rules are made. I agree that without this standard the system would be easily overran.
I feel like one of the major issues affecting our generation is thebreakdown of the family unit but more specifically the "absentee father". By absentee father, I really mean the whole devaluazation of the father and his role in the family. it has started 50 plus years ago, in my opinion, with the media always portraying the father as kind of dumb and clueless and pretty much always on the TV shows as comic relief. (dick van dyke show,my three sons) And it has progresively gotten worse. Sure there are exceptions to the rule(cosby show) but for the most part the mother is always the sensible,level-headed one and the father is a clown( simpsons,al bundy types) After years and years of accepting this message the result has become all too apparent. The women of the world don't feel like they "need" fathers for there children and the fathers don't feel vital to there children's upbringing. Sure the law will make you pay child support but no law will make you spend any ounce of time with that child. So how does that affect the post hip hop generation? we have generations who believe that veiw the responsibility of a father as monetary and the mother is all that is really neccessary for parenting. This leads to more abandonment by the fathers and the denial of access to the child by the mothers. Also the use of children as weapons against fathers. All that leads to is a generation that holds the belief that "I aint have no daddy and I turned out fine. If she wanna act like that ain't nothing I can do about but shorty will be straight" and with that thought is born another absentee father.
I believe that the most dominant issue that effects the post hip hop generation is the true lack of unity. During the Civil Rights Movement you had a unified group of people fighting for what they believe in. Although you had a group of people wanting to use peaceful tactics (i.e. Dr. Martin L. King) and those who wanted to get equality by any means necessary (Malcolm X), they still had one goal in mind and worked toward that goal to make things happen. As a people we have lost that. We are a divided community, which is made relevant by the out break of random gangs throughout our communities. It has gotten so bad that I am reluctant to even call what we have a community. After all how can we have a community with no UNITY.
As I view all these points about what our generation is lacking..I think what we lack unity and unity starts in the house hold of where we eat, sleep and wash up. Coming from the rural area of Chicago, everybody want to be a gangster and represent the "Thug life" of what is on TV but cant read or get a job but love standing on the corner (be a security guard). Just like my fellow classmate said she did not have her father well I basically did not have my parents due to the both of them being antisocial. Father being strung on drugs, Mother running away from home. I made it my choice to want better and be better. I listen to rap music, but do not represent myself in a manner of drugs and killing, but as far as clothes I'm young and of course it is appealing. According to the book the salients that effect and impact our generation are the Video's with naked girls, rappers living the big life (jewelery, cars, houses) talk about killing in their songs. These aspect shape most of our generation through the fast lane part of life because the fame and fashion is what we want.
To go along with what Stclair and others have stated Asante described how the media plays a big role in shaping the community. Asante stated that in television African Americans are portrayed negatively and partake in ridiculous roles where they say dumb thing that makes them seem like they have very to no intellect at all, and do not say these things with intention to humor but seem as if they do not know any better. Another issue described is how music had changed. A quote from book stated "hip hop empowered my dads generation to be better, to stand up, to stop the violence," and now he turns on the radio and hears "I'll kill you nigga." He is trying to show how music went from trying to make the community a better place and everybody coming together to being about violence and other negative aspects of life.
I agree with Airian and a couple of others about the media playing a huge role in the lives of our generation, the post hip hop generation. Many of the boys/men and girls/women don't have physical (mom, dad, cousin, brother, teacher) positive role models or guidance in their everyday lives. So those individuals look to these characters portrayed in the media. People such as rappers and singers look like they are not only living the good life but they are popular and always in the public eye also, and many people of the post hip hop generation admire that. Money make the world go round, and that is all majority of our generation is looking at. The post hip hop generation is not pondering the idea that what they see in the media is mostly fabricated, they just believe imitating the rappers/singers' actions will get them money, which is their top priority. The post hip hop generation is lazy and is looking for an easy route to make money, they are not thinking about the long run, such as going to school and getting a degree, they are thinking about right now.
I agree with many of the points that have been made especially the lack of unity amongst our generation. In this day in age most take on the "every man for themselves mentality". I feel like the dominant issue is the lack of unity. The goal of the hip-hop generation and even the Civil Rights era, unlike the post hip-hop generation, was to reach a common goal. The advancement of us as people was more important than individual achievement. I feel that within this generation too many of us are unaffected by what is taking place around us. Instead of taking a stand for something and speaking about relevant issues we settle for legitimacy. Just as Asante stated this generation allows materialistic things displayed by mass media to define our success. Hip hop's intent is not solely to show blacks in a negative light but instead of choosing to work against this stereotype we embrace beliefs and theories that are ideological.
Media plays a huge role in our society and that's one of the points Asante makes. He also states that for so long the media has portrayed the black community to be a certain way, that we are now living up to our stereotypes. I feel like if those negative images are all we see, then eventually we are going to start believing them. You constantly hear rappers talking about how many people they’ve shot, the amount of drugs they've sold, and how many girls they've been with. If a person is constantly around cocaine, they probably will eventually become an addict. That same concept applies with the media and our youth. Since those are things that are almost synonymous with black people, it’s not surprising that the majority of our people try to live that lifestyle. A large part of the solution would be to regain control of Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is the outlet that sends many of those negative messages. Hip-hop use to be an art form that empowered the black community, now, because of capitalism, it is doing nothing but destroying it. It’s almost like we’re destroying ourselves.
A major issue that Asante points out is how the media impacts the Post Hip Hop Generation. Not only does the media portray African-Americans in a negative way, but that is what this generation looks up to and models their lives off of. If all we see is the black community gunning after each other or not striving to rise above all the negativity, that's the mentality that is going to set in with this generation and it will be a continuing cycle. It's all of the stereotypes that get highlighted and in order for the cycle to be broken there needs to be a change in how African-Americans are depicted.
I agree with what many of the others have stated already especially, with the role that the media plays with Community and Family. Like previously stated, it seems that the household is consistently lacking the father role, which has a direct relationship with the portrayal of fatherhood in the media. The media consistently portrays the father in a sense as worthless. However, it isn't limited to just fathers, the media portrays a negative image for kids to portray in general(new "hip-hop" videos). Because as we all know the image media portrays seamlessly trickles down into our communities and the "community role models"(at least what young adolescents see).It is OUR job to stop the trend and endless cycle. I say this to say that we, as college students, must be the catalyst as we continue to search for success. We must continue to reach behind us and bring along those younger siblings, cousins, etc. by teaching them a new way of living and becoming the ideal "role model". We can't continue to allow the media to dictate what our communities and children are going to be. We can't control what the media puts out but what we can control is our own actions. I firmly believe that we can be far more influential to the people around us than the media.
In an age where mass media seems to be at its highest influential point, it is a valid argument that the "hip-hop generation" is heavily impacted by it. Besides hip-hop music, the portrayal of African-Americans in American society has historically been tested to its limits i.e. racist depictions or caricatures. Though many might argue these images have significantly trimmed down the racism, there still are many stereotypes being exploited. Cliche Gangster rappers and demeaning images of African-American women are constantly being pumped through the channels of television and the internet. Which honestly makes it difficult for adolescents to find positive role models. It truly is a difficult task to reverse this cycle of negativity. However the best start may be for someone with proclaimed "status" to address the issue. Until then the cycle will continue...
I too agree with Arian and Tales about how Asante states that the Media plays a large role in the negative impact of the post hip hop generation. I believe this is very evident in not only this community but all communities in this society. I believe these images in the media that influences the post hip hop generation because it is now how hip hop is viewed, ignorant, displayed women as only sexual devient object, which influences the way the males in the post hip hop generation treats females (with little to no respect. This media brings that generation down with the portrayal of these negative images.
I agree with the views about the media and the lack of union in our community as major factor impacting the post hip hop generation. Individualism is a major theme that has proved to have a negative effect on our community, and this is derived from the hopelessness and lack of faith those individuals have in their common people. We are less inclined to help others because we have fallen for the same image the media portrays of our own people.
I agree with many of the above statements commenting that the media plays a major role in the post hip-hop generation. Many of the songs on the radio are about people killing one another, or getting with multipul girls at the same time, down grading women, etc., it's a constant cylce with these artists that everyone raps and sings about the same thing. There is really no indiviuality within the songs that makes a raper or singer better then the other if you really think about it. The only thing that really seperates them apart is if one has a sick beat or not. The post hip hop generation seems like it sturs up more violence through out the streets because of all the songs pertaining to gettin that money, killing people, drug dealing, and so much more problems. There's nothing that's trying to be done to stopping violence in the generation that we are in right now. The post hip hop generation doesn't really talk about the social issues that are happening in the world, where as most of the hip hop artists have done in the past.
And the class votes that the media is what's wrong with the post hip-hop generation according to Asante; but what other issues do you think impact the p-h-h generation? Here are some other issues our blog brought to light:
Lack of unity, Absentee father, System failure and more.
So if the media plays the biggest role, what does that say about technology? I think that technology has one of the greatest impact on the post-hip-hop generation. Technology has made the post-hip-hop generation lazy and uncaring. Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's hip-hop created a movement where people would get off their ass and go to the street to see a DJ and Emcee rock the mic. For example; when the hip-hop express roles through Champaign-Urbana the kids come running like it's the neighborhood ice cream truck. We don't have that in hip-hop anymore where large social gathering brought out many people to see what the movement was do while keeping the soul of the people alive. Technology is keeping the post hip-hop generation from getting more involved and engaged. As a people we will perish from a lack of knowledge. The phh generation could do a lot better if they cared more but some people are just satisfied with the mainstream hip-hip and that is where we are current stuck in my opinion.
Important quotes from the book:
"If the post-hip-hop generation chooses to act, what values, whose ideas, will inform that action? If they choose not to act, not to "wake up," as it were, whose values and ideas will be imposed upon them?"
"The post-hip-hop generation must be brave enough to fully engage in exploration, challenge, and discovery, acts that will ultimately result in a revelation of contemporary truths that will help define us, and, in turn, the world."
"Images play a crucial role defining and controlling the political and social power to which both individuals and marginalized groups have access."
I agree with the statements above. I believe there are two major issues that impact our generation. One is the lack of community, and our now selfish behavior. Now a days it is always me first. Forget everyone else, as long as I get mine I don't care who gets left out. We are as a whole no longer concerned about the progression of our own people. Another important issue that I believe to impact our generation is that we are no longer being defined by ourselves. Our music of the time is a representation of our generation. If we do not own our music or control what is being broadcast, then we do not control how we our being portrayed. Music voices the things that we find important; our values, ideals, and morals. With us not controlling what is put out we either feel disconnected or we embrace the self destructive nature being broadcast in most of our music.
A problem that Asante highlighs in his book and others have highlighted on this blog is the idea that media is defining the African-American culture. With the continuous representation of African-Americans in a negative way, we opt to fulfill the sterotypes that are out there about us by mimicking the media's portrayal of the African-American people. As Asante puts it, "The reel becomes the real." A famous American philospher by the name of Waldo Ralph Emerson stated in his essay, "Self-Reliance" that "imitation is suicide." By people mirroring the the things seen on television not because they like it, but because it is the hip thing to do is suicidial. We are killing cultures left and right by conforming to what is represented by mainstream media. We as African-Americans trandscend the misconceptions of our cultures not comply with them . We must redefine(or define)ourselves in a manner at which the current reel is not the real.
When it comes to the impact of our generation, I would simply have to say it is due to media. I feel like this alone is what does most of the damage on, not just our society internally, but the views of us from others as well. I feel like because of the media, the Black community is highly motivated to believe that most of the negative things that are promoted and develop a sort of phobia on what is positive. Compared to those of an older generation, it is automatically assumed that our society would quickly shoot down the thought of unity, leadership and many other positive aspects that can help better us, collectively and individually but we would be the first to make an attempt at getting other's attention by doing something dumb and ignorant. Unless, we all learn that the situation we are currently in is one that isn't acceptable and decide to do something about it, we are going to continue to be swayed into whatever the media expects us to believe in, and the sad part is, I honestly do not see things changing anytime soon, if not at all.
Pg 14 "young people of today derive the bulk of their ideas not from traditional institutions, but from the growing number and more intrusive forms of mass media." Not only is the media the problem, but it also lies with young people's perceptions of what is valuable/meaningful. A teacher once told me that we are culturally built filters. In most cases, you end up a product of your environment. But those who choose to gain an education are also choosing to open up new doors to other cultures. This alone can broaden your intellectual horizons as well as your visible ones. But those who are accustomed to just their culture automatically choose to never discover these doors and only go off what they choose to gain knowledge from, the worst being the media.
To me Asante was really illustrating how influential the media is in the lives of the Post Hip Hop Generation. Music these days have no type of substance or actual meaning. Our generation is being filled with negative thoughts by the media. The music industry is telling our young people to kill each other and DEGRADE our women. Whether people know it or not, the music their listening is having an effect on them. The media is showing our young people that its O.K to want to become the next Gucci Mane or 50 Cent. They made it out the hood and so can you. So many black men these days believe that all their problems can be if they can just make it to the NBA or get a record deal. Instead of getting a real job they chase this almost impossible dream of making. The media has a huge impact on the Post Hip Hop generation but it also boils down to the decisions that we make as individuals.
My comment got deleted and I am not sure how! I was writing about the issues with the media and what they choose to deliberately exploit online and in the news...what is publicized is damaging to the reputation of the post hip hop generation. Can someone please tell me what I did wrong last time? Because it says I deleted it but I am not sure how!
As many of my classmates have overtly stated, Asante suggests that the media is one of the salient issues impacting the PHH Generation. I agree because I noticed that from the way we dress, to what we eat everyday, it is influenced by the media. I would like to also agree with Djudon statement, "The media is showing our young people that it’s O.K. to want to be the next Gucci Mane or 50 Cent. They made it out the hood and so can you." Since many of the youth are in a sense being "raised by the television," they do not realize the images and stories they watch on television could’ve been created to manipulate them into buying clothes because its cool or to attend a community college and not reach their full potential with suggestions such as: go to a University and get a M.B.A so you can make enough money to live "the American Dream.” I'd like to consider this manipulation to selective viewing for the public.
the media dictates the way black figures are now "supposed to be represented" there is an expectation of a certain persona that people associate with black figures whether good or bad theres even an undertone that the black positive figures are merely posing and regress back to there "not as sophisticated" ways when in the confort of there homes and family settings, not to say this is bad but this is the outlook that the media has created about public black figures of this day and age. I personally just dont know if its not too late to change this.
I agree with djudon many of the so called hip-hop or rap music we hear nowadays has no substance no meaning. to listen to some of these rap-hip hop song is to subject myself to degradation and humuliation. I want to hear about lack of education opportunities in urban areas, why African American men make up more than half the prison population. these are issues that are affecting us. it would be nice to hear someone bring these issues up. Another thing I haven't heard anyone mention is voting. why is that so many African Americans don't go out to vote? Why? we complain and sit in class and talk about ISSUES affect the PHHG but really the only way we can change our situation is by voting. someone asked if our votes really made a difference? people fought for our rights to vote and we ask if our vote makes a difference, if it didn't would the leaders of the civil rights movement fought for that right?
To add on to Asente's views on the media and the post-hiphop generation, I believe that the media is a tool used to keep the public in the mind-frame that certain negative influences in our society are acceptable if it is in the spirit of entertainment, which will equate to money at the end of the day. Not only can the media be used as a tool for revenue of the establishment and thus more Power, but it can also be used as a tool of conditioning and influencing the mind "sub-consciously" and thus using the mind to further the agenda of the non-caring establishment. I believe that there is definitely a mind behind the media and that its agenda is even more important than the money it generates. Parallel to the sub-conscious influence of certain aspects of the media is the purposeful exclusion of certain ideas in the media. This is why we are in a post-hiphop generation. Artists like Kanye West who, in my opinion is a true hip hop artist and activist, are not given the tools to true activism in his music due certain "responsibilities" that were "intrusted" in him by the establishment in which influence his "honesty" and do not allow him to open the treasures (knowledge) in his mind.
Kanye West - Power- "Got treasures in my mind but couldn’t open up my own vault My childlike creativity, purity and honesty Is honestly being prodded by these grown thoughts Reality is catchin’ up with me Takin’ my inner child, I’m fighting for it, custody With these responsibilities that they entrusted me As I look down at my dia-mond-encrusted piece"
According to babydblog 2010, she mentions that “the issue of our generation is the breakdown of the family unit but more specifically the “absentee father””I do agree with her because throughout my high school carrier, I had four good friends all of them were African American. They come from a single parent (mother) home. Two of them do not know their father while the other two do know their father but they mention that their father has never been there for them since from birth. We did graduate from high school together but 3 of my friend choose not to go to college but one of them and I decided to further our education. He attended UIC at Chicago but I later talked to him during the summer and found out that he drop out from college to look for job to support his mother and siblings. According to my understanding, the media is one of the issues that is impacting or have been impacting our post hip-hop generation especially African American.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMassive media Intake. Pg 14 "young people of today derive the bulk of their ideas not from traditional institutions, but from the growing number and more intrusive forms of mass media." I agree, seeing the influence the media has on my generation. The media has impacted a great number of people's thoughts, concerns, actions...... overall Identity and Idealogy
ReplyDeleteI feel that by saying flaws in the system are a blanket for some people to hide behind.(its thier problem not mine) If there is a issue in which you do not agree with then by all means fight against it, but i also feel that the system cannot be sensitive to every situation. There has to be a standard in which they base their rules upon or anyone could run over the system. Also i feel that because people run over the system and manipulate it to the most address those individuals because they are the reason why rules are made more difficult to get past.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what both Airian and Ashley are saying. I believe that the media does play a big role in the post hip-hop generation. I think the media makes it very easy for people to but on a facade. Everyone wants to be like the people they see on t.v but the truth is that the people on t.v are even putting on an act. To add onto what Ashley was saying, we do need to try and change the system but there should be a standard for how the rules are made. I agree that without this standard the system would be easily overran.
ReplyDeleteI feel like one of the major issues affecting our generation is thebreakdown of the family unit but more specifically the "absentee father". By absentee father, I really mean the whole devaluazation of the father and his role in the family. it has started 50 plus years ago, in my opinion, with the media always portraying the father as kind of dumb and clueless and pretty much always on the TV shows as comic relief. (dick van dyke show,my three sons) And it has progresively gotten worse. Sure there are exceptions to the rule(cosby show) but for the most part the mother is always the sensible,level-headed one and the father is a clown( simpsons,al bundy types) After years and years of accepting this message the result has become all too apparent. The women of the world don't feel like they "need" fathers for there children and the fathers don't feel vital to there children's upbringing. Sure the law will make you pay child support but no law will make you spend any ounce of time with that child. So how does that affect the post hip hop generation? we have generations who believe that veiw the responsibility of a father as monetary and the mother is all that is really neccessary for parenting. This leads to more abandonment by the fathers and the denial of access to the child by the mothers. Also the use of children as weapons against fathers. All that leads to is a generation that holds the belief that "I aint have no daddy and I turned out fine. If she wanna act like that ain't nothing I can do about but shorty will be straight" and with that thought is born another absentee father.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the most dominant issue that effects the post hip hop generation is the true lack of unity. During the Civil Rights Movement you had a unified group of people fighting for what they believe in. Although you had a group of people wanting to use peaceful tactics (i.e. Dr. Martin L. King) and those who wanted to get equality by any means necessary (Malcolm X), they still had one goal in mind and worked toward that goal to make things happen. As a people we have lost that. We are a divided community, which is made relevant by the out break of random gangs throughout our communities. It has gotten so bad that I am reluctant to even call what we have a community. After all how can we have a community with no UNITY.
ReplyDeleteAs I view all these points about what our generation is lacking..I think what we lack unity and unity starts in the house hold of where we eat, sleep and wash up. Coming from the rural area of Chicago, everybody want to be a gangster and represent the "Thug life" of what is on TV but cant read or get a job but love standing on the corner (be a security guard). Just like my fellow classmate said she did not have her father well I basically did not have my parents due to the both of them being antisocial. Father being strung on drugs, Mother running away from home. I made it my choice to want better and be better. I listen to rap music, but do not represent myself in a manner of drugs and killing, but as far as clothes I'm young and of course it is appealing. According to the book the salients that effect and impact our generation are the Video's with naked girls, rappers living the big life (jewelery, cars, houses) talk about killing in their songs. These aspect shape most of our generation through the fast lane part of life because the fame and fashion is what we want.
ReplyDeleteTo go along with what Stclair and others have stated Asante described how the media plays a big role in shaping the community. Asante stated that in television African Americans are portrayed negatively and partake in ridiculous roles where they say dumb thing that makes them seem like they have very to no intellect at all, and do not say these things with intention to humor but seem as if they do not know any better. Another issue described is how music had changed. A quote from book stated "hip hop empowered my dads generation to be better, to stand up, to stop the violence," and now he turns on the radio and hears "I'll kill you nigga." He is trying to show how music went from trying to make the community a better place and everybody coming together to being about violence and other negative aspects of life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Airian and a couple of others about the media playing a huge role in the lives of our generation, the post hip hop generation. Many of the boys/men and girls/women don't have physical (mom, dad, cousin, brother, teacher) positive role models or guidance in their everyday lives. So those individuals look to these characters portrayed in the media. People such as rappers and singers look like they are not only living the good life but they are popular and always in the public eye also, and many people of the post hip hop generation admire that. Money make the world go round, and that is all majority of our generation is looking at. The post hip hop generation is not pondering the idea that what they see in the media is mostly fabricated, they just believe imitating the rappers/singers' actions will get them money, which is their top priority. The post hip hop generation is lazy and is looking for an easy route to make money, they are not thinking about the long run, such as going to school and getting a degree, they are thinking about right now.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the points that have been made especially the lack of unity amongst our generation. In this day in age most take on the "every man for themselves mentality". I feel like the dominant issue is the lack of unity. The goal of the hip-hop generation and even the Civil Rights era, unlike the post hip-hop generation, was to reach a common goal. The advancement of us as people was more important than individual achievement. I feel that within this generation too many of us are unaffected by what is taking place around us. Instead of taking a stand for something and speaking about relevant issues we settle for legitimacy. Just as Asante stated this generation allows materialistic things displayed by mass media to define our success. Hip hop's intent is not solely to show blacks in a negative light but instead of choosing to work against this stereotype we embrace beliefs and theories that are ideological.
ReplyDeleteMedia plays a huge role in our society and that's one of the points Asante makes. He also states that for so long the media has portrayed the black community to be a certain way, that we are now living up to our stereotypes. I feel like if those negative images are all we see, then eventually we are going to start believing them. You constantly hear rappers talking about how many people they’ve shot, the amount of drugs they've sold, and how many girls they've been with. If a person is constantly around cocaine, they probably will eventually become an addict. That same concept applies with the media and our youth. Since those are things that are almost synonymous with black people, it’s not surprising that the majority of our people try to live that lifestyle. A large part of the solution would be to regain control of Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is the outlet that sends many of those negative messages. Hip-hop use to be an art form that empowered the black community, now, because of capitalism, it is doing nothing but destroying it. It’s almost like we’re destroying ourselves.
ReplyDeleteA major issue that Asante points out is how the media impacts the Post Hip Hop Generation. Not only does the media portray African-Americans in a negative way, but that is what this generation looks up to and models their lives off of. If all we see is the black community gunning after each other or not striving to rise above all the negativity, that's the mentality that is going to set in with this generation and it will be a continuing cycle. It's all of the stereotypes that get highlighted and in order for the cycle to be broken there needs to be a change in how African-Americans are depicted.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what many of the others have stated already especially, with the role that the media plays with Community and Family. Like previously stated, it seems that the household is consistently lacking the father role, which has a direct relationship with the portrayal of fatherhood in the media. The media consistently portrays the father in a sense as worthless. However, it isn't limited to just fathers, the media portrays a negative image for kids to portray in general(new "hip-hop" videos). Because as we all know the image media portrays seamlessly trickles down into our communities and the "community role models"(at least what young adolescents see).It is OUR job to stop the trend and endless cycle. I say this to say that we, as college students, must be the catalyst as we continue to search for success. We must continue to reach behind us and bring along those younger siblings, cousins, etc. by teaching them a new way of living and becoming the ideal "role model". We can't continue to allow the media to dictate what our communities and children are going to be. We can't control what the media puts out but what we can control is our own actions. I firmly believe that we can be far more influential to the people around us than the media.
ReplyDeleteIn an age where mass media seems to be at its highest influential point, it is a valid argument that the "hip-hop generation" is heavily impacted by it. Besides hip-hop music, the portrayal of African-Americans in American society has historically been tested to its limits i.e. racist depictions or caricatures. Though many might argue these images have significantly trimmed down the racism, there still are many stereotypes being exploited. Cliche Gangster rappers and demeaning images of African-American women are constantly being pumped through the channels of television and the internet. Which honestly makes it difficult for adolescents to find positive role models. It truly is a difficult task to reverse this cycle of negativity. However the best start may be for someone with proclaimed "status" to address the issue. Until then the cycle will continue...
ReplyDeleteI too agree with Arian and Tales about how Asante states that the Media plays a large role in the negative impact of the post hip hop generation. I believe this is very evident in not only this community but all communities in this society. I believe these images in the media that influences the post hip hop generation because it is now how hip hop is viewed, ignorant, displayed women as only sexual devient object, which influences the way the males in the post hip hop generation treats females (with little to no respect. This media brings that generation down with the portrayal of these negative images.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the views about the media and the lack of union in our community as major factor impacting the post hip hop generation. Individualism is a major theme that has proved to have a negative effect on our community, and this is derived from the hopelessness and lack of faith those individuals have in their common people. We are less inclined to help others because we have fallen for the same image the media portrays of our own people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the above statements commenting that the media plays a major role in the post hip-hop generation. Many of the songs on the radio are about people killing one another, or getting with multipul girls at the same time, down grading women, etc., it's a constant cylce with these artists that everyone raps and sings about the same thing. There is really no indiviuality within the songs that makes a raper or singer better then the other if you really think about it. The only thing that really seperates them apart is if one has a sick beat or not. The post hip hop generation seems like it sturs up more violence through out the streets because of all the songs pertaining to gettin that money, killing people, drug dealing, and so much more problems. There's nothing that's trying to be done to stopping violence in the generation that we are in right now. The post hip hop generation doesn't really talk about the social issues that are happening in the world, where as most of the hip hop artists have done in the past.
ReplyDeleteAnd the class votes that the media is what's wrong with the post hip-hop generation according to Asante; but what other issues do you think impact the p-h-h generation? Here are some other issues our blog brought to light:
ReplyDeleteLack of unity, Absentee father, System failure and more.
So if the media plays the biggest role, what does that say about technology? I think that technology has one of the greatest impact on the post-hip-hop generation. Technology has made the post-hip-hop generation lazy and uncaring. Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's hip-hop created a movement where people would get off their ass and go to the street to see a DJ and Emcee rock the mic. For example; when the hip-hop express roles through Champaign-Urbana the kids come running like it's the neighborhood ice cream truck. We don't have that in hip-hop anymore where large social gathering brought out many people to see what the movement was do while keeping the soul of the people alive. Technology is keeping the post hip-hop generation from getting more involved and engaged. As a people we will perish from a lack of knowledge. The phh generation could do a lot better if they cared more but some people are just satisfied with the mainstream hip-hip and that is where we are current stuck in my opinion.
Important quotes from the book:
"If the post-hip-hop generation chooses to act, what values, whose ideas, will inform that action? If they choose not to act, not to "wake up," as it were, whose values and ideas will be imposed upon them?"
"The post-hip-hop generation must be brave enough to fully engage in exploration, challenge, and discovery, acts that will ultimately result in a revelation of contemporary truths that will help define us, and, in turn, the world."
"Images play a crucial role defining and controlling the political and social power to which both individuals and marginalized groups have access."
I agree with the statements above. I believe there are two major issues that impact our generation. One is the lack of community, and our now selfish behavior. Now a days it is always me first. Forget everyone else, as long as I get mine I don't care who gets left out. We are as a whole no longer concerned about the progression of our own people. Another important issue that I believe to impact our generation is that we are no longer being defined by ourselves. Our music of the time is a representation of our generation. If we do not own our music or control what is being broadcast, then we do not control how we our being portrayed. Music voices the things that we find important; our values, ideals, and morals. With us not controlling what is put out we either feel disconnected or we embrace the self destructive nature being broadcast in most of our music.
ReplyDeleteA problem that Asante highlighs in his book and others have highlighted on this blog is the idea that media is defining the African-American culture. With the continuous representation of African-Americans in a negative way, we opt to fulfill the sterotypes that are out there about us by mimicking the media's portrayal of the African-American people. As Asante puts it, "The reel becomes the real." A famous American philospher by the name of Waldo Ralph Emerson stated in his essay, "Self-Reliance" that "imitation is suicide." By people mirroring the the things seen on television not because they like it, but because it is the hip thing to do is suicidial. We are killing cultures left and right by conforming to what is represented by mainstream media. We as African-Americans trandscend the misconceptions of our cultures not comply with them . We must redefine(or define)ourselves in a manner at which the current reel is not the real.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the impact of our generation, I would simply have to say it is due to media. I feel like this alone is what does most of the damage on, not just our society internally, but the views of us from others as well. I feel like because of the media, the Black community is highly motivated to believe that most of the negative things that are promoted and develop a sort of phobia on what is positive. Compared to those of an older generation, it is automatically assumed that our society would quickly shoot down the thought of unity, leadership and many other positive aspects that can help better us, collectively and individually but we would be the first to make an attempt at getting other's attention by doing something dumb and ignorant. Unless, we all learn that the situation we are currently in is one that isn't acceptable and decide to do something about it, we are going to continue to be swayed into whatever the media expects us to believe in, and the sad part is, I honestly do not see things changing anytime soon, if not at all.
ReplyDeletePg 14 "young people of today derive the bulk of their ideas not from traditional institutions, but from the growing number and more intrusive forms of mass media." Not only is the media the problem, but it also lies with young people's perceptions of what is valuable/meaningful. A teacher once told me that we are culturally built filters. In most cases, you end up a product of your environment. But those who choose to gain an education are also choosing to open up new doors to other cultures. This alone can broaden your intellectual horizons as well as your visible ones. But those who are accustomed to just their culture automatically choose to never discover these doors and only go off what they choose to gain knowledge from, the worst being the media.
ReplyDeleteTo me Asante was really illustrating how influential the media is in the lives of the Post Hip Hop Generation. Music these days have no type of substance or actual meaning. Our generation is being filled with negative thoughts by the media. The music industry is telling our young people to kill each other and DEGRADE our women. Whether people know it or not, the music their listening is having an effect on them. The media is showing our young people that its O.K to want to become the next Gucci Mane or 50 Cent. They made it out the hood and so can you. So many black men these days believe that all their problems can be if they can just make it to the NBA or get a record deal. Instead of getting a real job they chase this almost impossible dream of making. The media has a huge impact on the Post Hip Hop generation but it also boils down to the decisions that we make as individuals.
ReplyDeleteMy comment got deleted and I am not sure how! I was writing about the issues with the media and what they choose to deliberately exploit online and in the news...what is publicized is damaging to the reputation of the post hip hop generation. Can someone please tell me what I did wrong last time? Because it says I deleted it but I am not sure how!
ReplyDeleteAs many of my classmates have overtly stated, Asante suggests that the media is one of the salient issues impacting the PHH Generation. I agree because I noticed that from the way we dress, to what we eat everyday, it is influenced by the media. I would like to also agree with Djudon statement, "The media is showing our young people that it’s O.K. to want to be the next Gucci Mane or 50 Cent. They made it out the hood and so can you."
ReplyDeleteSince many of the youth are in a sense being "raised by the television," they do not realize the images and stories they watch on television could’ve been created to manipulate them into buying clothes because its cool or to attend a community college and not reach their full potential with suggestions such as: go to a University and get a M.B.A so you can make enough money to live "the American Dream.” I'd like to consider this manipulation to selective viewing for the public.
the media dictates the way black figures are now "supposed to be represented" there is an expectation of a certain persona that people associate with black figures whether good or bad theres even an undertone that the black positive figures are merely posing and regress back to there "not as sophisticated" ways when in the confort of there homes and family settings, not to say this is bad but this is the outlook that the media has created about public black figures of this day and age. I personally just dont know if its not too late to change this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with djudon many of the so called hip-hop or rap music we hear nowadays has no substance no meaning. to listen to some of these rap-hip hop song is to subject myself to degradation and humuliation. I want to hear about lack of education opportunities in urban areas, why African American men make up more than half the prison population. these are issues that are affecting us. it would be nice to hear someone bring these issues up. Another thing I haven't heard anyone mention is voting. why is that so many African Americans don't go out to vote? Why? we complain and sit in class and talk about ISSUES affect the PHHG but really the only way we can change our situation is by voting. someone asked if our votes really made a difference? people fought for our rights to vote and we ask if our vote makes a difference, if it didn't would the leaders of the civil rights movement fought for that right?
ReplyDeleteTo add on to Asente's views on the media and the post-hiphop generation, I believe that the media is a tool used to keep the public in the mind-frame that certain negative influences in our society are acceptable if it is in the spirit of entertainment, which will equate to money at the end of the day. Not only can the media be used as a tool for revenue of the establishment and thus more Power, but it can also be used as a tool of conditioning and influencing the mind "sub-consciously" and thus using the mind to further the agenda of the non-caring establishment. I believe that there is definitely a mind behind the media and that its agenda is even more important than the money it generates. Parallel to the sub-conscious influence of certain aspects of the media is the purposeful exclusion of certain ideas in the media. This is why we are in a post-hiphop generation. Artists like Kanye West who, in my opinion is a true hip hop artist and activist, are not given the tools to true activism in his music due certain "responsibilities" that were "intrusted" in him by the establishment in which influence his "honesty" and do not allow him to open the treasures (knowledge) in his mind.
ReplyDeleteKanye West - Power- "Got treasures in my mind but couldn’t open up my own vault
My childlike creativity, purity and honesty
Is honestly being prodded by these grown thoughts
Reality is catchin’ up with me
Takin’ my inner child, I’m fighting for it, custody
With these responsibilities that they entrusted me
As I look down at my dia-mond-encrusted piece"
According to babydblog 2010, she mentions that “the issue of our generation is the breakdown of the family unit but more specifically the “absentee father””I do agree with her because throughout my high school carrier, I had four good friends all of them were African American. They come from a single parent (mother) home. Two of them do not know their father while the other two do know their father but they mention that their father has never been there for them since from birth. We did graduate from high school together but 3 of my friend choose not to go to college but one of them and I decided to further our education. He attended UIC at Chicago but I later talked to him during the summer and found out that he drop out from college to look for job to support his mother and siblings. According to my understanding, the media is one of the issues that is impacting or have been impacting our post hip-hop generation especially African American.
ReplyDelete