I choose to analyze the Podcast Serial by Sara Koening. Sara Koening is an investigative journalist who focuses to relook on trials that have had questionable outcomes. Serial is about a murder that took place of a girl named Hae Min Lee in the state of Maryland. The person who has been convicted of the murder is a man by the name of Adnan Syed, the ex-boyfriend of Hae Min Lee. Both people were together in high school around the late 1990’s, the time of Hae Min Lee’s disappearance and murder. The trial in the state of Maryland lasted for a couple of years with Adnan’s lawyer needing to be changed. He ended up in prison with a chance of parole and was looking to be reheard in March of 2019. Many investigative journalists have turned to his story because none of the clues line up nor do they make sense. It is believed to have been set up by Adnan’s best friend at the time who got led off of the hook.
Injustice and power are shown in this podcast because of the legal system in the state of Maryland. Throughout the Podcast, it was shown that power was used out of control as Adnan was treated horribly through the investigation up until his sentence. People like the police and the judge were very aggressive when it came to evidence they ignored, the way they talked to him and treated him since day one. Sara goes on to expose many of the injustices that were shown in order to give Adnan a new chance at life. Adnan experience injustice mainly due to his skin color and belief, compared to the rest of the people in his county. It was shown that they wanted to press him with some type of charge because of the financial wellpoint his family was at compared to everyone else.
This Podcast really opened my eyes to how messed up the legal system is at a young age. I first listened to this in my sophomore year of high school, and re-listened and followed it ever since.
Black Panther (2018), Directed by Ryan Coogler, is a movie about a fictional country in Africa called Wakanda. In this country, five tribes formed together millions of years prior to form the one kingdom, on top of very precious land which holds Vibranium. In the movie, T’challa, the main character, loses control of his kingdom after his cousin comes back to challenge him for the throne. They have different views on the place of Wakanda and the world, and fight for the future of the kingdom, bringing together international conflict and friendship to the movie.
Black Panther is a popular movie in the United States and the world, for being one of the first Marvel movies to show all non white main characters. In 2018, it brought a lot of attention and cultural diversity to movies and acting because of the types of people who are usually casted. This brought a huge movement to the movie world, to start casting people of color and people with disabilities, as well as casting them for roles they would be good at skill wise, not just look wise. Rotten Tomatoes is one of the most known movie rating companies and explained this movie as, “introducing some of its most fully realized characters”. We also have seen the cultural and technical aspects it has brought to inform the audience on African culture. Seeing the scenes with formal clothing/jewelry, appointing kings, and the spread out of land is similar to countries and tribes in Africa today who appoint kings, or have formal wear. Many of the medical and spiritual rituals have also been mimicked from cultures of those in Southern Africa (Nisa). We also noticed in the movie when T’challa was on the throne, music of his home nation would be playing compared to his cousin, who would be introduced with trap music signifying an American on the throne.
In this course, we have talked about many links that would be similar to Black Panther like cultural differences, racial differences, and stereotypes. We can relate what the world originally thought of Wakanda to Aijaz Ahmed’s Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and National Allegory. In his writing, he speaks about how the world sees his home country of India as “the third world”(Ahmed 77) instead of maybe a second or first. This is due to colonization/imperialism but most importantly because people have never traveled to India and been there, to see how advanced the country actually is.
Overall, Black Panther is an Amazing movie with a lot to unpack and digest about the world and especially what we have learned in this class.
Works Cited
Ahmed, Aijaz. “Jameson’s Rhetoric of Otherness and ‘National Allegory’ .” CarmenCanvas, The Ohio State University COMPSTD1100, https://osu.instructure.com/courses/106813/files/33418701?module_item_id=6554078.
Coogler, Ryan, et al. Black Panther. Black Panther, The Ohio State University , https://digitalcampus-swankmp-net.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/osu339411/grid. Accessed 26 Nov. 2021.
Shostak, Marjorie. Nisa: The Life and Words of a!Kung Woman. Routledge, 2015.
Police brutality has been a bigger conversation in society since 2019. The death of Mr. George Floyd started the new revelation for conversation around the topic of police brutality against people of color which has been needed for centuries. Many other deaths have sadly occurred since then, like Beonna Taylor but many more have occurred before then like the death of Trevon Martin. Many protests and memorials have begun to sprout up for the deaths of people who have been victims of police brutality, as their families have become the biggest voices for this conversation. No one should ever lose a loved one especially to the violence of people who should be obeying the law. Many people believe this is a new turn in the civil rights movement for African Americans because the fight for equality still goes on.
As an Ohio State Student, I believe we still see the issues of police brutality today on and of campus. Around my apartment, I get many notifications on my Ring Camera of crimes that take place where police officers wrongfully accuse a person of color. We have seen protests at The Union for a change in the Ohio State Police and Columbus Police on campus. This Change involves Extra training, different types of emergency calls, (like social workers), and more. Students have become the voice, to hopefully be more powerful than those who are not heard, that should equally be voiced.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the first African Americans to fight for Civil Rights. He believed no matters one’s race, people are people and they should be equal. As we know Dr. King was sadly killed fighting for what was right. Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail spoke of the abuse and oppression he faced in the county jail for speaking out about his rights. He worked alongside Mr. John Lewis, who continued the fight when Dr. King couldn’t anymore. In March Volume I, Mr. Lewis fought peacefully to end the abuse of power from police as we still are in 2021. Sadly, Mr. Lewis recently passed away but saw the regression we as a society has made to the Civil Rights Movement. He believed all of the effort people such as himself, Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and many others put into stopping racism didn’t do anything, and we are going back in time today with police brutality.
“Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.”
In the case of the Murder of Mr. George Flloyd, Derik Chauvin, the ex-police officer was found guilty. The 12 jurors were identified for the first time. In the time of this story, they still remain anonymous and want to stay on the “down-low” side, because of the pressure of the trial. Derik has been convicted to 22.5 years in prison for murdering Geroge Flloyd.
Gianna Flloyd, George Floyd’s daughter, on the arms of Mr. Floys long-time friend, Stephen Jackson, saying“My Daddy Will Change The World”.
Case study of the Racism and Discrimination associated with police brutality and Black people via the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP). This case study talks about important concepts like Critical Race Theory (like we have learned in class), and other causes for why police brutality may occur and exist. This graph shows the percentages of police brutality over decades in the twenty-first century.
References:
Bogel-burroughs, Nicholas. “Jurors Who Convicted Derek Chauvin Are Identified for First Time.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Nov. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/us/derek-chauvin-trial-jury.html.
Chaney, Cassandra, and Ray V. Robertson. “Racism and Police Brutality in America.” Journal of African American Studies, Springer US, 12 Jan. 2013, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12111-013-9246-5.
“Watch George Floyd’s Daughter Say ‘Daddy Changed … – Youtube.” YouTube, Entertainment Tonight, 3 June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Kj_ZqufQM.
