Author: bocik.4

Text Review Assignment- Brenna Bocik

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Songwriter, rapper, and actor Janelle Monáe is known for her involvement in the African American activism community through her acting roles in movies such as Hidden Figures, Moonlight, and Harriet, but one of her most recent albums, called Dirty Computer, takes another step toward equal representation in pop culture. Dirty Computer was also made into an emotional picture where directors Chuck Lightning and Andrew Donoho use her music to address women’s crucial role in society and celebrate the unique attributes of each person. In the film, the “dirty computers” refer to humans who live in a science fiction, futuristic universe and have their unique styles, names, and other cultural specificities stripped from their minds. They are brainwashed and join the mission to rid the world of other “dirty computers”. Not only is Monáe’s music used to portray messages of sexuality, race, and inequalities experienced by women and African Americans, but she is also the main character where viewers witness her cleaning journey through flashbacks of memories that showed why she was considered “dirty”.         One of the largest components of the film is the theme of finding one’s cultural identity. Throughout her past, she wore makeup, beads, rings, feathers, and piercings that resemble tribal traditions. Monáe and her peers all present these unusual features on their daily looks, but each person is styled in a different way contributing to the idea of identifying themselves and their origins. In class, we read Persepolis and witnessed Marji’s transition from her Iranian home and into Western Europe. While in Europe, she falls to the social pressures of adapting to the surrounding culture but ultimately realizes her Iranian pride and identity. In comparison to Dirty Computer, these characters are very similar but are experiencing different situations. Monáe shares her personal story and passions for normalizing African American and feminist cultures in a society where she may be viewed as unconventional and bizarre.

           In a short forty-minute film, concepts of racism, white supremacy, police brutality, feminism, and unequal opportunity for marginalized individuals are on the forefront in hopes of showing what can happen if inequality continues in our present-day society. Without diversity, we become monotonous and lose the ability to advance our society. By incorporating rap and film, more people will spark interest and encourage the continuation of self and cultural identity among all races, sexualities, and genders.

Hate Crimes

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On September 2nd, students of The Ohio State University received a public safety notice about two assault cases that were categorized as “hate crimes”. The alert stated that three African American students were yelling racial slurs toward students, but the university did not include the race of the victims or what the racial slur consisted of. This caused some students to question why this was considered a hate crime.

After students took to social media, protests have taken place in front of Bricker Hall, home of President Johnson’s office, to emphasize how “the situation would have been handled differently if the races were reversed” (Garrison). These two investigations join the long list of systemic injustice related crimes that have happened around Ohio State and especially during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. Students believe the university is at fault for causing LGBTQ+, African Americans, Asians, etc. students to feel unsure if they would be the next victim to be verbally assaulted. If the case had involved white victims, many believe that the University would have done more extensive and efficient investigations, provided more urgency for the safety of students, and many more actions that should have occurred in the first place. Safety should not be an unequal privilege based on race, religion, or sexuality; every student and faculty member should feel safe while on campus; crimes should be reported and communicated with the same amount of importance as all other cases. Change must happen in order for a diverse and safe atmosphere to persist.

Since I created this installment, there have been more protests and apologies on behalf of OSU and campus police. One student expresses their concerns with following tweet:


Ohio State takes pride in their inclusive task forces and diverse representation within the campus community, but the “racial slurs” that were indicated ithing the public safety notice merely encompasses the true meaning behind the history of abuse that is present behind racial slurs directed toward African Americans and other races. When students protested in front of President Johnson’s office, they held signs that appeared to be similar to the ones used at many Black Lives Matter events. This shows how, even when Ohio State may claim to be an all-inclusive university, the social and political issues that are being presented at a national level also can be found closer to home.

In class, we have read John Lewis’ graphic novel March and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which encourage activists to utilize their voice and avoid violent conflicts as much as possible. As explained by King, “Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek… But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends” (King 6). Even though King and Lewis both believe non-violence is the most effective, inequality reaches a point that the only way to get attention on the is to become violent. While the protests on our campus were nonviolent, they could no longer express their ideas from behind a screen; they practiced their voice and went directly to the university president.

 

 

References:

Max Garrison: https://www.thelantern.com/2020/09/university-police-chief-director-of-public-safety-address-safety-notice-controversy-ahead-of-thursday-protest/

Sarah: Szilagy: https://www.thelantern.com/2020/09/from-the-editor-why-assaults-near-campus-were-classified-as-hate-crimes/

Martin Luther King Jr.: “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

John Lewis: March

Week 8- Chinese Americans in New York City

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While reading the beginning pages of The Leavers by Lisa Ko, I felt that understanding the relationship between Chinese Americans and New York City was necessary in order to fully encompass the living situation and inequalities Deming faces throughout the novel.

The Bronx is a borough of New York City that is home to many American traditions, including Yankee Stadium and The Bronx Zoo, but it remains to be the poorest county of the entire city. Residents face high poverty rates and unemployment of at least ten percent over the city average. Overcrowding within city-owned housing complexes, rising crime rates, and the increase in immigration creates a negative stereotype surrounding the Bronx. The split majority of white and African Americans greatly contrast the 4.6% Asian population. Beginning in the 1870s, Chinese immigrants began establishing residencies, jobs, and creating cultured locations, called Chinatowns, for their families to retain their authenticity while living in the American dominant society. Since the initial influx of Chinese immigration, there have been an addition of eight Chinatowns that have appeared throughout the other New York City boroughs, but the Bronx is one of the only largely populated areas to be absent from this list. As previously stated, statistically the Bronx is the poorest county which leads to natural discrimination, but the Chinese Americans who live there receive more injustice based on their race. The “model minority myth”, the stereotype that all Asians are intelligent, well mannered, and hard-working, does not directly apply to the majority of Chinese Americans living in the Bronx, with $34,299 being the average household income among all families (2015 Census). Because their lives may not align with this stereotype, they are believed to be unsuccessful and lazy by other people in the city.

Within The Leavers, Deming moves to Ridgeborough, a higher-class, predominately white suburb, with his adoptive parents. As a Chinese American teenager, Deming faces the same discrimination from his peers and educators as he did while living in the Bronx, but he additionally has to maneuver through the privileged society. Although New York City has the highest Chinese population of all cities in the United States, the discrimination Deming faces in both the higher class and lower-class communities shows how racial injustices are very prevalent regardless of where he lives.

 

 

References:

Thomas P. DiNapoli. “An Economic Snapshot of The Bronx”, Office of the New York State Comptroller, 2017, thebronxfreepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/REPORT.pdf

Tuder, Stefanie. “Believe It or Not, New York City Has Nine Chinatowns.” Eater NY, Eater NY, 25 Feb. 2019, ny.eater.com/2019/2/25/18236523/chinatowns-restaurants-elmhurst-homecrest-bensonhurst-east-village-little-neck-forest-hills-nyc.

U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Bronx County (Bronx Borough), New York.” Census Bureau QuickFacts, www.census.gov/quickfacts/bronxcountybronxboroughnewyork.