Black Arts Journal Entry - Week 4 (2/1/23): Gaining Further Black History Knowledge

With knowing the amount of knowledge I know I have about Black History, I feel like I must learn a bit more before I can fully understand what I am learning in this class. What I have learned was through educational systems, but even then, these institutions failed to discuss the topic on a broader term. Other pieces of knowledge that I have gained was through personal interactions with other people or through the internet.

Again, this knowledge that I have gained, I believed was enough, but it simply isn’t for this class’ standards. It’s certainly an overall interesting topic and an essential part of history to learn more about. So if I wish to have a better grasp on this information in this class throughout the year, then I feel like I must expose myself to more pieces of media and literature to understand and connect.

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Black Arts Journal Entry - Week 8 (3/8/23): "Nothing But A Man" and "Killer of Sheep"

In the early 1960s, a Black man named Duff Anderson lived in the American South. His experience is told in the indie film "Nothing But A Man" filmed in 1964. In a society that is severely divided by racism and segregation, the movie examines issues of race, class, identity, and relationships. Duff Anderson, a train worker, develops feelings for Josie Dawson, a teacher. The social and cultural obstacles erected by their various cultures, as well as Duff's own struggles to find his identity and sense of purpose in a world that doesn't treat him with respect or decency, complicate their connection. The film's portrayal of the Black experience in the South is unvarnished and honest, highlighting the widespread prejudice and violence that Black people must endure on a daily basis. The movie also conveys a message of optimism and resilience, as Duff and Josie face their difficulties with strength and grace. "Nothing But A Man" is widely considered as a poten...

Black Arts Journal Entry - Week 2 (1/18/23): Issue in Cultural Production in 2022

Cultural Production in the media in 2022 is nowadays more expansive and more diverse in the communities the media decides to represent. But this exact issue of what the media can choose what communities to represent and what about that community they can represent can lead to several issues. It can give the public a false view of what that community actually is, leading them to create hurtful stereotypes of them or to mis-accurately represent their culture. Just like in Thomas Allen Harris' film, "Goes Through Darkly Lens", he discusses how the media representing the African American community in America's history of archives represent hurtful stereotypes of his community. If it isn't a black person behind those camera lens taking these images, then that is what leads to these hurtful stereotypes and for them to be discriminated against in a majorly white society. Representation matters and it is what shapes people's images of the black community.

Black Arts Journal Entry - Week 11 (3/29/23): Raoul Peck's "Exterminate All the Brutes"

Raoul Peck's four-part miniseries "Exterminate All The Brutes" examines the history of colonialism, genocide, and white supremacy from a variety of angles. In the first episode, Peck examines the historical causes of racism and colonialism in ancient Greece and Rome. He contends that Europeans established the idea of the "Other" to legitimize their dominance over other cultures and peoples. In episode 2, Peck looks at the awful effects on indigenous communities of the genocidal acts committed by European colonizers in the Americas. He also examines the ways in which the concept of the "frontier" and the notion of "Manifest Destiny" were utilized to support the colonization of the West and the eradication of Native Americans. Peck explores the horrific realities of slavery in the Americas and the transatlantic slave trade in episode 3. He also looks at how systematic inequality and racial relations are still shaped by slavery in contemporary...

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