Name
Date
Institution
Date
The Final Review
The song I have chosen for the review is ‘I can’t breathe’ by H.E.R. Some of the keywords that apply to this course include; popular culture, transgress, and intersectional. The three terms are new concepts that I was not aware of previously.
Popular culture means media that have massive appeal and accessibility (Zeisler, 2008). In this song, the song’s title is used to create awareness of police brutality using music and art shown in the video. Understanding popular culture has made me understand why many people use a particular medium to create awareness and the impact these mediums have.
The second keyword is transgression, which means a violation of the law or going beyond the limit of that which is considered legally acceptable. The song ‘I can’t breathe’ addresses how policemen who are supposed to protect the people are the same people killing the people. “Saying the protector and the killer is wearing the same uniform” (Kaufman, 2020). The term transgresses taught me that it is essential to understand one’s rights to understand what is legally acceptable.
The third concept is intersectional, which means how the social and political of a person’s identity sets various privileges and discrimination modes. In this case, intersectionality mode addresses discrimination based on race and skin color. “To say, all men are created equal in the eyes of God. but disparage a man based on the color of his skin.” The concept has helped me understand how personal identity resulting from political and social factors creates discrimination and is at a disadvantage of black people (Adams, 2019).
The keywords feminism and empowerment are concepts I have known of previously. Feminism is all about gender inequalities and the attempt to create gender equality. The concept of possibility is something I have always known. However, learning this course has given it a new meaning of how something is either right or could be true. In other words, a possibility also means there is a high chance for something to happen.” Always a problem if we do or don’t fight.” This statement on the song shows that there is a possibility that the injustices will keep happening, whether or not the people take action.
References
Adams, J. (2019, December 18). We need to stop saying, ‘People of color’ when we mean ‘Black.’ Medium. https://level.medium.com/we-should-stop-saying-people-of-color-when-we-mean-black-people-29c2b18e6267
Kaufman, G. (2020, June 11). H.E.R. Debuts moving new track ‘I can’t breathe.’ Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9400329/h-e-r-debuts-i-cant-breathe
Zeisler, A. (2008). Feminism and pop culture: seal studies. Seal Press. https://www.scribd.com/document/389175711/ZEISLER-Andi-Feminism-and-Pop-Culture