Quatavia Mcgirt Music Social Movements Paper
Quatavia Mcgirt
Participation In Government
H7, Period 2
Instructor A. Ritz & P. Graham
January 22, 2015 "Music & Social Movement Paper"
Recently there been a big issue in white officers killing unarmed African American males. Due to this issue there has been countless protest and songs made to help make people become more aware of the problem. Rapper Jermaine Cole, better known as "J Cole" wrote and performed the song "Be Free" in August of 2014, so the public and his fans could realize that police officers killing unarmed African American males and getting away with it is not going to be accepted anymore.
The rapper J Cole got himself involved this movement, He felt like he could relate to this act of police brutality from events that happened during his youth and being a young African
American male growing up in the streets. He was often harassed by police because of his race.
His view of the situation was
"That coulda been me, easily. That could have been my best friend".1 On the LA Times website it says that “The rapper [J Cole] was one of the few boldface names to appear at the protests that broke out over the summer in Ferguson, Mo., after a police officer killed an unarmed black 18yearold. He turned up again last week in New York City, where he was photographed taking part in a demonstration against a grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the choking death of Eric Garner”.2
1
Prashanth Kamalakanthan
, “
I Pay Taxes out My Ass But They Still Harass Me: 11 Amazing Songs
About Police Brutality”,
Mother Jones
, 20 August 2014, http://www.motherjones.com/mixedmedia/2014/08/fergusonpolicebrutalityplaylist11songsjcole 2 Mikael Wood, “
Review: J. Cole's '2014 Forest Hills Drive' hits authentic notes”,
Los Angeles times
, 08
December 2014, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/laetmsjcole2014foresthillsdrivereview20141209story.html In recent years there have been many cases
Participation In Government
H7, Period 2
Instructor A. Ritz & P. Graham
January 22, 2015 "Music & Social Movement Paper"
Recently there been a big issue in white officers killing unarmed African American males. Due to this issue there has been countless protest and songs made to help make people become more aware of the problem. Rapper Jermaine Cole, better known as "J Cole" wrote and performed the song "Be Free" in August of 2014, so the public and his fans could realize that police officers killing unarmed African American males and getting away with it is not going to be accepted anymore.
The rapper J Cole got himself involved this movement, He felt like he could relate to this act of police brutality from events that happened during his youth and being a young African
American male growing up in the streets. He was often harassed by police because of his race.
His view of the situation was
"That coulda been me, easily. That could have been my best friend".1 On the LA Times website it says that “The rapper [J Cole] was one of the few boldface names to appear at the protests that broke out over the summer in Ferguson, Mo., after a police officer killed an unarmed black 18yearold. He turned up again last week in New York City, where he was photographed taking part in a demonstration against a grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer in the choking death of Eric Garner”.2
1
Prashanth Kamalakanthan
, “
I Pay Taxes out My Ass But They Still Harass Me: 11 Amazing Songs
About Police Brutality”,
Mother Jones
, 20 August 2014, http://www.motherjones.com/mixedmedia/2014/08/fergusonpolicebrutalityplaylist11songsjcole 2 Mikael Wood, “
Review: J. Cole's '2014 Forest Hills Drive' hits authentic notes”,
Los Angeles times
, 08
December 2014, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/laetmsjcole2014foresthillsdrivereview20141209story.html In recent years there have been many cases