Night Club Culture of Minneapolis

There are many things that I could go into as far as the reasons to why I worked on this project.  However, the primary purpose of these photographs are not to portray individuals, but instead show that each individual is apart of a subculture while at these clubs.  They are united by others who share similarities, commonalities, clothing, taste, state of mind, but most of all the are united by the vibe of the environment which  in this case is three different nightclubs in Minneapolis Minnesota.

For me, these photographs have a much deeper value due to the fact that I was there and can recall the actions and events of each individual.  I took these images in a bit of an unusual way.  I would join a group of friends that were planning to attend one of these clubs, dance with them and would then every so often go off and take photos when I though opportunities arose.  I enjoyed this method because I was able to experience the thrill of the environment and still work on this project from within.

I would highly suggest going to a club every so often to experience the thrill and excitement that these people love so much.  It is truly a different culture when entering a night club.

Separator

Everything Inbetween

Heat

Cheers

Attention

Center Stage

VIP

In It

Beach Bums

Drinks to All

Transformation of Perception

Here is a project of mine that I started and finished back in the spring of 2008.  For some reason it took me forever to scan the images.  In either case, here they are…

Bruce

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Dianna

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Tyrone

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Caleb

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Terryl

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My primary focus that I aimed for while taking and developing these images dealt with how our perceptions of people change the more we try to understand them.  The method I used to do this was extremely simple.  I would walk up to an individual on the street and ask them for their permission to take some photos and ask them a few questions.  Once they gave me the “go ahead”, I took pictures of the individual as I first saw them, meaning I would try to capture them in the image as I first saw them on the street.  I then proceeded to ask them where they were going, where they were coming from and then I would also make note of any other little details about them that we talked about.

When an individual looks at these images, they will usually look at the image and then the words under them;  the viewer captures their biased perception of the individual … but in most cases, the words which describe the person and where they are going/coming from changes this initial perception.

The point is that it is impossible to truly understand or know someone unless we eliminate our biased perceptions of people.  The problem however is that perceptions are an underlying, subconscious thought.  Once you start to notice this, you can begin to appreciate the uniqueness in each person you see.

5 x 5

Within this Bethel project, I was given the assignment of shooting five rolls of film within a 5 x 5 ft square.  It was put upon us to take this assignment as we thought of it; be as creative as we wanted.  The only rule was that once the first image was taken, you must keep taking pictures within that 5 x 5 square; no changing locations.

These images were taken within and outside of my current residence.  I decided to tape off a five foot square on one of my sliding doors that leads to the porch.  By doing this I was able to get images that were both inside, outside and everything between.

Best and Worst

This project took place within the “First Avenue” venue.  For the past four weekends, I had attended their “Too Much Love” dance events which were amazingly fun.  I was fortunate enough to meet some super chill people and take some interesting pictures.

This project (the best and the worst) was described to our class as so: Photograph with the intent of making two photographs of the same thing.  They should both be attempts to represent the same idea, concept, subject matter, or theme.  For the first you will make the photo the best possible representation of your idea.  For the second you will make the worst possible photograph of your idea.  Spend time thinking about what makes a good photograph and a bad one.  Think about how these things affect the content of the image.  The first image should leave us in awe, and the second should cause us to ridicule you mercilessly.

I hope I have done so…

Vision

The idea, concept, subject matter, or theme within my photographs dealt with light, and how it can create, but also destroy of photograph.  In this case, we have a relatively common “night club photo”, but the way that the light manipulates it creates an interesting image.  There are other little details within this photo that I absolutely love.  For example, how the man’s hand lines up almost perfectly with the beer, and how this balances out the picture.  I also love the hidden lady on the right.

Typical

The worst photo.  I think that the worst thing about this photo is the typicalness of it.  “Hey, lets all get together and get a picture”.  This phrase is being screamed out loud from the picture.  My light concept however also plays a significant role in this.  The light in the background makes the people in the foreground illuminated in an unnatural, uniteresting way.  I believe that there is only one interesting thing about this photograph: the goofy face of the man in the background and the woman in front of him, seem to relate to the best photo.

These two photos have similar relations to eatchother, but are still on the oppisite ends of the spectrum.  One final detail I would like to mention is that the best photo seems to show a sense of “being there”.  I say this in light of an idea or concept.  Looking at it makes an individual have a sense of there is no camera man, there is no “scene”, its just the people, the club, the dancing.  The worst photo does not do this in any way.  I feel as if you are the photographer, and that you are the audience instead of being there in the club.

Once again, any comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks for looking.

New Hobby: Stencil Canvas Art

It was about four years ago now, that I was in Mall of America and stumbled onto a book highlighting a person labeled Banksy; an English stencil graffiti artist who leaves the name “Banksy” behind on all his work.  I’m guessing like most people that have viewed Banksy’s work, I immediately found myself thinking about how I could create work such as his.  Although I was influenced by Banksy, my personal work does not carry the same themes or values as his.

My thoughts of stencils however remained over the next three years and hadn’t really turned constructive until this last August (2008).  I don’t pretend to be anything that I am not, and I do not consider myself to be a straight up artist, but I do consider myself to be a person to try new things in order to keep life exciting.

These three stencils are pieces that I have created since last August.  As of now, the three canvas’ do not have relationships to one another, but are completely random creations.  I haven’t found that reason, purpose, theme, or drive to why I created these stencils, but I have found that creating them is a great stress reliever.  In light of that, I hope you enjoy.

I would also like to mention that any comments or suggestions would be greatly welcomed because I still am trying to techniques and methods of creating these paintings.

September 2008

1940 Golfer

December 2008

Glacier

January 2009

Facial Features

The Homosexual Gene: Is There a Closest For It To Come Out Of?

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INTRODUCTION

The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) has created a website to which they announce that in 1993, the American public was misled through a journal Science, which gave the perception that the “gay gene” is “innate, genetic and therefore an unchangeable normal variant of human nature”. Is this possible for one journal to deceive the entire nation on a supposedly “gay gene” which may or may not have a biological nature? The simple answer to this question is “yes”, it is possible. Although this might be an extremely important question to ask, the pressing issue at hand is whether or not this “gay gene” exists in the world as of today (May 22, 2008). After reviewing a number of scholarly articles which discusses the topics of ethics, basic knowledge, natural selection, bisexual behavior, and believable doubts that relate to the “gay gene” a decision will be made to whether or not sufficient evidence is presented to come to a decision on whether or not there is a specific gene which controls sexual behavior known as homosexuality.

ETHICAL VIEWS

To begin, the question of whether or not the research which is being done, and that has been done should be looked at as being ethical or not. The question of whether or not it is possible to determine a persons sexual behavior with certain “tests” has been going on for hundreds of years now (Schuklenk, 1997, pp. 6). Predating all the way back to when “tests” were supposedly scientific. Many of these “tests” consisted of bodily features such as facial hair, size of external genitalia, and the ratio of shoulder width to hip width. Sadly, this supposed “science” was trusted and had determined a person’s sexual orientation for them.

Because these “scientific” tests were trusted, many people’s lives were ruined by discrimination and social disapprobation. Others ask the question is it important to find sexual orientation for a person such a big deal? To answer this, the people that are generally asking this question tend to be homophobic themselves; being homophobic means that this person has a fear of, and or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals (Merriam-Webster). This suggests then that the people that want research to be done on the “gay gene” are unconsciously saying that they themselves are to some degree homophobic. “The very motivation for seeking an ‘origin’ of homosexuality reveals homophobia” (Schuklenk, 1997, pp. 6). In essence then, it is safe to say that the entirety of research that is being done within the premises of the “gay gene” says that people want to feel comfortable with everyone else around them, even to the point where they are needing others to change their sexual orientation, so that they may conform to the standards of everyone else.

This process of making others conform should be put under examination. The issue of it being ethical or not needs to be addressed. It is understandable to a certain degree that people need to conform to society’s laws and environmental changes. The problem arises however when people are needing to change others based off of behaviors or specific types of characteristics. Of course people look back onto the era of the Nazi’s and say that that was a time of ethical wrong doing, but could it not also be said that making others change sexual orientation based off of the unconfortability of some people is the same concept?

Is it possible to get homosexuals to conform to the norms of heterosexual lifestyle? Well yes, many therapists today are conducting sessions to do this very thing. There are two primary ways that have been used to do this: therapy and genetical recognition. Using therapy to change homosexual orientations is known as “conversion therapy”. Usually though, this would destroy the lives of perfectly healthy people. In some cases, therapists would discuss issues and manipulate the patient, and in other cases electroshock treatments were even used. The term genetical recognition is used to describe those that select sperm and eggs for specific reasons; this is called surrogacy. A person who is looking to be a mother through someone else’s sperm and eggs can actually pick and choose certain qualities of what the child will have such as hair color, facial features, and even the “smart gene” along with the “gay gene”. Not many people are looking for a sperm and egg with a supposed “gay gene”, so by process of elimination, only the strongest of them survive (natural selection).

While the future is coming at a day at a time, many views and beliefs are also changing a day at a time. There is no stopping the inevitable, and there is no stopping popularity. It would seem as though that surrogacy has become more of a “fad” than anything else. In the 1920’s, these types of surgeries would be completely unheard of, and granted, not many people today know of what surrogacy is, but it is becoming increasingly popular. If this fad begins to take over, it will be recognized that genes do play a part in wanted appearances and behaviors. Whether or not the homosexual characteristic is among those characteristics, the public will want to think that they are getting a genetic behavior when selecting their sperm and egg.

Ethics in this case is then based off of the demands that are placed on homosexuals. Therapy that is focused on changing a person’s sexual orientation is unethical because it may be because of the pressure from society that they feel the need to change who they are. Surrogacy is unethical for reasons of people trying to play the role of God. In this case, both homosexuals and heterosexuals are able to use surrogacy, but the idea behind it still remains; manipulate genetics to create something not through God but through man.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE ON RESEARCH

Just as any other product on the American shelves comes out, surrogacy has become a product of demand over the past ten years. There is more to this statement than what lies on the surface; there is new evidence that suggests homosexual males and females have lower lifetime expectancy (Gavrilets, 2006, pp. 3031). This means that on average, homosexual behaviors for individuals have on average less time on this earth than others without these behaviors. These unknown reasons have not yet been identified, but research is currently being conducted and its current results are leaning toward the theory that homosexuality is somehow linked to polymorphic genes.

Polymorphism is defined as “an existence of a gene in several allelic forms; also: a variation in a specific DNA sequence” (Merriam-Webster). A study conducted by Sergey Gavrilets and William Rice has placed this meaning as something very obvious, in light that polymorphic genes within homosexuals quite literally means that there are many factors and differences that can lead to homosexuality on a genetic level. The study goes on to note that homosexuality may also be affected by not only genetic levels but also environmental levels. This theory was produced after the findings of one particular study which involved the use of identical twins (Gavrilets, 2006, pp. 3031). The study which involved the twins showed that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the expression of the homosexual phenotypes. Along with this, the study also found that “male homosexuality appears to be inherited more frequently from the matriline (more often through the mothers side of the genes)” which suggests the existence of polymorphic, heritable maternal effects and/or polymorphic X-linked genes influencing male homosexuality. To recap this brief research finding, it says that there are two ways to which homosexuality is influence by polymorphic genes: both 1) genetic and environmental factors, and the 2) commonality of homosexuality inherited from the mother’s side of the genetic pool.

The research that has been performed by Sergey Gavrilets and William Rice also spoke of how the “maternal effect may contribute to the homosexual phenotype” (Gavrilets, 2006, pp. 3031). It suggested that the birth order of siblings has a positive correlation with homosexuality. Studies show that when there are many male siblings, that the youngest can sometimes develop homosexual tendencies. This could be an effect of the social environment, but it could also be the “progressive immunization of some mothers to unspecified male-specific antigens” (Gavrilets, 2006, pp. 3032). So, as mothers begin to have more children, then certain antigens were unable to be received by the younger children, which gave those children more of a chance of receiving a “gay gene”. The problem with this theory is that if one were to consider this valid, than the “gay gene” would need to be considered a disease.

It is important to specify what the actual results were of the previous research. The findings are of extreme complexity, but the simplified translation should be adequate for the purposes here. The results had shown that there are many factors (polymorphism) that go into the “gay gene”. These many factors can actually be achieved at both the polymorphism level as well as the autosomal level. Since it is known that X-linked traits carry far more information than others (autosomal), the X-linked traits over dominate those autosomal traits. However, findings show that when the X-linked traits do not carry the “gay gene”, it is possible for the autsomal traits to still “kick in” and activate the host’s genetic system to inevitably be homosexual. The point of this research is not to show a method of pointing out definitive methods of proving homosexuality on the genetic level. Rather, it shows the patterns that may refer to other species so that these similarities can be further examined and tested to someday show a more specific pattern on the genetic level.

LIMITATIONS

While this all is very important information, further questions are raised from such studies as discussed before; how is the “gay gene” being passed from one generation to the next? If homosexuals cannot reproduce with the same sex how is it possible to inherit the gay gene? Even though this question may seem to be the most elementary of all questions, it is definitely relevant to answer. There are two possible ways to look at this question: 1) surrogacy could be used to take homosexual males sperm and implant it into a homosexual female’s egg, and 2) natural processes accumulate to form genetic advances toward the “gay gene”.

Although it is rarely seen in the gay community, surrogacy has been becoming extremely popularized throughout the years. With this being said, it is becoming less of a rare occasion for homosexuals to produce offspring using scientific methods. The primary purpose for this is that they will have an improved chance of receiving an offspring as having a “gay gene” already implanted at conception. While this is a great thought process to the theory of a “gay gene” being present, most people are unable to pay for such a scientific procedure.

The second method that was suggested is one that proposes an exponential theory. It is based on the idea that throughout genetic generations, certain alleles will start to accumulate over time. As time progresses, these genetic behaviors may start to add up in areas of the genetic code that are considered to be the “gay genes”. This idea does not need homosexuals to produce this exponential accumulation. It would only need heterosexuals or homosexuals that carry with them the right combinations of the “gay genes”. There is no solid proof of this theory, other than it is a theory that can be traced back to what is known as natural selection. Natural selection holds to this same concept of long periods of time, plus variations, will equal different genetic combinations.

One last limitation to the “gay gene” would need to be the fact that some people are bisexual. Though it may not seem that this pertains to the “gay gene”, it definitely shows some controversy along the same lines. For those that consider themselves to be bisexual, these genes could carry the “transitional missing link” between the heterosexual and the homosexual when looking at the genetic generations talked about earlier (Savolainen, 2007, pp. 158). As certain “gay genes” begin to mix with other “gay genes” from bisexual partners, offspring may begin to show homosexual behaviors/tendencies.

POSSIBLITIES OF FAKE “GAY GENE”

Dean Hamer, a molecular geneticist and his colleges at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) claimed in 1990 that they had found the exact gene that has been searched for after years of research on a genetic link to male homosexuality. Because they had known that the X-chromosome was of great importance to males and many of their genetic traits, they had homed in on it to find the similarities and differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals. After their results came back, Hamer and his colleges were wary of their findings, mainly because other complex traits, such as manic depression and schizophrenia had fallen under further scrutiny” (Wickelgren, 1999, pp. 571).

George Rice and George Ebers, clinical neurologists had many suspicions to Hamer’s research, and had decided to replicate it to better understand the findings. They reported failing to find a link between Xq28 (the chromosomal segment implicated by NCI teams study) and homosexuality. The results that they had found suggested more than very weak connections between Xq28 and homosexuality.

The argument between NCI’s Dean Hamer and the clinical neurologist Rice and Ebers went on for quite some time. Both teams turned to the use of identical twins to help find the ‘correct’ answer to the connection between Xq28 and homosexuality. This sudden shift of research methods was caused by Michael Bailey of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He had found that “fully 52% of the identical twins of gay men were also gay, compared to just 22% for fraternal twins” (Wickelgren, 1999, pp. 571).

Shortly after, Hamer, Rice and Ebers were looking specifically at what similarities and differences could be found between twin male homosexual genes. After they had done so, there wasn’t much improvement with their empirical evidence. This result was shown mainly because both groups did not use large numbers of participants in their studies. The only way for this controversy to be solved would be to use a larger study; say 200 gay brother pairs would be a large enough number, but to do this would take great amounts of research funds, which neither groups had. Hamer now pursues specific information on Xq28 while Rice and Evers look for other results on the Y chromosome.

Years passed, and the issue of the “gay gene” was still a topic of debate for Dean Hamer. After many tests and result findings, there wasn’t any new information coming into his calculations. His new studies “essentially corroborates the original finding of linkage with markers on the X chromosome” (Horgan, 1995, pp. 26).

DOUBTS

Since then, further studies have not been “backing” Hamer’s studies. Ebers later examined 52 pairs of gay brothers; the study had not confirmed any results linking homosexuality to the X chromosome. “In recent years, researchers and the media have proclaimed the ‘discovery’ of genes linked to alcoholism and mental illness as well as to homosexuality. None of the claims have been confirmed” (Horgan, 1995, pp. 26). The only independent group that has completed a study similar to Hamer’s failed to replicate the results.

It would seem that only one study had supposedly confirmed any close connections between homosexuality and genetics. Since then however, every other research has shot that idea down from the sky with ammo to spare. Because there has been so many more studies showing that there is no correlation between the “gay gene” and actual genetics, it would create many doubts among the public. These doubts are understandable, but they should not lead a person to create any biases toward this subject. Until further technology is available, a person should think that anything is possible at this point of homosexual research.

FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSION

The topic of the supposed “gay gene” is a difficult one to discuss for many reasons. However, once the subject and all of its elements are laid out on the table, certain aspects start to become clearer as to its exceptionalities and vulnerabilities. As this topic was looked upon, some of those elements are still unclear (ethics and the truth) even after hours of research has been accomplished.

Although there is still confusion on whether or not there is a “gay gene”, some of the primary aspects to the possibility of there being one may still remain. These aspects are considered to be ethics, X linked chromosomes to male genes, natural selection, bisexual tendencies, and past research findings. While these are huge contributions, the biggest has to be the theory of polymorphism. If genetics and the environment play a role in homosexual tendencies, then how can one figure the proportions of dominance between the two? With these theories and questions in mind, there lies hope for a better understanding of what the true situation actually is.

Even though there is a lot of evidence that disproves the theory of an existing “gay gene”, the possibility still remains, and as long as that is there, I am not willing to make a firm statement to whether it exists or not. The fact however remains that there is not enough evidence to solidify an answer and because of that I believe that there may still be biological difference between homosexual and heterosexual people, but much more research is needed in this field of work.

References

Gavrilets, S. & Rice, W. (2006). Genetic models of homosexuality: generating testable predictions. Royal Society, 273, 3031-3038.

Homophobia. (2008). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quantum mechanics.

Horgan, J. (1995). Gay genes, revisited. Scientific American, 273, 26.

Schuklenk, U.; Stein, S.; Kerin, J.; Byne, W. (1997). The ethics of genetic research on sexual orientation. The Hastings Center Report, 27, 6-13.

Savolainen, V. & Lehmann, L. (2007). Evolutionary biology: genetics and bisexuality. Nature, 445, 158-159.

Polymorphism. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved May 20, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polymorphism

Wickelgren, I. (1999). Discovery of the ‘gay gene’ questioned. Science, 284, 571.

America’s Hip – Hop Culture: Do the Rhymes Harm the Image of African Americans?

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INTRODUCTION

“Music, like identity, is both performance and story, describes the social in the individual and the individual in the social, the mind in the body and the body in the mind; identity is like music” (Grant, 2002, pg. 7). If identity is like music, then what is to be said about hip hop? Actually, a lot can be said about the hip-hop culture, but the big question is whether or not these things that are being said are in a positive or negative way.

Once hip-hop was created, it quickly gained a reputation of style, rhythm, and crime. Hip-hop which refers to a complex culture is made up of a number of elements. These elements are not only describing hip hop, but hip hop describes these listed: Rapping, “MCing”, “rhyming”, graffiti painting, “B-Boying”, break dancing, and attitude. While these elements seem harmless, they can be destructive depending on the context. The question then persists to be whether or not the hip-hop culture influences the perceptions of African-Americans and if so, how is this being done?

ORIGINS OF HIP-HOP/RAP

While the question at hand is a difficult one to handle, the first step of the process to answering is dealing with the past and how it fits with the present. To begin, it should be realized that hip-hop is a relatively new “beat” on the streets. It was first originated in the early 1970’s by a variety of cultures; African-Americans, Afro-Caribbean, Puerto Rican and Hispanic cultures were all apart of the hip-hop’s creation (Sullivan, 2003, 606).

While Los Angeles had, and still has a plethora of cultures within it, these groups listed were among the earliest creators of the hip-hop culture. By the 1980’s however, this image had started to shift between cultures. It wasn’t until the media started to play a role in this scene that African-Americans had started to take up the image of hip-hop. This can be contributed to the “voices” of the black hip-hop artists. At this time, they had started to center their lyrics and style to that of pleasures and problems within the black urban life in the contemporary America.

This culture though is directly related to territorial domains which suggest that social, economic and physical boundaries have positioned hip-hop to a central location and to a central culture: African-Americans. Once these words and images were released to the media/public outside of this territorial domain, the majority of America was stunned that they had no idea this sort of image even existed. As time passed however, the public started to replicate these images that had so famously been associated with the African-American culture.

Once the lyrics toward the hip-hop culture was released, images started to be replicated by more than just African-Americans. After the spread of hip-hop had occurred, white, non-urban youth started to pick up on rap themselves. For about a two year period in the later half of the 1980’s, hip-hop was lost among the cultures. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s that hip-hop was once again “reunited” with its roots of African-American culture of the inner city. This can be explained mainly through the authenticity of the music; the more the songs discussed life in the city and “keep’n it real”, the more it was listened to. This authenticity can be directly related to the fact that African-Americans lived mainly within inner cities during this time and thus were living a “hip-hop” lifestyle (Grant, 2002, pg. 7).

“By the close of the 1980’s, urban identity, signified scenes and sounds from the hood and validated by an artists origins from the inner city, combined with already-existing associations between inner-city sites and black identity to form the urban, African-American aspect of commercial hip-hop critical to gangsta raps radicalization” (Grant, 2002, pg. 7). The purpose of the gangsta rap however was to protect the image that had been created by the African-Americans involved in these cultures. This scenario can also be seen in the styles of hip-hop. At the turn of the 1980’s, New York had a hip-hop style very different than that of L.A.’s. As New York began to grow in popularity, L.A. needed to respond; the term for L.A.’s response is now known as the creation of “gangsta rap”.

Once the 1980’s had arrived, gangsta rap began to be the image for African-Americans in L.A. A primary reason for the explosion of gangsta rap lies with one of the best known rap artists, NWA. NWA was able to produce such an image for the west coast that it still to this day can see the effects of their music on the public. Because there is such a strong relationship between the image of gangsta rap and African-Americans, they began to reinforce each other. “As these parameters expanded the black identity of the gangsta and the relationship between this African-American identity and the city not only remained intact, but also, in fact, continued to reinforce one another” (Grant, 2002, pg. 9).

Through the correlation between rap artists and African-American’s, many similarities began to appear. Rap artists began to reveal “new” ways to live (mainly the “gangsta life”). The artists were easily able to do this through their lyrics. With artists NWA, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, and even Coolio, there were many images that the public could choose from to replicate. Even through music videos such as Dre’s, Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang infused into the market his identity, and visual images of his lifestyle known as the ‘G’ lifestyle. “Ultimately, gangsta rap embodies hip-hop’s urban, African-American identities in the image of the gangsta” (Grant, 2002, pg. 12), but more importantly, this image did not stay localized in one general area of America.

By 1992, African-Americans were not the only ones listening to the words and lyrics of gangsta rap artists. During this time, white middle-class suburban teenagers became apart of the influence that gangsta rap had one other; white teenagers were a huge contributor to the sales market during this time but by no means were they the major consumer of gangsta rap. Once artist’s received word of this, it was an objective to distinguish what the ‘G’ lifestyle really was. Ice Cube for example uses his artistic style to mold his lyrics into a story based lyrics to address non-black, non-urban voyeuristic outsiders about the authentic ‘G’ life. This is a clear cut example of how artists make it a point to separate whites from blacks by using geographical, social and racial identifications through the explicit exclusion of white counterparts.

During this time of racial divisions through gangsta rap/hip-hop, economic shifts and mass suburbanization was occurring. By this time, it was expected that if anyone wore, listened, or appeared to be apart of the ‘G’ lifestyle, it would be assumed that they were in fact a gangsta. Extreme enforcement was used in these high crime zones which were always in or near low-class African-American neighborhoods because of the high amounts of drug trafficking that would occur in these areas. Drugs: put into almost every album of gangsta rap; drugs too were very much apart of the ‘G’ lifestyle. Along with being apart of the lifestyle, drugs also started to become an image of black Americans.

Because there are many relationships that tie African-Americans to the ‘G’ lifestyle and to other such things as music, drugs, sex, and violence, segregation and judgments can still be seen today. It just goes to show, that there are racial and spatial identifications that can be found from the origination of the gangsta image. “Between 1988 and 1992, unrestrained gang and police activity engaged on concrete and fantastic planes, and ultimately shaped the ‘G’ lifestyle to the image of a cop-hating, gun-toting, blue/red wearing, drug-dealing African American male gang member” (Grant, 2002, pg. 15).

JUDGMENTAL IMAGERY

Because hip-hop & gangsta rap has evolved out of the west coast, the majority of the American population seems to have judgmental images of what hip-hop resembles. It is common for most people to think of African-Americans, drugs, and violence when the words hip-hop/gangsta rap is brought into a conversation. In many cases, these images seem to hit on target, but in actuality there are many more characteristics that give judgmental imagery of hip-hop culture.

Hip-hop as discussed before has originated from low-class society. Through the lower-class to which many rappers come from, artists have rhymed about rising up out of that lifestyle and becoming God’s among men. But because many lyrics relate with the ‘real’ lifestyle of being in poverty, doing drugs and violence, to the public view this world that they have created as nothing but the slums.

YOUTH EFFECTED

Every 2 ½ hours, a child’s life is taken somehow through violence in America. It is easy to point a finger at media and its new products coming out every day. After reviewing the possibilities, it is seen that risk factors do contribute to the violence seen everyday by youth; some of these factors listed: “poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, gang participation, and pervasive violence in all forms of media” (Richardson, 2002, pg. 177).

Again, it is easy to blame the media for this problem of violence, but the fact remains that youth need’s to be put into place as to what is appropriate to see, watch, and hear from the media. Unfortunately this is not enough, and the youth are still engaged with the fascination of violence. The media has however placed enormous amounts of pressure on the youth by aggressive marketing strategies. “By the time an average American child reaches the age of 18, they have witnessed 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence” (Richardson, 2002, pg. 176).

While the radio cannot play explicit words, other forms of media such as the internet gives youth unlimited capabilities to listen to the lyrics of songs that are not allowed through certain mediums. To hear these artists rap about violence, sex and drugs as they do, is astonishing. There is no denying that some sects of the adult culture find the language that some use in their lyrics to be extremely offensive. To think of the adult culture in this situation is one thing, but to think about the youth in this situation is an entirely different situation. Having them hear these sometimes detailed images of violence, sex and drugs can certainly have an impact on the youth of America.

“Children on average spend more than 38 hours per week exposed to entertainment media, which includes television, music videos, video games, and movies” (Richardson, 2002, pg. 176). Although hip-hop/rap is only one genre of the hundreds, it still captivates the teenager through the lyrics. For many teenagers, they are trying to identify with different people whether they are real or fake. Hip-hop is easy to identify to because of the many commonalities that can be found within the lyrics. For example, youth can identify to the artists through different races, ethnicities, and even socioeconomic classes. Rap has been able to serve as a wide range of perspectives. “Whether rap is attractive because it speaks to one’s personal reality or represents a fascination with a foreign lifestyle, there is no denying the economic, political, and social influence of the music” (Richardson, 2002, pg. 176).

HIP-HOP POSITIVES

While many negatives have been published throughout the course of hip-hop history, there are positive images that can come from the specified culture. Most of these new images are ones that have not been constructed yet by the entire hip-hop culture, but times are changing and so are the possibilities of looking at the positive instead of the negatives.

Since the origins of hip-hop, art has always been “behind the scenes”. In many ways, hip-hop art has been evolving right along side the hip-hop culture. This style of art can range from graffiti, rhyming to break dancing (Sherman, 1984, pg. 287). During the late 1970’s, these styles of art started to become the primary way for youth to express themselves. Because hip-hop has had many epicenters within the streets, these art styles would follow and while rappers were perfecting their style of rhyme, so did the break dancers and graffiti artists.

With art becoming recognized more and more within the hip-hop culture, underground artists are beginning to emerge more and more. Even the traditional styles of graffiti which were first recognized as vandalism are becoming recognized as pure expressions of emotion (Murray, 2004, pg. 14). Is it possible then to create hip-hop art in such a way that could eliminate the old image of violence, sex and drugs?

A possible way to dislodge this old image of hip-hop is through converging methods of educating the youth today. English teachers are now utilizing the hip-hop culture to their own benefit. Teachers can see hip-hop influencing their student’s day in and day out of every week, and while they don’t understand it, they have observed that hip-hop transcends race, as students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds are strongly influenced by the beats. As teachers see this going on within their educational environment, they figure that they can develop new teaching methods that could potentially fuse the hip-hop culture with literacy skills (Morrell, 2002, pg. 88).

Usually the purpose of a rap is to promote consciousness within the surrounding community. To do this, a rap artist needs to use specific words to which they will convey meaning to the audience. This same principle is the revolutionary idea that could potentially promote the educational environment. Classes then began to develop six objectives by using poetry:

1) Develop oral and written debate skills

2) Facilitate the ability to work in groups

3) Help students to deliver formal public presentations

4) Teach students how to critique a poem/song in a critical essay

5) Help students develop note-taking skills in lectures and presentations

6) Help students become comfortable writing in different poetic forms such as the sonnet, elegy, and ballad.

(Morrell, 2002, pg. 90)

While this is a great way to educate, the problem of violence still needs to be resolved. This problem of violence is not only occurring on the streets, but its overflowing into the schools educational environment (Bruce, 2000, pg. 119). One theory to the current problem of violence is to create a deeper education in the English language. By understanding the complexity of words, the youth may be able to transfer their complex thoughts into better, practical words that will hopefully express their frustrations. Learning different strategies to express frustrating emotions is the key to this theory.

With all of the negative characteristics that potentially define the hip-hop culture, there seems to be strong positive aspects that could dominate. There are holes to this statement however. From the 1970’s till about the early 1990’s, hip-hop has been digging a deeper and deeper hole for itself and for African-Americans in general. To get out of this figurative hole, much more needs to be done than educate African-Americans.

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION

There are two points to the findings that have stood out from all of the rest within this writing; the positives coming from the hip-hop culture, and the negatives that this culture is in. It is a tough decision to make whether or not the hip-hop culture influences the majority of how America’s to view African-Americans, but the fact that has been seen is that “the belief that rap music lyrics are a potential source of ‘Nommo’ or truths that can reach the masses” is present” (JBHE, 2008, pg. 66).

CONCLUSION

The origins of hip-hop and the evolution of its progress as it spread throughout America influenced not only the artists but the public in general. An image of black, low-class gangsta’s with violent intentions is what the mass public began to see of early hip-hop and as it turned out, many of these images became realistic. Even today these same images are being portrayed.

Since this time, people have been noticing the negative progression of what hip-hop represents; violence, drugs, sex, non-educated, African-Americans. Interventions to stop this view of African-Americans began, and through educational session with the youth today, progress is slowly showing, and although there hasn’t been nearly enough progress over the years, any sort of preventative violence is good enough.

With the late emergence of hip-hop in the 21^st century, images of negative values are still fresh in America’s public eye. Although there have been levels of intervention over the years, we can still see a mirror image in our youth today. Some problems with this equation are that the youth today is searching for violence, and hip-hop is able to give them a certain dosage of that, along with a negative view of African-Americans. Overall, the negative image that holds to African-Americans through the hip-hop culture has been driven into society so deeply that it won’t be uplifted anytime soon. However, hip-hop can give positive feedback to the culture through “rhythm and poetry, while addressing racism, education, sexism, drug use, and spiritual uplifts” (Gladney, 1995, pg. 291).