200-Word RESPONSE

I 100% agree that "Art is a Weapon of Social Change." Many people enjoy art, and it is all around us in our everyday lives. By people experiencing art, it causes them to think and form opinions about it. Since art is so often encountered and analyzed by people, it of course could change the way people think about what the piece is trying to convey, or even cause social change. I like how the ted talk started out with "I believe art has the power to counteract or transcend sexism, racism, or any other 'ism' that comes to mind," which i definitely agree to be true (Brown, 2014). One of my favorite rappers, Kendrick Lamar, has used his music to speak out against racism and show pride of his blackness. His song "The Blacker the Berry," released on his 2015 album, "To Pimp a Butterfly," has the lyrics "You hate me don't you. You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture. You're fucking evil I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkey," in order to shed some light on the still apparent racism existing today. After people hearing the lyrics of this song and some of his others, their willingness to help end racism could increase, causing social change (Lewis, 2016). I also liked how Dr. Brown brought up "Mississippi Goddamn" and how it speaks out about "racial violence and even freedom," spreading awareness that it needs to be put to an end (Brown, 2014). Even though Mississippi Goddamn was released in 1964 and caused some social change, racial violence is still occurring today. Ill use one of my favorite rappers Kendrick Lamar again as an example, but with his song/music video "DNA" that was just recently released in the album "Damn" about seven months ago. The music video begins with "an audio clip of Fox Anchor Geraldo Rivera slamming Lamar's police brutality-based lyrics from his song 'Alright,'" basically showing that the news anchor was wrong to talk bad about his lyrics because they were speaking the truth: that police brutality towards African Americans needs to end (Lipsitz, 2017). I believe Kendrick Lamar and some of his songs to have the power to create social change, by the fact that he is bringing many issues to people's attention as they listen to his music.

Beyonce's song "Flawless" also shown motive to create social change, encouraging women to be positively empowered despite all negativities that come their way. Lyrics such as "I woke up like this, I woke up like this. We flawless, ladies tell 'em. Say 'I look so good tonight,'" speaks out to women that they are beautiful and should be confident despite what anyone else says (Dunlap). I believe this song and Beyonce herself helps create social change for women to be empowered and love themselves.

 

My question is, how powerful do you think of a weapon art is for social change? 

 

Citations

Lewis, P. (2016, February 24). 4 Powerful Kendrick Lamar Songs That Spoke to Black America. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from  https://mic.com/articles/136024/4-powerful-kendrick-lamar-songs-that-spoke-to-black-america#.SWmlZaIol (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。

Lipsitz, J. (2017, September 11). Kendrick Lamar's Powerful New "DNA" Music Video Is A Must Watch - VIDEO. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.bustle.com/p/kendrick-lamars-powerful-new-dna-music-video-is-a-must-watch-video-52085

Dunlap, K. (n.d.). 17 Of The Most Feminist Songs Of 2014. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.buzzfeed.com/kelleydunlap/the-most-fiercely-feminist-songs-of-2014?utm_term=.inrEN5joWK#.gwYYPWKGOR

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