Blog 4- Popular Culture and The Youth Rebellion Against Establishment

In the 1940’s, popular culture was a social movement that had a major influence on people and their actions. Movies were being made at the time about crucial issues and concerns going on during the time period. This was in the mist of World War II and over 2,500 movies about the war were released within a six year period. These films would concentrate on being united as one and showing how great America is. Hollywood would also make movies that would show our allies as good people just like Americans, so people would agree and jump on board. They also showed our enemies in films in a bad light by making them treat the values that the United States has with disrespect. The President at the time was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and he publically came out and gave thanks to Hollywood for supporting America with these films. He felt the directors were doing a great job at portraying what was going on, while at the same time putting a good spin on it and making the United States look superior. People were experiencing World War II through newspapers, movies, music, and radio broadcasts. 

They were only seeing what was put out there by the media and were not fully experiencing exactly what was going on in the War. The public heard about what was happening, but could not see for themselves. This was changed drastically when the television became popular culture.

Throughout the 1940’s and the early 1950’s, people were just following what society called the norm and were not stepping out of the box at all. After World War II, soldiers were coming home to their families and all they wanted was to live a normal life. Many were emotionally drained and traumatized from what went on while at war and just wanted to forget and return to their everyday lives. It was not tell the mid 1950’s when the Vietnam War began, that people were actually able to see real footage and news reports in their homes on television. 

This changed popular culture in a big way and created a social movement because people started to go against the norm of society and challenge authorities. This was a major difference then the previous war because you were hearing all these things, but now you are actually seeing them. It caused many people to protest the war and voice their opinions about it. A lot of the youth were challenging and rebelling against troops going to Vietnam, which caused a stir in the society and basically divided the two decades.     

By the youth rebelling against the establishment, it started a whole new wave of music in the 50’s and 60’s. Rock n Roll became very popular with the younger audiences and was something new and exciting. It was their own type of music that was different then what their parents were listening to. Elvis Presley came on the scene in the mid 50’s and hit stardom right away. He had a sex appeal to his audiences and would do dance moves while singing that were considered very risky at the time. Parents did not like Elvis because he was pushing the social boundaries that they were used to. 

This genre of music played a major part in pop culture and was watched on television daily by teenagers across America. When Elvis Presley would appear on television they would only film him above the hips when he was performing because his dance moves were thought of as too scandalous for television. Parents during this era were more into Big Band artists such as Frank Sinatra which had a slower pace to them and was not as loud and edgy as Rock n Roll. These different preferences of music created a generation gap between parents and their kids. Parents had grown up in a different era and their kids were trying to get away from that and wanted a different life for themselves, which caused this separation between generations. One way they rebelled was by protesting the Vietnam War that was happening. People from the early generations thought that since they served their country without any questions asked, so should the younger generation. This caused conflict and continued to push them apart.

This was a movement that I had heard about before and it was the first time teenagers started to go against the social norms their society set for them. They were causing a disruption because their parents grew up in a different era and expected them to follow in their footsteps. This movement was really significant because it led to other music and movies that were pushing the norm even further than before.

Blog 10: Hurricane Katrina

 

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in United States history. It was also in the top 5 for most deadly hurricanes to ever take place. People lost everything they knew when Katrina hit. Homes, cars, buildings, were destroyed and were under water. People were fighting to survive during this horrible time and barely had the essentials to do so. Dead bodies were unattended to and just lying in the streets because of the amount of chaos this hurricane created. In my opinion Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster, but certain things like the levees breaking, that caused the total flooding and destruction of New Orleans wasn’t.

I couldn’t believe the lack of urgency to step in and help, the U.S. government displayed after Katrina. People were fighting for their lives and were pleading for help, yet it took the government five days to actually get over there and take control of a situation that desperately needed it. The government had no excuse to why they weren’t their immediately following the hurricane to provide food, water, and aid to the people that needed it. They could have saved many more lives, but yet thousands died because of the lack of help they got from their own government.

In the Spike Lee documentary it shows government officials being interviewed saying they weren’t aware of the situation until days after it happened. There is something wrong about their lack of awareness to a state in their own country. It has also been brought to light that this situation might not have been treated with the amount of importance it should have been, because places the hurricane effected were cities like New Orleans, where they were predominately races other than white. The government continues to cover up and deny any wrong doings during this disaster, but it seems that they dropped the ball on this and in turn it cost many more deaths that could have been prevented.

The youtube clip shows live footage of New Orleans after the hurricane hit and the effects of it. It shows the destruction of a community and has interviews of people discussing this terrible disaster. One interview that caught my attention was when this lady talks about how many people are living pay check to pay check and don't have the means to just pick up and evacuate. It makes me wonder why their was not more thought put into evacuating all these people that can't afford to do it themselves. After seeing this video, it really made me think about how the government was so oblivious to the situation at hand and wasnt there to help these people right when it happened, that live in their own country. 

Blog 8- CIW and Via Campensia

 The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (C.I.W.) and La Via Campesina are two main organizations out there, that fight to improve wages and the working conditions of field workers. These two nonprofit organizations stand up for immigrant workers that are unjustly treated. These workers are getting paid next to nothing working on these plantations to produce the foods that are than bought by large corporations.  Both these organizations are trying to bring peoples’ attention to these corporations so maybe things can change and these workers will have better wages and good working environments. Many of these immigrant workers are either Indian or Latino and are forced to work with these conditions because they have no other option and need to provide for their families. The workers don’t boycott because if they did they would have no job and would be fired and replaced by other immigrants, knowing the desperation of these people.

Organizations like C.I.W. are set up to speak out for these workers and fight for them to be treated as equals. They want to raise wages for these tomato pickers and are voicing out, hoping people will become aware of the situation and want to help. One thing C.I.W. has done to try to help these farm workers survive on very little income, is pressure these farm owners to pay one extra penny per pound of tomatoes. Although this does not seem like a lot, it would help raise the wages of these workers to a lot higher than they receive now. Places like McDonalds and Taco Bell are two main corporations that agreed to pay more so the workers would in turn make a higher wages. 

Illegal immigrants are hired by these corporations because they work for such little money and know they cannot complain because not just do they need the job, but they want to stay in the country. If they voiced their opinion it may hurt the image of these corporations, but they would also be forced to leave the country they want to be in. 

La Via Campesina also has a lot of the same motives as C.I.W. They described themselves as, “an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe". This is a group that is also striving for justice for immigrant workers. They are wanting change to come and are working for individuals rights to produce. Both La Via Campesina and C.I.W. are voicing out hoping to put pressure on these corporations that benefit so much from paying unjust wages to illegal immigrant workers. As consumers these organizations are asking you to think about what you eat and where it comes from and what conditions the workers had to go through to get you that tomato. If consumers start to question these issues than it will cause for a change or it will begin to hurt the corporations. Many CEO’s of these corporations that are benefiting off immigrant workers, won’t admit knowledge of poor working conditions, but if people continue to press the issue, it will eventually have to be heard. 

The Jena Six

The Jena Six were six black teenagers in Jena, Louisiana that were convicted of beating a white student at their high school. This case has been called an example of racial injustice in the United States. The defendants were charged with way to high of an offense for this fight and were being unfairly treated throughout the whole process. Racial tensions were at a high in Jena after this incident and there were many violent acts between blacks and whites that took place. Students at Jena High School were caught putting nooses around a tree in the courtyard and were expelled at first, but then after being evaluated by the school board, they were only suspended. People in Jena, Louisiana feel like after the Jena 6, they are now known as one of the most racist places in the nation and I feel if they want that image changed they need to take control of the situations like the school yard nooses better. 

It seems pretty obvious that there is racial discrimination going on towards blacks in the area, by how the punishments for them are way more serious than for whites. Mychal Bell was a perfect example of this injustice. He was only 16 at the time and was tried as an adult for this assault on a white student. Bell was also initially charged with attempted second degree murder until it was later reduced. If this exact situation happened, but it was white kids assaulting a black kid, would this all-white jury come up with the same charge and conviction?

This incident created a huge amount of protesting all across the U.S. to help bring awareness to this issue of racism. These protesters caught the attention of many and it helped to point out the problems that were still going on with our judicial systems. They were able to create a disturbance that has been covered extensively in the media. This was an unfair situation for the kids involved in the Jena Six. They were charged excessively and as adults, which is unjust and just goes to show the racial inequality that people still have to deal with in our society today. Jena Six brought to light the many issue that are still being dealt with in communities and it also brought together people that stood up for the cause and protested for what was described as “one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in years”.

The video below is done by ESPN Outside The Lines and goes into depth on the Jena 6 situation. Jena is a majority white community and it is said to be the land that the civil rights movement forgot, until know. The issue brought to light the injustices going on in Jena and showed people coming together to help fight for what they believed is right. The Jena Six were unjustly treated and to me, it is a clear act of racial discrimination.