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Blogs Men/Women in Hip-Hop Misunderstood: Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover… by Jasmin Greene (1 Comment)
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Blogs Men/Women in Hip-Hop Misunderstood: Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover… by Jasmin Greene (1 Comment) | Misunderstood: Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover… by Jasmin Greene (1 Comment) |
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| Written by Jasmin | |
| Monday, 05 November 2007 | |
Dirt police domestic beefs that's festerin He knew the President wadn't addressin him Though dead presidents was undressin him Two kids from hot sex no protection and People don't see how AIDS is affectin 'em It get hard to get the get the God question in Can't find a job so you robbin and hustlin{source} Common begins with discussing crooked police and the popularity of domestic fights and arguments. This verse has a young black male as the main character. Common makes it clear that this male knows the American president is not addressing his day to day issues and does not care about what is going on in the lives of people who live in urban communities. He states that however, dead presidents, money are addressing him. In other words he believes money is what matters most. Common then moves on to a very serious issue in urban communities, reckless sexual activities. He states that this said young black male has two children from unprotected sex. People need to be more conscious and think smarter about having sex, because “people don’t see how AIDS is affectin ‘em”. A few lines later he states something that happens often in such communities. It is difficult to find a job without proper education and training, and even still many qualified black people are turned down for positions. So when it appears there is nothing else to do to make money, one turns to robbing and hustling. In the second verse Common raps about a black woman who, although went to Howard University, has become a stripper. He raps: She dancin she dance she dance for them Her body move but her mind was manic'n Thinkin I don't know where they hands have been Relationships with men have been so damagin She thought back to when she was at Howard and Dreams of doing scenes with Terrence Howard and Broadway plays and dancin with Alv and them The ones that make it ain't always the talented Some dreams get lost never to be found again At first strippin seemed so empowerin Most every girl wanna do it now and then This can be a quite common situation in our society. Most people assume that women who strip come from desolate backgrounds and are uneducated. In other words, they are misunderstood. However, Common shows us that there are women who have been brought to stripping due to circumstance. We cannot judge everyone without knowing their story. When he raps that stripping first seemed empowering and most think about doing it, he is not lying. Many women toy around with the idea thinking that they will have complete control and power if they decide to dance. Sometimes after beginning it becomes are hard get out and leave the stripping world. Common spreads important messages of not being judgmental and how we need to start trying to understand instead of turning our nose up at people. It is important that we pull from this song that these two characters are far more than made up. They could be you, me, or the person sitting next to you at work/school. Therefore, we must not judge a book by its cover. Instead, we open it up, read, and learn from it in order to help others in similar situations. Comments
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Too many problems arise from simple misunderstandings. Urban communities such as the Black communitefs struggle everyday due to the fact that the world has preconceived notions about them-- notions that are a result of being misunderstood. This is exactly why someone can be totally racist against African-Americans and at the same time watch Oprah on TV. If a Black person's life is not put on blast for the world to see, the world will decide for itself what it's gonna to believe you are.
I think you are very right. I know a girls father that's a principle at a school and when she whent to college she started to strip and her parents don't know and she has been doing it for a long time know.
Copyright 2007. All Rights Reserved.       |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 November 2007 ) |
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