Global Citizenship

Being a good global citizen seems like a daunting task.  It is common for people to feel helpless and hopeless when it comes to foreign policies. A person may feel that no matter what they do, there will always be more people who are living in poverty, and dislikes us as Americans. I believe it is important to not be so down on yourself that you do nothing. It is always important to remember that anything you do can help someone somewhere.

                I learned that a good place to start being a good global citizen is local. Small things, like recycling or using a grocery tote instead of plastic bags can have a huge impact. This impact may not be directly on the environment, but it can encourage others around you to also recycle and use grocery totes, which can eventually build up to a huge impact. Buying local foods can help reduce use of petroleum products. It takes much less gas for a farmer in Bloomington to get his zucchini to the farmers market, than it takes a farm corporation to fly its products to America from another country and then have them driven all over the country to various Wal-Mart’s and Kroger’s.  It is also important to make connections. Relationships with people can have an effect on the way our world works. If one person is nice to someone who is obviously having a bad day, then that person’s day is brightened, and he or she can then brighten someone else’s day. Our lives are full of connections that can cause chain reactions.

                Someone may think that they have nothing in common with another person on the other side of the planet. That may be true to some extent, but they will always have at least two things in common; they are both human, and are both heavily affected by music. It is easy to remember the golden rule, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. This is a simple and easy thought process that can make life for everyone just a little bit sweeter. Even more importantly, it is great to realize that nearly everyone loves music, and those that don’t are probably just unaware of the impact it has on them. Music can be used to start a revolution, or to try to kill an entire race, that is how powerful it is. As humans, it is important for us to realize when it is being used negatively, and how we can reverse the process and use it positively.

                Responsibilities of global citizens can vary. If you are someone who believes that your way of life is good and that you are not harming anyone then that is great, but there is always something to be improved. You do not have to go on a mission trip and build libraries or churches for civilizations in other countries, or adopt multiple children to be a good global citizen. If these are your callings, then that is awesome. Something as simple as taking care of yourself and your own, so that others don’t have to is another great way to be a good global citizen. If you have the resources to take care of those outside of your family, even better. Another responsibility we have as global citizens is realizing that there is always a third option, no matter what the situation is. It is our duty to think outside of the box, and not fall in line behind what the media or our government tells us to do. That is the beauty of our democracy, if enough people are upset, something can be done to make it better.

                It is not easy to look at our world, and think ‘what can I do to make this place better?’ but it must be done. With that, comes the ability to realize when you cannot fix something, and the strength to not dwell on that, and find something about yourself that you can fix, that will in turn make the world a little bit sweeter. This class has given me a lot to think about, and I know I am not done coming up with my potential solutions for the world. I have a love for singing that I can share with so many people, especially younger generations that will benefit so greatly from it, much like I have. I believe music can be the driving force behind any child’s intention to do well.  Music teaches us so much more than how to clap in rhythm or sing in tune. Music teaches us basic life skills that can be used to make our world better.

Community Observation Assignment

                  There are many ways to get involved in the community that surrounds you. Many people choose volunteering for organizations or political parties, but there is a way to get involved that can have a much more meaningful impact on an individual. Getting involved in community music sessions is a great way to grow as a single person, and help shape your community. As an individual you can learn new music, and with that you can learn discipline and confidence building. While improving yourself, you help build strong communities by getting involved at the grassroots level.

                At the Runcible Spoon, an Irish-like pub in Bloomington, Indiana, every Tuesday a group of people meet to play Irish folk music. The people who attend vary in age from young twenties up to middle aged and older. They’re musical abilities fluctuate from person to person. The instruments that can be found there include whistles, flutes, drums, guitars, accordions, Irish bag pipes, and fiddles. Each of these instruments makes the music interesting to listeners. In this set up someone who is just learning an instrument would be welcomed with open arms by the patrons. It is very much a participatory environment, with little to no hierarchy.

                While observing the musicians, I noticed that the behavior trait they all possess is one of respect. There are no boundaries between a professional level musician, and someone just learning how to play. The environment is very calm, and so are the musicians. Everyone listens to each other and no one person has say over another person.  If someone did not know the tune they could ask to be taught, figure it out on their own, or just sit the song out. There is very little pressure on the musicians.

                The songs that were being played were of Irish decent. The music that I heard was all instrumental with no vocal part, although a woman did sing a solo that she had learned while doing out of the country. The music is very simple. Simple melodies and simple structures are what make the pieces so easy for everyone to join in and play. I heard multiple songs while there. There was no real structure to the performance it seemed, but upon asking the musicians one can see that there is a structure even though it is light. One person leads the group, and that is usually the person who starts the first melody. In this case it was Grey Larsen, a very famous Irish flute player. The person who starts the first melody is then in charge of the next few melodies. He or she signals the coming of a new tune with eye contact or physical gestures.

                I believe this type of community involvement is the best. People are so passionate about their music, so that when you join your music with others, the connection you feel with others goes much deeper than other types of community activities. I think that people who are involved in musical sessions are the people who are most likely to have an impact on our local communities and how they are run, and eventually how our nation is run. The reason being, since people are so deeply rooted to their music that the morals of the music are applicable to the morals they practice in their life. I think the participants in these sessions are greatly impacted every time they meet up to play music because each and every time a bond is built, or made stronger. If every person had this kind of connection to music and community then the community could become more relationship friendly.

The Punks are Alright Review

Kids who listen to punk rock are often seen as troubled youth with rebellious tendencies. In American punk, this may be true, but America is not the only country with a punk scene. Punk music can be found in many parts of the world. Canada, Brazil, and Indonesia are three countries that contain this phenomenon called punk music. It is quite similar to punk in America musically, but the inspiration for it could not be more different. Punk in America was founded by middle class suburban kids who were frustrated with their daily lives. In Brazil and Indonesia, the kids are certainly frustrated, but it goes much deeper than being angry at ones mediocre and boring life.  These kids that are living in the majority world use punk music as an outlet for their anger and frustration that they have towards their lives in extreme poverty.

The documentary, The Punks are Alright, illustrates a life that most Americans do not know. It shows kids that work several hours a day at jobs that take several hours of commuting to get to, to make less than three dollars a day; but they are so honored just to have work. Most American’s don’t know, but this is how the majority of the world lives. In the majority world, this type of life is normal. Most children in America have no idea what Dolly, the young Indonesian man’s life is like, and likewise, these kids in other countries have no idea what childhood could be like for them.  This movie, for me, opened my eyes to how hard life can be for youth of other cultures.

It is hard for me to say that I can relate with these kids. I have no idea what it is to even really have a job, let alone have to depend on having one to live. I have a mother and father who provide for me, it is not the other way around. I have only ever really had to work hard to get into college, which most of the kids in the majority world will never know. I can relate with them on one thing and that is feeling hopeless. As an American, going to another culture, and seeing the majority world, all you want to do is ‘fix’ it. There is no fixing this life style. I can relate with the defeat that one feels thinking that nothing can be done.

Although it is hard for me to relate with kids of other cultures, there is one thing that makes the intersection of our lives inevitable, and that is music. I do not personally listen to punk music, but that is beside the point.  No matter what type of music you listen to, it is still music, and you listen to it for the same reasons anyone else listens to music. Music is used to achieve something for all people, but what it achieves is different for every person.

The youth in other cultures use music to demonstrate their anger towards the system. Many of the kids hate the idea of globalization and capitalism. In, America, kids are taught to love capitalism, some stray from that idea, but some stick with it. I personally believe capitalism, with morals, is the best system, but how can I blame someone who is on the losing end of capitalism for hating it? These kids hate capitalism, because they feel enslaved by it. In Indonesia, their primary source of income is based on western tourism. That is how most people make their livings. Globalization comes along with that. Americans will most likely not travel to a place that has not been westernized.  The kids use punk music, similar to how adults in their culture use religion, to express their rage towards a system in which they have come out as the failures.

Music can be used to serve many purposes. It can be used to express a full spectrum of emotion. For many people music makes them happy, and for some, it helps them cope with their sadness.  For others, music is a release of anger and hate that has been pent up inside of them that they are otherwise unable to get out. Music can be more than that; music can be the hobby that saves a person’s life. Music is the one thing that connects us all as human beings, no matter what your personal need for music is.

Farmer's Market

I chose Politics/Community involvement and Music as my variable. Many people, of all ages and societal groups attended the farmers market. The people who listened to the music were in no particular group. Every one of all ages enjoyed the barber shop group that was performing. The politics on the other hand, were avoided by most everyone. I only noticed a few people, mostly middle to older aged men going up to the booths. Working at the booths were mostly young men and women. My overall observations conclude that most everyone loved the music, and most everyone avoided the political booths.

Review of I Love Hip Hop in Morocco

In America Hip Hop has come to be somewhat negative. When we think of rappers we think of bling, money, and women being objectified. Hip Hop in America was not always this way; it used to be a way for minorities to express their frustration towards the system they faced. Hip Hop is no longer just an American genre of music. Hip Hop has a very different meaning in different parts of the world. Morocco has a large Hip Hop scene. For Moroccans, Hip Hop represents freedom of speech and empowerment that their government does not allow them.

                In the documentary I love Hip Hop in Morocco, many young artists explain why it is that they love Hip Hop so much. Brownfingaz believes that Hip Hop can be used to make Moroccan youth have more pride for their country. He is upset by how hard parents work to give their children a chance to leave Morocco. He wishes that instead of sending the kids to another country, that Morocco could become great enough that parents would be happy to have their kids staying. He was the only rapper who rapped in English because he believed that since rap started in English it should always be done in English. He used a lot of curse words, unlike the other rappers who believed it was disrespectful. Fati is the first Moroccan female rapper. She faced a lot of judgment from those around her, because they believed she should act like a good Muslim girl. At one point she is on stage and the whole audience is booing and yelling at her. She faces them with comedy and spunk, and eventually they end up cheering for her as she raps. Fati is a great example of a young women facing sexism, and rising above it. These two artists represent what Hip Hop in Morocco can do for its youth.

                The biggest issue that Moroccans are faced with is the oppression that the king has over the people. The king is Muslim, and so is a large majority of the citizens of Morocco. All of the rappers in the documentary are also Muslim, and this causes a lot of internal conflicts for them. Muslim religion bans most music because it is believed to tempt the listeners. Hip Hop especially is associated with Western culture, which Muslims are strongly opposed to. They believe that the Western lifestyle is immoral and will lead them to hell. These artists struggle within themselves to feel like good Muslims and successful musicians. Many of them however would say that they have found a middle ground where they feel they are happy with themselves.

                I Love Hip Hop in Morocco features three concerts which the American Embassy helped fund. Americans gave $10,000 to this cause. Most Americans would be very irritated by this. The point here is that yes, $10,000 is a lot, but it is much less than what we as Americans spend on other forms of our terrorism control. This concert helped fight terrorism because the biggest group there, H-Kayne, sang a song called “Hands Off My Country” which is aimed at Osama Bin Laden who bombed Casablanca because he believed that Moroccans had strayed from their Muslim roots. 36,000 Moroccan youth were exposed to this song. There is no better way to fight terrorism than this. Having people you look up to spreading the idea of free speech and empowerment through song is the best way to teach youth. Also, when Hip Hop is associated with America, which brings to mind free speech, and it is then connected to Hip Hop, it connects the sign, Hip Hop, to two objects, America and Morocco, which brings this country one step closer to having good associations with Americans.

The goal of the American people is to end terrorism. We usually rely on violence, such as bombing a city, or killing a known leader to end terrorism, which is known to be expensive in resources and lives. Why would we kill so many people, and spend so much money on all of this military action, when we know that three concerts, costing us $10,000 can reach 36,000 people? Hip Hop and other types of musical concerts, or anything like this, where youth is explaining to youth how great life can be without oppression and censorship will eventually end what we call terrorism.

Review of Reel Bad Arabs.

America is believed to be the land of opportunity for all, but is the opportunity really for all? Americans have seen numerous acts of racism, inside and outside of our borders. Nazi Germany was racist towards Jewish people. Racism was applied to African Americans in America for a majority of the country’s existence. We now believe that we give equal treatment to people of all races and religions, but this is not true. Americans are unaware of the racism against Arabs and Muslims that is still present today.

The documentary Reel Bad Arabs, discusses the influence that the film industry has on public opinion. Over 1,000 movies in the past century have an Arab character. More often than not, the characters are antagonists. We as Americans have accepted the idea that Arabs are people of anger, hatred and fierceness. This racism is in all genres of movies, none more evident than actions movies that feature heaps of violence. This racism is also in children’s movies such as Disney’s Aladdin. The song Arabian Nights which is featured in the opening credits contains the lyrics “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, it’s barbaric, but hey, its home.” This depiction of ‘Arabland’ is one of many racist stereotypes in this movie. Another genre that is guilty of this prejudice is comedy. Father of the Bride 2 features an Arab character who portrays the clichéd trait of an Arab man have complete power of Arab women. The man is also portrayed to be money obsessed. Another movie that features fierce racism is Rules of Engagement. I believe this movie is the worst of the three listed because of how it demonizes all Arab people. It is easy for most people to connect with the women and children of a race, and this movie takes even that away from the Arabs. A little Arab girl is shown shooting at a group of American military men, along with various members of her community, including other children and women.

What makes this kind of bigotry so acceptable? I believe that if these characters were to have been of any other race, it would not have been tolerated.   No one gets upset about these movies. There are no groups of Arab-Americans getting together to revolt. Movie makers have learned that Arabs are a group that can be used repeatedly as a villain, and no one will speak out against it. This then becomes a cycle. We see these racist labels and we believe them, which makes us think this is really how these people act. We become emotionally detached from the group since we believe they are pure evil, and it then becomes perfectly acceptable to treat them this way.

I personally have seen only one of the movies that was shown in the documentary Reel Bad Arabs, and that is Aladdin. I found this to be particularly disturbing that this children’s movie was so full of discrimination.  I found it even scarier that I had no idea that it was racist, until I saw this documentary. Even though I have not seen any of the other movies, I was disgusted with how the other movies depicted these people.

There are so many lessons to learn from this documentary, and from what our country has done to this group of people. I would say the most important, is that just because one small group of people from a country commits a terrorist act, does not mean that the country is filled with terrorists. Just because the Ku Klux Klan is a group of white Christian males that hates all other religions and races, does not mean that all white Christian males believe the same thing.  Another thing to learn from this is that most Americans, unless they have visited the Middle East have no idea what it is really like. Everything the media feeds us about this area and the people that inhabit it have been passed down from a skewed idea that came from early European travelers. It is also important to know that this idea that ‘Arabland’ is this place that never changes, and never evolves is false. 

It is obvious that we as Americans are not as race friendly as we thought we were. Something needs to happen to change this racism. First and foremost, we personally need to change our thought process. Break the chain between words like Islam and Arabs, and words like anger and aggression. Try to connect with Muslims and Arabs so that you have that personal experience with a member of that group. It is also crucial to realize that a revolution cannot take place if the people do not want it. We need to become more accepting of all people, and rid our minds of racist thoughts.

Discourse of Terrorism

Discourse of terrorism can be defined by looking at the definitions of discourse and terrorism separately, and then adding the two definitions together. Discourse is simply the communication of thoughts and ideas. This communication can be done through talking, music, and various forms of other media, such as comedy. Terrorism can be defined as acts of violence that are used to created compliancy in a group of people, or even a whole nation.  Therefore discourse of terrorism is the way that media, music or even comedy communicates the idea of terrorism to a group of people.

To depict how discourse of terrorism has had an effect in America, I would like to focus on the time period directly after 9/11. The initial reaction most people had was one of mourning and a sense of deep loss.  A benefit concert, America: A Tribute to Heroes, was held on September 21, with songs like Imagine, Love is in Need of Love, Redemption, and Livin’ on a Prayer were all part of the playlist, all songs that did not have an obvious intent of war, or any kind of retaliation. This concert was very subdued and respectful, yet expressed the overall mixed reactions that all American’s were feeling.

A month later, a very different concert was held. A Concert for New York City, was also a benefit concert, but it went much further than that; it was the beginning of a political climate change. This concert featured songs that when written, had no intent of vehemence or revenge, but had been reshaped to embody these ideas. Songs like No I Won’t Back Down, Who Are You, Wanted Dead or Alive, were now being morphed into songs that were pro war and rather vengeful.  Bon Jovi, the same band that had performed at America: A Tribute to Heroes with a song depicting an idea of peace, and togetherness just one month prior was now performing a song laced with retaliation. This group was not the only one to change their opinions. Many artists, who had at first discouraged war, were now in support of what the George W. Bush administration was planning.

What caused such a radical change in such a short amount of time?  The answer relates back to the concept of discourse of terrorism. The new approach that was put in place was very bitter and vindictive. Americans jumped on board with this idea that we must go to war, and we must fight back. This concept was everywhere, especially in music, and country music led the way. Toby Keith became the front man of this movement. His song, Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American) can make anyone feel saturated with patriotism. He uses obvious symbolism such as Uncle Sam, the statue of liberty, eagles, and of course the American flag. This is all great for making American’s proud, but the real purpose of the song is clear with lyrics like “Oh, justice will be served and the battle will rage: This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage.”  This song and many other songs that were coming out in the years following September 11th were a call to war.

Country music, though very important to this movement, was not the only genre of music in support of the war. Countless popular songs, and even rock songs, which have always been famous for rebelling against such institutions, were now associated with war efforts.  This pent up anger eventually led to the hatred that now runs rampant in our country. We as Americans do not even notice the racism that is fed to us on a daily basis. We relate terrorism to all of these ideas of the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Muslims, and most of us don’t even know the difference between these things, and the groups of people related to them.

                This racism even spilled into entertainment. A comedian who has risen to fame during the post 9/11 years, Jeff Dunham, uses explicit racism in his act. He is a ventriloquist who has a puppet, named Achmed, who is a suicide bomber. The racism doesn’t stop there; Jeff Dunham portrays this terrorist as a dumb witted man, who failed to do his job correctly as a suicide bomber, and is now dead. In his act he goes on to make jokes about the belief that after death, Achmed would receive 72 virgins. What is really chilling about the performance is when Achmed tries to tell a joke about Jewish men, and then a joke about Catholic priests, Jeff tells his puppet that he does not want that kind of racism in his act. This kind of ‘comedy’ is reminiscent of the treatment of Jewish people during the Nazi Germany era, in which the race was made fun of and demonized to the point that it became socially acceptable to be racist towards them. This racism led the citizens to believe that it was tolerable to exterminate members of the race.

                All of these examples of media and music stabilize the idea of terrorism. One artist who destabilizes discourse of terrorism with music is British rapper, Lowkey. In his music he makes very bold statements that most Americans have never heard. Lowkey takes a step back, and points out that America is fighting terrorism with terrorism. The definition of terrorism, as stated before is to use violence to control a group of people. America has attacked many countries, killing many civilians. One could say that Lowkey is not objective enough, that he puts too much blame on America. Whatever your standpoint on that may be, it cannot be argued that it is not beneficial for people, especially for us Americans to hear this kind of point brought up against us.

                I think it is important to take all of these cases into consideration before making a conclusion on who is right or wrong in this war. I would hope that most would come to the conclusion that fighting fire with fire will not work, and history shows that it has never worked. What is important is that we as Americans learn from our mistake of not reviewing all of the information before falling in line behind a leader. It is crucial to not let emotions, but logic affect our decision of whether or not to engage in war.