Reflection

I really enjoyed taking African American Film and Culture. I wasn't exactly sure what the class was going to be about, but I actually learned a lot in this class and liked it! I think that this is such a interesting class to take. Prior to taking African American Film and Culture, I didn't look at television and films the way that I do now. I find myself looking at images and film totally different. One thing I really enjoyed about the class is how depth we went in to looking at certain images and films. For example, looking at and discussing D'Angelo's video Untitled (How Does It Feel) made me open my eyes to things that I overlooked. I now find myself watching things in silence and analyzing them. I also enjoyed learning about the concept of black bodies and learning about Bell Hooks. I felt like there were a lot of things that I was unaware of and the discussions that we had in this class made me look at things differently. I also liked how Dr. Jackson's class wasn't strictly lecture and how open and honest the class is.

 

 

As far as new ideas for this class, I think it would be great if the students got a chance to pick an African American film that they would like to watch and analyze. The only thing that I would change about the class is the short film project. I think I would have enjoyed more if it wasn't a group project. For students in the future, I would advise them to be open-minded and don't be afraid to be a part of the class discussion. Overall, I think this is a great class for students to take and I truly enjoyed it.

How Do Films Teach

 Films teach us about different cultures and backgrounds of others. They can either have a negative or positive affect in our society. Often times, Hollywood likes to use the same stereotypes and tell the same stories on black culture. I believe that Ava Duvernay uses her films to teach us many things. She uses her films to demonstrate the lives of black women and men. Ava Duvernay is being a leader in the film industry and making sure that our stories are being told the right way. In her films, she shows the negative and positive side in the black community. Ava Duvernay is teaching us that it is up to us to get behind the cameras and express how it feels to be ourselves. Our stories will only get told the right way if we take a stand and tell them ourselves. I also believe that Ava Duvernay is making sure that she breaks the stereotypes of black women in film and shares their stories the correct way. Although Ava Duvernay is in a predominantly white-male industry, she is still breaking through despite her gender or race. I also think Ava Duvernay films teach us that it doesn't matter if you have a lot of money or not, keep making films and telling our stories is what's important. She is showing us that even though Hollywood may not believe that these stories our important, they are important and instead of going to Hollywood with our ideas we can create our own opportunities. Overall, Ava Duvernay teaches us that we don't have to fit into the Hollywood culture, we can tell new stories, create new opportunities, and be proud of who you are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhf0L3nMRtM

Black Bodies

There are many ways that 'others' control black bodies in our society. One way I believe that 'others' control black bodies in society is the way they treat a black women's body. Often times, black women are looked down on because of their body. Black women are known to be curvy individuals and have big hips and thighs. I think the media always tries to portray black women in a negative light. For example, if Nicki Minaj dresses a certain way or depicts herself in a sexual way she is looked at in a negative way. When a celebrity like Miley Cyrus does all these crazy things and promotes weed and being sexual, society sees it as being cool and funny. Also when Nicki Minaj did her cover for her song anaconda, the media was harsh on her but if a white celebrity did the same thing they would praise them.  We let things like the media control what we think of black women. I think it is unfortunate that black women can't be celebrated but instead judged for everything that we do. There are traditions and styles that black women have been doing for years that mainstream media is just catching up too, but instead of being celebrated for things we created women like Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus are praised for being 'trendy'. When actress/singer Zendaya decided to wear dreads to the Oscars she was stereotyped and depicted in a negative light. Unlike when runway models, Kylie Jenner, and Miley Cyrus were praised as being cool and different. I think it is unfair how black women are seen in our society. We are often portrayed in a negative light which needs to change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_YFqpI1VMc

Keep Our Dreams Alive

There are so many things that I learned in this unit that were interesting, but the topic that impacted me the most was the idea of internalized racism. Before taking this course, I was unaware of the term internalized racism. After reading the introduction of Black Looks Race and Representation by Bell Hooks, it opened my eyes to a lot of things in the black community. Often times in the black community we put our own people down, which only makes things worse. We tend to enjoy the negative portrayal of ourselves. If we don't respect and accept our own race then how do we expect others to respect us. African-Americans are generally stereotyped and judged because of assumptions. As blacks we tend to laugh at our own downfalls instead of uplifting each other. We tell young girls that they should look a certain way and not accept their kinky and curly hair. We don't give back to our own communities but instead we make it out the 'hood' and never come back, which shows that we don't love our own people. It is important that we share our stories and not be ashamed of where we come from but instead focus on how to make a change and be better. Also today's portrayal of African-American in the media and television is horrible. With the police brutality going on and the representation of blacks on reality TV, the display of African-Americans is negative and incorrect. It is very important that we come together and show the positivity of African-Americans. There once were shows like A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Martin that showed blacks in a positive light. Nowadays we watch shows like Love and Hip-Hip that depict black women fighting and black men having "baby momma" drama. As a community we sit and watch these shows and enjoy the negative depiction of blacks. It is crucial that we get back to the times when black people were depicted on television as having families and being college educated. It is up to us to create our own role models and encourage our youth to make a change. We can't give up on our communities instead we have to fight for our communities. We can't teach our children to hate their own communities and tell them to leave the first chance they get, we have to rebuild our communities and be willing to get out of our comfort zone and fight for our story. It is up to us to make a difference and not let others create their own ideas of us. Overall, Unit I was very insightful and it made me more eager to make a change in my community.

 

 

Below is a link to a clip from the Ted Talk Our Neighborhoods: Elijah Miles at TEDxBaltimore 2014. In the clip Elijah Miles talks about changing our neighborhoods and making a difference for our youth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaue72D9p_I