Abstract taken from MTV Think News article entitled, Busted U? Colleges Catch Students Breaking Rules Via Social-Networking Sites.
"When swarms of Pennsylvania State University students rushed the football field after a win last fall, a post-game riot overwhelmed police. Though only two culprits were arrested on game day, police were able to track down some of the guilty parties later on Facebook: Students had launched a group on the site named "I Rushed the Field After the OSU Game (And Lived!).
In light of such a situation, some students worry they're being watched which in some instances is true. Ken Vance, director of public safety at Georgia College & State University, told The Chronicle of Higher Education in January that he assigns an officer to scour Facebook daily for clues about upcoming parties that may require police presence. Campus security officers at other universities have also admitted to perusing these sites for infractions."
Don't put your parties on Facebook/Myspace! Yeah, they'll get a huge turn out but you're also making an open invitation to the Po-Po. TPD has Facebook/Myspace accounts too. Wanna throw a party? Make a phone list, call people and tell them to spread word! Don't do dumb sh%@! No, wait-do dumb sh%@-just don't get caught by broadcasting all your activities in your blog and/or in photo albums.
While this is one problem that Facebook presents, it is not the only one. Companies have access to your personal profiles online now as well. After applying for a position with a firm, some of them do investigate you by visiting your Facebook/ Myspace accounts. I definately do not approve of this. Where the hell is my freedom? I now have to be conscientious and paranoid about every little thing I do. If paranoia is real, then my freedom as I knew it must now be false. The confines of society have subjected me to a box. Subconscious and conditioned ways of thinking have been taught. Physics and laws have been established before my time and I cannot change anything relatively conditional. Opportunity and circumstance hold me back. Racism, prejudice, political affiliation, religion, etc. All examples of limitations of my freeedom to do as I please. And now I have to add social-networking websites to that long list of constraints.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Farewell Black Films
There is no one factor contributing to the lack of substance in Black Films today but I do believe the main reason lies in assimilation. Both John Singleton and Spike Lee have moved on to produce big studio box-office movies. Trying to reach a broader audience has proven to equal big profits but at the expense of our cultural empowerment. These two directors are certainly not to blame for the current state of Black Films but as leaders of a movement in the past, I feel they should actively participate in passing on the torch to younger, talented, black directors today. By helping mold a director's craft, they could influence the next great (overdue) Black Film. Although black movie directors are contributing greatly to hollywood (Tim Story, Eric Dickerson,etc), provacative black movies are absent. Just the other day me and my friends were reminiscing about the good black films of our time. While we had Boyz in the Hood, Nino Brown, House Party, and Do the Right Thing, the youth today only have non-sensical movies like Soul Plane to gain from.
I understand that there have been many enjoyable Black Films released over the past couple of years. But I don't consider these films to be empowering. While movies like Dreamgirls are solid movies, they just don't resignate black empowerment to the same effect as movies like The Color Purple, Do the Right Thing, Boyz in the Hood, or Bamboozled. In regards to movies like "Something New"; movies denouncing BM and BW unity are becoming more and more popular in Hollywood these days. It seems that our romance movies (Love and Basketball, Brown Sugar, Love Jones, etc) have come to an end as well. BM and BW in relationships provokes a problem for the white mainstream movie audience and because of that, we are left with movies like "Something New". The promotion of interractial dating and coupling is a theme that is being transcended into our culture and it too has a negative effect. "Anything that influences BLACK men and women to think they are better off apart, that we are unlovable, undesirable, and unworthy makes black power an impossibility" (crammaster blog, AOL Blackvoices).
I understand that there have been many enjoyable Black Films released over the past couple of years. But I don't consider these films to be empowering. While movies like Dreamgirls are solid movies, they just don't resignate black empowerment to the same effect as movies like The Color Purple, Do the Right Thing, Boyz in the Hood, or Bamboozled. In regards to movies like "Something New"; movies denouncing BM and BW unity are becoming more and more popular in Hollywood these days. It seems that our romance movies (Love and Basketball, Brown Sugar, Love Jones, etc) have come to an end as well. BM and BW in relationships provokes a problem for the white mainstream movie audience and because of that, we are left with movies like "Something New". The promotion of interractial dating and coupling is a theme that is being transcended into our culture and it too has a negative effect. "Anything that influences BLACK men and women to think they are better off apart, that we are unlovable, undesirable, and unworthy makes black power an impossibility" (crammaster blog, AOL Blackvoices).
Tavis Smiley
I feel fortunate that I attended the HBCU Talented Tenth Tour featuring Tavis Smiley. I almost didn't take advantage of the opportunity to see such a well-rounded, public speaker. What Tavis does for our community-more specifically, my generation-is motivate us to become leaders for today and to seek social change in the name of justice for tomorrow.
As I struggled to find a seat in the balcony, I considered leaving and just catching a synopses of what I missed in The Famuan. Good thing I chose to stay though. Hearing the speech from a first-hand experience was inspirational and caused me to consider possibilities I had yet to acknowledge in regards to "where I want to be" and "who I want to become."
Tavis outlined to students, teachers, and local community how we must lead during this time of political and social uncertainty. We must lead through, "Love and Service", he said. Through those two virtues, a leader is born. With it marking the initial day of the Jena 6 trial in Jena, Luisiana, it was no surprise that Tavis would mention the importance of justice and how we must all seek to fight injustices everywhere. He went on to say that "Justice is what love looks like in public" and that by using the two previously stated virtues, justice can be achieved.
The last quote he left with the audience that night was one from Martin Luther King, Jr. Although I consider myself quite critical of Martin Luther King and his passive tactics for equality, I liked the quote.
"Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expedience asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but we must make it because our conscience tells us it is right."
I like the quote because it addresses all the typical emotions that effect people's reactions to particular situations while presenting a virtuous solution. This quote is how we should strive to live our lives. Tavis also presented an equally effective way to fashion ourl lives. We should create our own obituaries and then go out and live it. By doing this we will aspire to live a meaningful life worthy of remembrance.
As I struggled to find a seat in the balcony, I considered leaving and just catching a synopses of what I missed in The Famuan. Good thing I chose to stay though. Hearing the speech from a first-hand experience was inspirational and caused me to consider possibilities I had yet to acknowledge in regards to "where I want to be" and "who I want to become."
Tavis outlined to students, teachers, and local community how we must lead during this time of political and social uncertainty. We must lead through, "Love and Service", he said. Through those two virtues, a leader is born. With it marking the initial day of the Jena 6 trial in Jena, Luisiana, it was no surprise that Tavis would mention the importance of justice and how we must all seek to fight injustices everywhere. He went on to say that "Justice is what love looks like in public" and that by using the two previously stated virtues, justice can be achieved.
The last quote he left with the audience that night was one from Martin Luther King, Jr. Although I consider myself quite critical of Martin Luther King and his passive tactics for equality, I liked the quote.
"Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expedience asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but we must make it because our conscience tells us it is right."
I like the quote because it addresses all the typical emotions that effect people's reactions to particular situations while presenting a virtuous solution. This quote is how we should strive to live our lives. Tavis also presented an equally effective way to fashion ourl lives. We should create our own obituaries and then go out and live it. By doing this we will aspire to live a meaningful life worthy of remembrance.
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