Michael Kolawole

“If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me

Have you read the YouTube comments lately?

“Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily

We become so numb to what we’re saying

A culture founded from oppression

Yet we don’t have acceptance for ’em

Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board

A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it

Gay is synonymous with the lesser

It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion

Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment

The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins

It’s human rights for everybody, there is no difference!

Live on and be yourself

When I was at church they taught me something else

If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed

That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned

When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless

Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen

I might not be the same, but that’s not important

No freedom ’til we’re equal, damn right I support it”

I decided to choose this song for this task because I feel the deep meaning to this song is an issue that is rarely spoken about, especially in Hip Hop. The song is entitled ‘Same Love’ by Macklemore and features Ryan Lewis. The song speaks about the issue of homophobia; his context has a different approach compared to the traditional rap and being pro homosexual in the rap genre is very controversial. The rap genre is considered to be a very homophobic, for example Eminem has countlessly made homophobic remarks such as the ‘faggot’, which wouldn’t be accepted in other genres of music or media and when asked during a rolling stone interview about the use of the word he replied; “I don’t know how to say this without saying it how I’ve said it a million times. But that word, those kind of words, when I came up battle-rappin’ or whatever, I never really equated those words”, the lack of outrage really shows how homophobia is accepted because if words like nigger was used by white celebrities it wouldn’t be taken as lightly. Macklemore acknowledges this hatred in rap against homosexuality and you can see this from the first line when he says, “If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me”, he then continues to go on and speaks about the abusive attitude of the culture and mentions YouTube. With expansion of the Internet more people are given a voice and some people abuse this. A website called “http://www.nohomophobes.com/” is sets out to show how often homophobic words are used on twitter daily and in just one day the word faggot was used over 16,ooo times, which shows how the internet is being used to fight against homosexuals.

I picked out this verse of the song because I felt like it relates to rap culture and the audience attitudes best. Although I’m not homosexual I have friends who are because of this I find myself being defensive especially as I’m very pro equal right. You can see Macklemore share this same feeling, as he too isn’t homosexual but is a support for equal rights and it’s clear when says “I might not be the same, but that’s not important, No freedom ’til we’re equal, damn right I support it”. “Hip-hop has become an important element in every American’s journey, influencing everything from music, fashion and language to politics and attitudes toward gender and race” and the culture doesn’t realize how much influence it has and homophobic attitudes makes for a society that encourages discrimination.

Bibliography: Rolling Stone, (2014). Exclusive: Eminem Responds to ‘Rap God’ Homophobia Accusations. [online] Available at: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-eminem-responds-to-rap-god-homophobia-accusations-20131104 [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

Kazeem JIMOH (Professional Interview – Poppy Wilde)

I organized and expert interview and had the opportunity and pleasure of interviewing Poppy Wilde a PhD Researcher in the Department of Media at Coventry University. Her research explores the lived experience of MMORPG gaming and how it might be considered as a form of posthuman performance. I decided to interview her because I was really interested in a talk she gave about MMORPG gaming and posthumasism. I used this interview to gain more knowledge on her subject and thought it would be a good way to understand her research in more depth.

I started by asking her about her main research interest, which are digital cultures, posthumanism, embodiment, performance in online contexts and the lived experience in research methods. I wanted to know how she finds it linking each subject to one another if it was hard to or not. She explained to me saying, “There are certain schools of thought that consider digital cultures and posthumanism to be areas that are leading us to a disembodied experience. However my own research explores precisely the ways in which the posthuman is embodied. This follows work by, for example, Rosi Braidotti and N. Katherine Hayles amongst others, who reject the idea of mind/body dualism, which would lead us to concepts of the disembodied subject. For my own work, a lot of the ways in which I link the different aspects together relates to my background in performance studies and drama. When you are training to be a performer the importance of the body is fundamental, from body language in acting to physical theatre and dance. The body is perceived to be the performer’s instrument: it can communicate thoughts, feelings and emotions in ways that go beyond speech. As such I understand the importance of the body and acknowledging affect and emotions in your work. My concept of the embodied performed then follows through into my research methods, which allow for a space within the research to accommodate highly subjective accounts of experience. So I didn’t find it hard to link the subjects to each other as I use each of them in complementary ways.”

I wanted to know if digital culture was something Poppy had always been interested, she seemed very enthusiastic about the subject, which I really liked. She explained saying “To a certain extent I have always had an interest in digital cultures in that they have been something which I have grown up with and in. We had computers in my home and as a teenager I spent much time on social networking platforms such as MSN messenger, and as well as playing computer games we also had a games console in the house from a relatively young age. This means that I belong to a generation who have grown up with technology and could be classed as a “digital native”. Whilst at university studying my undergraduate degree I took a module in my second year entitled “Performance in Context” in which students were able to individually decide what form of performance they would like to study in a particular context. It was in this module that I first began researching character creation in online social networking sites, as there are many overlaps in online situations and theatre. In my third year I took a module on “New Media Performance” which looked at various ways in which performance was changing or responding to digital cultures, and this introduced me to the idea that games could be considered performatively. I’d previously played single player games, but the research opened up the space for me to consider MMORPGs.

Her reason for basing her research on “examining how massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) could be considered to be creating a new platform for post human performance” was Based on her undergraduate university experiences detailed above, she wanted to further explore the ways in which aspects of performance studies and drama could be applied to digital environments. She says “Humans have always been highly performative creatures, dating back to the earliest forms of ritual and play. Growing up with technology, and experiencing the internet evolving and “growing up” at the same time as I was, made me quite fascinated by thinking about its ubiquity (in the Western world) and how this has changed the ways in which we carry out even the most basic tasks. Linking these up gave me the opportunity to consider how even these “new” forms can be experienced in what are quite “old” ways. Even posthumanism is something which can be examined as having a long history – and my research also seeks to explore this further.”

After her talk I wondered weather her theories were only based on MMORPG or whether they could be used on other games on different game platforms such as the next gen consoles like Playstation 4 and Xbox one and games like Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare. She went on to say “I absolutely believe that other games can create intimate relationships between the avatar/character and the gamer. I have chosen to study MMORPGs for specific reasons, such as certain levels of autonomy and agency within the gameworld, and the fact that the worlds are inhabited by other players who are capable of both watching and being watched – which makes it a more comparable form to the theatre in some respects. Many games have the capacity to be explored in this way; it just so happened that World of Warcraft allowed me to explore the research questions pertaining to the development of thought between performance and posthumanism.

Lastly I wanted to know where she believed her research would take her and if she already had an idea were it would lead. But I was told that its too early for her to tell. “A PhD project is an ongoing, emergent exploration, which means that new ideas and potential aspects to research are discovered all of the time. There are things in my research now which weren’t included in the original proposal, and further connections to explore in the future. What is interesting me the most right now is the empathic connection that is experienced between avatar/character and gamer/actor. This analytic is developed out of my own reflexive fieldnotes, where I document my own embodied experiences of the gaming experience: for example, holding my breath when my avatar is underwater. What this connection between gamer and avatar means for subjectivity has a huge amount of potential. But posthumanism is a field which is still in its formative stages to a certain degree. I hope to be able to make an interesting and valuable contribution to knowledge in these areas, and feel sure many exciting opportunities will follow.

Sources:

Linkedin.com, (2013). Poppy Wilde | LinkedIn. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/poppy-wilde/80/6a7/5b5

Michael Kolawole- Alternative History

Kazeem Jimoh – Alternative history

Sources:

Radford, C. (2010). Peckham Finishing School for Girls (BBC Three) and Three in a Bed (Channel 4), review – Telegraph. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7833733/Peckham-Finishing-School-for-Girls-BBC-Three-and-Three-in-a-Bed-Channel-4-review.html [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

Wikipedia, (2014). Peckham. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peckham [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

Yates, K. (2014). Peckham riots: views from the streets | Kieran Yates | Independent Editor’s choice Blogs. [online] Blogs.independent.co.uk. Available at: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/08/10/views-from-the-streets/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

YouTube, (2014). Metropolitan Police Car (Compilation). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq7ROdwiijo [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

YouTube, (2014). Peckham Documentary. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbpkEZzF_xM [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

YouTube, (2014). Peckham Finishing School for Girls Ep 3 Pt 1. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hig_a8_Wl7A [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

YouTube, (2014). Peckham My View by Kore Jakpor. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFRVVTvSCgc [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

YouTube, (2014). Walking on Rye Lane amongst local people & wonderful shops, Peckham, London – 30th August 2013. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnZkqCnsnaQ

YouTube, (2014). Walking through East Street Market, Walworth, London, UK 8th October 2011. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4FeKVZb_yo

Individual Task- Specialist Interview With Spencer Murphy-Ola Olaitan

For my Specialist interview I decided to reach out to someone who is a specialist on gender and media, due to the fact that my final project is going to be based on women in horror and their representation. I decided to Interview Spencer Murphy a lecturer in film and visual cultures with an interest in cross cultural analysis, postcolonial theory and south East Asian Cinema in Coventry University. I decided to interview Spencer because I see him as a very interesting individual and would give me great answers if I ask the right questions.

I decided to start the interview of by asking him if he is a fan of horror movies and explain why he is/not a fan of horror movies. He answered that he is a fan of horror movie because he likes to be scared, Stephen king described “terror as the finest emotion, and so I will try to terrorize the reader.” From Spencer’s reply its obvious that people enjoy horror because of the fear it implements in them.

I decided to ask him if he believed that women are portrayed as sex objects in horror movies, he agreed that to some certain extent women can be used as sex objects but it is vital to be significant about the type of horror you are talking about as there are many sub-genre forms. It is important for me to do my research on the different sub genres of horror which spencer mentioned in order me to back up opinion on women being sex objects.

Lastly, I discussed his opinion of women on the screen, and if he sees them as stereotypes and if he believes the roles they play are stereotypical. Spencer agreed that they are stereotypical and he gave an example of his favorite movie “John Carpenters Halloween” featuring actress Jamie Lee Curtis as the lead female role who suffers different events and ends up surviving the ordeal being branded as the “Final Girl” part of the convention of the film that is know for the killing of sexually active teens while the virgin (Final Girl) survives.

After my Interview with Spencer he advised me that i need to be more in depth with my questions and get more involved with my research on women in horror to get a better understanding of it and how it affect society.

DESIRE SHAKA-MOMOH: ALTERNATIVE HISTORY

I was born in Lagos city Nigeria, grew up there and lived there all my life.  I was given the opportunity to travel abroad on several occasions, which allowed me to understand the various ways in which foreigners viewed my country. Most times it was facts, but sometimes-just ignorance.

It is not always chaos in Nigeria, as people seem to think, forgetting to consider the beautiful parts of this well blessed country; I have based my alternative video on the agricultural, social and economic aspects, as in these areas I believe that Nigeria benefits from the most.

Reference:

The Federal Republic of Nigeria(n.d) History of Nigeria [online] available from <http://www.nigeria.gov.ng/2012-10-29-11-05-46/history-of-nigeria>

The Richest(2014) The 10 Richest Countries In Africa [online] available from <http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-10-richest-countries-in-africa/8/>

images:

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

http://www.nationsonline.org/map_small/nigeria2_africa.jpg

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2014-05-27-bringbackourgirls_CROP.jpg

http://naijagists.com/history-of-deportations-from-lagos-other-nigerian-states/

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Tinu Popoola: Theorist mashup

https://vimeo.com/112850552

Tinu Popoola: Echoes

http://soundcloud.com/letoyabrown/week-6-reading

The reason that I choose this reading is because I am a woman and I can relate to what she is saying. She is fighting for women’s human rights. She set up an event to honor women’s gift and talents. I set up an event in July to help talented women get some recognition in the music industry. I invited a few singers and rappers to come along and showcase their talents. I believe that women do not get as much recognition in whatever they do compared to men. Women are very strong individuals, we can even be stronger than men but due to double standards we are not recognized. I love the fact that she gathered women together around the world hosting plays, poetry readings, blogs contest etc. This was done to stand up for peace, equality and empowerment.

It is upsetting that women and children get abused everyday around the world. Over the years, women that have bee abused physically and emotionally have stayed silent about it and suffered alone. But now Michelle Bachelet has given them the courage to break the silence and stick up for themselves. This reminds me of myself because I will always speak up and defend myself if I feel like I should. Not everyone has the confidence that I have to speak up for themself, so we all need to work together as a team. The fact that she is bringing together women that have similar issues is amazing so they don’t feel like they are alone. Different companies are taking action to promote gender equality.

This inspires me to want to be a woman in society that could help change lives for the better. This is why I have started a talent management where I manage a talented young women, I help her pursue her dream and get recognition in the music industry. We are currently working on a CD for her to be released in a few months. Some of her songs in the CD talk about how she struggled being a women in this industry. People didn’t take her seriously at first and men saw her as a sex object. Myself being a talent manager and also female, sometimes I feel like I am not taken seriously compared to other male talent managers that I know. Men feel like its okay to speak to you inappropriately and take advantage of you.

Tinu Popoola: Expert Interview

Expert interviews

The expert that I have chosen is named Ibukun Ibitoye. She is a Mental Health nurse that works with kids. She has been working with children for over 10 years now. Ibukun has worked for Barnados, which is a British charity foundation to care for vulnerable children and young people. She helped kids with their problems they may have at home or mentally.

Seeing that you have a degree in BA Sociology and BSc Mental Health Nursing, I would like to know what made you go back to university to peruse another degree?

No educational degree is enough, as a career woman, the sky is a limit, I finished my first degree in 1996, really my passion was to do a degree in Social Work and was offered a place to do a degree in Social work and Sociology. I started the course, but after few weeks, I had to defer the course because I was heavily pregnant and could not pursue the course anymore. I did not regret it though because I gave birth to a beautiful girl which is the joy of my life today.

Going back to your question, I went back to university to do Mental Health Nursing because I realized that in at a time in our lives, we have experienced a mental health problem. In the late 90s, someone very close to my heart went through a nervous breakdown as a result of domestic violent, with my experience of working with children at Barnados for 15 years, I also realized that people tend to overlook the fact that children as young as 7 are expiring mental health issue in their lives in our society today. Even though as a sociologist, understanding people’s behavior and their reaction to external stimuli was paramount to me at that time. I decided to pursue it further by understand how people’s brain works, mentally as well as physically. It gave me the opportunity to understand how people reacts to life pressure and different forms of copying strategies. From the early stage of their condition to the recovery stage. It is good to note that whatever the problems there is always a solution. With my experience with Barnados, working with young people and adolescent I was able to do that in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHS).

You obviously must enjoy working with people, especially children rather than adults. What made you specialize in children?

As I said, my past experience in Barnados helped me to further my career without any regret. I have always love working with children as people tend to ignore the fact that they also have a brain and they can also react to challenges of life.

I know that you have been in contact with a lot of troubled kids, what is the most shocking story you have come across?

Trouble kids, what do you mean by that? They are not troubled, it is life experience that made them go through challenges. Kids can not choose their parents, but parent’s decisions to have children. I would not be able to name names as result of confidentiality procedure. There are lots of shocking experience as a CAMHS nurse, when a children said he has been sexually abused by a very intimidate and close family, it is shocking, when a child inform you that he does not want to go home because he has been physically assaulted by a close relative, I call that shocking, when a child tell you that he or she is in an abusive relationship with a person ten years older than him or her it is shocking, as an experience nurse, it is a safeguarding issues and has to be dealt immediately. In my daily experience, I have to prepare myself for the worse as you know I have children who are exactly the same age as the children I am working with. It can be depressing sometimes.

I also know that you have 3 kids yourself, how does it make you feel knowing that kids the same age as your own children have severe mental issues?

As an experience mother and nurse, it makes me wonder the type of world we live in. I feel that the government should do more for children, I feel the society should be more aware of the fact that it is happening in our door step and needs to be addressed.

Do you believe that the problems with these kids are due to their upbringing or their environment?

No, it is not upbringing, it is the society, sometimes the parents are not aware of the problems until it gets out of hands, it is not that they don’t care, sometimes it is peer pressure.

Mental health nursing is a sensitive career, you need to be a strong person to be in this field. What advice would you give to anyone that would want to get into this field?

Mental health Nursing is a very enjoyable career as long as it is what you are interested in. I would advise people to research it first before going into it. Every career is challenging.

Tinu Popoola: Birthplace