sebastiangregor

[sebastiangregor]

"M4BL" MultiMedia journal post #3 by Sebastian Gregor

After learning about many different types of social issues I decided to take a closer look at the organizations behind the cause. The organization I chose to look at is called “The Movement for Black lives” or “M4BL”. The organization was founded in December of 2014 and was created “as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions” (M4BL). The organization also has some core values that they believe in, like the abolishment of prisons and police. They believe in the abolishment of prisons and police because they believe that they have been used as a tool to inflict violence on Black lives. The organization also believes in anti-capitalism and firmly believes that “Black people will never achieve liberation under the current global racialized capitalist system. (M4BL)” The organization has an official website along with a social media account on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Upon looking at their website you can see that they offer many different resources to help people in need, for example, a recent article they released called “Here Are 10 Things Black Communities Can Do to Support Each Other Through the COVID-19 Crisis”. The website also offers legal resources for different organizations such as guidelines to do when the FBI starts to question your organization. It is unclear on the website how exactly they are receiving funding and if they are a nonprofit organization or not, but it is safe to assume that a large part of their funding is from donations as the website has many places where you can donate. Upon looking at the organization’s Instagram account you can see that they are always promoting other organizations with similar causes. They also use their social media accounts to raise money and awareness for their cause. Although the organization was created before the George Floyd incident the organization gained a lot of support during that time. After looking deeply at the organization M4BL I like the overall message of the organization, but I do not agree with some of its values, mainly about abolishing the police. I do like how the organization uses its platform to help promote smaller organizations. 

Work cited: 

“THE MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES.” M4BL, 1 Feb. 2021, https://m4bl.org/. 

Photos: 

[sebastiangregor]

“Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell” MultiMedia journal post #2 by Sebastian Gregor

The movie “Biggie: I got a story to tell” is a documentary on Netflix that was released in 2021. The documentary is about a man named Christopher Wallace who is also known as “Biggie” the famous rap artist. The documentary tells Biggie’s life story starting from his early life growing up in a rough area of New York to making it big in the hip-hop and rap industry. Biggie grew up in Brooklyn, New York and was raised by a single mother who immigrated to the U.S from Jamaica. Biggie’s early life resembles the struggle most other African Americans faced in New York at the time in that he was raised by a single mother in poverty. The community Biggie grew up in was also surrounded by drugs and was suffering from the crack epidemic. In Biggie’s teen years he got involved in drug dealing and sold crack before he became popular in the music industry. Biggie would go to jail at one point in his life for dealing drug. In a lot of Biggie’s music, you can hear him referencing his early life, criminal life, and the struggle he went through in general being black in America. In the documentary they talk about Biggie’s first album “Ready to Die”. 

 Biggie says that the album title does not mean he quite literally wants to die but he wanted to show people how serious his current situation was and how badly he needed to achieve success in the music industry. After releasing this album Biggie would go on to be a music icon until the age of 24 when he gets murdered in a drive by. Biggie's music was so popular at the time because he told a story about his life in his music, and his life story was remarkably similar to many African Americans in poverty, so many people resonated with the music. Biggie was not just influential in the music industry but also in the Black community. Many people in the Black community look up to Biggie because he was truly able to overcome a tough situation and be successful.

Work Cited (MLA)

London, Amanda. “‘Ready to Die’ by the Notorious B.I.G.” Song Meanings and Facts, Song Meanings and Facts, 17 June 2020, https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/ready-to-die-by-the-notorious-b-i-g/#:~:text=So%20his%20willingness%20to%20conduct,his%20'readiness%20to%20die'.

Malloy, Emmett, director. Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell. Netflix , Netflix , 1 Mar. 2021, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80202829?trackId=255824129&tctx=0%2C0%2CNAPA%40%40%7Cf34587cf-5817-4e1d-bbc4-11a7adc80474-209077588_titles%2F1%2F%2Fbiggie%20%2F0%2F0%2CNAPA%40%40%7Cf34587cf-5817-4e1d-bbc4-11a7adc80474-209077588_titles%2F1%2F%2Fbiggie%20%2F0%2F0%2Cunknown%2C%2Cf34587cf-5817-4e1d-bbc4-11a7adc80474-209077588%7C1%2CtitlesResults. Accessed 1 May 2022.

Images

https://www.capitalxtra.com/features/lists/notorious-big-ready-to-die-facts/

https://www.artandobject.com/news/legendary-biggie-smalls-crown-leads-sothebys-first-ever-hip-hop-auction

[sebastiangregor]

“How to Get Away With Murder”- MultiMedia journal post #1 by Sebastian Gregor

“How to get away With murder” is a television series on Netflix that was released in 2014. It stars a law professor at Philadelphia University, who gets entangled in a murder plot along with five of her students and other colleagues. I have provided a trailer of the series to hopefully give you some context to what this series is about.

 Currently there are six seasons with no plans to release a 7th season. One of the first things you will notice when watching this series is the large amount of diversity on the cast. For starters, the law professor is played by a female African American and many of the other characters are played by people of different ethnic backgrounds.  (below is a image of the cast) (photo is by Stewart Cook)

This show does an excellent job of normalizing diversity in television and should be considered the gold standard of how to incorporate diversity into the media. One thing people should keep in mind when discussing this show is that back in 2014 the idea of incorporating diversity into television was a relatively newer idea. On top of that, the show even incorporates and follows a homosexual relationship between the two of the characters. People should remember that same sex marriage was not federally legal in the U.S. until 2015 and this show came out in 2014. Many of the stereotypes that I have learn about in my multicultural American course and in the media are shattered in this series, for example, the stereotype of lawyers only typically being white males or the idea that a women cannot be a leader or a powerful person. The lone fact that the star actor in this series is an African American woman breaks a lot of stereotypes even in the modern day. I think people should care about the diversity that this film brings because it really shows the lack of diversity in the current day media. This series makes sure to represent the ones that are usually underrepresented in the current day media. I wish every television show had this much diversity because it made series honestly more interesting and entertaining. If you have not already checked this series out, I highly recommend it.

                                                       Work Cited

Bhattacharya, Suryasarathi. “Pete Nowalk on Creating the World of How to Get Away with Murder, Writing an Inclusive Show That Broke Stereotypes-Entertainment News , Firstpost.” Firstpost, Firstpost, 10 Oct. 2020, https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/pete-nowalk-on-creating-the-world-of-how-to-get-away-with-murder-writing-an-inclusive-show-that-broke-stereotypes-8836991.html.

Cohn, Michelle. “‘How to Get Away with Murder’ Normalizes Diversity.” The Odyssey Online, The Odyssey Online, 16 Oct. 2019, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/how-get-away-with-murder-normalizes-diversity.

D'Elia, Bill, director. How to Get Away With Murder - Trailer, IGN, 13 May 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkb-aBaxkVk. Accessed 24 Apr. 2022.

MacDonald, Lindsay, and Stewart Cook. “Billy Brown, Karla Souza, Aja Naomi King, Charlie Weber, Liza Weil, Viola Davis, Rome Flynn, Amirah Vann, Conrad Ricamora, Matt McGorry, Jack Falahee, Alfred Enoch, How to Get Away with Murder Wrap Party.” Watch the How to Get Away with Murder Cast Say Goodbye to the Show at Emotional Wrap Party, TV Guide, 13 May 2020, https://www.tvguide.com/news/10-shows-like-the-office-to-watch-if-you-like-the-office-hulu-netflix-peacock/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2022.