It’s just a matter of black lives
The lifestyles the celebrities of this generation have us looking up to are steering us in the wrong direction. Instead, they should start advocating for social justice and participating in more organizations that help to better black culture. We need to get information and take a second to stop following celebrities for what they have. Stop basing our lives on spending money on the latest fashion. Instead, come together and help make America Great, leave the “again” out because America was never great. America is filled with politics, racism, inequality, unjust deaths, and sadness. Both articles; Excerpt From Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and The Persuasive Essay The Culture of Celebrity Worship, both the idea that we are faced with difficulty in real life and that celebrities have a platform they can use to make a difference in the world. I can just imagine if we came together! We could really build a great America for our youth. If we don't fight to stop the corrupt ways of the world then there will be no hope for the youth.
We need to recognize the injustice that exists in the world we live in today. It's always been a lingering sadness of African Americans' reality. Nevertheless, this quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates says it all. “And it is so easy to look away, to live with the fruits of our history, and to ignore the great evil done in all of our names. But you and I have never truly had that luxury. I think you know.” We are still faced with so many unjust crimes towards us because of the color of our skin. From the week we all learned that the killers of Michael Brown would go free, to the unfortunate event of Eric Garner being choked to death for selling cigarettes; John Crawford being shot down for browsing in a department store, and Renisha Mcbride being shot for seeking help. There are so many more horrible events I could sit here and list. Besides if I was to list them all it would probably take me longer to do that than write this paper.
The law determines your punishment based on the color of your skin. Ta-Nehisi Coates quotes, “If you did not before, that the police departments of your country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body. It does not matter if the destruction is the result of an unfortunate overreaction. It does not matter if it originates from a misunderstanding. It does not matter if the destruction springs from a foolish policy.” We didn't ask to be born different and honestly, we aren't so different, we bleed just like everybody else. It’s unfortunate that we do not have the same luxuries as everybody else. We fear the people who were hired to serve and protect us. That moment your heart drops when you see them and you haven’t even done anything wrong but you instantly get that turning in your stomach out of fear. We are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, not automatically guilty because of the color of our skin. The world is set up against us and we need more advisors for our people.
The media never displays the whole story. They make a mockery out of black people's lives, almost always twisting the news to put us in the wrong. It's always one-sided and opinionated. This quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates states “Our media vocabulary is full of hot takes, big ideas, and grand theories of everything” On top of the fact “We live in a “goal-­oriented” era” we have several African American in the media and they should start using their exposure to expose the real instead of being in fear or getting so caught up in their goals and fame and seemingly forgetting about the big picture! Constantly influencing us to want the latest fashion of having the biggest ass. Their people need help and they have the ability to fight for us publicly.
This quote takes me right to my next point: The writer of The Persuasive Essay, The Culture of Celebrity Worship. Said it best, “Celebrities have become akin to gods to the public. They are worshiped in bedrooms by way of large posters displaying their photoshopped bodies, they are read about obsessively through social media and news, and their advice is even heeded in regard to global issues and personal difficulties” They are role models. Celebrity should give the youth and anyone else who lives by their word something more powerful to follow. For example, Queen B makes music for/to empower black people, and her husband Jay Z investing in a company that will help minorities improve themselves is starting to do. If they all came together and started talking about something more powerful that would help us all come together. I believe it could be something very powerful.
In conclusion, we as Africa Americans have so many struggles we are faced with from the past to the present. Just like back then when celebrities would sing about the problem in the world. If only our celebrities of this generation would make music talking about the problem of the world. If only they would come together, be a better example. They need to start a movement because people will follow them. It's already proven so if I ask for nothing more please dear celebrities help fight for your people, fight with your people be a better example for your people use your platform for the greater good let’s come together and make America Great because it never was. Black Lives Matter!