In the English language we use words to describe and express meaning within our writing. However, some of these words can be interpreted with different meanings relating within its usage and context. For instance, “Black Lives Matter” is a phrase created to represent a movement that continues to be a problem in our society “black lives.” Why choose the word matter? How does matter correlate to the significance of justice and race to represent black lives? In the book Citizen, by Claudia Rankine and the Spike Lee Film, Fight the Power, both depict/interpret the meaning of “matter” of racial injustice in their writing and film. Rankine’s writing in her vignettes relates to various “matters” of stereotypes and stigmas towards black people in media, law enforcement, and everyday interactions while Lee’s film relates to “matter” of events that occur throughout the film which leads to significance of one characters death.
In order to understand the significance of “matter” in Rankine’s vignettes and Lee’s film we must identify the term 's actual definition. Matter is defined as, “an affair, etc., of concern to the person or persons specified; (one 's) cause, concern, or affair. Here we can see how “matter” can relate to an individual or an event .
Another way “matter” can be defined is in legal context of the Judicial …show more content…
In the book, The Alchemy of Race and Rights by Patricia J. Williams describes the usage of of words as floating signifiers in legal language as, “a model of inductive empiricism, borrowed from-and parodying-systems analysis, in order to enliven thought about a complex social problem” (7). To enliven is to decrease that matters importance or lighten the gravity of the crime/offense that an individual has committed. An example of complex social problem Williams may be referring to could include
In order to understand the significance of “matter” in Rankine’s vignettes and Lee’s film we must identify the term 's actual definition. Matter is defined as, “an affair, etc., of concern to the person or persons specified; (one 's) cause, concern, or affair. Here we can see how “matter” can relate to an individual or an event .
Another way “matter” can be defined is in legal context of the Judicial …show more content…
In the book, The Alchemy of Race and Rights by Patricia J. Williams describes the usage of of words as floating signifiers in legal language as, “a model of inductive empiricism, borrowed from-and parodying-systems analysis, in order to enliven thought about a complex social problem” (7). To enliven is to decrease that matters importance or lighten the gravity of the crime/offense that an individual has committed. An example of complex social problem Williams may be referring to could include