This poem was chosen due to the power of the message that it possesses. To begin, the author Joshua Bennett, is from Yonkers, New York and attended the university of Pennsylvania to obtain a double major in English and Africana Studies. He is currently attending the University of Princeton in his third year of doctoral candidacy in the English department, he is studying Black Culture, Disability, and Ecocriticism. Joshua performs at events such as the NAACP Image awards, where he was nominated for an award, and the white house for previous President, Barak Obama. This poem is about Hip Hop and how the genre of music influences people, Bennett switches from talking about hip hop, to acting as the voice of Hip Hop saying, "I am".
Bennett begins …show more content…
The line "I am the first bullet that hit Sean Bell", is more powerful than some might know. Sean Bell was attending a bachelor party with two friends when an undercover policeman and his partner thought he overheard Bell say he was armed, alerting another team of plains-clothed Police Officers, they followed Bell and his friends to their car and drew their weapons and ordered them to get out of the car. Without properly identifying themselves as officers of the law, how would Bell know he wasn’t simply experiencing a typical carjacking like the everyday things that happen in the ghetto, so Bell rammed a Police Officer to escape and the officers unloaded over 50 bullets into the van. Bell was shot 4 times in the neck and was pronounced DOA, while his friend was shot 20 times and survived, the other victim was shot 5 times and survived. There can only be assumptions made as to why the police officers would think they had a gun and should pursue them, but perhaps it's because of how Hip Hop portrays black gang bangers with guns and the Police Officers intentions were pure, however the lines were blurred, and the Hip Hop culture took a loss that night.
In conclusion, Bennett wraps Hip Hop up in metaphors and imagery and gives it to his readers to interpret. Is Hip Hop good or evil? As it changes we can only hope it will choose a side that perhaps does not encourage the dropouts and gang bangers, but then Hip Hop isn't that, Hip Hop. It is a culture and represents such a huge margin of our population, perhaps it can be used as a teaching tool, and that of a learning tool as
Bennett begins …show more content…
The line "I am the first bullet that hit Sean Bell", is more powerful than some might know. Sean Bell was attending a bachelor party with two friends when an undercover policeman and his partner thought he overheard Bell say he was armed, alerting another team of plains-clothed Police Officers, they followed Bell and his friends to their car and drew their weapons and ordered them to get out of the car. Without properly identifying themselves as officers of the law, how would Bell know he wasn’t simply experiencing a typical carjacking like the everyday things that happen in the ghetto, so Bell rammed a Police Officer to escape and the officers unloaded over 50 bullets into the van. Bell was shot 4 times in the neck and was pronounced DOA, while his friend was shot 20 times and survived, the other victim was shot 5 times and survived. There can only be assumptions made as to why the police officers would think they had a gun and should pursue them, but perhaps it's because of how Hip Hop portrays black gang bangers with guns and the Police Officers intentions were pure, however the lines were blurred, and the Hip Hop culture took a loss that night.
In conclusion, Bennett wraps Hip Hop up in metaphors and imagery and gives it to his readers to interpret. Is Hip Hop good or evil? As it changes we can only hope it will choose a side that perhaps does not encourage the dropouts and gang bangers, but then Hip Hop isn't that, Hip Hop. It is a culture and represents such a huge margin of our population, perhaps it can be used as a teaching tool, and that of a learning tool as