Armenian diaspora

Let’s Get in Formation for a Revolution In Beyonce’s “Formation” music video, Melina Matsoukas’ visual choices construct a powerful portrayal of black culture and issues in New Orleans. More specifically, Matsoukas’ use of composition, angles, and mise-en-scene portrays the racial and gender inequalities in society and the need to unite black female power to rise against oppression. Through composition, Melina Matsoukas portrays the capability of black women to reverse patriarchal standards.…

Little Tokyo: a relatively small 67 acres of land, rich with cultural and social history, a hotspot for tourists and Los Angeles natives alike, a landmark of Japanese American society right in the center of downtown Los Angeles. With its roots tracing as far back as the 1880’s, even to this day it continues to bring in and entertain tourists daily, with its small town charm and many interesting and exciting attractions. Little Tokyo serves as a hub for Japanese culture and tradition, new and old…

The main contention of the book A Lesson Before Dying is the inequality between white and black people. Throughout the book we see a change in the characters’ attitudes to this situation forced upon them by society. The author’s details suggest the ability to change the world through your beliefs and what you know is true. Jefferson and Grant’s realization helped to spark the country’s awareness to how wrong the oppression the majority of people were giving to African Americans everywhere.…

Racism, the reoccurring struggle for equality Most of the African Americans are still facing racism. In 2008, an Oregon archives exhibit stated that “African Americans, both nationally and in Oregon faced continuing discrimination and segregation during World War II.” During this time discrimination in employment continued for African American. Prior to the war, many blacks found jobs as hotel and train waiters and porters along with a handful of other unskilled positions. Thus, blacks…

ASAP academic advisor and professor, Uriah Brown, published The Black Bubble on December 11, 2015. The Black Bubble was a term he created to portray the bubble that the African Americans had been placed in as well as known as “the black experience.” “The Black Bubble is a term I created. It means, that black people have been placed in it and this bubble represents a barrier to success where African Americans cannot move up the ladder to become successful CEO’s, managers, directors,” said Brown…

Hip hop culture is connected with oral rivalry called “playing the dozens”, which joins diverting put-down and oral aptitudes in a battle to shock and finally quiets one's enemy. An extraordinary ace of this expressive test was Muhammad Ali, who utilized short rhymes to demonize his opponents and paralyze intellectuals. In hip hop the "humble groups" framed into the custom known as "engaging," in which rappers conflict against each other to see who has the best verses and grow stream. Engaging,…

As an African American woman and one who comes from a family of immigrants, I often didn’t see enough people who represented me in film. The depiction of African Americans in film were either slaves or poverty-stricken. I saw a plethora of ‘token’ characters and punch lines of various jokes but never just people. The women I saw were either damsels in distress or the subjects of men’s manic pixie dreams. They were neither strong nor independent, the person I was taught to become. As a result,…

before branches" means to you. What do you think this slogan represents? How does it apply to African American and African studies? What is its significance in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement? How does it connect with the global African diaspora? Do you think the slogan is meaningful? Why or why not? When I think about slogan “roots before branches” I think of it as a term that is representative of a tree. Trees have been noted to symbolize strength, beauty, and wisdom. These are…

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you” this African proverb highlights the issue in which individuals constantly find themselves where their identity becomes threatened. Dorrinne Kondo expresses this idea in an excerpt from her book, Crafting Selves titled “On Being A Conceptual Anomaly”. Dorinne Kondo is a Japanese American Professor who research in Tokyo, but due to her place of work not being move-in ready,she was offered to stay with native Japanese family in…

In the poem Ode to the only Black Kid Class, the author who is Clint Smith, uses many forms of literary terms. Speaking of the author, Clint Smith is an African American writer, teacher, and Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard University. He also won the Poetry Slam Competition. In the poem Smith uses literary terms such as metaphors, similes, and allusion to question or challenge the racial divisions. Smith uses allusion by referring the only black kid in class to the famous case which was Brown vs…