Use and Misuse of Media Regarding Police Brutality

Nowadays, stereotype plays the biggest problem of the modern society with racism in the media. The dominance of stereotypes in films and T.V. shows reached its peak. In the same time, people get wrong and negative view of African American lifestyle watching programs and movies full of stereotypes. Many ways of picturing African Americans are very wrong. With the help of the stereotype Africa Americans are lacking with education, job opportunities and even health care which give African American no choice but to have angry and sometimes be violent.

In the culture of violence and political turbulence in America such as Kendrick Lamar undertakes the responsibility of speaking to and the topics of police brutality through their lyrical & visual works.

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (who perform as Kendrick Lamar) was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987. His parents Kenny Duckworth and Paula Oliver had moved to Compton from Chicago to escape the city’s gang culture, although Kendrick’s father had been associated with the notorious Gangster Disciples gang while the rapper’s wider family is said to be connected to the notorious Bloods gang. As the 1980s crack trade and West Coast gang presence increased, Lamar grew up around precarious street activity, but he seemed more influenced than harmed by it. He was a excellent student who enjoyed writing, stories, poems, and then lyrics. When he was 16 years old, he began rapping and shopping around a mixtape dubbed ‘Youngest Head Nigga in Charge’ under the moniker of K-Dot. It drew the interest of many people and earned him his first record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, under which he released two other acclaimed mixtapes, ‘Training Day’ (2005) and ‘C4’ (2009).

Upon meeting fellow rappers Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, Lamar began performing with them under the name of Black Hippy. By the time Kendrick released his fourth mixtape ‘Overly Dedicated’, he dropped the K-Dot moniker and began using the shorten version of his name, Kendrick Lamar. “I wanted people to know who I am as a person and who I represent,” he explained to Hard Knock TV.

In the same year, he exclusively released his first solo album ‘Section.80’ on iTunes under Top Dawg Entertainment. The record paved Lamar’s path to collaborate with already famous names, like Young Jeezy, The Game, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. He then caught the attention of Dr. Dre who subsequently took him under his wings and willingly became his music and business mentor.

On March 15, 2015, he released the title of his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly. It was a clever allusion to Harper Lee’s acclaimed novel and it implied a more socially conscious tale. The tracks deals some heavy topics including the legacy of slavery in the US, racism and black-on-black crime and police brutality. Six days later, his album was accidentally released on Spotify and iTunes. It was put up, taken down, then put back up again. Finally he released the album, nine days ahead of schedule. Lamar took the accidental release in stride, and with the release of To Pimp a Butterfly, the internet seemed to implode. It was the number one trending topic worldwide within the next hour and it hopped to number one on the iTunes Top 10.

Critics and music fans alike were proclaiming that Butterfly was an instant classic. It’s hard to isolate one track as a favorite because each is so layered, memorable and instantly iconic. Standout tracks like “u,” “Hood Politics,” “King Kunta,” and “Complexion (A Zulu Love)” show Lamar’s gift for storytelling and rich metaphors. The reason why this masterpiece should be looked into because it did not win only critic awards, but it left people talking and thinking deeply about the society. Kendrick Lamar produced an album so potent that it surpassed usual notes of attracting the mass audience and producing for commercial purposes. It is a big deal that this never actually happens anymore, but with “To Pimp a butterfly”, Kendrick Lamar hit the right points

Police brutality Is when law enforcement officers use excessive force against people. Each year, people write tons of public reports to inform the government about this problem. When an officer uses excessive force, it means he or she may do it verbally or physically. Both cases are the part of violence, this is a common problem for the American society.Police brutality against African Americans has been a serious societal problem that affects many states across the US. It implies the use of unauthorized, illegal, unfair, unnecessary, and otherwise unwarranted violence or brutality by police officers against civilians, regardless if they are breaking the law or not.

The issue has gained special prominence in recent years thanks to the numerous killings of young black people that have been perpetrated by police officers. The issue has gone so far that it has spurred various movements, such as the now infamous ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.

One of the main criticisms against the police forces across America has been that they unfairly discriminate against people of color, while being generally more lenient towards white people. Ongoing movements for social equality such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ are an echo of similar previous movements in American history. For instance, Malcolm X is a personality famous for his advocacy of social equality and justice for African American citizens. In addition, more peaceful movements such as Martin Luther King’s have remained deeply ingrained in the minds of many modern social activists.

What is most telling about these movements, however, is that police brutality and social discrimination against black people have been a persisting problem that has failed to disappear, even after many reforms and changes in society. The sad reality is that many African Americans still face the same threats of discrimination and abuse at the hands of police officers as their previous generations did decades ago. The failure of the American government to eradicate this deep-seated problem shows us that there may be large mental barriers in the minds of many individuals that hinder the progress of their respective communities.

On March 3, 1991, Los Angeles police officers attempted to stop a white sedan traveling at a high rate of speed through Lake View Terrace, a residential neighborhood in northern Los Angeles. When police finally stopped him, Rodney King was ordered out of the car. Los Angeles Police Department officers then kicked him repeatedly and beat him with batons for a reported 15 minutes. The video showed that more than a dozen cops stood by, watching and commenting on the beating.. King’s injuries resulted in skull fractures, broken bones and teeth, and permanent brain damage. “At this point, the video comes into focus, showing both Powell and officer Timothy Wind striking King, then showing officer Theodore Briseno grabbing Powell’s arm, clearly attempting to stop further blows.” (Lawrence R.G., 2000). More LAPD officers arrived and King was finally subdued with the use of nightsticks. Investigation later revealed King was under the influence of a combination of PCP and cocaine. This incident would have produced nothing more than another report for.

And even today, the truth about King’s case is far more elusive than it seemed at the time.? (Bonne, 2001)

Massive rioting left 32 people dead, hundreds injured and more than $4 million in property damage. ?

If only Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg had followed appeals court rulings precisely and moved the trial outside of the reach of the L.A. media, instead of suburban Simi Valley.

If only the LAPD and city officials had heeded community suspicions that riots were likely in the event of an acquittal in the trial of the four officers that assaulted King: Powell, Stacey Koon, Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind. ?

If George Holliday hadn’t just bought a camcorder, if he hadn’t been intrigued to tape the beating and if he hadn’t been persistent in getting his tape to the media Rodney King might just have been another random incident in the LAPD files.? (Cannon, 1998). This malicious attack on King by the police officers was later brought to court, after the examination of King and the release of the soon to be viral video. However unjustifiable the act was, in court, all of the police officers were soon enough acquitted and release with no charges.

N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, with the members Arabian Prince, DJ Yella, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and MC Ren. The Group were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap sub genre, and are widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music. Their greatest hit ‘Fuck tha Police’ . lyrics was about racial profiling and police brutality as a African American.. According to some reports, Dr. Dre did not even want to put this song on the LP, but after he and Eazy-E were harassed by the LAPD for shooting paintball guns, he changed his tune. “Our people been wanting to say, ‘Fuck the police’ for the longest time,” Ice Cube explained in 1989. “If something happened in my neighborhood, they we’d call was the police. Our friends get killed; they never find the killer. 387 people were killed in gang activity in L.A.

In 1988.” This reality is driven home in scene after scene of the new film, to the point where outrageous police harassment becomes almost routine. In 1989 Joe Louis arena Detroit police Sergeant Larry Courts told the group that they wouldn’t be able to perform ‘Fuck tha Police’ at the Detroit venue because they believed the song could incite violence but, Despite warnings from the police, N.W.A ended up performing their polarizing tune by the end of the night, and Courts and company ended up taking out the amplifiers while the song was being played. Members of the audience didn’t take that well, and some of them began rioting outside of the venue. A total of 18 people—nine adults and nine juveniles—were arrested for misdemeanor that night. Tupac shakur was also experienced with police brutality and racial profiling.

Tupac Shakur was born on June 16, 1971 in East Harlem section of Manhattan, in New York City. His mother is Afeni Shakur, who was an active member of the Blank Panther Party in the late sixties and seventies, and his biological father is Billy Garland, who also was a Black Panther member. Tupac was born a month after his mom was acquitted on more than 150 charges, which were charges against the U.S. during his years Tupac’s troubles with the authority also began and increased.

In late 1991, On Octomber 17, 1991 Tupac was brutally assulted by a police officers Boyovich and Rodgers for jaywalking across the street. He asked why it look two officers to stop him for jaywalking. After all. had a high rate of serious crime. Jaywalking didn’t seem like that big of a deal. Finally, Tupac lost his temper and swore at the officers. They put him in a choke hold and knocked him to the sidewalk. ”I woke up cuffed up, with my face in the gutter with gang of people watching me like I was the criminal,” he recalled. He spent seven hours in jail before the police released him. He missed the debut of his video on the popular hip-hop television show YO! MTV Raps. In 1992, a Texas trooper was killed by a teenager, who was listening to 2Pacalypse Now. This raised a lot of media controversy.

The Vice President of the nation at the time, Dan Quayle, demanded that the album be withdrawn from music stores and the media across the nation, and denounced the album, saying it has no place in our society. However Interscope refused, and Shakur stated that his album aimed at the problems facing young black males, even though it was criticized for its images of violence towards law enforcement, and graphic language. His vision and words is what spoke to many artists such as Kendrick Lamar who brought up many issues from the past that continues on today.

Kendrick Lamar hit the 2016 Grammy stage and did not disappoint. The rapper delivered the performance of the night, walking out as part of a chain gang to perform ‘The Blacker The Berry’ with his band locked inside jail cells. Lamar followed up the striking visuals by performing ‘Alright’ in front of a giant bonfire, and transitioned into a never before heard song utilizing some fast action camera work, before ending the his performance with the word Compton over an image of Africa in one of the most striking performance to hit the Grammy stage in years. The songs, both off Lamar’s critically acclaimed sophomore album To Pimp A Butterfly speak directly to the modern day black experience in America, and his performance delivered that message home better than anyone could’ve hoped for. ‘Your plan is to terminate my culture,’ he rapped. It was a shocking, fearless performance.

Then as he transitioned into ‘Alright,’ a song about survival and hope, the music began to swell, and the performance shifted into a full-on spectacle that featured a giant bonfire, neon colors illuminated by black lights, and a massive, choreographed dance party. But the focus never wavered from Lamar’s voice and the powerful message of his song. Before Kendrick confirmed the pre-Butterfly title, he was impressed to see that a group of journalists, on DeadEndHipHop, had already suggested the idea that the title must be some sort of Tupac acronym.

Kendrick said he changed Caterpillar to Butterfly to show ‘the brightness of life. And the word ‘pimp’ has so much aggression.’ Kendrick also says the title signifies ‘using my celebrity for good’ and ‘not being pimped by the industry through my celebrity’. There are details, however, that will likely never be unearthed, as Kendrick says, ‘It gets even deeper than that for me. I could be talking all day about it.’

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