- slavery finally abolished in the southern united states after the end of the american civil war in 1865
- segregation laws used in southern states post-reconstruction to segregate blacks from whites
- little interest in genuinely freeing black people from the northern political class
- civil rights movement in the 1960s wins legal rights for black americans, but more radical groups (BPP, NoI/OAAU, new afrikan/black belt nationalist movement) suppressed
- mass incarceration (via the war on drugs – crack cocaine epidemic started by the CIA) used to imprison vast numbers of black people in private prisons
- prisoners used for slave labour in private prisons
- protests over police brutality (ferguson uprising etc.)
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Filters
Letter to the free: SOCIAL, POLITICAL, CULTURAL, HISTORICAL CONTEXT
“We dealt with the whole subject matter from slavery to Jim Crow to mass incarceration which is what we’re dealing with right now,” he explained. “We wanted to make something that was strong, unapologetic, but that was also hopeful.” (Billboard.com)
What significant historical and political events does Common reference?
Common references the Jim Crow which links to segregation. In example black and white would sit on different carriages, they weren’t allowed to sit together and go to the separate schools. Jim Crow was also a way of the whites regaining power after slavery being abolished.
There was connotations to slavery including how slavery still exists in the sense of prisons and how there hasn’t been any change in racial profiling as they can be sent to prison for the smallest things.
What modern social and cultural movements will impact the reading of this text?
“for America to rise you need black lives”
Black lives matter
Letter to the FREE Context
Slavery happened from 1619- 1865 when the Civil War was won by the North in the 13th Amendment. However there was segregation under the Jim Crow laws that separated black and white people in public, on buses and in school.
This was prevalent under the Civil Rights Movement under Martin Luther King JR in 1955. However there is still mass incarceration for unjust causes which mainly effects black people who are being imprisoned to make money.
Common says that slavery has not truly been abolished as many people are being imprisoned for no reason which provokes movements such as Black Lives Matter.
NEA – EXEMPLAR DPS
CSP 6 – Letter to the free by Common
Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn, better known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist. Worth $45 million.
When asked about the song’s timeliness, especially as America transitions into a new presidency under Donald Trump, Common told Billboard, “When I say, “We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings/ Will the U.S. ever be us, Lord willing,” that hasn’t changed with the election of Donald Trump. Those things are there. Now it’s just probably going to be in our face even more, and we know we have to resolve it and be the vessel for the change.”
His output is highly politicised, existing in the context of a variety of social and cultural movements aimed at raising awareness of racism and its effects in US society (e.g.: Black Lives Matter). The product can also be considered in an economic context through the consideration of if and how music videos make money (through, for example, advertising on YouTube).
- As the soundtrack to the Netflix documentary The 13th the video is an example of cross media promotion and marketing.
Letter to the free music video
- Black and white could represent how everyone should be equal.
- instrumentalists all in different rooms
- No one really acknowledges the camera
- ends with an outside view of the building they were inside of
- low budget
- black box at the end that supposedly represents blackness.
- old run down building
Csp 6 – Common music video
- Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn, better known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist , he is also a doctor
- Common’s “Letter To The Free” was written for the Ava DuVernay-directed film,13th. Its lyrics reflect with the film’s theme discussing the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
- The song speaks specifically about mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, and more generally about institutionalized systems that disproportionally target black and brown Americans
- Common first premiered “Letter To The Free” on October 4th 2016 during a live performance at The White House hosted by NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert .
- common was signed to labels such as Loma Vista, Think Common, ARTium, DEF JAM, Warner Bros, Geffen, GOOD, Universal, MCA and Relativity
- Best RnB song grammy in 2003
- net worth of 45$ million
csp 6
- Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common
- Common is an American rapper from Illinois, Chicago
- He won a grammy for the best R&B singer
- Debuted in 1992 with the album ‘Can I Borrow A Dollar?’
- Net worth $45m
- The song featured in his album in 2016 ‘Black America Again’
- Black and white, the setting is quite dark as it’s filmed in a prison
- Letter to the Free was made soundtrack to The 13th – a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (the abolition of slavery)
- The singers are very passionate as it’s something they felt strongly about, how black people were mistreated in slavery
[Verse 1: Common]
Southern leaves, southern trees we hung from
Barren souls, heroic songs unsung
Forgive them Father they know this knot is undone
Tied with the rope that my grandmother died
Pride of the pilgrims affect lives of millions
Since slave days separating, fathers from children
Institution ain’t just a building
But a method, of having black and brown bodies fill them
We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings
Will the U.S. ever be us? Lord willing!
For now we know, the new Jim Crow
They stop, search and arrest our souls
Police and policies patrol philosophies of control
A cruel hand taking hold
We let go to free them so we can free us
America’s moment to come to Jesus
[Verse 2: Common]
The caged birds sings for freedom to ring
Black bodies being lost in the American dream
Blood of black being, a pastoral scene
Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13
Now whips and chains are subliminal
Instead of ‘nigga’ they use the word ‘criminal’
Sweet land of liberty, incarcerated country
Shot me with your ray-gun
And now you want to trump me
Prison is a business, America’s the company
Investing in injustice, fear and long suffering
We staring in the face of hate again
The same hate they say will make America great again
No consolation prize for the dehumanized
For America to rise it’s a matter of Black Lives
And we gonna free them, so we can free us
America’s moment to come to Jesus
CSP 6 Music Video by Common ‘Letter to the Free’
- Common is an American Rapper and was the first Rapper to win a Grammy, Emmy and an Oscar.
- Net worth 45million.
- He has 12 Albums released.
- He was born in 1972.
- He is 47 years old.
- Common had a viral music video called ‘Letter to the Free’ which currently has 880K views with 16K likes on YouTube. It was released on 21st December 2016. The song featured the artist Bilal.
CSP 6
Common is the stage name of Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn, an American Rapper.
He won a grammy for best R&B singer in 2003.
His net worth is $45 million.
He was born March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.
“Letter to the free” was made for “The 13th” a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (The abolition of slavery).
The documentary centers around the mass incarceration of African-Americans as a form of modern-day slavery, and is named after the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal except as “punishment of crime”.
common
1)Common is an American rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist.
2)Began rapping in the late 1980s
3)In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
4)Net worth – 45 million
LETTER TO THE FREE – MUSIC VIDEO
1)Released – 2016
2)Genre – hiphop