Letter to the free

Music Video – Letter to the Free is a product which possesses cultural and social significance. It will invite comparison with other music videos allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed

This is a targeted CSP and needs to be studied with reference to two elements of the Theoretical Framework (Media Language and Media Representation) and all relevant contexts

“Letter to the Free,” like “13th,” addresses the issue of mass incarceration in the United States, “The 13th is an amendment that says slavery is abolished unless someone commits a crime… It’s evolved [and] is now targeting black and brown people across America for mass incarceration. It’s an epidemic that’s destroying America in many ways. So, for me to write a song about this, it’s fulfilling. It’s what I want my music and art to be, part of the enlightenment, part of moving things forward.”

When we first think about political protest, what comes to mind?
○ Attempts to change to laws or legislation
○ Organised political movements
○ Public protests
○ Petitions, marches

Cultural hegemony functions by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.
● The ideologies of the dominant group are expressed and maintained through its economic, political, moral,
and social institutions (like the education system and the media).
● These institutions socialise people into accepting the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social
group.
● As a result, oppressed groups believe that the social and economic conditions of society are natural and
inevitable, rather than created by the dominant group.

Lyrics

‘Not whips and chains, all subliminal’

‘Shot me with your ray-gun
And now you want to trump me’

‘And we gonna free them, so we can free us’

POSTCOLONIALISM:

has a kind of hook or link into empire and colonialism

great literature has a timeless and universal significance [which] thereby demotes or disregards cultural, social, regional, and nations differences in experience and outlook’ (Barry, 2017: 194).

The arguments around postcolonial critical thought ‘constituted a fundamentally important political act’ (MacLoed, 200: 16)

Edward Said Culture and Imperialism, 1993

The Link between culture, imperial power & colonialism

the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism

The mode is characterised by ‘the desire to contain the intangibilities of the East within a western lucidity, but this gesture of appropriation only partially conceals the obsessive fear.’ (Suleri, 1987:255)

‘an economic system like a nation or a religion, lives not by bread alone, but by beliefs, visions, daydreams as well, and these may be no less vital to it for being erroneous’V. G. Kiernan

 ‘the privileged role of culture in the modern imperial experience’ (1997:3)

Jacques Lacan:

The other:  we cannot actually see ourselves as whole, we use a reflection to understand who we are / who we are not

Letter to the Free

Music Video – Letter to the Free is a product which possesses cultural and social significance. It will invite comparison with other music videos allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed.

This is a targeted CSP and needs to be studied with reference to two elements of the Theoretical Framework (Media Language and Media Representation) and all relevant contexts

Common is an Oscar and Grammy award winning hip/hop rap artist who wrote Letter to the Free as a soundtrack to The 13th – a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (the abolition of slavery). 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).

Postcolonialism

Overall, this is a topic that concerns IDENTITY and REPRESENTATION. In other words, where does our identity come from? How is our identity formed? How do we understand our own identity and how is our identity represented in the local, national and global media? You can look at another post that looks at identity, representation and the self. But here it is specifically looking at identity and representation through the lens of Empire and Colonialism.

The Shadow of Slavery

Postcolonial critical thought emerged as a distinct category in the 1990’s, with an aim to undermine the universalist claims that ‘great literature has a timeless and universal significance [which] thereby demotes or disregards cultural, social, regional, and nations differences in experience and outlook’ (Barry, 2017: 194). In other words, postcolonial criticism challenges the assumption of a universal claim towards what constitutes ‘good reading’ and ‘good literature’; questioning the notion of a recognised and overarching canon of important cultural texts – book, poems, plays, films etc – much of which is institutionalised into academic syllabi.

The Link between culture, imperial power & colonialism

the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism

Edward Said Culture and Imperialism, 1993: xiii

Jacques Lacan

The Orient of the ‘Other’

LETTER TO THE FREE

The Idea of Resistance and Political Protest:
● When we first think about political protest, what comes to mind?
○ Attempts to change to laws or legislation
○ Organised political movements
○ Public protests
○ Petitions, marches
● However, we can look at political protest in terms of:
○ Cultural resistance
○ Everyday people
● Why look at cultural resistance?
○ Overt political protest is uncommon. When it occurs, it often results in a backlash.
○ Even if overt political protest does results in changes in legislation, it won’t necessarily change public
opinion.
○ Culture is what influences people’s hearts, minds and opinions. This is the site of popular change.
Key idea: the political, personal and cultural are always intertwined

  • The idea of culture as a site of political struggle for Ghost Town see below)
  • The the theory of hegemony – Gramsci

cultural hegemony functions by framing ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.

Key Concepts:
● Cultural resistance
● Cultural hegemony
● Subcultural theory

LYRICS- Instead of ‘nigga’ they use the word ‘criminal’

Black bodies being lost in the American dream

Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13

Postcolonialism

 Looking at identity and representation through the lens of Empire and Colonialism. ‘The Shadow of Slavery’

Challenges the assumption of a universal claim towards what constitutes ‘good reading’ and ‘good literature’.

Orientalism

The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism

Edward Said asked if ‘imperialism was principally economic‘ and looked to answer that question by highlighting ‘the privileged role of culture in the modern imperial experience’. He argues that Orientalism is “a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction between ‘the Orient’ and ‘the Occident’

-Tends to rely on a binary opposition between the West and the East that most of times is misleading and destructive.

Jacques Lacan ‘the other’

He was a psychoanalyst and a philosopher. The idea that we cannot actually see ourselves as whole, we use a reflection to understand who we are / who we are not. He proposed that in infancy this first recognition occurs when we see ourselves in a mirror.

letter to the free

(re: Jodie’s presentation )

The Idea of Resistance and Political Protest:
● When we first think about political protest, what comes to mind?
○ Attempts to change to laws or legislation
○ Organised political movements
○ Public protests
○ Petitions, marches
● However, we can look at political protest in terms of:
○ Cultural resistance
○ Everyday people
● Why look at cultural resistance?
○ Overt political protest is uncommon. When it occurs, it often results in a backlash.
○ Even if overt political protest does results in changes in legislation, it won’t necessarily change public
opinion.
○ Culture is what influences people’s hearts, minds and opinions. This is the site of popular change.
Key idea: the political, personal and cultural are always intertwined

  • The idea of culture as a site of political struggle for Ghost Town see below)
  • The the theory of hegemony – Gramsci

cultural hegemony functions by framing ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.

Key Concepts:
● Cultural resistance
● Cultural hegemony
● Subcultural theory

Subcultural Theory: The Birmingham School (1970s)
● In the 1970s, a group of cultural theorists in Birmingham applied Gramsici’s theories to post-war
British working-class youth culture
● Looked at working class cultures like the teddy-boys, mods, skinheads, and punks – subcultures
unified by shared tastes in fashion, music and ideology.
● They argued argued that the formation of subcultures offered young working class people a solution
to the problems they were collectively experiencing in society.

lyrics for essay-

  1. Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13
    Not whips and chains, all subliminal
    Instead of ‘nigga’ they use the word ‘criminal’

2. We staring in the face of hate again
The same hate they say will make America great again

3. Police and policies patrol philosophies of control
A cruel hand taking hold.

4. Black bodies being lost in the American dream

5. Prison is a business, America’s the company

Postcolonialism:

This post is for students (and teachers) who would like some resources – videos, quotes, theorists, key texts, key words etc to help them think about the topic of POSTCOLONIALISM, which may appear in a range of creative, media, culture, communications, English, History and other courses.

Overall, this is a topic that concerns IDENTITY and REPRESENTATION. In other words, where does our identity come from? How is our identity formed? How do we understand our own identity and how is our identity represented in the local, national and global media? You can look at another post that looks at identity, representation and the self. But here it is specifically looking at identity and representation through the lens of Empire and Colonialism.

ORIENTALISM:

The Link between culture, imperial power & colonialism

the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism

Edward Said Culture and Imperialism, 1993: xiii

critically looking at culture- key figure Edward Said.

Jacques Lacan- (the other)

search for identity, theory of baby’s first time looking in the mirror is when we first feel consciousness. we see ourselves differently for how to feel inside.

Letter to the free

Key idea: the political, personal and cultural are always intertwined

The Idea of Resistance and Political Protest

Culture is what influences people’s hearts, minds and opinions. This is the site of popular change.

Antonio Gramsci: Italian philosopher writing in the 1930s

● Hegemonic: dominant, ruling-class, power-holders
● Hegemonic culture: the dominant culture
● Cultural hegemony: power, rule, or domination maintained by ideological and cultural means.
● Ideology: worldview – beliefs, assumptions and values

Cultural hegemony functions by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.

Subculture; Working-class youth culture

https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/media23al/wp-content/uploads/sites/58/2022/01/Music-as-Political-Protest.pdf

“We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings
Will the U.S. ever be us?” = Dehumanizing

“Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13” =

“We staring in the face of hate again” = Racism towards black people still hasn’t changed from all those years ago of being treated poorly.

“The caged birds sings for freedom to bring” = Could imply slaves who were caged and wanting to be free again

“Black bodies being lost in the American dream” = Police brutality

US 5% population but 25% of the worlds prisoners

1975 = 3000 prisoners

Today = 2.3 million prisoners

Postcolonialism

concerns IDENTITY and REPRESENTATION. In other words, where does our identity come from? How is our identity formed? How do we understand our own identity and how is our identity represented in the local, national and global media? You can look at another post that looks at identity, representation and the self. But here it is specifically looking at identity and representation through the lens of Empire and Colonialism.

The Shadow of Slavery

Postcolonial critical thought emerged as a distinct category in the 1990’s, with an aim to undermine the universalist claims that ‘great literature has a timeless and universal significance [which] thereby demotes or disregards cultural, social, regional, and nations differences in experience and outlook’ (Barry, 2017: 194). In other words, postcolonial criticism challenges the assumption of a universal claim towards what constitutes ‘good reading’ and ‘good literature’; questioning the notion of a recognised and overarching canon of important cultural texts – book, poems, plays, films etc – much of which is institutionalised into academic syllabi.

postcolonialism is a way of critically way of looking at culture. A key figure is Edward said. His book is called orientalism.

the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism

literature, painting, music, poetry, arts are framed the best for the west and the east is the least

Jacques Lacan ‘the other’

search for identity by looking in the mirror or by someone else. The mirror is kind of a media text. You see yourself differently and we know who we are.

letter to the free

Youth Culture as Political Protest (Jodie’s Presentation)

Key Concepts:
● Cultural resistance
● Cultural hegemony
● Subcultural theory

The Idea of Resistance and Political Protest –

  • Culture is what influences people’s hearts, minds and opinions. This is the site of popular change

Key idea: the political, personal and cultural are always intertwined

Cultural Hegemony:

Antonio Gramsci » Tom Shakespeare
Antonio Gramsci: Italian philosopher writing in the 1930s

Key words:

● Hegemonic: dominant, ruling-class, power-holders
● Hegemonic culture: the dominant culture
● Cultural hegemony: power, rule, or domination maintained by ideological and cultural means.

Cultural hegemony functions by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology

“Letter To The Free”
(feat. Bilal)
(from “13th” soundtrack)

Common is an Oscar and Grammy award winning hip/hop rap artist who wrote Letter to the Free as a soundtrack to The 13th – a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (the abolition of slavery).

COMMON

Born: March 13, 1972 (age 49 years), South Side, Chicago, Illinois, United States

Net Worth: £45Million

First rapper to win an academy award

Common was formerly known by common sense

Commons genre of music he records is Hip Hop, Neo Soul and Progressive Rap.

Quotes from “Letter To The Free”

“Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13”

“We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings”

“Black bodies being lost in the American dream”

“Prison is a business, America’s the company
Investing in injustice, fear and long suffering”

Letter to the free

 Letter to the Free is a product which possesses cultural and social significance.

The rapper in the music video is called Common and he wrote the lyrics as a soundtrack to the film The 13th which is about the abolition of slavery.  It was aimed at raising awareness of racism and its effects in US society (e.g. Black Lives Matter). It focuses on the history and contemporary experience of African Americans and can explore of the effect of social, cultural and political context on representations of ethnicity.

Cultural hegemony: theory developed by Gramsci: Italian philosopher writing in the 1930s. How social classes come to dominate society (capitalist). Hegemony implicates power into cultural texts by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate ideology.

Theory of communicative action: theory developed by Habermas. Public sphere excluded the poor and uneducated. Habermas argues that the development of early modern capitalism brought into being an autonomous arena of public debate. Where and how is news talked about by the public; democracy depends on a public which is informed, aware, and which debates the issues of the day. Habermas believes the mass media has reduced the effectiveness of the public sphere.

Lyrics

  • Prison is a business, America’s the company
  • Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13’
  • ‘Black bodies being lost in the American dream’

Letter to the free

The music video is a product which possesses cultural and social significance. It has a comparison with other music videos allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed.

Common which is the rapper and writer, was born March 13, 1972 (age 49 years), South Side, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
He has a net worth of £45 million and was the first rapper to win an academy award.

A subculture is a working-class youth culture, unified by shared tastes in style, music and ideology. It also has a solution to collectively experienced problems and finally a form of resistance to cultural hegemony.

Hegemonic: dominant, ruling-class, power-holders
Hegemonic culture: the dominant culture
Cultural hegemony: power, rule, or domination maintained by ideological and cultural means.
Ideology: worldview – beliefs, assumptions and values

Antonio Gramsci is a Italian philosopher writing in the 1930s

Cultural hegemony functions by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.

In the 1970s, a group of cultural theorists in Birmingham applied Gramsici’s theories to post-war
British working-class youth culture
● Looked at working class cultures like the teddy-boys, mods, skinheads, and punks – subcultures
unified by shared tastes in fashion, music and ideology.
● They argued argued that the formation of subcultures offered young working class people a solution
to the problems they were collectively experiencing in society.

Lyrics:

“We let go to free them so we can free us”

“They stop, search and arrest our souls”

“Instead of ‘nigga’ they use the word ‘criminal'”

Postcolonialism:
postcolonialism was thought as a distinct category in the 1990s with the target to undermine the universalist claims that literature has a timeless and universal significance.

The link between culture, imperial power and colonialism:
the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism

 Orientalism (1978) alongside Culture and imperialism  (1993) are key texts written by the respected academic.

Edward Said – known for the book “Orientalism” 1978, he was a critic of the cultural representations that are the bases of orientalism.
The conclusion of Edward Said’s theory was that Western writings depicted Orient as an irrational, weak, feminized ‘Other’.

Jacques Lacan, The ‘other
we cannot actually see ourselves as whole, we use a reflection to understand who we are / who we are not.”
Lacan proposes that infancy this first recognition occurs when we see ourselves in a mirror.
representations of the east/ the orientation, the other are constructed through a lens of western colonial power.

Letter to the Free

“Letter to the Free” was written as part of the soundtrack to “The 13th”, the song speaks out against America’s justice system which helps to perpetuate the inequality endured by many African Americans

Cultural Hegemony:
● Antonio Gramsci: Italian philosopher writing in the 1930s

Who is Antonio Gramsci ? - Sinaumedia


Key Terms:
● Hegemonic: dominant, ruling-class, power-holders
● Hegemonic culture: the dominant culture
● Cultural hegemony: power, rule, or domination maintained by ideological and cultural means.
● Ideology: worldview – beliefs, assumptions and values

● Cultural hegemony functions by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.
● The ideologies of the dominant group are expressed and maintained through its economic, political, moral,
and social institutions (like the education system and the media).
● These institutions socialise people into accepting the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social
group.
● As a result, oppressed groups believe that the social and economic conditions of society are natural and
inevitable, rather than created by the dominant group.

Key Concepts:
● Cultural resistance
● Cultural hegemony
● Subcultural theory

Lyrics
“We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings” – Common states that black people aren’t seen as humans by some

“Will the U.S. ever be us?” – Common is asking if black people will ever be seen as true Americans