Friday 10 March 2017

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

Social Media and Black Identity
1) Aisha Harris - Social Media play a negative role for the black community as it would play a negative role in the construction of black identities. They may become decontextualised to the point where they would become an internet meme as people may make a parody of the current theme. The example that was listed was "Sweet Brown". Her ending line was parodied and had soon become a meme for many to create content to make fun of. 

Giddens - Social media can be an arena for the construction of positive black representations. This would be reinforced with the idea of the "Blackout". This would mainly involve black people posting pictures with positive tags that would promote positiveness in the black community

Alan Martin's Echo Chamber effect - The Blackout maybe reinforcing the ideology of the black community. However in a wider context, those who would see the Blackout as a terrible idea tend to use racial slurs presenting how there is till that White Dominance aspect still present in the present but it isn't as acceptable as it was in the past.  

Henry Jenkins - Social media is an arena that would allow "participatory cultures" to be welcomed. Examples of this would be BlackTwitter. This was a movement that had challenged negative stereotypes of black people in the mass media and society and combats this with positive views. Movements that have spawned from this is #BlackLivesMatter. This was a movement that had highlighted the police brutality that was present with a majority of the victims of police brutality is black people. 

2) Social media can be seen as both positive and negative forces. For the positive this article highlights that campaigns that take place online which present a positive side of the black community. However there is the negative side of things which include the "memes" on the internet which tend to include some racist comments regarding the black community which would therefore mock the black community. As a result this would present the negative side of the black community and show that social media can be a negative force against them.

3) The issue of black identity in the media would be applied with Alverado in the sense that there would be the sense of dangerous that is a prejudice that those against the campaigns would hold against them. This sense of danger backed with Fanon's "Putting on the white mask" would show that there would be that sense of hegemony that is till in their mentality which may explain the crude comments that people think it is acceptable to discriminate against the black community. However "putting on the white mask" would also hold its benefits in the sense that this would be the only way for them to be accepted into society.

A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media

1) There appears to be a negative view on the refugees that are migrating to the UK with the Breaking Point advert during the EU Referendum. This negative promotion that would also look into the different area into how there would be the different areas in which this would be done. This could also have the views for their target audience that suggest that these negative views would cater to the audiences political standpoint during the EU Referendum.

2)  It can be considered that the documentaries are biased to a certain extent. This would be because although it would follow the life of a refugee, this might cater more towards their perspective more than the view of those that would be voting. This would therefore highlight the negative lifestyle and therefore suit Alverado's pitied aspect in the sense that this would present the lifestyle of someone in a refugee camp.

3) Alverado- the factor of 'pitied' is very much linked to the refugees as we, the helpers, are there to feel sympathy for those who aren't in the same place as us, and to do something about it. This would be because it highlights the aspect of what has been lost and how they can't really do anything drastic.


Fanon- the factor of 'essentialize' is something that really taps in to this idea of the outside world (predominately the west) of having the view of the east being 'the same' and always in need. They can't tell the difference between those in need and those that are not. Places such as Dubai, and Afghanistan may seem to be the same in the eyes of the western world

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