Chayse J. Adams
Ms. Chastain
March 24, 2011
English 104
Gangsta Culture by; Bell Hooks
The reading this week is from The Hip Hop Reader, Gangsta Culture by; Bell Hooks, pages 185-192. In this passage Hooks writes about how black males grow up hearing that they won’t amount to anything. That they will end up on the streets and that’s the only life for them. That they are not smart enough to be head of corporations and in the government. They will find themselves amongst the streets living the life of a gangsta by the time they are six. The media and propaganda all suggest and promote the stereotype as well. Instead of staying in school and furthering their education to eventually land a job or career to legitimately earn a income they, black males, fall to the influence of life on the streets as a gangsta.
Those black males who fell to the influence of the streets who are men, who had potential and the ability to earn an education, even if they came from poverty, now resided in prisons or jail or worse, dead. Reverting to crime rather than joining the workforce that places them on the bottom, they find themselves locked up. The problem with our prison system is that it is mainly a place where only the strong survive, like Darwin’s theory, survival of the fittest, they only practice how to become stronger on the streets and engage in the forming of gangs and clicks as they did on the streets.
Hi Chayse,
ReplyDeleteWhat you have provided here is a summary. I'm happy that you are practicing, but what the assignment did ask for was an analysis. I have read the article, so I would be interested to hear your own interpretation. Do you feel that hooks's claims of African American men are accurate? Please explain.
You do suggest that the media is part to blame. Can you think of a hip-hop artist that promotes the hustla lifestyle? Sadly, the mainstream hip-hop artists are encouraged to promote this kind of lifestyle, which also glorifies drugs and violence and degrades women. What's your take on this?
MS. C