Blog Rubric
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4
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Exceptional. The entry is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The entry demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic. Multimedia (video, graphic, chart, audio, etc.) use significantly enhances blog presentation
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3
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Satisfactory. The entry is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The entry reflects moderate engagement with the topic. Multimedia use moderately enhanced blog presentation
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2
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Underdeveloped. The entry is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The entry reflects passing engagement with the topic. Multimedia use is limited in the blog entry.
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1
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Limited. The entry is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic. Little to no multimedia use is implemented.
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0
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No Credit. The entry is missing or consists of one or two disconnected sentences. No multimedia use is implemented.
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Something that really interested me out of this unit was the video on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In her speech she talks about how everyone does not have a single story. When first hearing the title I did not know what the meaning of the actual title "The Danger of a Single Story." When listening to her speech i slowly but surely caught on to the idea of people having a single story. When she used her experiences to show what she meant by a single story it really connected the audience, well me anyway. I liked listening to how she talked about her time in Nigeria and how she pictured people that were not from Nigeria. We all think that people from another place where we have never visited act a certain way or dress a certain way etc. We all have this picture in our head of how other people are but really and truly it can be all wrong we are just going off of what we heard. We should not make judgments or assumptions based on what we have maybe heard about someone or someplace. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie really explains that we can't just judge by what we have heard.This link below shows how someone views the United States based on what they heard. http://i.imgur.com/c8EGU.jpg
ReplyDeleteI was unsure of how to submit our work but below is a link to my post about the assignment.
ReplyDeletehttp://reggieafrofilmandculture.blogspot.com/2015/09/unit-1.html
http://miisswarren.blogspot.com/2015/09/notion-of-images.html
ReplyDeletehttp://takiadraughan.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletehttp://randishaperkins3.blogspot.com/2015/09/black-film-african-american-image.html
ReplyDeleteDarrien Staton
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I found to be most interesting was the Black American Cinema reading. I was really intrigued by what Manthia Diawara had to say, especially concerning the role and importance of black independent film. I am really into film and I personally love the editing technique known as "jump cuts". However I was not aware that "jump cuts" were frowned upon within mainstream Hollywood cinema. After evaluating why, I realized it actually made sense. Black independent film serves as a research tool, redefining the different ways the black image is represented in film. Jump cuts, loose-editing, time and space, and spatial narration are amazingly useful techniques that creates emphasizes. Independent film is raw and allows the individual to get he or she point across. The Improvisation that the techniques create, surprises and delights the spectator. The film Within Our Gates, by Oscar Micheaux, is a perfect example. Oscar Micheaux perfectly utilizes time and space by introducing flash backs. The flash backs broke up the linear platform that many mainstream Hollywood movies use and makes it more dynamic; switching between past and present. In Addition, the film used loose-editing by playing jazz which surprised the audience and painted pictures of the black american image.
http://darrien.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeletehttp://lakeishiarhodes.blogspot.com/2015/09/unit-i.html
ReplyDeletehttp://post1aafc.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThe most powerful thing that I have taken away from our class is the enormous standard that Birth of a nation has set for us today in mainstream film. When I look at popular films now I look at them in a very different way. In Birth of A Nation DW Griffith uses clever framing techniques and positioning to place White people who are considered to be the for front of society and the master race and Black people who are lesser. Griffith also uses white actor's in black face for the more serious roles because black actor where (not capable). Griffith's film obviously has racial intent to characterize black people the way it does. In today's mainstream the same formula is still used but not quite with the intent to imply that black people are lesser but because black people have been stuck in similar lesser roles for so long. In The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) the main character Jordan Belfort has an argument with his wife and takes his child and tries to flee but gets into an accident. His BLACK maid assist his wife in retrieving the child but not before uttering some stereotypical black vernacular. Martin Scorsese's intent probably wasn't motivated by race but probably just a salve to the old ways of Hollywood. In 2012 Ava DuVernay's Film Middle of Nowhere the main character is a well educated African American female who is married and is trying to be faithful to her husband. Despite the fact that he has been unfaithful and is putting her in an incredibly tough circumstance. This is a lot like the difference in Birth of A Nation and Within our Gates which came out one hundred year's ago. The class has opened up my eyes to see that black people are still fighting for the equality that they deserve in the cinematic universe and that it is up to us to continue to change the narrative and demand that it be changed in mainstream cinema
ReplyDeleteThe Wolf of Wall Street clip-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlvAY5ZsKvw
Middle Of Nowhere clip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT19sV9CkGQ
http://albertsolo.blogspot.com/2015/09/chimamanda-adichies-speech-on-single.html
ReplyDeletehttp://ncatswlee.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteIt Ain’t About The Money”
ReplyDeleteRace films have evolved into what people recognize as independent films or cinema today. At the start of production until now, most African-American films have not focus on expense as much as theme and overall perception by the audience. Race films were produced exclusively for Blacks to tell authentic Black stories. With that background, what resonates the most with me about Black cinema or the discussion of African-American film is the production value.
I appreciate the frugality and passion displayed by early African-American filmmakers. Although Black films were considered low art, African-American film writers accomplished the mission of providing an alternative view of Black lives and culture than that which has be displayed over the years. Manthia Diawara explains how “filmmakers’ independence from Hollywood enables then to put on the screen Black lives and concerns that derive from the complexity of Black communites. Early independent film makers and current Black film writers typically do not focus on displays of African-American poverty and social decay but instead display African Americans as educated, genteel protagonists which is very refreshing in comparison to the usual display of uneducated drug addicts.
http://dalesaharleston.blogspot.com/2015/09/low-cost-high-quality.html
ReplyDeleteWe are living in a land where we coexist with whiteness. Whiteness is the Earth & all other races revolve around it. I believe that the fact that we exist as an addition to whiteness is shown today through our own standards. In our art, many people search for white approval before agreeing that their work is up to par despite the number of black scholars, black artists, black filmmakers telling them their work is superb. It is really crazy how people forget or don't know how Timbuktu or the Kemet Dynasties were the homes to the greatest of them all. Black people held the standards. Tables have turned giving white America the power to put out our own images based on a single story. Ms. bell hooks says how we have to go to war for this which people are afraid to do such. They rather go insane than to war for better representation of who we are. Here's a picture of LeBron James:
ReplyDeleteThis man clearly is to ignorant to see the negative connotation that flows within this picture. Shoot, money doesn't make you any different. They thought this was ok , but if we analyze this , is it?
Empire is another show that's created by Fox, the same Fox whose founding father, or one of them, is D.W. Griffith, who created A Birth of A Nation. Empire is said to be created for white audience because of its typical storyline about black families. Single story create basic, dull, boring pictures.
Another point is the importance of independent film aka art. Black indies are important because they are propaganda films which challenge authorities and social norms, in which is discussed about by bell hooks, essentially, and W.E.B Dubois's article Criteria of Negro Art. We need to take ownership of our art.
Two articles to read:
http://www.webdubois.org/dbCriteriaNArt.html
http://www.forharriet.com/2015/03/the-curious-case-of-empire-and-its.html?m=1#axzz3hzL5GGCU
ENIOLA ADENIYI*
Deletehttp://audrekias.blogspot.com/2015/09/while-reviewing-materials-for-unit-1.html
ReplyDeletehttp://mylesjenkins9426.blogspot.com/2015/09/unit-1.html
ReplyDeleteOne thing that resonated with me the most was the conversation on the relevance of “Within Our Gates” to what Diawara teaches us. Diawara’s teaching revealed how Hollywood films with black people were surrounded by whiteness, which ultimately effected the perception of black culture. This perception was not displayed in a positive light. To illustrate, most black films would highlight the struggle of a person’s life before it would highlight the success of the person. Within Our Gates portrayed the lavish lifestyle of two successful black women. Although not common within the Hollywood film, it was the direct opposite of how Hollywood films displayed the black race. Within our Gates also used the “Jump Cuts” that was a multimedia element that was frown upon in Hollywood films. “Jump Cuts” did not follow the traditional line of production making the different and not accepted within the culture of Hollywood Films. In addition, Within Our Gates brought woman hood to the forefront. During the release of the movie (1920), women were eagerly fighting for equal rights and Within Our Gates proved that women could live a grand life without the sole support of a man. Diawara’s teaching aligns with Within Our Gates, as a race film by phrasing away from marked cultures and unmarked cultures. The marked films would be classified as the typical Hollywood film because they face minimal controversy and appeal to the majority, while the unmarked culture films would present the opposite. Within Our Gates present the unfamiliar lifestyle of African-America.
ReplyDeletehttp://shantelafrofilmandculture.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUnit one was an powerful unit. It was more than just watching the films and reading readings, it was also about getting an understanding what was going on. This unit made me think about the past and the world that we are living in today. I began to compare and contrast what goes on today to some of the films that we were required to watch.
ReplyDelete"The Danger of a Single Story" grasped my attention the most and opened my eyes to many different aspects in life. "The Danger of a Single Story" was an speech given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who is from African and came to America for college. During her speech she tells many stories about her life, but the film is deeper than just her single story because her stories tell and story. Society has created an way for us to think. Society teaches us that blacks Gang Bang and live off of the system, whites are successful, Hispanics criminals and in Chimamanda situation Africans are poor, hungry and sick. These are all single stories that society have taught us to believe. Why? Because we allow them to. Through media, songs, school, family, friends, billboards ,and much more society teaches us what to believe. The reason I feel in love with the speech is because she is telling me to create my own voice, image and my own outlook on life. Instead of allowing society to write my story I have to create my own story. Instead of listening to the opinions of others we have to find thing out for ourselves create our own story for the people that we come across. We can't judge people for who we THINK we know them as. She connected with her audience assuring us that we can be who we want to be, and not to judge someone by what you heard but by what you know.
http://theordinaryqueerboy.blogspot.com/2015/09/af-am-film-and-culture-unit-1-by.html
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmQomvRf3ek
ReplyDeleteIt is only in the act and practice of loving blackness that we are able to reach out and embrace the world without destructive bitterness and ongoing collective rage (B. Hooks). This elegant quote from Bell Hooks speaks volumes. The message embedded in this quote stood out to me because as a young Nubian woman I've come to the realization that "blackness" is gazed upon at as a handicap from other race groups. The same assumption is have even trickled down to our very own black race, for we are not absolved. In class we spoke on how certain images can have a profound significant effect in our lives. Images have the power to provoke things, and tells the most vivid stories. The video I posted illustrates just how influential mass media images and cooperative mind frames manipulate our society. As we analyze and dissect the content of the video, we can see that white rioters vs. black protesters paint just how demeaning the media is toward Nubian people. Clearly the mass media and others wanted to portray Nubian people as savages when undoubtedly those whites rioters were acting very savage like themselves. Nubian people are always being placed in dehumanizing categories in every situation you can possible fathom but whites (grown People) throw tantrums because their team did not prevail. Nubian people are continuously belittled while whites are applauded for their foolery. Labels are overwhelming and some take on the persona that is given but to label all as such is just inhuman. Who are the real savage culprits?
ReplyDeleteafricanamericanfilm.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the most interesting aspect of Unit 1 was Within Our Gates, by Oscar Michaux. Michaux’s film highlighted many different depictions of African Americans in efforts to directly contrast D.W. Griffith’s movie, The Birth of a Nation, which insultingly portrayed stereotypes of African Americans such as the buck, the pickaninny, the mammy, and the mulatto. Michaux’s main focus was to disprove the negative stigmas and stereotypes associated with African Americans and to offer a more realistic depiction of the African American culture. Within Our Gates illustrates a strong contrast between racism and race relations in the North versus in the South. One notable distinction between race relations in the North as opposed to the South is that African Americans in the North were extended the right to vote as well as to take political office. Michaux utilizes the African American characters of the North to represent their political involvement. The Northern African Americans are portrayed as more modern, particularly Sylvia. Sylvia is portrayed as well mannered, well educated, and well dressed in order to show that higher learning and achievement in Northern societies was possible and present for African Americans. I interpreted this aspect of the film as director’s way of saying that the North was more idealistic for African Americans during the early 1900’s because of the opportunities of African American education, the right to vote, and their eligibility for political office. However, later in the film we find out that Sylvia is half white and was adopted, therefor she would fit the description of a mulatto. On one hand, the fact that Sylvia is half-white trivializes Michaux’s purpose of portraying African Americans as civil and productive to a certain extent because her “whiteness” justifies her complexity; but on the other hand, she seems to be strong and independent despite her “blackness”, which supports his claim to a certain degree.
ReplyDeleteThe attached video goes into depth about what exactly it means to be a mulatto and what stereotypes and stigmas are associated with the title. This video will help further analyze Sylvia as a pivotal character in Michaux' scheme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tfVpHYyDcY
http://jazminlucky.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteNEAH HUBBARD
ReplyDeletehttp://soulfulsunshyn.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-introduction-of-bell-hooks-black.html
http://gapatter.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting things in this class up to this point is the video "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Adichie. She explained how the media portrays a certain culture and how we are led to believe that the media portrayal is indeed an actual representation of that cultural group. It is in itself a way to conform one cultures image of another into an altered reality. As an example, Adichie details how the media uses negative images of the Mexican as vagrants who sneak across the border and steal jobs from Americans to create an image in the mind of the viewer that would influence their attitudes toward an entire race or culture. Adichie's message lets us know that we cannot base our image of any people group based on an assumption or a blanket generalization. We must first realize that differences in culture do not imply inferiority but simply differences. The validity of another's culture is not based on how we feel about that culture; we should not compare and judge with our standards but realize that there are other points of views that are just as valid as our own.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/13/new-census-data-contradicts-nbc-researchers-on-mexican-immigration/
http://mexicansinthemedia.blogspot.com/
In the first unit of this class our eyes are being open to perception. The way we view things and how different cultures such as African American and whites are protrayed. A Birth of a Nation really stood out to me because the actors in the film were from a lighter skin complexion. At this time D.W. Griffin believed that white people must occupy the center, leaving black people with only one choice to exist in relation to whiteness. I remember in class I a brought up the movie The Butler. African Americans wasn't allowed to share there opinion or to ask for better wages unless the opportunity was presented to them first . They waited and waited until the white supremacists allowed them changed . Directors who are just considered to be independent directors rarely get any attention because their work did not meet the standards of what another director can produce with way more money than them . Micheaux made his films by selling personal property and borrowing money . Before this class I never knew about the film industry and how hard it was for black actors . The illusion to see themselves on television referring to African Americans must have been the hardest struggle to have a lead role and not to be taken as a joke . Society wanted us to believe that it was only one way to success which is through the white man controlling the art of the people . It has proven today that it's paths to your success with patience .
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L4iqi_-spes
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