Hip Hop Speaks Out

Childish Gambino This is America

This is America
Don’t catch you slippin’ now
Look what I’m whippin’ now
This is America (woo)
Don’t catch you slippin’ now
Don’t catch you slippin’ now
Look what I’m whippin’ nowThis is America (skrrt, skrrt, woo)
Don’t catch you slippin’ now (ayy)
Look at how I’m livin’ now
Police be trippin’ now (woo)
Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)
Guns in my area (word, my area)
I got the strap (ayy, ayy)
I gotta carry ’em
Yeah, yeah, I’ma go into this (ugh)
Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla, woo
Yeah, yeah, I’ma go get the bag
Yeah, yeah, or I’ma get the pad
Yeah, yeah, I’m so cold like yeah (yeah)
I’m so dope like yeah (woo)
We gon’ blow like yeah (straight up, uh)Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me
Get your money, black man (get your money)
Get your money, black man (get your money)
Get your money, black man (get your, black man)
Get your money, black man (get your, black man)
Black manThis is America (woo, ayy)
Don’t catch you slippin’ now (woo, woo, don’t catch you slippin’, now)
Don’t catch you slippin’ now (ayy, woah)
Look what I’m whippin’ now (Slime!)
This is America (yeah, yeah)
Don’t catch you slippin’ now (woah, ayy)
Don’t catch you slippin’ now (ayy, woo)
Look what I’m whippin’ now (ayy)Look how I’m geekin’ out (hey)
I’m so fitted (I’m so fitted, woo)
I’m on Gucci (I’m on Gucci)
I’m so pretty (yeah, yeah)
I’m gon’ get it (ayy, I’m gon’ get it)
Watch me move (blaow)
This a celly (ha)
That’s a tool (yeah)
On my Kodak (woo, Black)
Ooh, know that (yeah, know that, hold on)
Get it (get it, get it)
Ooh, work it (21)
Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (hunnid bands)
Contraband, contraband, contraband (contraband)
I got the plug on Oaxaca (woah)
They gonna find you like blocka (blaow)Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
(America, I just checked my following list and)
You go tell somebody
(You mothafuckas owe me)
Grandma told me
Get your money, black man (black man)
Get your money, black man (black man)
Get your money, black man (black man)
Get your money, black man (black man)
Black man (one, two, three, get down)Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me, “Get your money, ” black man
Get your money, black man (black man)
Get your money, black man (black man)
Get your money, black man (black man)
Black manYou just a black man in this world
You just a barcode, ayy
You just a black man in this world
Drivin’ expensive foreigns, ayy
You just a big dawg, yeah
I kenneled him in the backyard
No proper life to a dog
For a big dog

In this song, Childish Gambino covers many social problems. Such problems included are about guns and violence in America and long lasting racism and discrimination against African Americans, and brings attention to the Black Lives Matter Movement. With such a famous platform, I like how Childish Gambino took advantage of it to spread awareness and bring intention to such harsh issues happening in our country.

J. Cole Be Free

And now I’m in denial
And it don’t take no x-ray to see right through my smile
I know, I’ll be on the go
It ain’t no drink out there that could kill my soul
Oh no
All we want do is take these chains off
All we want do is break the chains of pain
All we want do is be free
All we want do is be free
All we want do is take these chains off
All we want do is break the chains of pain
All we want do is be free
All we wanna do is be freeCan you tell me why every time I step outside
Ooh, I’m letting you know
That it ain’t no gun they can make that could kill my soul
Oh, noAll we want do is take these chains off
All we want do is take the chains of pain
All we want do is be free
All we want do is be free
All we want do is take these chains off
All we want do is break the chains of pain
All we want do is be free
All we wanna do is be freeAhh we all alone fighting on our own
Please give me a chance
I don’t wanna dance
Something’s got me down
I was there my ground
Don’t just stand around
Don’t just stand aroundAll we want do is take the chains off

With the same focus as Childish Gambino, J. Cole in his song Be Free he talks about after the police killing of teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson, artistic outpour erupted within the hip hop community- J. Cole’s tribute was the most influential.

How To Spot Fake News

If you have ever scrolled through the internet and came across a news article that seemed just too outrageous to be true, you were most likely reading a “Fake News” article. Fake news is “news”  made up by journalists in order to make people be influenced in a certain way. It often causes people’s opinions get swayed without any real evidence, and no one knows what to believe. This is a common issue during things like political campaigns and elections because people are able to create a false news article about a candidate from their unpreferred political party in order to make them look bad. So how can you be able to tell when news is factual, or when it is simply “Fake News”?

The first giveaway for spotting fake news can be found within the title. If it seems as if it is using an absurd amount of exclamation marks, question marks, or “OMG”s, most likely, it is fake news. Also, if the title seems way too crazy to even be true, then odds are it probably isn’t. This is called “clickbait”, and it is when journalists stretch the truth in their article titles in order to get more views. It is also extremely important to take note of the source that the article is coming from. For example, sites like “The Onion” are known for often posting fake news articles, while sites like “The Washington Post” are usually pretty reliable. You should always keep eye out for articles that don’t have an author listed, because that is a red flag that the article is fake, and they don’t want to take credit for it. When dealing with online news, it is important to be critical of every source and look for these warning signs before trusting them.

(Written by Meghan Smith)

Fake news is also seen through gossip about celebrities. This can sometimes cause havoc as super fans of certain celebrities might believe such rumors flying around.

Checkout the video below to know how to spot fake new in five easy ways…

The case of Lord McAlpine vs the BBC

The case of Lord McAlpine vs the BBC, ITV and prominent Twitter Users was an interesting case because A reporter from a BBC news watch reported on some tweets that claimed Lord McAlpine was a pedophile. This of course could damage his reputation and give people the wrong perception of him, and all of this came about through the medium of social media. The claim stated that anyone who had above 500 followers and tweeted about the incident would receive a hefty fine while other who have less would donate to the BBC charity.

Monbiot and Davies who were two other involved in the case who sincerely apologized to lord McAlpine and got lesser punishments then Bercow who had 56000 followers on twitter at the time. In the judgement in the court between Bercow and McAlpine it was decided by both parties, Bercow pay for the damages she had done, since she was a credible reporter and has the ability to reach a large variety of different people, and change the public’s perception about the reported on person. Overall, I think this case directly relates to some of the points we have spoken about this semester.


independent.co.uk (Getty Images)

Such as privacy and credibility, it invades McAlpine’s privacy by someone exposing information about him that is not even true in this case. While also someone who is a credible source gives people all the reason to believe what is said. I am a big believer that defamation is a serious problem that we face in our society today, some have the ability to impact other lives through social media just by mentioning their name, so when you have a person that people listen to report something that is not true, in this case on a matter such as pedophiles, there can really be no good to come from it. It can be one thing for people to make such claims about a person with no evidence through twitter, but to have it on a news channel such as BBC and ITV affects the credibility of the news sources.

Written by Leon Maric

Net Neutrality

Leon Maric

Net neutrality is crucial to our society because it treats companies equal to one another and doesn’t create a monopolistic approach when dealing with service providers and edge providers. For example, let’s say that netflix and a service provider have a contract where they get more internet access and faster speeds than a competitor such as hulu, that would force more people to sign up for netflix rather than for hulu, which is why it may lead to monopolistic ways. At the same time America is known for its opportunities that it offers and when you are restricting innovation in that way our society may struggle to keep evolving and learning new things due to that fact that in a way we are shown the way as to what we should be viewing on the internet without much say. If net neutrality did not exist that would mean that all we care about and that the government cares about is money, little businesses and family owned companies would struggle to get internet efficiency due to the fact that the big companies would run them out of business due to insufficient funds. Therefore, we need net neutrality to show that our world does not revolve around money and so that we can continue to evolve and learn and discover new things everyday.


What Is Net Neutrality?

Meghan Smith

This week in our Com 201 class, we were introduced to the topic of Net Neutrality. In my brief video below, I explain exactly what “Net Neutrality” means, but here’s some background knowledge you should keep in mind first…

ISPs stand for “Internet Service Providers” and are big name companies like Verizon, Comcast, Megapath, etc. Without Net Neutrality, these companies would hold control of the internet traffic.

There are several downfalls for the average internet user. First of all, our content could be censored depending on which sites big-name ISPs want you to be using. They can also slow down our service on smaller sites or competitors. For example, in 2014, Comcast was able to slow down Netflix’s services until they made a deal that Netflix would pay Comcast.

Many internet user have taken it upon themselves to stand up for their internet rights. Over 4 million individuals have commented on the FCC website in order to fight for Net Neutrality. People have also taken the issue to social media, posting content in order to spread awareness of the issue.

In this Tweet, Sonos, a home sound system company, urges the importance of net neutrality for artists in order to be able to work freely, with no restrictions for ISPs. It acted as a response for the #Savethenet Act that the house voted on recently.

All of the support from citizens on the #Savethenet Act proved to be successful. On April 10th, 2019, The House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would restore net neutrality protections that were recently repealed. As for now, internet users can take a breath of relief; net neutrality is back and ready to to return the internet into an even playing field.


Net Neutrality

Ali Chapman

Net neutrality is made of rules, backed by sanctions, that ensure all Internet content be treated equally by the companies we pay to get online. It makes Internet service providers treat all web traffic the same, no matter the source. The policy’s defenders say the regulations are at the heart of the idea that the Internet should be an open space where information travels freely without interference from service providers. It is the basic principle that prohibits internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from speeding up, slowing down or blocking any content, applications or websites you want to use. Net Neutrality is the way that the internet has always worked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlUv8CyTLtk

Under net neutrality, broadband companies are like passive conduits of data rather than content managers. When a customer pays Comcast or Verizon for Internet service, they’ve can expect to connect with equal access to any website, whether big or small. But, the FCC voted on Dec. 14 to kill net neutrality and unravel an Obama-era move that placed broadband regulation on a stronger legal footing.

Defenders of net neutrality say dismantling the current rules is anathema to a free and open Internet, and hurts online companies and consumers alike. Net neutrality advocate Ryan Singel, a media and strategy fellow at Stanford Law’s Center for Internet and Society, said the FCC’s dismantling of net neutrality means abandoning its traditional role as the protector of Americans’ right to choose which sites and apps they access.

Without the Net Neutrality rules, companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon can call all the shots and decide which websites, content and applications succeed. At the core of net neutrality is a hidden free speech principle that allows speakers and innovators to reach the people that they wouldn’t have if they cut the cable. Without net neutrality, control of the internet shifts from edge providers and users into the hands of broadband ISPs, who could operate as content-gatekeepers, demanding pay-to-pay tolls from edge providers, and thereby determining what info or services users can access


They’re Always Watching

Algorithms are comprised of a formula. The idea of an algorithm in terms of social media, is the way your feed on twitter, instagram, etc. is formatted based on what you search on Google. They are set of steps to accomplish a task. Challenges posed by algorithms are that we get a filter bubble. With filter bubbles, can miss out on what else is happening by only seeing things that are relative towards our interests. Algorithms are created by humans. Technology is like the brain, it has connections, feeds off of what people do, and reflects the public opinion of society. The problem lies with the people who built it and constantly feed into that site everyday.     

When scrolling through your feed on any social media network, you are likely to come across ads for products, places, events, that you have previously google searched or even simply texted about. Facebook keeps up with the personal engagements you have with posts by friends and brand pages. The Facebook News Feed algorithm also predicts what you want to see based on those past interactions with friends or brands. Many believe this is an invasion of privacy as they feel they are being watched since these sponsored ads were searched on other sites and transported over to your Facebook feed. For instance, if I am on a clothing website and add a certain piece of clothing to my cart and leave the site without purchasing anything, I will find an ad of that exact article of clothing in an ad on Facebook or Instagram.

Even when I am on the site Quizlet studying for an upcoming quiz or exam, ads pop up for clothes that I have added to my cart yet not purchased on a different site. Though social media is free, they make money by advertising paid sponsored ads based on our searches on other sites. The algorithm of your social media feeds are not only based on who you interact with the most, they also include sponsored ads based on what you search, as filter bubbles make your feed relative to your interests. Social networks use algorithms instead of putting posts in chronological order as it makes your feed “feel more fresh”.


Watch the Youtube video below to see how Instagram’s algorithm determines what your feed looks like.


Webcam Hacking

This week during our Ethics in Media class, we were assigned to watch an episode of the TV show, Black Mirror, called “ Shut Up and Dance”. The episode was about a teenage boy, as well as several other victims, who had their webcams/electronic devices hacked, and the attackers used blackmail in order to make them complete several immoral actions for the hackers’ own amusement. While the episode was entertaining, it brought us to a much broader, unsettling question- Could this type of situation occur in real life? To our dismay, we learned that this hacking strategy is a very real, very scary occurrence. In this week’s blog post, you can learn all about the Ins and Outs of webcam hacking, as well as how to best avoid the situation.

Many hackers use things like downloads to access other peoples computers, in the case of the black mirror episode “Shut Up and dance” the main character Kenny got a  virus on his computer from a free online movie site that his sister was using. He download a free clean my pc software where a hacker got a hold of his webcam cam blackmailed him to the point where it ruined. What can this episode teach you? For starters nothing is free and be careful of the things you download online because hackers can access your technology.

In 2014, Emma Watson became a target for a hacker after tweeting her thoughts about a recent hacking scandal. She said, “Even worse than seeing women’s privacy violated on social media is reading the accompanying comments that show such a lack of empathy.” In March 2017, Watson was hacked once again. Although she wasn’t nude in the photos, the pictures are of her trying on outfits during a fitting.



Online speculation that US actor Jack Black had died was the work of a hacker who posted messages on his rock band’s official Twitter account.This was later confirmed by Tenacious D themselves, who called the hacking a “sick ‘prank'”.