New Media and Society

         Growing up this is where I thought my ancestry began, on a continent where people starved and had not yet become civilized or developed enough to be able to provide food for themselves or their children. Essentially I think that showing images of children in Africa with nothing, living in huts and dirty environments, with out clean drinking water, subconsciously further pushes the stereotype that black people are unclean. As a child I could remember hearing and seeing the "Feed the Children" commercials over and over and over again. I remember the division between Native Africans and African Americans. African Americans would call Africans “African booty scratchers”, “dirt bombs”, "Tree climbers" and “monkeys” and in turn, Africans would turn their noses up at us and say that us Americans were lazy and entitled in America and that we had no idea what hard work was.      Its ironic that the stereotypes...

      I went to see Black Panther this past weekend and the many beautiful scenes that were implemented in the movie inspired me. Though it was extremely hard to settle on which scene I loved the most, I decided to go with this one. Here T’Challa (Black Panther) is about to accept his inauguration into the throne where his father formally sat as King.   Although the country of Wakanda is fictional, seeing as though this fictional world was extremely influenced by direct observation of many African countries, this scene is symbolic of the relationship citizens have with their leaders in some African Cultures.      I am most intrigued by is the distinct difference in what we normally see in reference to a King and what is presented here. The people of Wakanda are elevated on “Warrior Falls” and looking down on T’Challa while he is looking up at them. Culturally this scene may be offensive to some, but because this particular cul...

   Here is a picture of a statue under water on the coast of Grenada. I was initially drawn to this photo because of the color and I was surprised by the clarity of a picture that was taken so deeply in the ocean. I love the ocean and the way it brings me a sense of calmness and relaxation. However, even though the colors give me a sense of relief, the statue itself gives me a sense of solidarity or power, which is normally associated with the color red. According to our class notes, blue relates to cleanliness, air and sky, water and sea.     While I also associate blue with air and cleanliness, the thought of being deeply submerged under water makes me feel anxious and like I’m holding my breath, so while I love the ocean, the idea of stone and children under water wouldn’t work for me if I was using it for advertising purposes. I like that the blue here is multi-toned it gives the illusion of depth. The darker the blue gets as it reaches the top o...