Common - Letter To The Free Blog Task

Common - Letter to the Free

1) Common has been involved in the move Selma which is about an "Alabama city which became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

2) "The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. In Congress, it was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on January 31, 1865."

3) "The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866 in the United States after the American Civil War with the intent and the effect of restricting African Americans' freedom, and of compelling them to work in a labour economy based on low wages or debt."

4) As the impact of slavery still resides in America to an extent. Areas in the south have racial views and slavery mainly happened in the suburbs of the south. Black African-Americans mostly reside of the east-coast of America where the Underground slavery line was found and dug. Things like the KKK group attacked and lynched prominent members in the black community as a way of degrading black people.

5) Ava DuVernay stated that one of the reasons why she made the movie and presented it to Hollywood was because "People in the real world are doing work and have been. My job is just to reflect it."

6) The most significant tie for hip-hop was the late 80's to the 90's which was due to prominent figures arising in the hip-hop scene such as NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, Biggie Smalls etc. This is also due to the crack epidemics which started from 1984 to 1990. The crack epidemic severely effected the black communities leading to members and people using hip-hop as away of talking about their problems.

7) There are rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and Jay Z who talk about politics and the current affairs in America.

8) The song Letter to the Free is featured on the album Black America Again. The critical reception for Black America Again was stated to be "received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 88, based on 13 reviews.[8] Andy Kellman of AllMusic said, "All that's here, dark or bright, is vital."[9] Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune said, "One of the year's most potent protest albums."

Close-Textual Analysis:

1) The music video for Letter to the Free uses medium and long shots to create a sense of isolation and loneliness which relates to the two central themes of the song which is slavery and mass incarceration of black people today. Some of the camera movements stay and focus on the people in the video.

2) The moving camera is used to show the idea of change as it constantly changes from different people which contrasts with  the lyric of the song which talk about slavery and lack of freedom. Also, the camera cuts to things such as prisons and empty hallways to continue driving the theme of loneliness and unearned isolation.

3) The black and white creates the idea of the old ways in which most of the video footage used was in black and white but also creates the idea of old and archaic things such as slavery which was a remnant of the past which has found its way into the present through new ways such as mass incarceration. The black and white used also creates the idea of seriousness which allows the message in the video to be completely taken in by the viewer and listener but also creates an idea of melancholy and sadness.

4) Mise En Scene is used to further enhance the lyrics of the video Shots of empty hallways and prisons are which links to what is being said in the song.

5) The lyrics of the song use a pun which refers to Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan who are both seen as controversial presidential figures in the past, both of whom's actions effected people such as African-Americans.

6) The black square could relate to the idea of blackness and in the video, it is featured as something eerie and mysterious which could relate to the era of slavery which is obviously known as brutal but due to lack of historical records, people don't really know the many possible ways slaves where hurt and tortured by their masters and the people in society.

7) The video refers to freedom and mass incarceration.

8) The fact that there is an idea of freedom for modern day African-Americans which relates to the idea that due to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, people in Africa where taken from their homes and to a place that wasn't there homes so Common could be referring to the idea that although African-Americans live or were born in America , they aren't really considered "Americans".

9) The idea of the entertainer which Common slightly relates as he is entertaining the audience but this is slightly subverted as he is more serious.

10)  Mass incarceration, Police brutality, Donald Trump as the president etc.