Y.M.C.A

Y.M.C.A was written  by Jacques Morali, a French producer, in 1968,  and recorded by Village People, a disco group composed of five men, each of them playing a gay fantasy figure. While the lyrics of the song don’ t contain any specific gay references , it’s implied that a Y.M.C.A ( Young men Christian association) is a place  to gather in the closet gay and leave behind the worries and social pressures.  Before long, the YMCA threatened to sue the band because of  the song’s double entendres. However, the organization ultimately dropped the lawsuit when it noticed that membership significantly increased  thanks to the song's popularity.

In my opinion, what is brilliant  is that the song  represents Morali’s personal revenge against the society that judged him because of being gay. It worked out far better than him and his band had the right to expect. Y.M.C.A became very popular, not only among the gay audience, but also among the US society that at the time persecuted and brutalized people with homosexual inclinations.    

I am a woman

On "Bowling for Columbine"

Context: The following link explains what happens in April 20 at Columbine High School in Littleton a suburbian area in Denver, Colorado.

http://www.history.com/topics/columbine-high-school-shootings

The full documentary at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whL2LlRkhXk 
explains, according to its Director Michael Moore, the reasons for the massacre.

Please, complete his thesis claim:


He claims that (complete).......



He demonstrates that the reasons given by media and some others are biased because developed countries similar to the United States show lower homicide rates than in the U.S.

They blamed Marylin Mason and the kind of music he plays because that is the kind of music the shooter used to listen to. However, the rate crime in countries where people listen to this kind of music is far much lower than the homicide crime in U.S.

They blamed violent video games as responsible for these kids' violent behavior. However the homicide crime in Japan where videogames were invented and are part of the youth culture as well as in other countries, is far much lower than the homicide crime in U.S.

They blamed violent Hollywood movies but in other countries these movies are widely popular and the homicide rate is much lower than in the U.S.

They blamed disfunctional families and divorces as the source of violence in kids but in England whose rate of divorces is haigher than in the U.S and one of the highest in the world, the rate homicide is much lower than in the U.S.

They blamed the violent history of the U.S. as a fact to accept Kids' violent behavior. However countries like Japan, France, England and even Germany that have undergone an ambarrassingly violent past and the homicide rate is far lower than in the U.S.

Michael Moore supported his claim arguing that....... (Please add the argument he used in his documentary)

A great case of resilience: Steve Jobs

Watch Steve Jobs giving an inspirational speech at a graduation ceremony of college students at Standford University in 2005. As agreed in class, choose one of the following topics he addressed and explain the main statement and the supporting ideas he used to develop it: connecting dots, loss and love, and death.

Dear Mr. President an open letter to Bush by P!nk

Pink is an American singer - song writer, actress and model. She changes the mindset of all her followers to compose and release this song in 2006. The song is a direct criticism to President George W. Bush and the policies of his administration. This addresses the main preoccupations of most Americans and people around the world.

Dear Mr. President is a song by Pink featuring the Indigo Girls. The song is an open letter to the President George W. Bush The song criticizes several areas of Bush’s administration and terms in office, including the Irap War, No child is left behaind, disapproval of equal rights for homosexuals, lack of empathy for poor and middle class citizens, Bush’s strong religious beliefs, and Bush’s drinking and drug usage in college. Pink felt that it was one of the most important songs she had ever written.

You can see my presentation here:
http://prezi.com/xsrkjymlpvox/present/?auth_key=r0ej896&follow=iyojg3hkwakx

Changes- Tupac Shakur

                                                                             "CHANGES"

“Changes” is one of the most famous songs of Tupac Shakur who was considered one of greatest rappers in the world. This song was a single from the album Greatest Hits, recorded in1992 and released in 1998, two years after Tupac’s death in 1996.

The song “Changes” had an enormous meaning to African- Americans in the 90s because it talks about difference issues that were related to that community during those times. For instance: racism, poverty, police brutality, drugs and gang violence.  Troubles that black people in the US were facing every day. With that song Tupac tries to express the idea that changes needs to be made in order to stop poverty and racism; he criticizes the dispersion of African-Americans over the idea of unity to overcome the issues that were facing them. And also, he affirms that after the African-American Civil Right Movement, during the 50’s and 60’s that was supposed that will bring an end to social issues that were afflicting African-American population with “Changes” he shows that nothing had changed because the same social issues that concerns African-Americans before the Civil Right Movement were still common in the 90s. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9q2Jwhl6rVZZUtjOS1ZcGF5MjQ/edit?usp=sharing

The King of Love is Dead by Nina Simone

By the mid-1960s and after fighting back against a tough and racist society, Simone became known as the voice of the civil rights movement, the singer, the black woman,The High Priestess of Soul.  

"The King of Love Is Dead" was recorded live on April 7, 1968. Three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Nina Simone, a woman, a relentless Civil Rights activist, a singer and  a King's friend, dedicated her performance  at the Westbury Music Fair to King's memory. The song was penned by her in company with her bass player, Gene Taylor. An edited version of this performance appears on Simone's album, Nuff Said (1968). 

I felt the unedited version captures the true emotional energy of the period surrounding Simone's performance.

Follow the link to see the slideshow.

Resilience

1.Read the following link on resilience to understand what that is:


What is it?

2.Then watch the following video and read his biography. Explain how resilience was present in this person's life and what he decided to do in order to gain confidence in his life

Paul Potts' biography


3. Watch the following case of resilience. Comment why this is another case of resilience and what factors bestowed on Emmanuel a resilient person:

Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall

A

The Wall is a song made in three parts, represents all that a man has suffered through his life, in this is case roger waters, the leader of  the pink Floyd band tells his history through a fictitious character named pink Floyd. The part two of the wall represents the childhood in which every situation of that school, such as the dictator teacher, and the abolition of freethinking is another brick of  his wall of solitude, violence and war.

Another Brick In The Wall is full of metaphorical concepts, and in  the part two we can see for example in the beginning of the video, the faceless people in the train, represents  how  millions of  Jews people , as well as  intellectuals,  and political dissidents, were led by the Nazis and their allies during World War II to the extermination. In this way is how Roger Waters perceives education in his moments of childhood.

Another Brick In The wall Presentation

I want to break free

I want to break free is the 6th song on the album The works (1984) by Queen, one of the gratest rock bands in history. Although Queen claimed themselves as a non-political engaged band, this song was considered as an anthem for the ANC (African National Congress) movement in South Africa in the late 80's. The song is about wanting to break with someone's domination (in a relationship), but it is also seen as a symbol of breaking any kind of subjugation. Ironically, though the video was a huge success in England it was banned in the US because the band is dressed as drags

I want to break free presentation