Hip Hop & Social Justice Essay Example

I often reminisce moments in my life and hit the replay button and smile because I can honestly say it’s brought me to this moment. I ask myself how have I changed? Would I have done things differently in certain situations? Or did I accomplish a fair amount of goals that I put forth? Truthfully I feel convinced that I’ve become a much simpler person with a knack for adaptation and embracing all of my experiences in life-the good and the bad.                

However, there have been several pivots in my life that I would consider as emotionally significant and strenuous in certain scenarios. Truthfully, as a child I have always described myself as being“detached from reality” as a person can be. I have slowly floated through my years in life as quiet and apathetic as possible.  Throughout my life, I did question my esteem and how it was contributing and becoming a reflection of my life.                        

In context, the textbook reads, “connections between esteem and one's social identity are consistent. A study into the link between (satisfaction) and esteem that introduced the potential influence of racial identity.” (Travis, 2016, p 64). Of course, during my toddler, child, and even adolescent years I didn’t comprehend the impact that my surroundings and all sorts of people would one day apply to my development of who I became in the future.                    

One of my major life events is about my upbringing as a child. I was consumed within a life I considered neglected and inconsistent. My parents weren't as present as necessary or equally affectionate for that matter. These stages in my life were psychologically and emotionally difficult. Meanwhile, this caused a ripple effect in my life developing aftermath. Therefore I experience depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem., and have an unpleasant time maintaining or developing relationships in my life.
Furthermore, the absence of my parent’s bond and non-existent relationship forced me to be a more resistant individual and therefore considered a significant and impacting major event in my life. This has molded my future relationships to not be tight and dependent. I can relate to the song by Good Charlotte- ``Hold On”. I grew up with this song and it has been with me through my childhood. It eased me to think that there were other people out there feeling the same way I was. For example, “But we all bleed the same way as you do and we all have the same things to go through”.(Good Charlotte, The Young and The Hopeless, 2002).            The narrative within this song gave the sense of a community or world that the impression of feeling like the listener (s) belonged. Especially in families who may live in a single-parent household, have a constantly absent parent, or have any form of instability. A lot of individuals turn to music because it’s relatable. The listeners including myself can connect with the song and reflect through emotions, actions, and experiences. In doing so it can be used as a coping structure and later in the future create a sense of stability and reassurance.
In filtering this song, my impression of it is considered empowering to its viewers. When artists sing about common issues that are relatable it brings people together because they don’t feel alone. The feelings and emotions that I can describe in this song- are flashbacks. For a very long time, it was a song that I listened to throughout my childhood when I mostly felt alone, depressed, and neglected.                                            

This song would also be described as having some growth. There are situations in life that can seem unbearable but there is always room to overcome and battle struggles in life. The message that this song gives to individuals is that at one point in time we have gone through a tough situation but not give up and continue rooting for the best. That it doesn’t matter the obstacles life continues to throw our way eventually we will prevail. For instance, the song lyric that best describes this scenario is-“ Hold on, if you feel like letting go, Hold on, it gets better than you know, don’t stop looking, you’re one step closer''.(Good Charlotte, The Young and The Hopeless, 2002).                                               

Furthermore, it creates a sense of resilience because during those moments these words were strong and encouraging to not give up and continue to move forward with my life. For the longest time in years, I carried a massive struggle of weight over my shoulders. Truthfully, I can say I was bitter intentionally and refused to speak to my parents or have any relationship with them. It wasn’t until recently that I slowly eased in to have a relationship with one of my parents.       

This is a life challenge that I can honestly say I do feel proud of. My kids had the opportunity to meet my mother for the first time in years. It was a very sentimental moment and it was difficult to know how to react. My strategies for coping with any type of situation have to be music and exercise. Especially when something is upsetting me or a stressor I feel that exercising is a way to release all of the tension after a fast-paced session.

The things that I believe I had done differently to prevent earlier challenges from happening again are likely trying not to read people so harshly. In other words, not to assume the worst people who are important to me or automatically assume that they are going to end up hurting me in the end. I tend to shut out people closest to me to avoid my recollections of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Overall, I can honestly say that it’s easier and more beneficial to focus on achieving a long-term vision. I know that some individuals like to take it day by day and survive until the next. I would like to plan and strategize on how I will be able to accomplish what I want long term. As well as how I can apply what I have learned towards that long-term vision.

One of the other most significant events in my life is the death of my biological father. Before this incident, I wasn’t on good terms with my father and had relocated with my mother. Years later he passed away due to suicide and it became a difficult episode in my life. I, like my brother, seemed to carry a heavy burden of blame and selfishness around for the years that passed. For the longest time, it took what it felt like forever to accept reality and why.

My special song for this particular life event is by Flaw-Wait for me. The way I translate the song is an individual speaking to another to wait and not leave because there is so much more to live out of life. For the listener to not hold that burden that they “left” because of them. That it’s never too late to make things right with one another. For example, the song reads “Wait for me there so much more of life for us to see, you must believe, I only hope that you’ll remember me”.(Flaw, Wait for me, 2004).
In an ideal situation, this narrative would be described as a community and social change. For instance, awareness is the goal to promote well-being at the individual and community levels``.(Travis, 2015, p.178.) The strong connection for me in a group is my family. I believe that we value time for the most part. We are constantly on the go to work, school, daycare, and child school activities that we hardly have time to sit down as a family. This helps me by valuing the small moments we have together in making us a tight nit family and appreciating the moments that we have together.

When it comes to social change, I think everyone is faced with certain challenges we all have to work and meet halfway. For instance, in this case, if the challenge is time, commitment and participation then change needs to happen to produce a positive outcome. Most likely prioritizing or organizing the day better so that there is enough time to share and grow as a family.
Lastly, my final major life event and turning point came during my first pregnancy. It’s a completely different experience from imagining it to living it. In the beginning, I constantly struggled with conception to no avail.