King still King? (King, referring to Dr. Martin Luther King, of course.)

Moments before given this prompt, I was thinking about why we nationally observed this day in the first place.  There is no need for me to go into detail because everyone knows what he stood while he was alive and why we save this day every year to honor him but the question still stands, is the King still King?

Honestly, he was a darn good leader, like any great king should be but he never aimed to be king in terms of ruling over many people.  He had a strong belief that others held true to them too which led to all the change that continues to happen each and every day.  When you create a change as big as MLK’s then of course you deserved to be acknowledged for it.  What he has fought for will always be an issue in this country but those are obstacles that one man can not change in his lifetime.  The King is definitely still King because his legacy will always be remembered.

Music Makes the World go 'Round

I adore music with every ounce of my being.  I can’t talk about one song, one artist, one album, or one genre without stopping but here goes nothing.

Top TEN artists of mine (in no particular order, of course):

·         Robin Thicke

·         OutKast

·         Tony Toni Tone

·         Common Sense

·         Jill Scott

·         John Legend

·         Stevie Wonder

·         A Tribe Called Quest

·         Marvin Gaye

·         Musiq Soulchild

Now I’ll pick five of those artists and talk about an album, some songs and/or likes and dislikes.

 Number 5: Tony Toni Tone

They were pretty popular before I was born but two hits that I like are “Anniversary” (1993) and “Whatever You Want” (1991).  “Anniversary” is kind of a seductive R&B with a sweet message for wedding anniversaries.  I love the beat and the instrumental.  “Whatever You Want” was on the R&B number one spot for two weeks in 1991 and was created without lead singer Raphael Saadiq featuring.  The chorus for this song is what I admire the most and they sing about providing for there special one, without boundaries.

Number 4: Common Sense

Hip-Hop artist Common’s first critically acclaimed album was Like Water for Chocolate (2000).  My favorite collaboration on this album would be “The Light” featuring Bilal.  The song sounds old school and it’s about him talking about a lover of his and she’s the light of his life.   “I Am Music” featuring Jill Scott from the album Electric Circus (2002) is a favorite of mine as well because he and Jill Scott bring it home on how music is within him in every aspect of life.  “I Used to Love H.E.R.” is not really my favorite by him but for an assignment in my Brit Lit class last year I pointed out the clever use his literary devices.  Throughout this song he refers to hip-hop as a woman.  His albums Be (2005) and Finding Forever (2007) are composed of award winning compilations including tracks featuring Kanye West, John Legend, Will.i.am, D’Angelo, and Lilly Allen.

Number 3: Marvin Gaye

The Prince of Soul is before my time but I adore his music.  I saw the documentary of his life this past summer and I heard him all the time thanks to my parents’ interest in him and I just became so intrigued by his tone, pitch and the instrumental in his songs.  And I learned that he does all his background vocals too that just adds more flavor to his music.  My personal favorites include “Sexual Healing”, “Mercy Mercy Me”, “I Want You” and “What’s Going On”.  One of the greatest things about him was that he sang about what was important to him without really caring about how the audience felt.

 Number 2: A Tribe Called Quest

I only heard of them through my parents and I think they are really artistic.  This four man Hip-Hop group is known for their top hits “Bonita Applebum”, “Can I Kick It”, and “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo” which are also my favorites.  My all time favorite by them would be “Hot Sex” (1992).  For me, it’s not so much the message that keeps me repeating the song but the funky bass that’s playing!

Number 1: OutKast

Frankly Speaking

I could not stand this book!  I have sympathy for  Vicktor Frankl’s suffering, along with the thousands of others that suffered and died too but I couldn’t get into this reading one bit.  A Man’s Search for Meaning was written to not only tell one man’s view of the Holocaust, but to introduce his method of psychology.  The introduction about how he knows these stories have been told millions of times but he wants to shed some light on what he learned while in the camp about the psychological make up of a man and the meaning of life really got me interested.  The part about the thoughts of his wife pulling him through each day was worth turning another page but anything else in between made me want to close the book.  Maybe I’m just soft and can not handle books on this topic because I couldn’t even finish the darn thing.  This was the first book I have ever read regarding the Holocaust and I don’t think ill read another.  I didn’t understand the full psychological damage he was going on about and I definitely did not get the logo therapy part.  This was, by far, one of the worse books I was forced to read for school.

Response to No Exit

No Exit was a mind boggling read.  We all know that nothing is certain after death and I believe that Jean-Paul Sartre has created some worthy food for thought.  I think that it is pretty amazing how people’s creativity can lead them to originate a new view on life after death.  After reading Sartre’s perspective of Hell, I can see his way as a way that is a lot more reasonable than devils and physical torture.  In my opinion, a mental Hell is far worse than a physical Hell because over time you can get used to the pain but no one can ever escape their thoughts.

One of his greatest points in this play is that, “Hell is other people.”  This easily falls under the inescapable torture of the mind.  I also found it very interesting that for Estelle, Garcin and Ines their Hell was beautifully personalized.  And by beautifully personalized I mean it simply can not get any worse for them.  I truly commend Sartre for his contrasting view of Hell, which is a topic I have never really given much thought about. Regardless of if Hell is psychological or physical, there is no real escape from the inevitable torture which is a point that he really brought home. I LOVED IT!!

World Literature, Please!

So it’s time for those quarter reflections, huh?  Well let me start off by saying this; I did not sign up for this class.  I was simply registered by a system that does not care so much for the individual within the system, but the product of the system’s effort.  Whitney Young is easily one of the top schools in the state of Illinois, but with over 2100 students, it’s hard to cater to every needs of person.  Whitney Young is kind of like the world in that way.   You’re only here for a short period of time and you’re encouraged to make the most out of your time here, even with the obstacles life or the school throws at you, like being placed in an unwanted class.  A quarter with this one error has allowed me to realize two things:  humans are so insignificant on earth in the grand scheme of things and that we have no real control over what happens. 

I have been able to look at world with new eyes, thanks to this class.  It may not seem like it, but I do enjoy coming to this class every single day.  If I had known that this really was a discussion based class, I probably would argued my way out of this class a little bit more.  I am not too fond of group work but the product that stems from those group discussions are always rewarding.  I love hearing other people’s opinions of life’s biggest questions.  And the blogs are a beautiful way for those who aren’t so outspoken or even mute to state their opinions.  English is no where near my favorite or strongest subject, but this first quarter of Philosophy of Literature has me looking forward to the rest of the year with a small joy, a joy that in this uncontrolled world this accident did occur.

How do we know what know?

I don’t think this is a question worth discussing.  I think it is completely safe to say that no one knows anything to be true and if they do, in fact, “know” something, it’s because of what someone has told them or because of what they have experienced or seen for themselves.  For example, in some part of the world, a country’s government has rewritten their own history and soon, after many generations, that new history will be known to all the citizens to be the “truth”.  Why, because they were told that this is real and that this has happened.

As for people’s experiences or what people have seen, that’s more real and holds more truth because… well because they were there.  They have seen it, so they know it to be true.  If I were asked the question how do I know if I throw a ball into the air that it will come back down, I don’t have to refer to what my teachers have told or taught me about Newton’s beliefs.  I can simply say that every time I threw the ball it came down and I saw it with my own eyes.  Now I know that’s not philosophical at all, but if we do know something to be true it’s because of what we have experienced or seen.

Who would Voltaire and Camus vote for in this year's Presidential Election?

So I am considering two candidates, President Barrack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney.  It’s not that the other running candidates aren’t important, but these two seem to be getting all the attention seeing as though they are a part of the Democratic and Republican Party. 

With that being said, can’t see Camus voting for anybody or anything, ever.  He believes that human beings live in essential isolation in a meaningless and irrational world. So if life has no meaning, he would go with the flow or just not care at all.  Now this is contradicting what I just stated, but I feel as though, when the day comes, who ever is leading the polls the day he enters the booth, is the person he would vote for.  He’s just going with the flow.

As for Voltaire, I have a good idea who he would vote for.  Obama stands for the people, at least that what his campaign is all about.  Personal independence ties closely to what the President advocates so his vote would be for a government that protects those views.   Honestly, we will never truly know who they would vote for.