Dark-Skinned vs. Light-Skinned

By Stephanie Yancey & Brittney Freeman

African American children and women struggle day to day with what is perceived as beautiful when it comes to skin tone. Imagine being 5 years old and already feeling inferior to those around you. The reason being is because your skin is a little darker than your peers. People try to convince you that you’re ugly or that you are unintelligent. You would think that at 5 years old you wouldn’t have to face that type of prejudice, especially among your own people.

Colorism is a big part of today’s society. Colorism is a practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. It happens a lot today within the African American community. There’s a debate within the African American community about what’s considered beautiful skin. It’s creating a huge divide. All you see on Facebook now is Team light skinned or Team dark skinned. There should be no “teams” because all skin is beautiful. People shouldn’t be judged based on their skin tone but on their character. Some of us were taught this growing up but it’s not seeming to register with the ones who are promoting teams or whatever. No one is standing up to point out that it is wrong.

Our African American men are saying what they prefer in a woman, which is a woman of lighter skin. Women of darker skin are sometimes looked at as if they are less desirable by people of their own community. They are called names like "monkey" and "coon" and it makes them feel less than a person. The ones who think they are less than beautiful go to the extremes to try to make their skin lighter. They will do anything to feel better about their skin tone, to feel a part of the world. Skin bleaching is a big concept today. Some women will bleach their skin for all their life, not knowing that it’s only possible to lighten the skin one or two tones and that’s not doing much. They use chemical peels, bleaching creams, mercury injections, or even bathing in bleach. They are harming their skin and possibly even giving themselves skin cancer. They are so low in their self-esteem that they are willing to give their life to be what is perceived as beautiful.

It’s not only dark skinned women that struggle with colorism; it's light skinned women too. They get called "light bright," "high yellow," and all sorts of names. Lighter women face so many stereotypes. Some people think that light skinned women think they're above everyone else and they get alienated from their own community because of it. The skin tone that everyone is anxious to be aren’t even happy being lighter. So why is everyone trying to be that when in reality they would be sad and ostracized too? Why does skin tone even matter when in reality no one is happy?

All skin is beautiful and everyone needs to realize that. No skin tone is above anyone else’s. People should be defined by their character as a person and not by what they look like on the outside. Some of us are taught that in school and growing up but as we get older we seem to forget that. Some of us just want to be liked and loved so we go with the flow of colorism. We all need to be our own person and shut down those team light skinned or dark skinned notions. Once we do that it will eventually fade and people within the community will learn to love and respect each other based on character.

Music Today

By Santana Silcott & Elizabeth Pillow

Since the creation of mp3 files and digital music, the music industry and even how we personally approach listening to music has drastically changed. It’s affected not only what we listen to, but how we listen to it, who we share it with, and how we share it. In the past, people would share cassette tapes or vinyl records with friends, typically listening to it together in the same room to share the experience. Now almost everyone gets their music from CD’s or, even more commonly, from an online store. Whether it’s from iTunes or from an illegal, file sharing website, music has gone digital.

It used to be that if you wanted to share your music with friends you’d have to either let them borrow your copy, make them a whole new copy, or the most common way of sharing music, listening with them. These days, not only do you not have to go to someone that you know or to a record shop, you wouldn’t even have to go anywhere. A whole new copy can be instantaneously produced in our, now standard, digital format. Any time, anywhere, for only a dollar, you can get that song that’s been stuck in your head and it’ll only take a click of a button. Another popular way of getting music digitally, especially amongst teens, is pirating. You can also go to file sharing websites and illegally pirate just about any artist you can imagine; one click, two seconds, zero dollars.

Because music is so readily available to anyone and everyone, peoples’ musical horizons have greatly widened. Typically speaking, because you couldn’t sample music and record shops were limited in what they could hold and offer, most people could only choose between a handful of artists they new, liked, and were used to. Now, people are more inclined to try listening to new music from all around the world. It’s free, there’s no hassle, and exploring new music in general can be a lot of fun.

However, there is a consequence to this accessibility and personal exploration that no one quite expected. Due to the fact that our music is so easily accessible that the old- school methods have become nearly archaic, the social element of recorded music has turned into a much more personal experience. This has become especially true with the invention of high-end headphones and small portable music players, such as iPods. It used to be that, if you wanted to listen to your music, you’d have to play it loud and proud for all to hear. Of course headphones have existed for quite some time, even in many of our parents’ or grandparents’ days, but not only would you have to sacrifice sound quality, you’d also have to be anchored to a big clunky machine the whole time. Without a doubt, the days of walking down the street with a ghetto blaster are now long gone.

MP3 files have not only changed the music industry, but also the social aspect of recorded music itself. People listen to so many different types of music in so many different ways. They spend a lot of time being very introverted with music, whereas in the past music was very social pastime. Every song you could ever want is readily available to you with just the click of a button, this simple fact makes people more inclined to listen to all types of music.

The Evolution of Music

By Patrick McCowen, Nick Perry, & Chase Smith

The Before:

Music has changed so much over the past decades; and most would agree that it is not for the better. In recent culture, we have watched seemingly innocent music of all genres turn into sex, drug, and violence symbols. In the past, as recent as the early 2000’s, music was nothing compared to how it is now. The lyrics have become more vulgar, the fashion has become more sexually oriented, and the cultural impact is more negative than ever.

Song lyrics, in the past, had meaning; most of them told stories. It seems that, as the years go by, music becomes more and more offensive. Years ago, most of the rap music was about getting girls, hanging out, and most had the occasional drug or alcohol reference. Nowadays, every other word is about drugs, alcohol, violence, or sex. The greater majority of popular rap music is about nothing meaningful, at all. This is a direct reflection of our culture. As society becomes more violent and focused on illegal activity, rap music puts it to words and popularizes it for everyone. This is detrimental to our culture in ways that are easy to see. Young generations become desensitized to things they should still feel timid towards, and this makes them more comfortable around the things they hear in rap music. Rap music is changed by our culture; and rap music changes our culture.

Country music has also strayed away from its “roots”. It is easy to see the change in rap, but the country requires a deeper look into the lyrics to tell. In the past, country was primarily about loving

women. Today, country isn’t even country. We have all of these self proclaimed country music stars in modern society singing about drinking, partying, and various other things unrelated to the foundation of country. If you compare Johnny Cash to the modern day Florida Georgia Line, you can easily see how country music has evolved around our culture. This shows that Americans have also drifted away from their roots. Society used to have a more wholesome set of values and beliefs. Today, mostly everyone is concerned with drinking and partying, and country music shows it just as clearly as anything.

Music has also become a major sex symbol. Producers know that sex sells, and with the rising popularity of music videos, most artists are turned into sexual icons. In the past, there were some revealing outfits, but nothing like we see today. Women are commonly seen half naked, singing their latest hit songs, and people love it. Men have also become symbols of sex. In the early history of music, men would have never been seen stripping off their clothes while singing. Today, men strip just as much as women. This shows how our culture has been more focused on sex than in previous years. This all ties back to the loss of wholesome values our culture is seeing. Again, music is a direct reflection of the culture we live in.

Music may seem meaningless, but a deeper look can show a lot about popular culture. The impact music has on our society is huge. As stated above, people are being exposed to vulgar lyrics more and more every day. We all know that we idolize famous artists, and this could end up affecting our culture in a negative way. If we are continually exposed to partying, drinking, violence, and drugs, then we will become more prone to doing these things. If music does not take a turn for the better, then who knows what our culture could turn into. We have seen how music has evolved in all sorts of ways. It is clear to see that music affects culture, and culture affects music. Music has a major impact on our society, and it shows how the world is evolving more and more each year.

The After: