Fiche notion places and forms of power

The notion I am going to deal with is Places and Forms of Power. This notion of Places and Forms of Power includes three ideas. Power is the ability to control others, resources or events,  Places of Power could be countries, cities, important buildings or institutions that represent a certain form of power and Forms of Power could be economical, military, political, cultural… the form is the way to have the control and therefore the power. In relation to this notion, the theme I will speak about is Black Power. Regarding this theme, the main question can be the following : what can be the means of protest to reach equality for the African-Americans nowadays ?

I will follow two tracks, namely the artistic means of protest and the social means of protest, and this trough various documents.

To begin, the first document is named “Across the Lines” a song by Tracy Chapman from 1988. This song mark with violent words the violent opposition between the racists and the oppressed black people. The singer is ironic in her song, it accentuated the power of this song and mark the frustration of the singer that represent that of black people. Despite the hopeful appearance of this soul music, Tracy Chapman is rather pessimistic, she denounces the deep-rooted racism and aims at shock the listener by the racist violence.

The other work of art I want to present is a photo by Gordon Parks from 1942. This photo is a parody of the painting “American Gothic”. We can see young black women with a broom and a mop and an American flag in the background. The original work of art by Grant Wood represent the cliché of the American family, by this parody the artist want to denounce the racial inequality. He uses the camera as a weapon against the racism and the poverty.

So, there’s many others examples of artistic means of protest, and the art can be a very strong forms of power.

Then, some events or social phenomenons can be means of protest with a huge extent.

In 2016, at the Superbowl final game, Beyonce has performed with her dancers dressed like Black Panthers members. Recently, many young innocent black men were shot dead by the police and the Black Panthers were born as a result of the Segregation, they were violent and were protesting with the guns against police brutality.

With this performance, Beyounce is a protest artist and denounces racial inequalities. Moreover, the Superbowl final game is an event watched by hundred of millions of persons so she could have influence many people mind.

 The last document is video, a report by Edina Campbell for BBC news and it’s about protests in the Sport. Some of America’s most famous and highly paid sport stars refusing to stand during the Star-Spangled banner, the American anthem, in protest against police brutality. One of them said that “there isn’t liberty and justice for all”. Once again, as Beyonce, these players could have influence many people thanks to their popularity.

Finally, there’s many various forms of means of protest and these are forms of power, in this particular case it’s black power and fight in the struggle for equality.

To conclude, I would tend to think that in the diversity of places and forms of power that exists some are stronger, more dangerous than others but especially some are peaceful and these are the best.

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