Globalization

      Most kids in our society are grown up and taught to be the best that they can be. Taught that anything they dream they can do and that they must find their place in this world. Not only do they need to find out where they fit in but we as humans also have the social need to have an impact or affect the world we live. This mindset we install in the young minds of our youth is very broad and leaves us very little guidance. Our only hope is to observe the world around us, soak in all cultures and societies to better understand what it means to be a global citizen.

                Music is a great way to observe and compare to how it’s practices influence the society it comes from. In a country based from a small government and communal living for survival the musical practices are going to be more participatory and used for more than just entertainment. We have to look beyond our outlook on music as just entertainment to realize that music is also used for bonding, connecting to ancestors for guidance, and simply getting through rough days. These societies that exemplify this particular type of practicing music have their values anchored on relationships and rich legacy. In a country that is based from a capitalistic economy and a large government the majority of musical practices are about selling an item and creating demand. A nation like this values corporations above individuals. This second example is a very common way that most countries approach the importance of music. In a country that sees the importance of music for bonding can also see the importance and integration of cultural formations. The result is that these values expressed and modes of practicing music are consistent with the broader patterns of social life; people do not feel contradictions between these activities and the values that guide the rest of their lives. Whilst on the other hand a country that sees music as only a potential financial gain may only get a glimpse at this through cultural cohorts. This is when a social group forms around an activity that displays a temporary feeling of that “place to be”. It’s only through this cultural cohort that most citizens living in a capitalistic society can find an alternative to their modern lifestyle. Music can also affect a society based on their characteristics on nature and nurture. For example in American it has been taught as common knowledge that musical talent is something that your born with and if your weren’t up to par with other artist your age you were told “maybe music isn’t for you”. Talent in our society is all relative, based on the truth that people are always going to compare you to other artist no matter where you are at in your life. One the other hand, for a country like Zimbabwe music is taught as a necessary part of life from the start and more importantly it’s taught that everyone contributes equally to the song. It’s important for us to learn and observe these countries and communities that display these characteristics because the more we learn the more we are able to humanize people. Think of our understanding of the world is like a tool box and when we broaden our outlook on other societies we also add tools to our tool box. With these new acquired tools we are then able to solve the problems we as a country and the world face today.

                To understand ones place in the world they have to open up and take note of cultural differences. These differences are opportunities for learning and its very important for a country like ours that’s has a gigantic impact on the world to realize that we have a lot to learn about our neighbors. The consequences of a country that neglects to open its perception of the world can be caught up in the problems like job shortage, massive amounts of debt, and war because they fail to utilize all the “tools” that are available.  The role we play in a community like Bloomington regarding global citizenship is that everything we do and participate in effects the far reaches of the world. Small towns set the mindset for a country and eventually the world.

                After looking back on this week of IFS, I have just recently come to the realization that this class and this program is not about Indiana University or getting credits for a major.  It’s about getting us involved in the great town that is Bloomington. Through this program we’ve been able to be immersed in this culture that disagrees with “high fidelity” interactions and focuses on the participation in which everyone contributes. IFS acts like an initiation for new students to observe and pick up this mindset so that this beautiful town stays the way it is as it models to the rest of the country of what can be accomplished when everyone comes together and contributes.

Contra Dance

      I usually like to think of myself as a renaissance man. By that I mean I’m pretty good at a whole array of things but after tonight I found this self-proclamation to be wrong. After a class field trip, so to speak, to the boys and girls club to participate in a weekly contra dance I found myself stumbling around like a buffoon. I stepped on toes, ran into people, and wasn’t always cognizant of where my hand placement was. This being said, I had some of the most fun I’ve ever had at IFS tonight. There’s something about letting go of your pride and ego to dance with an old lady around a gym that puts a pep in your step.

            The Bloomington Contra Dance happens every Wednesday night at the boys and girls club on the gym floor. There was a four dollar entrance fee but since we were new and first timers don’t have to pay, we got in for free. I found this hospitality very inviting but it also sent across a message that it isn’t entirely about the money, but I’ll come back to that later. The atmosphere was fit for a basketball game rather than a dance, but little did I realize that I was treading on what was soon to be the dance floor. All of faces that greeted me with smiles and nice howdy do’s really gave me a reality check that this was about to really happen. Then the announcer told everyone to take their places and grab a partner and it was very reminiscent of a school yard pick for dodge ball as all the well-seasoned and experienced dancers were picked first leaving me and a few friends still trying to figure out what Contra is. Finally Izzy and I paired up at the last minute to save each other from the danger of dancing with a stranger. The announcer next tried to teach us the basics of the dance and walk us through what it was going to look like. We had no clue what a spin or a gypsy stare was so immediately we had other dancers come over and push our bodies and hands in the right positions. Once we got a few practice runs in we started to make some head way and get a little dance knowledge then the music started and we were off. The music was very similar to the old time music we listened to in class the day of the dance because it was very rhythmic, it had a driving force, and was repeated in an AABB format. This characteristic of music made it almost impossible to resist the urge to grab a partner and dance but more importantly it had a steady beat that we could all fall back on if we got lost.

One thing I noticed while we were dancing, besides the constant laughing happening on our part because of all the mistakes we made, was that you got a chance to dance with almost everyone in the room. To me when I think of dancing, especially with a partner, I think that you only dance with that one partner but this is not the case for the contra dance. Everyone danced with many partners and this made for a unified atmosphere getting to talk and dance around with everyone in the room. This brought all of us together and even started somewhat of a relationship between people we touch. For example, if my partner and I danced with a couple at the end of the night that we’ve already danced with at the beginning of the event, it made it feel like we already knew each other and made it feel more comfortable to dance with them again. So as the night went on and we changed up our partners a couple of times the room felt like a big group of friends that were just enjoying music and each other’s company. Compared to a more mainstream forum of public dancing and music making that focuses on putting on an entertaining performance with your one partner, this form of participatory dance wasn’t about the performance but the relationships built and the bonding. Also instead of a lecture that would be given at a formal dance class to teach all the moves, the contra dance was taught by older people sharing their wisdom and experiences with us. A great example of this was right before the second song when the older gentleman stole the mic to give his input and advice on how to handle the next move.  It’s like the knowledge of how to do the contra dance has been passed down generations through word of mouth and through events such as these community gatherings where everyone is welcome.

In between songs my partner and I were having a causal conversation when an interesting subject about the dance came up. She said that a lot of times during the dance eye contact is inevitable and sometimes necessary but to me and a lot of everyone else this eye contact made us feel awkward and uncomfortable. It felt more comfortable to stare at the wall instead into the eyes of our partner and I think this is due in part because of the society that we’ve grown up in. A world where face to face interaction is limited and relationships are based on informal texts and online profiles teaches us that this “eye to eye” contact is not needed or normal. My partner then continued to say that the reason they put these parts in the dance was because of the origins of this dance. She said that it wouldn’t be uncommon for people in the same town to never see each other and talk because of their busy schedules. But the times that they did get to see each other were at community dances such as this so they made the most of every moment they had and looked into their partners eyes the whole night to saver and enjoy every minute.

This dance, as a great example of cultural coherent, reflects the time long ago where interactions between people and their relationships were different. They were based on staying close with their neighbors. It would be like everyone in a town coming together and everyone participating for the greater good of the group just to enjoy each other’s company. I hope that I have the opportunity and the desire to attend another event like this but the realist side of me doubts that it will ever happen. None the less, the Bloomington contra dance is a special event that should not be over looked nor ignored because it’s events like these that keep a town like Bloomington close and strong.

Spoons, chicken fettuccine, and music

      There are few moments in our lives that connect us to our origins and our long past. These moments may go by quick and they are sometimes taken for granted. It might be a subconscious recognition of this event that we at first don’t realize but after being in the moment for a while and looking back its clear to us that it was very special.  After visiting the restaurant the Runcible Spoon and listening to an Irish music circle for no more than an hour I felt one of these moments. My family is very Irish but we never practice old Irish traditions or instruments are anything of that nature. We’ve never even made a trip to Ireland to visit our beginnings yet when I hear the music of my origins I have a deep appreciate and excitement that I can’t really describe. It felt as if I already was familiar with the tunes and it just felt right. After observing the music circle at the Spoon I made a few other conclusions and interesting notes as well.

            The music circle at the restaurant consisted of six men, around their middle aged years with a few exceptions. A couple of the musicians brought more than one instrument, which I  thought was interesting, but the instruments consisted of guitars, flutes, drums, mandolins, and one accordion. This is not a spread of instruments that I have seen in a long time which made me particularly coherent to the musicians as they first started to play and tune there instruments. It was first surprising to me that the group decided to gather inside the congested restaurant instead of the porch out front but once they begun to play and the sound traveled through the house and intervened the few conversations of people and added to the noises of the kitchen it resembled of what and old tavern might have sounded like. The musicians, gathered together in the corner, acted as old friends as they joined in casual conversations just as if they spent every day together. Along with casual conversations and greetings it was noticeable that there was no hast or hurry to do the performance. But rather the musicians had a relaxed, timid mind set to the performance and eased the whole situation. The circle was very democratic in the sense that no one performer was the leader and that everyone contributed the same to the performance. It was also interesting to see that the person that starts each song changed from song to song allowing each person to feel equal and important.

            The songs that were played had easy rhythms and also sensed as very cheery, like the song were made to reflect happy and prosperous times. The number of songs played were about 6 and this was due in part to the length of the songs, as most choruses were repeated for a good amount, and that there was no hurry to move on and play the next song. The characteristics of the songs were very dense as there were many instruments all contributing the same amount, causing a layer affected to the music that made listening to the music interesting but at the same time also effortless to listen to. It also intrigued me that if a musician didn’t know the song that the group was playing at the time, they simply sat out or played an easy tune as he enjoyed the work of the fellow musicians.

            Much more can be taken away from this observational study than just what was played and who played it. The bond between these musicians should be taken note as they continue to play every Tuesday for roughly 4 hours just enjoying music for what it is. The musicians choose to come every Tuesday because they value and can appreciate what this small time of bonding over common interest in playing music. In the world we live in it would be easy for one of the musicians to skip a week at the Runcible Spoon and get caught up in their work to miss events such as these because our western culture doesn’t value this form of participatory music or even participatory bonding in general. It’s been ingrained into the heads of the US population that music is only seen as plugging into ones iPod and tuning out the world around them. As I watched the Irish music circle tonight there were times where the group wasn’t always playing together or they weren’t all in tune together but that’s not what it’s about. It’s not a rehearsed performance that has been practiced for weeks and needs to be performed to entertain a set audience. It’s a more democratic environment that resembles a culture where music is not about making money or gaining fame but rather the bond that is enjoyed by the participants. I’m not saying that the other forms of music making don’t have their place or right in the music world but when I see how participatory music can affect people and be a part of the musicians I saw today I would have to make the conclusion that participatory music is special and stands out among the rest. I have been convinced to believe from this experience that participants in this particular form of music may benefit the most; socially, emotionally, and even spiritually. This also reflects the type of country that we are a part of. If we look around and all we see is the gigantic business of high fidelity music then that can tell us that our country is about perfection, repeatability, and not about interaction. On the other hand when we see communities that focus on participatory music, it can be observed that it’s about interaction and bonding as everyone grows stronger together.

I Love Hip Hop In Morocco

      In Morocco there is revolution taking place. Not a typical revolution that we have seen in the past with fighting, wars, and terrorist but rather a revolution for social acceptance through music. This small group of artist is fighting for the recognition and acceptance for hip hop. The generations in Morocco have been taught that music is nonsense and that people need to be mature, study, and get a job that fits into society. As a whole, the country has no money and no available jobs, and they are not allowed to speak out against the state or even their religion.  This makes it extremely hard for these artists to speak out about what they believe and what they love. These hip-hop artists decided to organize a festival which they hoped would have the power of starting a movement for social change. It’s through this organized festival they hope to get their music out in the hands of the people and inspire them to demand a change for their home country.

The first artist introduced was DJ key who is Morocco’s number one DJ and after seeing his skills as a disk jockey it’s easy to see understand why. To DJ key hip hop is his love but also his way out. He talked about his life before hip hop as an architect and said that everything was fine then said that “rap fucked up his life”. He grew a passion of rap and knew he had to pursuit it because if he denied this passion he denied his own identity. DJ key expresses how hard money is to come by and that the life of a Moroccan rap star is not that glorious as the life of an American rap star. To me this just justifies how passionate artist like DJ Key are about hip hop because they willing enter this career knowing that it’s not going to pay a lot and that most likely they will be looked down upon by their society. The reason that they carry through with this lifestyle is because they really believe that it can make a difference and that by allowing the youth of Morocco to be immersed in a little part of American culture everyone will benefit from opening their world views. H-Kayne is another popular Moroccan artist that tries to use his music to bring about cohesion, so that they may be better able to help people. H-Kayne hopes to make it out of the country one day through his music career and he wishes to make it big in order to help out other rappers like himself and better impact his country. He cares dearly about the society and youth under him and wants them to be able to express their thirst for freedom of speech and freedom of expressing their thoughts. One of the most interesting stories of a rapper from Morocco is Mot De Passe’s Fati Show. A lot can be taken from this female rapper as she tries to change how society sees Moroccan women and one of the Mot de Passe’s members explained that rap does three things. First it speaks truth, second it speaks truth, and third it speaks truth.  Fati believes that she has something to prove because of the stereotype that rapping is for boys and not girls and uses hip hop to express what she believes to be the “true” women your supposed to be. Not only does she face the oppression of being a rapper in a society where is not accepted but she also faces the disrespect of being a women outside the realm of what Morocco says women should be. It makes sense to me why her favorite rapper is Eminem because basically he is a minority in the rapping world just as she is. Who would have thought that an artist like Eminem would be the hero of a struggling rapper in Morocco as she tries to change her countries fundamentals? This is just one small example of how the US can affect the far reaches of the world in ways that people would never have expected. The intersecting thing that caught my attention was that Fati’s parents are accepting of her side rapping career. They say as long as she’s a good student and that she prays, they believe in what she does and they agree that it is a realistic goal to change how women are viewed.

America plays a large role in the Moroccan hip hop festival and the actions of the American embassy reflect their foreign policy. The American embassy in Morocco agreed to sponsor this ten thousand dollars event through coke which both was a good idea and a bad idea. This was a good idea because this way of peaceful diplomacy is an improvement from what the US has been known to do. They funded a non-violent music event that help Americanize Morocco and in a sense symbolically put the US behind the Moroccan people as they fought for freedom of speech. This funding could also be seen in a negative way from the governments’ perspective as the US directly funded a “rebellious” event, encouraging the need for government and social change.

            DJ Key explained the main conflict preventing hip hop from becoming popular in Morocco is between religion and rap and says that in Morocco there are two things and only two things that are important/sacred, the throne and religion. Music hasn’t found its place in this society yet because it’s almost impossible for both rap and Islam to coexist. The Islamic faith supported by the Imams, or religious leaders, states that music has no place in their religion and more importantly freedom of speech has no place either. This makes it extremely hard for artist in Morocco to make it big and express their real feelings because they always face the threat of persecution for denouncing their faith and speaking freely about their country. The community at large believes hip-hop is forcing the citizens away from important core religious values, but theses hip hop artist see it as a way to open ones perspective and better improve the lives of the youth.

            The reaction of the crowd at the concert easily showed how appreciative the Moroccan people were for this event. It showed how they all agree in their thirst for freedom and accept some western customs. I love Hip Hop in Morocco shows promise for the relationship between America and the Arab people as we begin to let go of the old mindset of the Islamic and Arabic people and agree to recognize them and join in their fight against tyranny in their own countries. The common ground and sharing aspect of music between nations can bring them together and help them both realize that they really aren’t that much different.

Reel Bad Arabs

Throughout history there have always been groups of people that have been portrayed as different and sometimes as the “bad guy”. Society and Hollywood pick these groups because they are not “us” and are different then us, thus making them less in stature and easily put at the butt end of a joke. This portrayal of different societies can be engraved in the minds of the generations that see it over and over again in entertainment and this mind set can be difficult to get rid of. One of the most common and oldest groups of people that have fallen victim to this is the Arabs. They have been seen as malign and subhuman in entertainment from the oldest of movies to the most current blockbuster. And this is all based on a few studied images that have been played over and over. Nearly three hundred movies, almost 25%, have portrayed Arabs in a bad light.

While watching the documentary Reel Bad Arabs, a few of the movies or moments really stood out to me. The first was how a child’s Disney movie such as Aladdin could fall victim to this crime of portraying Arabs in a bad way. It’s provocative to realize that in the opening song to this movie they put the lyrics “… They will cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, it’s barbaric but hey its home”. This was thought to be from one of Disney’s finest children movies yet, they still neglect the Arabic people.  As a kid I never really realized it but looking back on it and really focusing on hidden tones in the movie it’s easy to see why this was brought up in the documentary. Another interesting part that stood out to me was that not only does Hollywood portray Arabs as barbaric and terroristic but also as incompetent. This was seen in the movie True Lies as the terrorist is easily fooled and loses sight of the key to his whole plan. This was also seen in Back to the Future as Doc brown easily fools Libyans into trading nuclear fuel with pin ball machine parts that they thought was going to be a bomb. The really controversial thing about all these situations was that what if they weren’t about Arabs but instead wrongly portraying blacks or Mexicans. In that case there would be no way that these movies or scenes would ever be allowed to be viewed. Then why did they pick Arabs? In the documentary he describes 3 main events as to why we have degraded Arabic people. The first is the Palestinian Israeli conflict in which the US sided with Israel. Next was because of the Arab oil embargo that angered Americans because of expensive and even absent gasoline. The last was the Iranian revolution where US citizens were taken hostage for the whole world to see. These events put the Arabic people in the living rooms of America and showed us the “real” face of the Middle East. The obvious larger sociopolitical consequences for representing the Arabs in such a negative way is that simply no one likes to be made the bad guy or made fun of. By the US basically saying as whole country through its entertainment that we see Arabs as malign or subhuman, we also say that we don’t see them as human beings or recognize them as a country to even negotiate with. It can be taken from this that politics and Hollywood images are linked and they reinforce each other, policies enforce mythical images and mythical images enforce policies. Actions speak louder than words and this countries action towards the Arabic race has been irresponsible and disrespectful.

We can also see this taking place in a more specific realm as Hollywood portrays female Arabs. In Father of the Bride 2, the Arabic man yells gibberish at his wife the second she opens her mouth to give her opinion. This shows the way how we see Arabic men treating their wives and puts it into our everyday lives. Entertainment sees Arabic men as disrespectful and abusive and this rubs off on us and gives us the same outlook.. Arabic women have also been portrayed as highly sexualized belly dancers and nothing more than just an object that someone can own but this mindset has recently changed to view the Arabic women as a bomber and terrorist murdering countless lives and showing no emotion. And Hollywood didn’t stop at just the Arabic people but also tried to portray where they live too. Arabland, as it has been known to be called, is the mythical place where all Arabs are from. It usually starts in a hostile desert where no one could possibly want to live and then features an oasis. It then moves to a palace with a dungeon at the bottom and with an insane, power thirsty sheik capturing and torturing people. This is obviously falsely portraying where Arabs live and this Arbaland can’t be used to describe where every Arab person lives.

As I watched this movie it startled me that I recognized so many movies, I lost count around 8. And yet I never thought that America would ever portray Arabic people in such a bad light so many numerous times. My reaction to these films when I first watched them was somewhere around delight because I love movies and any action film that had the good guy fighting off hoards of bad guys with swords was a good movie in my book. But now that I realize that there is a common theme in all these films as they victimize Arabs just based on the fact that they are different or have different customs somewhat angers me. I don’t know if I would allow my kid to watch a movie like Aladdin because of its undertone of portraying Arabs in a negative way because that just adds fuel to the fire as more generations carry on this believed false understanding of how Arabs are. The speaker from the documentary has an optimist outlook on the future for how Arabs are portrayed and believes that a younger generation will come along and realize the injustice that has been committed towards Arabic people. My reaction to these movies has defiantly changed after watching this documentary and I hope it continues to change the minds of all Americans.

Farmers Market

     This past Saturday we as a class went and observed the Bloomington farmers market. It was a long walk and very hot but I think it was well worth the work. My town hosts a farmers market a couple of times in the summer but when I heard that this market happens every Saturday, it blew my mind. I started to imagine how much work it has to be for these venders and musicians to come out every Saturday and make their living. I respected all the work the venders and farmers had put into this event and it has been the most interesting part of IFS so far because of its diverse gathering of people and common love for small town business. I mean where else can you get a BBQ sandwich for 5 dollars or a fresh peach for 25 cents. This was my first time going to the farmers market but it sure won’t be my last. On my map I tried to show the flow and placement of families and children as well as the strategic location of all the tents and events. It’s easy to see that the most concentrated area of kids was around the fountain and dog adoption center. This was a perfect area for kids to relax and play in the shade while the parents went and sampled some tomatoes at the near tent. The adults and parents were not as solitary as the children, as they walked up and down each isle and always buzzed towards the music areas. The only area where I felt like there was an absence of people was the political/community involvement tents on the bottom side of the map. This might have been because they were out in the open in the sun with no relief of shade unlike the produce tents but what every the reason being, not many people flocked to those tents.

            The music had to be one of my favorite parts of the farmers market and it was easy to see that everyone else enjoyed it to. The first song that I heard from across the market was wagon wheel which is one of my favorites and this genre fits the part perfectly. I also noticed the unique instruments that these performers had. One had a goofy guitar and a harmonica while the other had a large bass. Not the instruments that I would expect but the simplicity of them really fit the scene. I was talking to one of the vendors and I commented on how good I thought the performers were and he mentioned that one of them is in the Jacob School of Music. I found this very interesting and unique for this student to be both a student at college and a performer at a small evet such as this to make a few bucks. His talent really showed when he was playing and it brings no surprise to me that he is in a school with such high esteem. The position of the three music areas was spread out and uniquely placed to gather the attention of a lot of people, but this is a double edge sword. As people gathered at the vendors because they were drawn in with music, people stood and listened to the performers after they were drawn in by the produce. This relationship can be described in the environmental science world as mutualism, meaning that both parties benefit from each other’s work.

            The food was also a favorite part of mine partially because of the price. We walked around for a while and after sweating in the sun some fantastic looking peaches caught our eye. The sign said $4 for a box of peaches but we only wanted a couple so the young lady behind the counter was content with selling four for a dollar. As I’ve started to become an adult and understand the lifestyle of a college student, I’ve also started to be more responsible for my money and knowing that I can get fresh fruit and food at little cost to me is very exciting. After enjoying our peaches we started to crave a more substantial lunch. We had moved from the produce and flower sections to the lunch tents on the southern side of the map. Here I got a fantastic pulled pork sandwich for five dollars with home raised pork and homemade sauce. It put Greshem food to shame and I can’t wait to go back and sample more home grown cuisine.

            The Bloomington farmers market is a unique treasure that many people never get to experience and those that do can appreciate. The healthy relationship between music, business, and politics can be seen as all parties benefit from each other and I think if more of the country and world were like this then the feelings of going to the farmers market would be expressed and felt by everyone. There is also a participatory aspect that is also felt while walking around the market. It’s expected of everyone to contribute to the market. This may be by selling something, buying something, or just being involved and having conversation. It even feels awkward not to participate in small town business commerce and to just stand to the side watching. There is a great deal of bonding/understanding that can happen between consumers and farmers such as the ones at the Bloomington market and it’s something that needs to be felt by everyone.

Shut up and Sing

     On September 11, 2001 there was a series of four suicide attacks coordinated to strike areas of New York City and Washington D.C. Nineteen terrorist from the Islamic militant group al-Quida hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. The other terrorist then targeted the Pentagon and the capitol building of which only the pentagon mission was successful. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes, none of whom survived. Clint Eastwood put it as “It was the Twenty-First Century's "Day of Infamy”.  As the country started to rebuild and even strike back at the terrorist, there was overwhelmingly unified and strong American patriotism. Many things help bring about this patriotism but the main catalyst that pushed it forward was music. Music gave people a voice and a common attitude after September 11^th that we weren’t going to back down, that we were going to rebuild, and that those lives lost on September 11^th will never be forgotten. It was also a way to heal after this tragic event as people’s emotions were on the edge. As the country begun to unify and stand behind its leader, George W Bush, into battle with full confidence, America’s well known sweet hearts the Dixie Chicks made a controversial statement at one concert in London. “We’re ashamed our president is from Texas”. This little statement changed the lives for the Dixie Chicks and established how important the role popular music plays on politics especially in the immediate aftermath of September 11. Post September 11th music can be seen as part of a bigger animal, the political/social system, as it unpurposely separates people by their beliefs and where they stand on bigger issues.

            America at this time was fearful, unified, and public about their patriotism so much so that anything that they saw as unpatriotic was considered un American and it felt like a knife in the back. After their comment, The Dixie Chicks fell off the top of the world, their tour ended, and radio stations refused to play there songs because of customer distaste. Lifelong fans were seen in the streets smashing there once beloved CDs of the Dixie Chicks all because they felt betrayed and were shocked as to why someone could say such a thing especially at a time like this. The question that was commonly asked at this time was do we really have freedom of speech? The answer is yes but the problem is that they were asking the wrong question. It was never a question of freedom of speech but of respect. The Dixie Chicks made the worst comment at the worst possible time and were not shunned for freely speaking but rather their disrespect for the president and everyone that was behind him. They looked in the face of the American population and all the soldiers fighting and displayed their strong opinion to not fight back at the people who caused the death of so many people. I think the Dixie Chicks deserved some of the punishment that they got but I say that lightly. Boycotting their songs on the radio and calling them Saddam’s angels is a very extreme reaction to Maine’s comment and hard to justify. But rather I think it is reasonable to understand why so many fans turn their back on the Chicks and considered them unsupportive of the war thus not truly patriotic. The response by Natalie was that she never intended for this comment to come out and felt that it was taken the wrong way. Also she said it was a “in the moment” kind of comment and was only to please the crowd. This might be true but after an event such as September 11 a popular star such as Natalie Maines has to be cautious of her actions and words.  Sometimes it takes a huge event, maybe even tragic; to bring a nation together and something such as music could reinforce that patriotism or anger it. The reason a country like the U.S comes together in times like those is because of a common enemy. Instead of people getting mad at the economy, politics, or race during peaceful times, people during a time of great tragedy can all agree on one enemy and come together to overcome it. Unfortunately for the Dixie chicks they established themselves on the wrong side of the American pride animal.

            The important thing to observe from the Dixie Chicks’ mistake is that music has a much bigger impact on politics and dividing people. For example during political campaign commercials, music is used as a powerful weapon to help people relate to a candidate through common ground if they like that song. The song during the commercials connects to people as an index and helps build followers to the candidates cause.  Music, but more specifically genre groups, plays a huge role in dividing and grouping up the American population.  These groups of people with common music interest are then found to have common interest in a lot of areas other than entertainment but rather politics. This use of aspects of identity to unite people for political ends or social advancement is called strategic essentialism and it can be seen every day on TV and on the media.

            The Dixie Chicks were just one example of how music has such a big effect on people and politics after a big event.  On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. It was the country's most severe earthquake in over 200 years and caused widespread damage. The epicenter of the quake was just outside the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. It has been estimated that the death toll could reach 200,000. 2010 also marketed the 25^th anniversary of “We are the World” and after the earthquake in Haiti, producer Lionel Richey and Quincy Jones saw the need for a fundraising event to help out the earthquake victims. Jones had called Lionel and said, "This is what this song is written for, as a fundraising vehicle for causes, tragedies, and catastrophes like this”.  The new version of the song was recorded on February 1, 2010, in a session lasting 14 hours. Eighty-five musicians were reportedly involved in the song's recording, and they raised millions to the Haiti relief fund and it brought everyone together for the common good. This is another great example of how music can impact our lives and the world around us especially after events like September 11 and the Haiti earthquake.