America’s Opinion On Censoring Art

America’s Opinion On Censoring Art

If I were to speak about my definition of art, I’d probably end up talking someone’s ear off; because I believe that art is everything around you, and your overall perspective of life . Art is basically, how you look at things , and adapt to your surroundings. Picture this; this when the whole world is at war, and there’s chaos everywhere, with building burning, screaming children, and people drying over here, and over there, out of nowhere, there’s a beautiful flower that’s bursting with different colors, standing strong in a pile of dirt, outshining all of the commotion and violence. It’s so beautiful that people can’t run past it. They have to stop to look at it ; which causes them to either think of a thought, or to wonder about something.

So, in my opinion , art is what makes you stop and think, “ Wow, there is hope.” or, “ There is more to life.” Whether it is a positive or a negative thought provoked, the bottom line is that someone’s thoughts and feeling were so strong. That , like veins are connected to delivering blood, their art was connected to delivering a message to you .
I have a lot of artists who I truly admire in all different categories. For example ; actors such as Denzel Washington , The Wayne Brothers , and Angela Basset. I also admire movie directors : Steven Spielberg, August Wilson, and Spike Lee and musicians such as : Kanye West, Common , and James Brown, and other artists such as Picasso, Maya Angelou, and Langston Hughes who in the past have blessed us with their strong words and wonderful paintings.
However, I am now deeply in love with Hip -Hop artist, Lupe Fiasco’s artistic skills and his way of expressing himself. He’s a young African American Hip-Hop artist who is originally from the Westside of Chicago, and he was titled best new artist by the “ Rolling Stones” magazine. What makes him stand out to me would be the fact that he’s different from the rest of the “commercial type“ Hip-Hop artists.
In this year of 2007, I heard the phrase “ Hip-Hop is dead” , almost more than I’ve heard my name being shouted by my mother. And trust me, she yells a lot. To be honest with you, I disagree with the media blaming Hip-Hop for the loss of black culture and the negativity of black people. Seems as though lately when there’s a problem with African-Americans in society, or when there’s violence in a rough part of America, somehow, some way , Hip-Hop or Rap music always seems to be at the root of the problem. But keep in mind that Hip- Hop which is a style of popular music composed of a rhythmic, rhyming vocal style called rapping , a cultural movement that began in New York City in the 1970s, and was practiced mainly by African-Americans and Latinos# . In other words, it is a way of expressing freedom of speech for those cultures this means that it does in fact qualify as Art , if art is a way of expressing yourself .
On the other hand, even though I wasn’t born during the early days of music, I have noticed a dramatic change and it’s not a good sign for African-American people . During the earlier days music was a way for the oppressed group of African American people to speak out and for them to encourage each other but now with the new generation of Hip-Hop, music it’s the total opposite and it’s more like blacks are degrading themselves and setting a bad example for the future generation to come. Hip-Hop artists are not the best role models for the people of today’s world, which is too bad ; because Hip-Hop is listened to by a lot of younger kids and kids tend to look up to their role models. If they are listening to Hip-Hop 85.9% of the day, whatever knowledge their brains suck in , is that same action that they’re going to take when it comes to adding their value to the world.
Which brings me back to , Chicago Native, Lupe Fiasco whose current new his is a song entitled, “Dumb it Down”, where he pokes fun of “commercial Hip-Hop”.

You goin’ over niggas’ heads Lu ( Dumb it down)
They telling’ me that they don’t fell you (Dumb it down )
We ain’t graduate from school nigga ( Dumb it down)
Them big words ain’t cool nigga ( Dumb it down)
Yeah I heard Mean and Vicious nigga (Dumb it down)
Make a song for the bitches nigga ( Dumb it down)
We don’t care about the weather nigga ( Dumb it down)
You’ll sell more records if you (Dumb it down)

Lupe’s lyrics for Dumb it Down are going against most artists’ lyrics of the hip-hop world. Most tend to show a great usage of the word “nigger”, which I personally thinks is part of the reason the word continues to be passed down through black generations. His lyrics also poke fun of sexism. In the Hip-Hop world females are disrespected, not appreciated, and are repeatedly called “ bitches and sluts”, and many more degrading names. The words that stick out through the chorus is the last sentence, “You’ll sell more records if you , dumb it down”. This phrase, to me, implies that maybe, today’s artists might actually want to show their artistic side. But what if your artistic side doesn’t get you any recognition or any money? That would leave you no choice but to refrain form showing your true self. Maybe now days the freedom of speech and expression is short-handed because artists live in fear that if they do something, that will offend or overstep the boundaries of America’s ways, they’ll get nothing in return but an ad or two in newspapers , downing their work.
Is it possible that artists are afraid to show their art and go beyond their limits in fear of censorship which is a prevention by the government or religious authorities that eliminate any information that they believe threatens their position and negative comebacks#? In that case, maybe freedom isn’t so free after all.
Lupe’s personality lately, in the words or the media, has been called a bit “jaded.” Some say that Lupe Fiasco’s early career started off flying to the top quickly . But as quickly as the young artist’s career shot off , people said , “ Everything that goes up, must come down .” This is the direction his career has been traveling in lately. Chicago rapper, 17 year old Mike City, states, “ When it comes to art and speaking the truth, no one really wants to hear it . I think it’s because everyone is afraid of it , so that’s why art is censored , or that’s why rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Common, and Mos Def don’t sell as much albums as they should. But their words are worth much more than what people think, and it’s a crying shame , but sooner or later , maybe the world will snap out of it. They’re hypnotized someone needs to snap their fingers so people can snap back to reality.” City adds that he hopes that one day his records will sell because people like being fed words of wisdom and not words that will inspire them to do negative things.
In order to speak about the fact of censoring art , you have to know what art is and the true meaning behind it . Even though I do consider myself to be gifted , young, and talented, I don’t see myself going anywhere with my work unless I take the time out to understand my audience first. I went out to ask some different people how they felt about art and about censoring it , and I got many different reactions and feelings.
There were some people who were offended by the questions and walked away, shouting ungodly words. Ands then there were some who ere amazed at the fact that people still cared about things like art, now days.
Most of the people I interviewed all felt like America is just a really over protective country and everything that’s displayed in an artistic way has to make the country look good if not then it draws negative attention , the country takes control and censors anything that sparks too much attention.
Out of all the reactions and definitions that I came across , one that really caused my brain to over process , came from 19 year-old Sheena Johnson, a girl who I interviewed at a local Coffee Shop. “Well, that’s a toughie,” she giggled, and said , “ because everyone has their own perceptions of art. But I personally think that life is art in itself.” I gave her a puzzled look, so she laughed, and asked, “Do you want me to continue?” I nodded, as my pen moved quickly, trying to keep up with her every word. “ life is art, intrinsically woven together in bits of pieces to form a master piece.”
Those were the last words she said to me, before she gave a smirk that made her red lipstick shimmer, and then raced out the door, speeding through the busy streets of downtown Chicago , chasing behind a crowded bus, yelling, “ Wait! Wait!”
So there it was the complete definition of art, coming from a person who just considers herself to be a regular person and shows little interest in the word at all. She was just “ simply living her life “, as she says.
We as Americans, and people in general , create stereotypes and guidelines that we think, “a normal person”, should follow. Why is that? Well, in my opinion it keeps us all, as human beings on track. My classmate Ryan felt otherwise , he states “The government creates the guidelines not, the people and they do so because they’re just overprotective of kids. The bottom line is that there are certain rules that you have to follow in society. So when an individual steps out of line to show their creative side or to make a difference in the world, it immediately attracts attention and draws people in. Sometimes, too much attention can be a bad thing. “ The government doesn’t want to draw to much attention, it wants to prove that it sill has some authority. So they censor certain art, to show that freedom is praised but limited,” says 18 year old, Deja Lee from the north side of Chicago.
Some would agree with Deja’s thoughts on censorship. Others like, Carolina Loyola-Garcia might not. The story of Carolina’s video display that she created for an art festival , in my opinion , was a rude awakening when it comes to the topic of censorship. Her story was featured in the Pittsburg City Paper#. She had created for an art festival, a spiritual video. The video was to be shown in the windows of a building facings towards 4th Ave in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where the Three Rivers Art Festival was held.
However, when she took her friends to view her work , what she found instead was a total shock. She discovered that the TVs were boarded up. Without thinking , she took the boards off, only to find that it would be the exact same way the next day . The artist tells the Pittsburg paper, “It’s annoying that someone can decide for others what is proper and moral. There’s along tradition of nudity in art, but there is fear of sexuality in society today, and I think that it is a huge lack of understanding.” That is how one artist describes her feelings on censorship, as the society being scared of facing certain things, which causes them to have a total lack of understanding when it comes to the true meaning of art.
Svetlana Manchaca, the director of the Arts Program that’s also over the NCAC (National Coalition Against Censorship) program in Pittsburg writes a letter to , Elizabeth Reiss, the director of the “ Three River Art Festival”, that banded Carolina’s art piece stating how the censorship that took place was wrong and out of order. Svetlana states in the letter, “ Simple nudity is not sufficient grounds for excluding art work from a public exhibition, if it were, then Michelangelo’s David art would be off limits also.#”
I decided to take this article to the streets of Chicago , to see how some people interpret the story and their feelings of censorship. I ran into Shireen Barret, on her way to Everest College. She had decided to take a cigarette break outside. Her response to the story of censorship was; “ When ignorance still exists and blindness , the censorship of art will continue. It’s sad to say,” she pauses and takes a puff from her cigarette and then says, “ But it’s very , very true. Wake up America!”
Shireen is right, especially about the word, “blindness.” Carolina was just trying to get her message across. She was trying to show in her work, which was entitled, “ The Need To Wash The Self With Milk and Honey,” how many females spiritually felt that this practice would cleanse their souls and spirits by making their bodies healthy because with the pureness of nature’s nectar.
I believe that the connection and the respect of women was challenged greatly when the festival censored this art. It showed how society is quick to cover up women in the world . It also shows that they’re, perhaps, not concerned with women’s health issues, at all. This is another issue when it comes to art; men are portrayed more often more boldly, as if , perhaps, they’re more important in society than females.
In response to this art being censored, I feel like it’s just another case where the message wasn’t allowed to reach its audience. Because of that, another issue is added to the list in women lives today, in which their dignity and respect is torn away from them. Some people that I interviewed thought otherwise, and felt that some artists like Carolina take their art skills to another level and the Government has to censor their work because there’s a fine line between what’s art and what’s not .
Ed Harper a 40-year old, construction worker felt this way and had a lot to say about it. I managed to get a few words out of him, when he took a break from dealing with the red-line construction, he voiced his opinion loud and clear on censorship. “I believe that society likes taking the forbidden in. They feel like they are duping authorities’ forces. I mean, some artist out there play, around with that and takes their freedom too far. For example, if marijuana was to be legalized, the feeling of getting away with something would be gone, so in other words, censorship is there for the A-holes that get a kick out of challenging the law.”
My tutor at Columbia College, Bryant, says that he doesn’t think that’s the true reason behind censorship but rather, it’s almost the opposite of Ed’s opinion, which is that maybe, society takes half of our freedom and throws it up for grabs, and takes the other half and locks it away for keeps. “ I think religion is the issue here, because America has so many different cultures. We don’t want to offend anyone . And America doesn’t like to see itself mirrored in a negative way. At the same time, the fact is that America has a history of strictness, and history carries over into today.”
As I retrace my memory and think about the people who I surveyed, one thing that struck me was that it wasn’t a simple interview at all. When I’d finished asking all of the questions, the conversation would end with a statement like, “ That was difficult,” or “ That was a long survey.” I would laugh in response to that, but the truth was, it really wasn’t a long survey. Neither was it difficult. It was their answers that took up most of their time. This leads me to the question: Is art much more important to us than we actually think? Obviously, if it takes a lot out of us to talk about it, it must mean more to us than we realize?
As an artist, and as someone who considers art to be a very important part of my life, I think it is because of that fact that it’s pure entertainment, it reminds us of our history, and because, as human beings, we all react to things differently. Art helps us to react to life in many different ways.
In other words, we use art for entertainment and this keeps us stable in society. We don’t want to imagine life as all work and no play. I can’t even picture what type of hell hole this world would be, without art. Art reminds us, of who we are , and where we’ve been. Most artists base their work upon something big in history; which could be war, Election Day, or a big death that took a total on the world. In case we’ve forgotten, artists capture the picture of time and help us remember. Take the photo that photographer Eddie Adam took in the year 1933, in the streets of Siago during the Vietnamese War, of General, Loan shooting a Vietnamese prisoner#. This photo helped to change the world. The fact that we are different and that we take in knowledge in many different ways is a big reason why art is so important to our human culture. Some are visional learners and some are not.
The Chicago Cultural Center is a big example of how America’s history has a lot to do with what’s considered art and what’s not. It is a museum that survived the Chicago Great Fire and it’s also one of the most gorgeous pieces that the eye’s can witness.
I think that the fact that most of the building art sculptures, marble-like patterns on the walls, and stain glass ceilings were imported from different countries such as Rome , Greek , and other places around the world really made the Center a piece of art. If art in the American dictionary (even though there’s almost over ten different definitions which to me means that maybe the true definition are depends on who’s looking at it) is defined as the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. This definition to me means that what makes the Chicago Culture Center a form of art is the fact that it is appealing and beautiful and I do disagree I think what makes it art is that it is a historical landmark and each sculpture , each painting, and almost every thing in the building carries with it a different style or a different culture the fact that another country sent their piece to America so that it would be displayed in this building means that , they were trying to get some point across and that’s incredible because years later the museum is still standing strong.
In America, we have to accept the fact that we all are different. Our individual backgrounds, affect the way we interpret things in life. Depending upon who you are, art can make your overall understanding of things in life easier or harder.
I admired the video entitled, “ When the Levee Breaks” by Slater Bradley. I sat and watched it many times in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art because it made it easier for me to understand someone’s culture and history that I was used too. It was a video of a young boy who was inspired by the heavy metal rock days. You could tell this from his overall style. He sported ripped jeans, worn out gym shoes, and a wild hair style which was and is still the style for rockers. In the video, the boy slams on a drum set that’s in the middle of a college football field with all of his might; and he outs his feelings into the music, which meant that he truly loved that piece. I was amazed at how much one artist can take from another one, because the bottom line , is whether or not we are all artists . We learn one thing from someone and then another from someone or somewhere else. And then, we take it and we build upon it adding our own self-knowledge and opinions.
The conclusion that I’ve drawn about art and censorship comes from different opinions around America and mine own. Art is a message from someone’s life ; someone who has experiences and memories that they want to share with the world , so that people can learn from them . A real artist who’s interested in making a difference takes chances and puts their art out to the world with this attitude, “ Hey, you can either have negative or positive thoughts!” At least, you’re thinking something.