I took this class because I have always loved music but I never have thought about it in a political sense so it seemed interesting to me. Music has been my getaway and escape throughout my entire life. I danced for 13 years and have grown up listening to all kinds of music my dad loved the Grateful Dead and high school musical while my mom loved Billy Joel and Taylor Swift. I have seen music as as a way to get point across in a way every can understand through words that flow and beats that just get stuck in your head. There are songs that focus on a more personal side of an artists life or It can focus on a much more political and intense view on the world. I thought I knew so much about music and the effect it had not only on a person but also on a community but so far just in this class alone I have seen much more than I would ever thought about music. yes there are songs I listen when I'm sad and when I'm happy but I didn't think about the affect that each word can have for someone especially the emotional connection for the artist.

   One thing that I didn't know about was how there were shows where white people would wear black face and sing and do comedy acts in order to make fun of African Americans. That not only shocked me but made me sad to know that that is what our country was like. This class have made me excited to learn about the history and the background to songs that I have heard time and time again hopefully growing my knowledge and mind.