Choosing to take this class I wasn't sure what to think or what to expect. Music doesn't play the biggest role in my life but it definitely is a form of stress relief for me to forget my problems and just focus on the music. Whether music plays a big role in your life or not,  I thought it would be interesting to see how it has effected our world. While I typically only listen to one or two genres of music it is interesting to see other cultures music, their meanings, and what they have done to impact society.
           
          Since the start of class we have talked about how music can help or hurt certain situations in society. Without music I don't think certain social issues would be acknowledged or brought as they sometimes get swept under the rug. For example all of the music that was created in hopes of showing people the truth of slavery. During the slave era, cultural music was a form of happiness and a way for slaves to take their minds off their tasks. Their owners were also allowing slaves to listen to music because they were convinced that a happy slave would lead to a harder working slave. But, often times these songs had underlying messages that only the slaves could understand due to african dialect. It amazes me that through these songs the slaves could share and experience others struggles and know that they weren't the only ones in that position.
         
          Even though music was used to shed light on slavery, there were still other things going on that depicted slaves from a negative standpoint. Learning about the Minstrel Shows really made me uncomfortable, I can't believe that people of all races would show up to the shows with their "black face" on to watch people depict slaves from a negative comical aspect. It is also strange to me that black entertainers would take part in these performances but then again there wasn't very many opportunities for black entertainers/musicans back then, so any opportunity they could acquire was promising.
         
         Im very excited for this course to open my eyes and shine light on the multiple issues the world  encounters and learn how music either plays a role in helping that situation or ultimately how it might make it worse.