Common - Letter to the Free blog tasks

1) What other projects has Common been involved in over recent years?

Common has written the soundtrack for glory with John Legend

2) What is the 13th Amendment of the American Constitution?

An aspect of the US constitution that permits slavery through imprisonment

3) What were the Black Codes?

Laws that allowed the American police force to imprison black americans on petty charges, believed to be a means to keep white america in power

4) Why do people suggest that the legacy of slavery is still a crucial aspect to American culture 150 years after it was abolished by the 13th Amendment?

Slavery is a key symbol of america’s oppression against black people, the legacy of slavery is used as a comparison to modern day slavery through incarceration  

5) Why was Ava DuVernay inspired to make the Netflix documentary 13th?

she was interested in the fact that prisons had become a privatised industry that profited from incarceration. She wanted to make a film to try and inspire change.

6) Focusing on genre, what was the most significant time period for the rise in political hip hop?

The 1990's and 1980's were the most influential period for political Hip-Hop

7) Common talks about other current artists that have a political or protest element to their music. Who are they? Are there any other hip hop artists that you are aware of that have a strong political element to their work?

Common mentions Daddy Kane, N.W.A and MoD as political rap artists. Some other rappers that contain a political atmosphere within their music are J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Saba

8) What album is Letter to the Free taken from? What was the critical reception for this album? You'll need to research this - the Wikipedia entry for the album is a good place to start.

The single letter to the free was taken from the album Black America Again, the album overall had critical acclaim from reviewers such as metacritic and Chicago Tribune  

Close-textual analysis and representation

Re-watch the music video several times to complete the following tasks in specific detail:

1) How does the Letter to the Free music video use cinematography to create meanings for the audience? (Camera shots and movement).

Notable shots used were the long, slow shots throughout the video, these add a sense of serious and severity to the music video; other shots include the noticeable hiding of the musicians faces, something that could represent the lack of black identity in America.

2) What is the significance of the constantly moving camera?

A constantly moving camera helps aid the idea of time passing within the music video, this could be said to represent the length of slavery.

3) Why is the video in black and white?

As with the long, slow shots, teh black and white helps add an air of seriousness and severity to the music video; if taken a little bit further, it can be said that the black and white represents the struggle between the white and the black.

4) How is mise-en-scene used to construct meaning for the audience - prison setting, costume, props, lighting, actor placement?

The prison setting plays directly into the topic of the documentary, slavery through incarceration, costume is used to subvert stereotypes of how black people dress, each individual was dressed formally; the props used in the music video are almost exclusively instruments used in Jazz/Blues music, a predominately black genre, this also helps tie into the topic matter of the documentary. To add seriousness to the music video, predominantly uses low key lighting (expect for one or two scenes)  

5) Focusing on the track, what are the key lyrics that suggest the political message of the song?

"Southern leaves, southern trees we hung from" is a direct mention to slavery in the south of america.
"check amendment 13
"Not whips and chains, all subliminal" this line is reflects what the documentary is about talking about the new slavery and racism being more subliminal"

6) What is the significance of the floating black square motif? Discuss your own interpretations alongside Common's explanation of it in the Billboard feature linked above.

my interpretation of the black square was the fact that it represented slavery, the shots within the prison showing that slavery has made itself through incarceration, the shot in the end, where the square was in the field may be showing the origins of slavery, in the cotton fields.  

7) How does the video reference racism, slavery and the oppression of black culture? Make reference to specific shots, scenes or moments in the video.

One example would be the "NO EXCESSIVE NOISE" on the prison walls, this could be a reference to white america to play with the cards they've been dealt.

8) How can Gilroy's idea of black diasporic identity be applied to Common's Letter to the Free?

Diasporic Identity (specifically black diasporic identity) is the idea that African Americans may not feel welcome in both america and their home country
The amendment 13 articles play into this idea, showing that african americans are still not welcomed by white america

9) What other theories of race and ethnicity can be applied to this video? E.g. Hall, Rose or Dyson.

Halls theory of dehumanisation can be used in Letter to the free

10) What current events in America and worldwide are referenced in the song and video?

The most obvious reference to current affairs from the music video would be the donald trump presidency