Colorism in Ancient Art

Marble Helped Scholars Whitewash Ancient History -- Vice News Tonight (HBO), 2017, 4:02 -- https://youtu.be/86PD8o6xe_4

I became so mad after I saw this news segment on the whitewashing of sculptures. I never knew these iconographic works of art were originally painted and I now feel duped by the numerous museums where these statues are preserved. If they were intended by their creators to be colorful, then they should be presented as such. This revealing clip speaks to the concepts of colorism, whitewashing, imagined communities, and the white racial frame (among others). I bet students may find this to be an awakening moment too. I certainly did!

Aliens, Contact, and Democracy

"Should Humans Try To Contact Alien Civilizations?" -- Motherboard, 2017, 7:11 -- https://youtu.be/VRIeuuXIhxw

Using the Contact Hypothesis where a system of domination and subordination is established when 2 unequal groups first meet, should we really be actively seeking out extraterrestrials? And who should be making that decision for our entire planet? What repercussions could this have on our society? How does this square with the democratic ideal of the collective prosperity of the people? While these questions may be rather absurd in an empirical sense, they get at something about the operation of society that is applicable to a wide array of other topics including technology, civilization, and power.

Poverty in America

Baltimore: 'This is what poverty in the US looks like' -- BBC News, 2017, 4:18 -- https://youtu.be/qytbhMlXltI

A look at (relative) poverty in the United States. The opening of this video is impactful and challenges our privileged assumption of open social mobility in the "land of the free".

Empowered Bystanders

South Side Triage Training: Vice News Tonight (HBO) -- Vice, 2017, 5:23 -- https://youtu.be/taKkiqO7cqY

A new report on free first-responder trainings in the south side of Chicago, an area infamous for violence and gunshot victims. We see the beautiful transformation of potential bystanders into empowered citizens armed with life-saving knowledge. This is a wonderful example of community engagement and empowerment.  

The Black Women's Defense League

The Black Women's Defense League Taking Aim at Racism and Misogyny -- Vice, 2017, 12:39 -- https://youtu.be/zhx_fdOvnrI

A righteous response to violence against black women from within their own community and the larger society-- The Black Women's Defense League: "Black Women’s Defense League is a coalition of women of color from all walks of life on the path to total liberation. BWDL focus’ on self defense through martial arts and and other hand to hand combat techniques armed training with various types of artillery including knife fighting, marksmanship, and weapons of opportunity. BWDL also engages in emergency preparedness, urban survival training, and battered women’s rescue. In addition to training BWDL works towards raising awareness and solutions to the areas of concern that face black women at large".

This video is all about identity and empowerment in a racist society marred by violence. It's also a good example of color consciousness and pride. Unfortunately, we see that the BWDL still relies on the white power structure to secure the proper training (white-owned shooting ranges). #BlackLivesMatter

Informed Consent in Controversial Research

One Shot to Live -- Vice, 2016, 6:06 -- https://youtu.be/9-NNDxA2-qo

A superb video on a controversial study involving gun shot victims in Philadelphia. Is too much medical intervention actually hurting victims' chances of survival and recovery? Researchers want to test this hypothesis by limiting the care given to victims by emergency responders and the issue of informed consent is front and center. As we ask ourselves "is this ethical?", it is important that we not forget the numerous abuses minority populations have suffered in the name of scientific research.

China's Rich Girls

China's Rich Girls (101 East) -- Al Jazeera, 2017, 25:40 -- https://youtu.be/MFJBgsr939c

A video detailing the extravagant lives of wealthy young Chinese women living in Canada. The main theme here is the conspicuous consumption of status symbols made possible by being born into a family of high socioeconomic status. This can also be seen through a dramaturgical perspective as staging behavior is rather prominent here, especially surrounding their image online and on television. 

Whitey on the Moon (Throwback)

Whitey on the Moon -- Gil Scott-Heron, 1983, 2:06 -- https://youtu.be/otwkXZ0SmTs

A timeless classic from poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron, originally written in 1970. This is a version from the 1983 film Black Wax. I think this holds up to a modern audience where we currently talk about sending people to Mars and beyond, all while we continue to look away from the social problems faced by minority populations. #BlackLivesMatter

From Alexis C. Madrigal writing for The Atlantic: "Whitey on the Moon," changed the way I thought about the space race forever. It anchored the flight into the heavens, tethering it to the persistence of racial inequality, and pulling it out of the abstract, universal realm in which we like to place our technical achievements. Though I still think the hunger for the technological sublime crosses racial boundaries, it destabilized the ease with which people could use "our" in that kind of sentence. To which America went the glory of the moon landing? And what did it cost our nation to put whitey on the moon?

Here is another version of the poem: https://youtu.be/PtBy_ppG4hY

Hollywood Whitewashing

Whitewashing: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -- HBO, 2016, 4:37 -- https://youtu.be/XebG4TO_xss

A comical look at whitewashing in Hollywood, a phenomenon where white actors are cast for non-white roles. While more of a discussion on the social impacts of the practice would be good to have with a class, we see just how pervasive this practice is.

Racist Technology

Color Film Was Built For White People -- Vox, 2015, 4:39 -- https://youtu.be/d16LNHIEJzs

Despite the popular view that technological advancement will one day solve all of our social problems, here we can clearly see that technology reflects and perpetuates inequalities in a society. The focus of this clip is on color film but it concludes with how our cultural bias for lighter skin is embedded in modern facial recognition technology.  

Racial Discrimination in Facebook Advertisements

Vice News Tonight on HBO -- Vice Media, 2016, 2:09 -- https://youtu.be/EjkWpu9JvS0

A short clip detailing how companies can exclude racial and ethnic minority groups from seeing their advertisements on Facebook. Pardon the quality here as the original source has not uploaded the video to YouTube... yet... (but they totally should!). 

Modern Urban Policing and Surveillance

Surveillance City -- Vice Media, 2014, 15:00 -- https://youtu.be/fVDvJCeCe54

Here is a frightful manifestation of broken windows policing taken to the extreme. We see a police force largely composed of non-natives to the city set up a panoptical surveillance system in an attempt to combat crime. The city's residents, who were alienated from the decision-making process here, feel as if their community has been invaded by this new police force. Although the crime rate drops slightly, is it worth the social damage to the community?

“Camden, New Jersey is one of the poorest and most drug-ridden cities in the country; its murder rate is 12 times the national average. In 2011, the city cut its police force almost in half, with nearly 80,000 residents regularly being policed by 12 cops at a time. The state stepped in to overhaul the department, introducing an experimental “Metro” security apparatus equipped with futuristic technologies like gunshot detecting, triangulation microphones, and automatic license-plate readers. As similar surveillance systems are implemented across the country, Vikram Gandhi went to Camden to see how these tactics are working, how residents feel about their loss of privacy, and what the future of policing looks like.”

— http://www.hbo.com/vice/episodes/02/22-surveillance-city-the-forgotten-war/synopsis.html

Drug Laws, Xenophobia, and Propaganda

The Sinister Reason Weed is Illegal -- CollegeHumor, 2016, 6:02 -- https://youtu.be/CJlqsdezhhk

From the show Adam Ruins Everything, this video explores the xenophobic origins of US marijuana laws and briefly touches on the political rationale behind the War on Drugs.