Category: Social Justice

Justice in every contemporary society is a matter of concern. Social justice as advocated by the human rights is focused towards ensuring that human rights are equally available to all persons regardless of their ethnic origins, religions, social status and gender (Gigacz, 2007). Religious institutions and schools are then mandated to ensure that schools have included social justice education in their curriculum. The purpose of teaching justice in schools is deeply rooted in the religious teachings (Mananzan, 2002).

The education pertaining to justice subsists to promote and encourage fairness both in schools and in the community. In the New Testament, the Bible through the Christ teachings emphasises on the agape love as justice that goes beyond mere relationship with our friends but with our enemies (Groome, 1997).

Therefore, by maintaining a clear distinction between the education about justice in the classroom and offering various channels of justice execution in the wider school environment is a crucial step towards realizing social justice in the school environment and the community as a whole.

With a clear distinction between justice taught in class and justice allowed to thrive in the school environments, teachers can be able to observe how their students perceive and response to social injustices in the society and within the school set up. Through this, students’ behaviours and responses to ethnicity, religions, social status and gender can be closely monitored. This practise then mandates that the school administration provides channels and means through which social justice and fairness can flourish.

They are then expected to put relentless effort to counterbalance all tendencies trying to sideline all the marginalized members within the school environment. As such, the school policies and strategies should be, free of gender, religious, social status and ethnic biases. This approach will ultimately lead to better appreciation of the minority students.

In mono-cultural education, the fellow students and teachers usually look down upon minority students (Mananzan, 2002). However, by clearly differentiating between educating about justice in the classroom and offering the establishment of justice, teachers will promote the acceptance of cultural diversity.

Tuohy in his writings illustrates how the catholic teachings promote and advocate thoughts and actions in their social teachings (Tuohy, 2005). Similarly By outlining the distinction between the forms of justice in the classroom set-up and offering the execution of justice in the wider school environment, students should not only depend on their teachers’ opinions, but also equally develop their own opinions in this regard.

Tuohy suggest that the world of thought inspired from class work introduces the students to values, principles and ideas that guide them in their daily activities. Likewise the world of actions demands that the principles and ideas learnt in class must be translated practically into the students lives (Tuohy, 2005).

By doing so, students will demonstrate that they are respectable thinking beings. Through their class-derived knowledge on social justice, they can examine their own identities in the environment in a just manner. Similarly, by allowing students to learn on their own, we let them to have multiple viewpoints in solving different issues affecting them.

Therefore, through the effective appreciation of social justice by students and their teachers, we not only differentiate between the justice taught in class and the justice formed within our settings, but also understand that every person can on their own develop and engage with others in a free and just society.

With a clear distinction, teachers and the school staff will not only teach their students, but will also serve them by acting as role models. This implies that teachers must demonstrate to students through words and actions the importance of being just by respecting, caring and loving them. Through these acts, teachers will initiate and spark critical thinking and curiosity among their students.

The failure to differentiate between the justices taught in the classroom and practiced justice means that we have introduced academic aspects in the social justice education (Mananzan, 2002). With a clear distinction between the two, students would not only put into practice what they have learnt in class, but would also have the chance to understand their real world challenges.

Some teachers only focus on teaching their students the social education without emphasizing on the practical justice experiences challenging students such as gender and racial discrimination. With such teaching methodologies, students will only major on cramming their class work for passing their exams. Normally student under the guidance of such teachers adopt poor social skills (Mananzan, 2002).

All types of education including social justice are geared towards making a difference in students’ lives both in school and outside the community (Mananzan, 2002).

It must engender transformative approaches by students, teachers and the community at large. To achieve this cause, social justice education should not only be taught in class, but also be allowed to thrive through practical actions in classrooms, school environment and in the society. This calls for students to be critical, analyze the world from their own perspective, and take actions as per their insights (Mananzan, 2002).

As Tuohy suggest, School religious education aims at promoting ethical thinking and actions in the society. In this regard, students are introduced to ethical ideas, values and principles aimed at promoting just behaviours both in school and in the society (Tuohy, 2005). By actions, these students are supposed to demonstrate practically what they have learnt in class. The school as a centre where concepts are develop and conveyed means that religious teachings through clear distinction of forms of justice will be refined.

By clearly differentiating between the educations about justice in the classroom and offering the formation for justice in the wider school environment, we encourage students to embrace both Bibliotherapy and case studies (Ferreira, 2008). The Bibliotherapy process allows students to solve their problems through reading class books and other relevant articles. There are several religious books and articles available in our schools.

When students assess these articles, they are encouraged to become more morally upright and just as the religious education permits. Similarly, through case studies, students stimulate and initiate their own critical thinking to help them in solving their day-to-day problems.

In this regard, teachers encourage their students to collect data about social injustices in the society. This data, relative to their moral issues, undergoes critical examination and analysis. Like the previous method, this method permits students to learn acceptable morals and encourages them to uphold justice in their daily endeavours. Thus, the two methods equally contribute to the refining of the religious education in our schools.

To highlight the concept taught in the Bible and other religious books, religious education aims at instilling favourable behaviours and habits in students’ lives through teachings of peace and social justice (Groome, 1997). Social justice education permits just and fair environment in our society.

This implies that through the learning and application of social justice between the students and school workforce, students are moulded into morally upright and just individuals. All these attributes as advocated in religious education imply that students are not only going to enjoy their religious lessons, but also comprehend the message passed by these lessons and employ it bettering themselves.

In addition, the emphasis of actions and reflection in these teaching approaches such as need for a critical reflection is eminent as constituted by several religious teachings and ministries (Mananzan, 2002). To ensure the continuation of the work on justice, teachers will conduct further research to understand the background culture of their students hence unmasking their personal insights and prejudices against other cultures and religions.

As a result, the teachers will have a preview of those who suffer from injustices including their minority students. In the course of this process, our instincts and guilt are going to convict us to live morally upright and justified lives as advocated by the religious lessons in our schools.

Religious education emphasizes on social justice, and a moral society implies that social justice should be design in such a manner as to promote and allow justice to prevail among school set-ups. Likewise, religious lessons and most religious articles encourage readers to maintain a healthy and good relationship with the authorities (Tuohy, 2005).

Thus, through the clear distinction of the taught form of justice and the created justice, students learn and foster good relationships among themselves, teachers and the community members. In this regard, the students will have refined their religious lessons teachings and values.

References

Ferreira, J. (2008). Today’s Catholic Teacher, Essential teaching strategies that facilitate student moral development (pp. 78-83.). no city of publication: no puplisher.

Gigacz, S. (2007). “’See, judge, act’ more than truth by consensus” in Eureka Street. No city of publication: no puplisher.

Groome, T. (1997). The church’s ministry of justice and peace. In Sharing faith. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco..

Mananzan, M. (2002). Globalisation and the perennial question of justice. In Spiritual questions for the Twenty-first century. New York: M.H. (Ed), Orbis.

Tuohy, D. (2005). Catholic social teaching in action. Tuohy, D. (2005). Catholic social teaching in education. In Molloy. C. (Ed) (pp. 113-127 ). Dublin: Columba Press..

Uganda is one of the countries in Eastern Africa. It is also a land locked country. On the eastern, it borders Kenya, North is Southern Sudan, to the west is DRC (Congo) and to the southwest is Rwanda, while to the South is Tanzania. A portion of Lake Victoria borders it on the southern part. The lake is also shared by Kenya and Tanzania. The country has a moderately modified Equatorial climate. The country’s capital city is Kampala. The official language is English while the Buganda is the traditional language. Uganda is one of the third world countries and less developed.

As any other developing nation, Uganda faces several challenges which hinder its development agenda. Inadequacy of resources is one of the challenges. Uganda lacks rich resources such as oil and precious minerals. The main resource is fertile soils. The latter is also poorly managed. This hinders it from producing maximum output (Narayan, 2013).

Corruption is yet another challenge. There are high rates of corruption in the country and huge amounts of money are held by a few individuals. This makes the gap between the rich and the poor very wide. This has also resulted into high unemployment index in the country ranging from graduates to college leavers.

. Uganda’s population Growth has increased drastically causing pressure to the country’s economy. This has led to slowdown in economic growth. High population has also exerted a lot of pressure on the excising resources such as land whereby individual ownership of land has reduced by 70% since 1901. Growth in population has also caused pressure to the government and made it difficult to budget for its citizens.

Technology has not been embraced, especially in production sectors like agriculture. Most farmers use old methods of farming which has resulted to poor production of food, hence food insecurity in the country. Most farmers practice small scale farming and used traditional methods of farming. This means most of the products are for home consumption and no export to earn foreign exchange for the country (Mehmet, 2014). Infrastructure– this is a major problem in Uganda. Most roads are poorly developed, hindering accessibility and movements of raw materials and finished goods in and out of the country. The most reliable mean of transportation is railway, which is poorly maintained. Electricity is also not connected to most parts of the country and this has led to low or poor production, processing and preservation services (Gollin, et al 2014).

To enable the country grow, there are strategies laid down by the government to enable it raise the country’s economy. These include improved agriculture, improved infrastructure and industrialization among others.

Through the ministry of agriculture, the government of Uganda has come up with new methods of farming, which includes cash crops, involving technology in agriculture, seminars and workshops to train farmers and use of modern fertilizers. This will increase productivity and export from the country. Agriculture being the backbone of Uganda is targeted at providing high revenue for the country (Mehmet, 2014). Another plan is to improve roads, which will ease movement of raw materials and finished products, in and out of the country. This will include improving the current roads and creating more accessible pathways to interior parts of the country. This will also include supply of electricity to all parts of the country to facilitate production, preservation and processing (Clarke et al., 2014). The government is also linking with investors who will invest in the country hence creating job opportunities to the youth and reducing crime levels. The investors will come up with industries and companies which will provide job opportunities to graduates and college leavers (Packenham, 2015).

In conclusion, even though Uganda is a third world country which is experiencing a lot of problems like corruption, hunger, poor infrastructure among others, it has the capability to overcome all these challenges if their strategies are well put in place and implemented. If the plans laid down, the country is able to achieve its development goals by 2030.

References

Clarke, C. G., Dickenson, J. P., Gould, W. T. S., Mather, S., Prothero, R. M., Siddle, D. J.,… & Thomas-Hope, E. (2013). A geography of the Third World. New York: Routledge.

Gollin, D., Lagakos, D., & Waugh, M. E. (2014). Agricultural productivity differences across countries. The American Economic Review, 104(5), 165-170.

Manor, J. (2014). Rethinking Third-World Politics. Boston, M.A.: Cengage Learning.

Mehmet, O. (2014). Economic Planning and Social Justice in Third World Countries. Web.

Narayan, U. (2013). Dislocating cultures: Identities, traditions, and third world feminism.New York: Sage Publishers.

Packenham, R. A. (2015). Liberal America and the third world: Political development ideas in foreign aid and social science. New York: Princeton University Press.

Introduction

Written by Mark Brundrett and Rachel Anderson de Cuevas in the journal of Management in Education, and published in 2007, this article is titled Setting an Agenda for Social Justice through Leadership Development. According to Wilkinson (2007), Brundrett is a professor of Educational Research in the Faculty of Education, Community, and Leisure and the head of the Centre for Research and Evaluation, in the Liverpool John Moores University.

On the other side, Rachael de Cuevas is a PhD student in the School of Tropical Medicine in the Liverpool John Moores University (Theobald, 2010). Professor Brundrett started as a primary school teacher before progressing to middle and secondary school teaching and finally becoming a professor in the Liverpool John Moores University.

He holds masters degree in education, and arts, bachelors degree in arts, and a doctorate degree in philosophy and education. His research has been mainly on education where he has authored and co-authored 12 books and numerous scholarly journals. Moreover, he is a board member of many advisory boards of different international journals.

Major Thesis

This paper addresses two main issues; one, the implicit nature of commitment in leadership development programs which until recently, has been practiced in the United Kingdom to enhance social justice through management of school system. Secondly, this article argues that recent legislations in education have fostered crucial reforms that would facilitate active involvement of school leaders in promoting social justice whilst in training.

Article Summary

The United Kingdom has undergone increased funding in leadership development evidenced by formation of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) and upsurge in national programs of leadership development. Nevertheless, these reforms came only after the election of a government mandated to advance social justice in 1997, that is, the New Labor administration.

Hitherto, there was no elaborate system to incorporate leadership development in schools but this has changed with the creation of NCSL, which deals with improving leadership training in schools to align with the increased regulatory and accountability clause in the 1988 Education Act.

The NCSL was established to “ensure that our current and future school leaders develop the skills, the capability, and capacity to lead and transform the school education system into the best in the world” (Brundrett & de Cuevas, 2007, p. 45).

NCSL has continuously performed well and by 2001, it had structured the Leadership Development Framework to guide in leadership developments entailing core and extension programs befitting all leaders in school system viz. emergent leaders, established leaders, head teachers, and consultant leaders. This framework encapsulates preparation, induction, and further training of head teachers.

This framework specializes with head teachers mostly because the triad of preparation, induction, and further training of head teachers forms the backbone of national intervention measures in leadership training and development. Head teachers are the ‘heads’ of schools thus are better placed to implement any form of leadership development in their respective institutions.

In 2006, the NCSL formed Head for the Future (HftF) to address challenges facing school headship and challenge participants to think critically to embrace and incorporate change in school headship and leadership development. In 2003, NCSL introduced ‘Leading from the Middle’ a portfolio meant to develop leadership acumen at all levels of the teaching profession.

Moreover, the NCSL conducts online learning and network information, research and development projects among other leadership development issues. Moreover, NCSL runs the Leadership Network, which runs in over 2,000 schools. Nevertheless, there has been criticism of NCSL functioning and outcomes.

While some people see the rapid expansion of NCSL as a positive move towards realization of leadership development in schools, others have been quick to point loopholes in the system. NCSL has been on the receiving end in matters concerning efficiency; outcome-focus, goal clarity, and depth in the future work.

A 2002 review by Ofsted revealed that, while NCSL’s training programs are efficient, the selection criteria for the candidates and ability to meet prevalent needs were inefficient.

Nevertheless, NCSL has an agenda for development, which would facilitate renewal of leadership capacity in this sector as suggested by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2007. This study also pointed out the dire need to come up with leadership framework that would address needs hence calling for goal-oriented system.

Reflection and Personal Evaluation/conclusion

This article properly articulates the need to set an agenda for social justice through leadership development. Fortunately, this agenda is underway with NCSL working tirelessly to improve on what it has in place.

It is true there are some shortcomings here and there as depicted in the PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ofsted’s reports. However, it is important to appreciate what the NCSL has achieved so far. The Leadership Development Framework coupled with other programs as Leading from the Middle’ has proved vital in leadership management.

Brundrett and de Cuevas have given a clear and concise picture of how far leadership development has gone in the United Kingdom. The article draws widely from other sources and this shows its credibility. Unfortunately, the authors did not leave any room for further analysis of the paper. Generally, the article is well written to accomplish its objective.

Reference List

Brundrett, M., & de Cuevas, R. (2007). Setting an Agenda for Social Justice through Leadership Development. Journal of Management in Education. 21(4): 44-48.

Theobald, S. (2010). Staff Profile. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Web.

Wilkinson, P. (2007). Mark Brundrett. Liverpool John Moores University. Web.

The concept of good strategic thinking is key to the existence of different industries. Strategies are phenomena that change constantly depending on the various factors that affect them. Development challenges may arise at some strategy design, implementation, and monitoring stages. Based on the political, economic, technological, and social components, it is possible to analyze their positive and negative impact on the social justice sector, especially sexual violence.

Based on the organization’s experience in combating sexual violence, we can highlight the features of the strategy for the development of this topic. As with all social problems, the main drivers are the people and non-profit organizations interested in it. The main work to eradicate all forms of oppression is done by providing information and resources to the public to increase the visibility of the problem (OAESV, 2019). According to Ebner and Smith, this stage can be called the strategy implementation in society, after which the situation is monitored and evaluated. This social theme may be particularly susceptible to the changes in the world that follow.

Starting to talk about economic and technological changes that affect the sector of social justice, it is possible to observe tendencies of the level of development of the country from social policy. At this stage, people can start by analyzing and summarizing the data that determine the different social components. Interestingly, “when the social justice gap constraints developed countries, they would take a detour in their development process” (Li & Wang, 2020, p. 12). This covers both technological and economic development, suggesting that the more developed countries are more actively implementing the importance of social justice. Regarding social issues such as combating sexual violence, the standard of living of countries and the possibility of concentrating on such matters were essential elements in development strategies.

Social and political changes in the country are equally important areas affecting social justice. For example, in neo-liberal politics, double moral standards may be perceived as a social injustice, influencing society’s social awareness (Voigt, 2018). Assessing this factor, the social component is added to the political element, as people are the first to react to changes in the structure of the state. Depending on the level of liberalization of society, the importance of the social component, which depends directly on the political part, may increase or decrease. This way, at the evaluation and monitoring stage of the implementation of the strategy, it is possible to observe a trend of influence of the political and social situation within the country on social problems such as sexual violence.

In conclusion, changes in the various spheres of the functioning of States and society can influence the strategy for implementing the concept of social justice. Following the five stages of the Ebner and Smith strategy, it is essential to consider the different variations of events at the data analysis stage. Early attention to the challenges of strategy development will prevent unintended consequences that can be negative. The political, social, economic, and technological spheres influence the publicity of social problems, such as sexual violence. Although these two components are not connected at first glance, each depends on the other and determines how changes in these domains may affect different implementation strategies. The more developed and liberal a country was, the more aware it was and involved in developing a plan to combat difficulties.

References

Li, S., & Wang, B. (2020). Is social justice the superior economic growth model? Comparative analysis on G20 countries. Cogent Social Sciences, 6(1).

Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence [OAESV]. (2019). There is power and strength in a collective: Ohio alliance to end sexual violence strategic plan. OAESV.

Voigt, D. (2018). Social justice in comparative political economy: lessons from Habermas and the contemporary German case. New political economy, 1-18.

In modern society, people are faced with issues like social injustices that tend to undermine the value of individuals based on sex, race, or even religion. Social justice arts have been a remedy to help people express and influence the view of society concerning any form of injustice. Several forms of art primarily use the power of imagery and words to contest for change. For example, an artist can use music as a form of engagement to address the current status of the society that requires change or improvement.

An artist Gabriella Wilson released the song called “I can’t breathe” after the mysterious death of George Floyd. In the art, she was advocating for racial justice through music as a medium to influence people. There have been many cases of police brutality that show a high level of social injustices that people should discourage. The title of the song indicates the last statement made by the victims of police brutality.

The work has a significant impact and contribution to society. Most people have become victims of police injustices, and the song demands total accountability from the authority based on the cases. The work led to the formation of the movement called Black Lives Matter which calls for an end to oppressing black people through law enforcement (Clayton, 2018). The art has a high magnitude in addressing and challenging the government and society from the perspective of equality.

The work has a painful aesthetic value as it talks about an issue that several people have lost their lives. It is a sad state of society as the people responsible for protecting lives are responsible for causing deaths. The art reflects the emotional feelings that affected people or communities undergo. It shows some hopelessness as nobody, including the government is reluctant to address the social injustices.

The song inspires one to see people equally irrespective of color and to value one another’s life. Furthermore, it encourages individuals to face fears and express themselves on issues that affect people. The music has never been censored either by the private or governmental body. Government has the right to protect the plurality of the society; therefore, they have the right to edit any form of art that may go against the will or more of a given group of people.

The song prompted people across the world to hold protests against police brutality. It also led to the establishment of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is being used in football and other games (Martin, 2018). This was to express the essence of togetherness and the value of the black community in the world. The work has made the police reduce aggressive law enforcement on people, especially the black community.

The public embraced the art; most people printed the song “I can’t breathe” on their shirts to portray solidarity and togetherness in fighting for change. It was used as the protest anthem to address the police killings in the country. The song properly describes the message and challenges the black community has been facing through law enforcement officers. For example, the lyric “You’re taking my life from me” (Wilson, 2020, 0:51) shows how people have lost their lives due to injustices.

The work qualifies to be an art because it addresses the issue society is facing that affects them. The artist expressed an emotional power through the work, which has brought people together to fight for justice. In the song, she says, “Do not say you do not see color” (Wilson, 2020, 4:04). The song has a positive reflection that encourages everyone to act to bring an end to racism. The work fights for a significant cause of change in the country.

References

Clayton, D. M. (2018). Black Lives Matter and the civil rights movement: A comparative analysis of two social movements in the United States. Journal of Black Studies, 49(5), 448-480. Web.

Martin, F. D. (2018). Humanities through the Arts (10^th Ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Wilson, G. (2020). [I can’t breathe] On I Used to Know Her. D’Mile.

Introduction

Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, is a prominent figure in the American and world music industry. He is among the artists who made rap and hip-hop so popular, proving that his songs are more than just a few rhymes with a cool music sample. Although Jay-Z is often criticized for his seemingly simple or even primitive lyrics, it is impossible to deny their real meaningfulness and impact on listeners worldwide.

Main body

Jay-Z’s memoir, called Decoded, has uncovered social, political, and personal experiences that influenced the rapper and his art. Music is among these significant influences, as Jay-Z reveals that his family was always fond of it (Carter, 2011). Their house was always full of music, and it accompanied all family activities (Carter, 2011). Their musical collection comprised everything that was popular in the 70-s (Carter, 2011). Jay-Z admits that his whole generation was raised on the emotional music of that period, which has impacted them a lot (Carter, 2011). According to Jay-Z, those artists were sometimes perceived as father figures for his peers (Carter, 2011). Their soul and jazz music were used as a base for fresh, innovative works of hip-hop and rap artists that taught many people about politics, humor, language, and even respect toward women (Carter, 2011). Thus, hip-hop and rap impacted and changed Jay-Z’s life and are still important channels of his self-expression.

Apart from general musical influences, Jay-Z mentions a lot of specific artists that had the greatest impact on him and whose music inspired his works. This list includes the Blackbyrds, the Love Unlimited Orchestra, the Jackson 5, Rufus, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, MFSB, the Average White Band, and the Commodores (Carter, 2011). Some of the classic seventies soul also became the foundation for several of Jay-Z’s compositions. The Ohio Players, the Stylistics, Isaac Hayes, and the Four Tops were sampled on Reasonable and Marvin Gaye’s song “Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again” – on the American Gangster album (Carter, 2011). These artists and bands are only a few whom Jay-Z considers his favorite and most inspirational, but he notes that the special place among them belongs to Michael Jackson (Carter, 2011). Therefore, one can trace Jay-Z’s musical taste, preferences, and experiences in his compositions.

One of the most important elements of Jay-Z’s songs is their lyrics, where he expresses his thoughts on many relevant issues. They might not be evident at first, as Jay-Z often mentions stereotypical rappers’ bragging about money, power, or girls as bait to mock lazy and ignorant critics (Carter, 2011). He finds it funny how they judge his lyrics based on a few words or lines without trying to listen to the whole song and grasp the metaphors and the actual message (Carter, 2011). Thus, his lyrics are not meaningless rhymes but coherent stories.

The major topics of Jay-Z’s songs are social injustice and racism. For instance, in Decoded, he reveals how young black people have to learn laws and legal procedures very quickly to protect themselves from injustice (Carter, 2011). This issue is also reflected in Jay-Z’s famous song 99 problems. In its second verse, one hears how the narrator is stopped by police who try to find fault with him and conduct an illegal search of his car (Carter, 2011). The policemen shamelessly refer to stereotypes to justify their suspicions: “Are you carrying a weapon on you, I know a lot of you are” (Carter, 2011, p. 46). Presumption of innocence is a basic right any person must have, but Jay-Z shows how black people often suffer from baseless unproven accusations.

One should admit that the crime rate among black people in some poor areas is really quite high, and that is another problem Jay-Z covers in his music. While “decoding” the lyrics of his song D’Evils, he confesses he was once convinced a poor black guy could not achieve anything significant unless he resorted to violence and crime (Carter, 2011). However, he emphasizes that he changed his mind: tough conditions many black people live in are a relevant problem, but they are not a justification for unleashing one’s inner demons (Carter, 2011). It is one of the wise lessons Jay-Z teaches his listeners.

Another issue that Jay-Z often addresses in his works is drug addiction. His main point is that it is a disease that should be cured, but not a crime that must be punished (Carter, 2011). He used to sell crack and be an addict himself and witnessed many friends and relatives suffer and die from it (Carter, 2011). This experience and his talent that gave him a purpose in life have probably helped him avoid “Sonny’s” fate of being imprisoned for selling drugs. He found the strength not to pity himself and drown in the lethal addiction but to tell his story and fight injustice via his art.

With these social issues frequently covered in them, Jay-Z’s songs also have political importance. The musician is certain that hip-hop is extremely influential in making black Americans “visible” and showing their life from their perspective (Carter, 2011). The songs mentioned above prove it, as they touch upon real issues of black people. They can be viewed as a call to society and the government to make changes in legal and social systems to improve the situation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Jay-Z is an extraordinary figure in the modern music industry and has already become an important contributor to its history. At first glance (or rather hearing), his lyrics might sound primitive and superficial, constantly mentioning money and girls. However, if one cares to listen to it more carefully, one would discover a new layer of hidden meaning where the rapper addresses relevant social issues of racism, abuse of power, poverty, and violence.

Reference

Carter, S. (“Jay-Z”). (2011). Decoded. Spiegel & Grau.