BSU Students Search Within for the Unconscious King and Queen

By Jocelyn Jones

      What are unconscious kings and queens? What do they do? How can you become one?

          An unconscious queen is deeper than beauty and position. She is conscience of her surroundings and she leads as a woman and a role model. An unconscious king carries himself with the utmost respect and knows how to build a successful future. He also respects his surroundings. He is strong and holds himself to a high moral standard.

        At a recent forum, representatives from sororities, fraternities, athletics, resident life and the Student Government Association discussed the impact that popular culture --- particularly African-American oriented films, hip-hop music and clothing styles --- has on the behavior of young black men and women.

         In a clip from the movie "Friday after Next," the character Mrs. Parker is outside watering her lawn wearing skimpy clothes. The scene was used to spark discussion about how young women are judged based on the clothes they choose to wear.

         Various women at the forum said that females are conscious of what they are wearing. It is for the attention, but it is the men who hold the image and they accept the behavior. "Your attire should not matter but so much, but it it's the actions that you give off. If you dress like a ‘hoochy' then you will be treated like one. If you dress sophisticated then guys will treat you sophisticated," said Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. representative Remia Hamilton.

       When it comes to the 'hood rappers nowadays seem like they are just battling to shows how 'hood they really are. It's an imitation to get money. "I'm so hood" and various other rap songs/lyrics are just music telling a story, and it can be something that people can relate to, but not something they necessarily aspire to.

      "It is a perpetual cycle of ignorance; rappers don't live in the ghetto," said Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. representative Damein Montgomery. "50 cent and DJ Khaled might give back, but they still don't live there."

      In another film clip, a little boy in a convenient store cursing up a storm with an Asian lady over change that she did not give him. Some found it funny while others found it embarrassing and were not entertained because the boy was an African-American child.

      Does hip-hop make women objects instead of queens? Some argue that women were being objectified long before hip-hop, and each generation builds upon itself. They say that there was "butt-shaking" going on in the motherland, but it was a form of artistic expression.

      Various people said that the media perpetuation of stereotypes and a laziness and lack of creativity on the part of artists are to blame. Many artists today rap about what everyone already knows about because that's what they think supporter/buyers want to hear. They do not come up with meaningful words to say and they just rap for money. There are rappers with a message like Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and a variety of others.