Muslim Cool Ch. 2 Facilitation Questions (Aaron Dahlgren)
1. How might Khabeer's perception of how others interpreted her body while dancing at the "girl party" have been affected by her experience as a Black woman?
2. How was the election and presidency of Barack Obama simultaneously a step forward and backward for social equity?
3. Why is religion so often decoupled from music, or certain musical genres, despite their historic connections? Why does it seem like religious music is not quite as popular as music that is either secular or not explicitly spiritual?
4. Khabeer regularly capitalizes words like "Black", "Blackness", and "Whiteness". How does this affect the reader and their interpretation of the ethnography's message?
5. Regarding the chapter title, "Policing Music. . .", how does broader American, or even global, society "police" or "democratize" art (music, literature, film, etc.)? In what ways should artists be afforded relative autonomy in their depictions of the world? In what ways should they be responsible for the messages that might be sent to their audiences?
Bonus Meta Question: The cover photo for the ethnography looks like a partially palette-swapped or derivative version of the classic painting Girl with a Pearl Earring (minus the pearl). How does this connect with the theme of the book?
2. How was the election and presidency of Barack Obama simultaneously a step forward and backward for social equity?
3. Why is religion so often decoupled from music, or certain musical genres, despite their historic connections? Why does it seem like religious music is not quite as popular as music that is either secular or not explicitly spiritual?
4. Khabeer regularly capitalizes words like "Black", "Blackness", and "Whiteness". How does this affect the reader and their interpretation of the ethnography's message?
5. Regarding the chapter title, "Policing Music. . .", how does broader American, or even global, society "police" or "democratize" art (music, literature, film, etc.)? In what ways should artists be afforded relative autonomy in their depictions of the world? In what ways should they be responsible for the messages that might be sent to their audiences?
Bonus Meta Question: The cover photo for the ethnography looks like a partially palette-swapped or derivative version of the classic painting Girl with a Pearl Earring (minus the pearl). How does this connect with the theme of the book?
1. Her experience dancing may have affected her way of thinking in regards to performing in public. Perhaps it made her question her identity of being Muslim or Black because many people left the dance floor to watch a Black woman do a Muslim Dance.
ReplyDelete2. Barack Obama's election and presidency is a step forward because it shows that anybody can become President. Although it may be a step back because politicians may try to get more votes by appealing to other audiences by using "Black Cool."
3. I think religion is separated from music because many people seem to have this idea that religious music is often too "clean" or too polished. Maybe its because religion is such a big part of most people's lives, and because of that people don't want to listen to religious music.
4. It personally made me feel like Khabeer was trying to emphasize these words and what she's trying to say about them. Perhaps by capitalizing these words, Khabeer aims to make the audience question how these words become apart of our identities themselves.
5. . Perhaps by "policing" art, it helps those who are doing the policing to form some sort of strong attachment or bond to the art or artists. I believe that artists should have relative autonomy in their depictions when media starts portraying outright lies about them. Many artists suffer both physically and mentally when many media outlets start producing content about these artists when this content may not be correct. However, these artists should also be held accountable when producing content for the general public. A lot of artists may heavily influence large audiences, and they should be careful because they may cause things that will spiral out of control.