Jesus Walks

The United States is going through some rough times. A war and recession are starting to dim people's hopes of America every thriving like it once did. During this dark time I feel like there is really only one main idea that keeps shining through - people's beliefs. No matter how difficult of a time an individual is having they will stand right by their beliefs no matter what the circumstances.
I feel that Jesus Walks by Kanye West is a perfect example of this. West isn't afraid to make a hip-hop song about Jesus. This excerpt from the song, "So here go my single dawg radio needs this, They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus. That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes, but if I talk about God my record won't get played, Huh?" is a lyrical piece of genius and really questions some of the common problems with music and culture in our time.
West incorporates biblical lines like, "I walk through the valley where the shadow of death is", which is taken from 23rd psalm in the Bible; "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me". This song sparked some outrage in people who didn't want to hear a highly religious rap song air on the radio and television, but the single was too popular and kept spreading like a wild fire (West would eventually win three Grammy awards in 2005, in large part to Jesus Walks). Not only was the song played over and over on the radio but even made it's first televised music video appearance on MTV.
In a global time of economic recessions and outbreaks of violence, people look at songs for inspiration to keep on pushing through difficult times. I feel as though Jesus Walks is not only one of West's most complete songs, but it will also act as inspiration for generations to come. I'll end this blog with one of my favorite parts of the song, "We rappers are role models we rap we don't think, I ain't here to argue about his facial features, Or here to convert atheists into believers, I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers, The way Kathie Lee needed Regis that's the way I need Jesus."

My Writing Process

My writing process is unique, but so is everyone's. I have always enjoyed writing, but only when it is something that I enjoy to write about. If it's something that I'm not interested in, most likely my writing will reflect this and not be interesting either. I like to be organized as a writer, but write about whatever I want. In other words, I like to have a loose format to the papers I write but I'm not afraid to break out of the mold of a "typical student writer". I write what I want to say even though it might upset some people. You shouldn't try to be fake when you write, and that's why I try to write with feeling and thought instead of strictly thought.

I get really frustrated when I don't know what to write about and find myself getting distracted by television, my phone, or Facebook. I need to work on not getting so frustrated and pushing through the writers block that I have grown accustomed to getting when I don't want to write a certain paper or piece. My writing process needs a little work, but even the best writers of all time didn't write perfect papers and books. As long as I can keep getting better as a writer then I will be happy.

Presidents and their words

I thought this was a very thought provoking activity. I found it very interesting how as the history of our nation unfolded Presidents used different words more often than others. The most used words in the most recent word cloud, President Obama's, weren't that surprising - nation, America, and people. All three of these words go hand-in-hand with Obama's idea of "change WE can all believe in". Depending on what the president stands for and what the country is going through at the time the words can change quite a bit. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt's two most used words were peace and learn. This makes sense since it was during World War II and Roosevelt was hoping for it to end as soon as possible. I also was very intrigued at the fact that in 1845 James Know Polk used the word government an astounding 50 times. If you compare the 50 uses of the word government with the entire Franklin D. Roosevelt speech that I was previously talking about, those 50 uses of government would make up nearly 10 percent of the total FDR 1945 inaugural address. That was just one of the many interesting things I noticed when looking at all of these word clouds.