Raheem From Furious FIve Visits Spring valley High School by Abimaelle BelizaireOn February 26, 2016, Spring Valley High School had an assembly celebrating Black History Month. During this assembly, a very special guest speaker, Raheem- from Furious Five-spoke of the common problems some teenagers might face today. He spoke about rap music, education, and police brutality. Guy Williams, otherwise known as “Raheem” is a rapper from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Although he may not look like it, Williams is actually 53 years old. He said that he enjoyed rap ever since he was young. Having a love for art and rap in general, he joined the band at a very young age. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five are mostly known for their hit song “The Message.” In it, they speak of urban issues and the common problems they might have faced growing up. Lyrics such as “demonstrate the true troubles and the hardships.” For them and for many, music has always been an escape. Raheem started speaking to the students with a metaphor. He began with an example of how eating junk foods each day would eventually cause people to become unhealthy. He related that to the students and spoke about the type of music we listen to. As teenagers, millennials are often drawn to social media. We love music and are influenced by always having a screen in front of our eyes 24/7. Teenagers especially love types of rap music and trap music. Raheem spoke about how we are so easily influenced by these rappers and how the messages they may convey will influence us to do bad things. He said just like eating unhealthy foods day by day makes us unhealthy, listening to unrealistic and influential music will essentially change our mindsets. They might persuade us to do the things that we don’t want to do. The way he spoke about these sensitive topics really motivated us to question ourselves about the kind of music that we may be listening to. By “feeding” our brains with these types of music and shows that we are watching, unintentionally, we are changing the way we view the world. Rap music today is historic. It’s the way that some people like to express themselves. When we listen to these songs, we fall in love with the style of the artist and the beat, but we also need to think if the kind of message perceived is constructive or destructive. Raheem ended his presentation with a rap. This rap, however, contained “inspirational” messages towards all of us. In his brief verse, he spoke of police brutality -- something that has been really destructive to the black community. It’s safe to say that we were all inspired by the way he spoke of those problems and yet after all these years, he, and the black community, “persevered” and we will continue to do so. This presentation was a way to motivate and uplift the students about the kind of mindset that they’d like to have. The speaker's time really made everybody think about exactly what kind of music they are feeding their mind and what kind of mindset they are creating for their future. Ms. Pinel and Raheem from Grandmaster |