
Everyone living in the United States right now is aware of the racial tension and the amount of violence that floods streets all over America, with a majority being in predominantly African-American communities, causing a devastating amount of losses. Famous rapper Big Sean like most members of the African-American community have been fed up with the amount of gun violence that is plaguing so many African-American communities that he decided to make his stand with a song, “One Man Can Change the World.” There is a particular snap shot from the music video for this song that depicts the exact message that Big Sean is trying get across with not only the music video but with the song as well. This snapshot is of a particular scene in the music video is one of a young African-American boy who seems to be the main character or main focus of the music video is sitting on what seems to be an old ice cream street vendor collecting guns from what presumably seems to be gangsters in the streets of Detroit, where the video takes place and also Big Sean’s hometown. In the snapshot the visual elements of the video like the black/white coloring, the background and the emotion displayed in the visual really help portray the image that Big Sean was trying to paint about the repercussions that gun violence has on our society.  

 Gun violence has created this cloud anguish over America that just seems to be there hanging over the heads of millions but nothing is being done. In this snapshot and throughout the entire music video Big Sean uses the black/white coloring for the music video to emphasize that cloud of anguish that is hovering over America. The use of the black/white is depicting to America or the parts that are ignorant or are not as present in the fight against gun-violence that what it is like to live in a community, especially at such a young age like the boy in the music video, where gun-violence is considered the norm and an everyday occurrence in certain communities. The black/white that is used in the music video also effects the viewer emotionally. From the beginning the viewer is effected emotionally by the darkness that is being displayed making them feel a little bit of the sadness and anguish Big Sean is trying to get across. This darkness surrounding the young boy displays the cloud of somber that is hovering over children as well as the fact that they live with this “cloud” over their heads their whole lives unless they are lucky enough to escape it. But that is also the problem. There is no escaping gun-violence its either there or it is not, there is no in-between. That is the message for the present and next generation, do no try to escape gun violence, stay and end it.

The elements that were also used display the repercussions of the presence of gun-violence were the background of the image as well as the emotion that is displayed by the characters in the snapshot. The background of the image shows the location in which the little boy is collecting these guns. In the background there is a sketchy alleyway with a beat up sort of trailer on one side of the alley and a really beaten up barbed wire fence on the other side. This visual element’s presence in the photo portrays the poverty and the type of areas that gun violence seems to be so directly associated with. The emotion that is portrayed through the characters in the snapshot also portray some repercussions that comes with the presence of gun-violence in our cities. The little boy who is the main character in the music video is seen in this snapshot from the video just sitting idly by as people walk up and put their guns in the ice cream vendor. The little boy and the emotion that is on his face is a big repercussion of violence and one that is the biggest concern for people. The sadness and gloominess that is present on the young boy’s face portrays that gun-violence is crippling the country and even children as young as the boy in this video are feeling the devastating effects that gun-violence can have on families and a community. 

People living in America these days are all too familiar with pointing out problems that the nation is facing but not actually taking any action to solve those problems. This image as well as the music video repudiates that idea and attempts to modify their views to see that the issue of gun-violence and all issues that Americans are faced with can be solved with planning and execution. America is great at the planning change part of the process but for gun-violence to be alleviated from the streets the execution part needs to improve drastically.
