The role reversal between blacks and whites and the hand gestures in T.I.’s music video “Warzone” relates to the highly controversial issues of racism and police brutality in our world today. Good, specific hook!  The content of T.I.’s video is referring to incidents that have happen in the recent years. Most specifically the deaths of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and Philando Castile. The video is speaking to the growing issue of Black Lives Matter as it is trying to make a point of showing people who don’t realize how real these issues are from a different perspective. Different how/different than whom?

The role reversal between blacks and whites in this music video serves as a way for those who do not understand the injustice occurring today to be put in the shoes of those being targeted. Nice topic sentence.  In this video, the police officers are African American, and the victims are white males which is reverse from the recent events being referred to. As someone who has never experienced prejudice or injustice based on stereotypes or differences, it is hard to understand what it must be like to be the target of these attacks. By reversing the roles of race in these powerful scenes of brutality and killing, viewers can begin to form a new perspective on the recent events, maybe even opening them up to be more empathetic towards those being targeted. Great!!  When a person sees someone they can relate to or someone that reminds them of someone they know, they are more likely to be saddened or angry by their death. The scene where a teen boy leaves his mother to go to the park but ends up getting killed for playing with a toy gun would make any mother saddened or fearful of the violence that police have been showing lately. The scene where the man gets pulled over and shot in his car while his baby is in the backseat makes people today scared for their life of being simply pulled over by a police officer. Finally, the scene where the white middle aged women gets into the bus and is looked at with judgement and forced to the back of the bus for an empty seat refers to both problems now and in history. In predominantly white areas, those of a different race must feel judged or stared at like this woman feels on the bus. This scene makes whites who are used to being the majority see how it must feel to be different from everyone. Also, it refers to the well known historical event of Rosa Parks.  The structure and movement of this paragraph is great. Remember that this is a close-reading assignment, and each mentioned scene needs a close eye and analysis. It may be better to focus on just one instance of role reversal, while still acknowledging the fact that it happens more than once. 

The hand gestures that T.I. makes throughout the video refer to the most popular and most heard about stories in the media about police brutality. The gestures he is doing is putting his hands above his head which is the universal symbol of surrender for all people. This is the most distinguishing action of the Black Lives Matter movement and T.I.’s chorus displays that throughout the song. In the chorus he says, “Hands up, can't breath. Hands up, can't breath.” as he puts his hands up and puts his hands around his neck. Putting his hands up symbolizes how those victimized by police brutality have been innocent and unarmed. Putting his hands around his neck and saying “Can’t breathe” refers to the video of Eric Garner being choked by police and Garner saying “I can't breathe” but the police don’t stop. T.I. uses these gestures every time he says this phrase, which makes the viewer pay attention to what he is doing and what it means. 

T.I. is one of the many celebrities who have stood up and used their music as a platform to stand up for the issues in our society. He is using the fact that he is speaking to a large audience who will listen to him, to his advantage. Celebrities have an opportunity that not most people have, which is being able to have so many people in so many places listen to what they have to say. Many people look up to and idolize celebrities, which means what celebrities have to say have the power to influence millions of people. People have the tendency to listen to celebrities and agree with their opinion. Some celebrities use this to their advantage and speak about real issues. Other than T.I., more celebrities who have used their voice to speak on the issue of Black Lives matter have been musicians including Beyonce, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, and Snoop Dogg, and even athletes like Colin Kaepernick, Doug Baldwin, and Malcolm Jenkins. Beyonce, Big Sean, and Kendrick Lamar have used lyrics in their music to make a point and to make people listen to their voice on these issues. Colin Kaepernick has used his fame and has kneeled during the National Anthem before football games. Although the celebrities are using their voice, the way they have done this and what they have spoken about has been highly controversial in the media. The celebrities have been criticized in the news and by people on social media. For example, Beyonce’s performance at the halftime show for the Superbowl was highly controversial and blew up all over the news and media. She and her dancers were performing in reference to the historical Black Panther Party, and even formed as an X, which many interpreted to be referencing Malcolm X. But this performance was highly criticized and all over the news as a political message. Although they are being criticized, celebrities continue to use their fame as a platform to stand up for what they believe in, especially as these issues grow and keep occurring. While all true and well-written, this paragraph doesn’t stay within the text at hand – you must close-read the visual text and go into depth to analyze the particulars of it. This might belong in another paper or in a concise form in the introduction. The body should never leave the text.
