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Digital Diaspora: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Black Youth Identity

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Every communication tool has its era, and each generation can recall the method of communication that facilitated particular milestones or memories, personally and professionally. Each generation can also witness, in real time, how reliance on one method can easily be replaced or upgraded by another. Dragging telephone cords across rooms for privacy, taking notes in class from an overhead projector, or listening to music on vinyl—witnessing the evolution of communication changes comes with an ease of delivery, as technologies and knowledge expand. It also comes with a learning curve, as users adjust to new processes, protocols, and purposes. The medium is the message. Since this was stated from mass media theorist Marshall McLuhan, as early as 1964, technologies have come and gone, and new instruments have made many of them obsolete. Now, just within one year, communication trends and tools move quickly, and can be eliminated simply due to changed rhetoric, cancel culture atrocities, n...

FREEDOM STREET // Observing the Unstoppable Influence of Dancehall Music

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For the second time in the past 6 years, we've witnessed the historic release and return to the stage of a dancehall legend at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Like the countdown to Buju Banton's "The Long Walk to Freedom" concert in 2019, the New Year's Eve "Freedom Street" show celebrating Vybz Kartel on Tuesday, December 31, 2024 was a must-see production for reggae and dancehall enthusiasts. After serving 13 years, Kartel (Adidja Palmer) was released from incarceration on July 31, 2024. From that moment, this "first" performance has been anticipated. The excitement. The chatter. The suspense. The extreme FOMO for those not able to make it to Jamaica for the show (present company included). The focus on the island of Jamaica, attracting the who's-who of dancehall, music lovers, cultural supporters, music media, and patrons and supporters of reggae and dancehall who were eager to ring in their 2025 as one of the fortunate thousa...

What's in Your Manifesto?

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I've recently discovered that I fall on the conspiracy/deep-internet philosophy side of reality. This realization hit me while Beyonce was performing on Christmas day, and not one person at our family gathering was aware of my recent 'facts' about Beyonce and her boo, Shawn. Aside from the regular CP24 reporting. Thoughts and alleged facts that I'm not sharing in public print, obvi. One thing we were all able to decipher and discuss was the chatter about Luigi Mangione, as his now-public manifesto has been a popular topic of discussion both online and IRL. Discussion about health care. Power structures. The haves and have-nots. The American dream, and the political parties and oligarchs that vow to purchase our quickly fading Canadian dream too. Naturally, I thought about my own manifesto. Something I haven't yet articulated in one location. My thoughts have been expressed in various platforms, across various decades, but to date, I've only had "concepts of...