Not Accept Prison as a Normal Part of Life

Walking through the tailgate area outside of Candlestick Park last Thursday for the 49ers-Bears NFL game was quite a cultural experience for me. For the most part, I really tried to just be in the moment, relax, and experience something new and interesting.

But every few feet, I would instinctively cringe in response to the extremely coarse / vile / crude language and sounds being blasted from various speakers. Of course, I have known intellectually for years that “out there” is an entire culture of music filled with blasphemous M*F* language and s*xual sounds. But reading about something in an article and having it forced into my ears and mind against my will at such a decibel level? Well. It quickly went past the level of an “interesting cultural experience” to something that grieved my soul deeply.

So you can imagine how blessed I was this morning to read Carolyn McCulley’s recent blog post on Media Matters and receive not only encouragement but a tangible, practical, strategic way to help too.

Please do read the entire article! Here is just a snippet to tempt you:

“I have a heavy concern that the “screen generation” is being fed more harmful images and narratives than uplifting ones …

For example, this is how my day has gone so far. I checked the news, and saw stories about a 15-year-old girl who was brutally gang-raped by by anywhere between 7 to 10 men outside of a high school while at least a dozen others stood by and watched it without interfering, and a sadist who allegedly raped, murdered, and stowed the bodies of at least 10 women in his home …

I then started work by listening to a media panel about “transmedia” efforts … One of the panelists spoke without shame of working with a clothing company that sponsored an interactive game about a stripper. The gamer controls the stripper’s actions, which this media expert cheerfully said allowed the player to either make the stripper engage “in the most depraved actions” or “save her” …

Listening to this panel, I wanted to scream: Why can’t we connect the dots here? Why is it that as a culture in the developing world, we put our heads in the sand and vociferously protest there is no connection between the media we consume and our actions? …

Do we think we can allow people the fantasy of degrading and brutalizing others (especially women) and argue that this thought life will not eventually affect behavior?!

What can we do to change this thinking? I want to encourage each of you to become media activists. Please protest media that undermines the safety and dignity of women and girls, in particular, through social media and your wallets. Teach your children to understand that what they feast their eyes upon will become normalized to them. Let retail vendors know of your displeasure. And please support media that challenges these denigrating, dehumanizing trends by producing edifying content. I’m not arguing for cheesy, unsophisticated content in the name of being positive, but well-produced content that elevates human dignity.

That’s what I’m trying to do through Citygate Films. I have three documentaries in various stages of production, with one nearly finished with principal photography. A NOTE OF HOPE explores the idea that music reveals a lot about a culture. I’ll never forget what one of the African-American musicians in this film said after touring the Cape Coast slave castle in Ghana:
 

“If only our young adults could understand that they are descendants of those who survived these brutal dungeons, they wouldn’t accept prison as a normal passage of life.”

One of the earliest song forms in America was the traditional Negro spiritual, songs that spoke of faith and trust in a just God who would redeem such harsh circumstances for His own glory. Those songs eventually became the code for the Underground Railroad and eventually the soundtrack for the civil rights movement. But now we have songs that celebrate thug culture and sexist, demeaning views of women. The jazz musicians who participated in this film want to see music used to elevate humanity, not celebrate our darkest drives. And their commitment to use their music to do so is the theme of this documentary.”

I just made my (non tax deductible) gift to A NOTE OF HOPE. And now I’m going to sign off and pray for dear, brilliant Carolyn McCulley and her entire team.

May God be glorified!

Blessings to you and yours,
Tara B.

PS
Want to start your day with some sweet gospel jazz? Enjoy!