Portfolio Reflective Introduction

Dennis Chavours 

EGL 101-04 

Elliott 

30 July 2020 

Portfolio Reflective Introduction

Reflecting on the essays written a lot of effort has been put into creating and maintaining a certain standard of excellence in the essays. I personally feel I have spent 40+ hours on the essays written. They focus mainly on race and the issues facing communities of color.

The first essay focuses on the culture of Google and an event hosted by Google. There a saw affluence, that I had not seen up until that time. 

The second essay focuses on an ad from the Oscar-winning drama, “There Will Be Blood”. The analysis provides an in-depth look into a dark mind, prevalent in the early 1900s.

The third essay focuses on unity in race and culture. Here I propose a club to help international students feel more at home at the campus with uses of popular African-American inspired art and music. This includes the Broadway hamilton and chart-topping hits. This club will show International students local African American art and performances.

Growing With Google - Project 1

Dennis Chavours 

EGL 101-04 

Elliott 

30 July 2020 

Growing With Google

In 2017, I attended a Google Conference. At the event were techies, bloggers, marketers, and small business owners. These people all had different backgrounds but they had one thing in common: an interest in expanding their skills. These respected professionals taught me something as a teenager, I didn’t know the importance of. I would like my peers to find what they're interested in and be an expert in the thing that they find interesting.

On a cold Indianapolis morning, I arrived at where the GPS said the event was at. I entered the building and was greeted by a woman, she gave me a pamphlet and told me that meetings were the events were at. I said okay and headed to the next event.





I walked forth towards the atrium and saw a wide expanse and almost a sight from a movie. In front of me, I saw hundreds of people gathering, talking. I saw lights hanging from the ceilings, there were plants placed about, the choice of wood was exquisite, all the furniture matched and went well together. They designed the trash bins with cloth covers to cover the harsh grey plastic of the bin. For me, up until that point, I had yet to be in a setting with so much refinement and class. You can tell a lot of time and money was put into the gathering. Considering the net worth of everyone in the room, I could see why they would invest the resources in the decor.

The next event was, “HTML: For Beginners”. I filed into the classroom and observed the instructor’s lesson. On everyone’s desks were laptops provided by Google to help with the lesson. As the teacher was talking I became bored with the class as I had learned HTML at a young age, by the time I was a Junior in high school. I looked around and it seemed not everyone was having an easy time digesting the lesson. The teacher would say something and the rest of the class would pause for a second. Many of the people stopped listening and hoped the presentation would end soon, so they could do something else they weren’t beginners at.

When the tutorial was finished I walked out of the room. When I exited the room, I saw a Googler who was helping with the lesson, we started talking about the curriculum of the lesson. While I was making my observations about the class, a crowd started to form to hear me speak.

A few people started asking me questions. One, an African American man, a similar height to me, 6’3, and a Euro-American male named Aaron. I answered their questions and then pretty soon it was just the three of us talking about tech.

I mentioned my skills at the time. I was making money online, selling phone cases and I built up my site to sell such cases--think FashionNova but for phone cases. My limited knowledge of coding gave me this ability to create an e-commerce website.

I thought these accomplishments were something to be marveled at. That was until I found out what my new found friends were up to.

One of the one attendee's Desmond, the African American one, told me about the work he had done for a Real Estate business, run by his Uncle.

“I made a database to track claims,” Desmond said.

“Oh, I saw that that was in PHP. Did you use MySQL?” replied Aaron.

“Yes, the backend was MySQL ran on an Apache server,” said Desmond.

“What’s a database?” I said inquisitively.

“Oh it’s a place where queries are stored, it stores information from the user to be

presented on the webpage.” replied Desmond.

“Oh..“ I said puzzlingly.

The two went back and forth understanding precisely what they were saying. It was clear that they were experts, they had spent most of their free time studying technology becoming experts at their craft. They were both in their early 20’s and I was 19 at the time. They were a few years ahead in coding comprehension. I had yet to see someone, much less a pair of people with such coding prowess. They were talking about things pertinent to coding and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. It was obvious that I still had to study my craft and true expertise was hard to come by. I was inspired. 

I then showed the pair my website and the success it was having, Desmond was impressed. This was because he didn’t know the ins and outs of social media marketing and the e-commerce process. It was then that Aaron told us that we would work well together. My familiarity with internet marketing and his knowledge of coding, we agreed and exchanged information about our interests and skills.

We then made our way downstairs, to discuss further. We were sitting in chairs talking and working on our laptops when all of a sudden about 30 people came into the atrium dressed in suits. Then, four individuals took the stage that was in front of us.





“Thank you, Google for providing such a gracious event.” Said one of the jacketed speakers.

“We are here on behalf of the Indianapolis legislature and are Senators representing the great state of Indiana.” Said the Senator.

“I look around and see young men and women, working together in tech. It is truly inspiring to see such cooperation amongst you.” said the Senator.

“Over the last few years, we have seen tech companies after tech companies call Indianapolis home. Becoming a tech hub for the Midwest. ” another Senator said.

While the Senators were saying these comments. I looked around at the audience and they were all listening intently to the politician's speech. At the same time, a few of the Senators started to look familiar. I had seen them in the class I just took, the “HTML: For Beginners”. They weren’t having the easiest time deciphering the code. Yet, they had the ability to command the room with ease. With experience in Public Speaking and legislation.

(That’s me in the grey jacket in the front row, the individual in the green hoodie is Aaron)

“It is my hope and our hope that Indianapolis continues it’s an investment in growing industries like technology.” said the Senator.

“I just recently took the “HTML: For Beginners” class, although it didn’t make much sense to me.” The audience laughed.

“I looked around and saw many of the younger attendees easily going through the course and that’s what really matters. Our youth is taking interest in this field and have a much easier time at it than the some of us and that’s perfectly fine.” said the Senator optimistically.

The senators finished their lecture about Indiana and tech. After that, my new found friends and I went to the conference. We saw people and overheard their conversations, they ranged from business to mentorship to charity. Then I realized why Google was having this conference, Google was trying to build around them, not the other way around. The conference wasn’t one huge effort to convert the population into coders. Rathers, Googlers speaking with professionals to build products around them and the services they use for their small business.

What does this have to do with you and me? The best thing you can do is focus on one thing and become very good at it, like the professionals at the conference. Take for instance, can a boutique owner, “write and execute native C++ on a mobile platform and circumvent what would be exorbitant Java code?” No, more than likely, no. Could someone interested in only computer code really talk to someone about how the difference between wool and linen fabric makes them feel? Probably not, if that was me in that situation I would say their identical fabric and have little to no interest in continuing. Yet, the boutique owner would use her skills and experience to provide the best fit and fabric.

We all have different interests. What's important is that we pursue those interests and become the best we can at those things that interest us. Not, what’s trendy or what pays the most. Because you won’t pursue that one thing whole-heartedly because it does not interest you. This is why I want my peers to find what they're interested in and be an expert in that thing they find interesting. 

Collective Color - Project 3

Dennis Chavours 

EGL 101-04 

Elliott 

30 July 2020 

Collective Color

The bright lights, elite colleges, music, entertainment, fun, this is America, right? Depending on who you ask, each guest in America can experience those three things very differently. SelectUSA, a think tank specializing in economic development has recorded American Media and Entertainment industry as being the largest in the world. Recording $717 Billion in sales, representing one-third of the global media and entertainment industry (SelectUSA, 2018). Yet, are international students shown the creative process of how this happened. Are they exposed to the diversity America can provide? With plenty of acts in the Springfield art scene, we would have no trouble finding acts to show these International students. Thus we can reasonably assume: LLCC should fund a program to show international students local African-American inspired music.  

The first thing point here is discussed is also the first thing noticed by the LLCC college curriculum. At LLCC students and foreign students are required to take 2 semesters of English. Why is this the case? Looking at the course description of EGL 101--the first semester of required English-- we find the following, “Course topics include methods of invention, development, and organization; the elements of style.” What is clear is the part describing, ‘elements of style’ (EGL 101, 2018). If we were to see a presentation of local hip-hop performance, would the viewer see, ‘elements of style’? I think we can all agree.

The proposed program will also help communities of color who are disproportionately affected by income inequality (Horowitz, 2020). African-Americans and communities of color are overwhelmingly represented in music cultivation and especially rap music (Lawson, 2020). Thus, we can consider investing in the music community as investing in communities of color.

Diving further into the ethnic makeup of music I personally observe that my peers and fellow researchers automatically assume that the racial makeup consists of communities of color and as such, there has yet to be a quantitative study on the topic. To remedy this, I have examined the most popular genre in America, rap (USA Today, 2020). Of the 77 rap hits of the 2010s, only 5 of them were attributed to Euro-American rappers (Billboard List). What's more interesting is that one of those hit songs was attributed to the rapper a native Korean, Psy with the smash hit "Gangnam Style". Registering a number one hit worldwide.





Relaying to the previous point of the rap artist Psy, born in South Korea in the Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea. This brings me to my next point, International Students have an interest in African-American influenced music. The record, “Gangnam Style” a rap record, was on the Billboard top 100 list for 9 weeks (Billboard List). In recent memory the internationally famous ‘boyband’ BTS, were described as first being a hip-hop group (Vice, 2014). Also, claiming to be influenced by R&B and other African-American artists such as Beyonce and Rihana (Vice, 2014). Thus, we can see that International Students will have an interest as the successful artists in their home country are inspired by such African-American culture and artists.

The most important value offering the club can provide is a sense of belonging. According to one, Indiana University Bloomington study, “international students who are active in student organizations, International students had an overall lower sense of belonging than domestic students, and involvement in campus clubs and organizations positively impacted the sense of belonging for all students” (Indiana UIB, 2016). Thus, we know factually that International Students in clubs report higher levels of belonging. Of the students interviewed most of them were from Asian countries.  Touching back to the point of how influential Asian artists are inspired by African-American influenced art, wouldn’t it make sense for the International alum to be exposed to music they have a familiarity with and possibly a bond to? I think the answer is a defiant yes, thus the club showing international students African-American art should be made.

The best part of this club and or program is that Lincoln Land has already started initiatives similar to the one proposed in this essay. This example is in the form of the WEI or the Workforce Equity Initiative. This program started with a 1 million dollar grant to help low-income students with career training to get them into the job force in less than a year (Workforce Equity, 2020). This program is also geared to help African-Americans specifically. To quote directly, “We have a goal of 75% of participants coming from the African-American community.” Thus, we as LLCC students and staff already have a program geared to help African-Americans. The proposed program of showing international students African-American art and performances is just another form of investment that we at Lincoln Land have already done.

Critiques of the club would mention that rap and rap music is degenerate and promotes illicit behavior. A 2006 study suggested young people who listened to rap were more likely to abuse alcohol and commit acts of violence (Library of Medicine, 2006). However, this study also mentions individuals who listen to techno and reggae show a positive link to alcohol abuse and violence. So, this shows that indecent music in general can lead to violence or lawlessness. This is the reason why performances related to the proposed club should be proctored by LLCC officials. This proctoring comes in the form of no relation to the glorifying intoxicants, references to violence, or mentioning profane lyrics or subjects.

Those opposed to hip-hop culture often point to the supposed discrimination in the hip-hop industry. This discrimination comes in the form of industry insiders actively questioning the talent of White rappers. In an interview with the Harvard Political Review, chart-topping artist, Lil Dicky attributed some truth to the claim that it is actually easier for white rappers to find success in the industry. In an article by Harvard Politics, the author comes to the conclusion that rap is structured as a meritocracy. Stated colloquially, “If you can spit, you can spit.” Meaning, a college degree is not a prerequisite to having #1 billboard hit, only talent and creative potential are (Harvard Politics, 2015). Thus, individuals with credentials are not given priority in the rap industry. So the critical point that hip-hop has discriminatory practices is invalid, thus International Students will not worry about racist treatment. 

Critiques very often cite the fact that very few rappers experience professional success. The popular music streaming platform Soundcloud has over 135 million songs in it’s paid catalog (The Verge, 2019). However, only 100,000 individuals pay to use the service. One can only assume that funds are sparsely distributed amongst the artists using the streaming platform (The Verge, 2019). However, I believe that fiscally viewing the situation in an isolated situation does not quantify the value of rap as it should. Meaning, there are other ways money can be made from the art of hip-hop or R&B. At the time of this publication, the live-action musical ‘Hamilton’ has boosted the streaming service Disney Plus’s downloads by 74% (Variety, 2020). Viewing the trailers, or a description of the live-action film we find hip hop and R&B plays a focal role in the story and film.






On a personal note, I don’t know where I would be if hip-hop didn’t play such a large part in my life. We as a society are just now starting to catch on to the benefits of the art form. That’s truly what it is an art form. Some people use the written artform to write of anti-semitism while some write of peace and reconciliation. The artforms originally influenced and created by African-Americans are available to all and as it is provided to other groups we should be a part of this sharing. Art and music is a form of communication and we should reward those who create these things we enjoy. We all can agree that communities of color are involved in the arts so why don’t we pay them what they deserve? Thus, LLCC should fund a program to show international students local African-American inspired music.


References

“Media and Entertainment Spotlight.” Edited by Select USA, Media & Entertainment Spotlight | SelectUSA.gov, 2018, www.selectusa.gov/media-entertainment-industry-united-states.


Greg, Susan, et al. “The Impact of Student Organizations on Sense of Belonging for International Students.” Education Indiana Edu, 2016, spa.education.indiana.edu/journal/editions/2016/1%20Impact%20of%20Student%20Organizations.pdf.



“Explore LLCC.” Edited by LLCC Officials, Lincoln Land Community College - Lincoln Land Community College, 2018, llcc.smartcatalogiq.com/2018-2019/Catalog/Courses/EGL-English/100/EGL-101.


Ryan, Patrick. “Rap Overtakes Rock as the Most Popular Genre among Music Fans. Here's Why.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Jan. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2018/01/03/rap-overtakes-rock-most-popular-genre-among-music-fans-heres-why/990873001/.





Singley, Richard Lawson. “Roots: The Impact of Black Music on America and the World.” Medium, Noteworthy - The Journal Blog, 5 Apr. 2020, blog.usejournal.com/roots-the-impact-of-black-music-on-america-and-the-world-ed00824f7f13.


Staff, LLCC. “Explore LLCC.” Lincoln Land Community College, 2020, www.llcc.edu/public-relations-marketing/news-events/llcc-establishes-open-door-workforce-equity-initiative-with-1-million-grant/.



Spangler, Todd. “'Hamilton' Drives Up Disney Plus App Downloads 74% Over the Weekend in the U.S.” Variety, Variety, 6 July 2020, variety.com/2020/digital/news/hamilton-disney-plus-premiere-app-downloads-72-percent-1234698795/.

Deahl, Dani. “Over 200 Million Tracks Have Been Uploaded to SoundCloud.” The Verge, The Verge, 13 Feb. 2019, www.theverge.com/2019/2/13/18223596/soundcloud-tracks-uploaded-200-million.



Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Ruth Igielnik, and Rakesh Kochhar. “Trends in U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, 27 May 2020, www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/.



Mendez, Blanca. What Will Korea's Hottest New Rap Group Learn About Hip-Hop from Coolio on Their Trip to America?, 2014, www.vice.com/en_us/article/rbq3m6/bts-american-hustle-life-coolio-k-pop-hip-hop-school.

ED;, Chen MJ;Miller BA;Grube JW;Waiters. “Music, Substance Use, and Aggression.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2006, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16608146/.

Hahn, Jonah. “The Politics of Race in Rap.” Harvard Political Review, 5 Nov. 2015, harvardpolitics.com/books-arts/politics-race-rap/.

Blood On The Bank Notes - Project 2

Dennis Chavours 

EGL 101-04 

Elliott 

30 July 2020 

Blood On The Bank Notes

This poster ad and movie cover made and promoted by Miramax films show the character Daniel Plainview over an oil field. The movie is centered around an oil driller in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The film is meant to be served to a high-brow audience, those interested in the qualities consistent with an Academy Award winning film. The film was originally premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, to great critical praise. With the issue of growing income inequality in America, the movie and this ad show the ascension of a central character from poverty to generational affluence (Pew 2020). Daniels’s posh demeanor, serious look, and dress successfully depict Daniel Plainview’s intrinsic qualities of focus. This ties into the message of the ad: wealth generation only comes from ruthlessness and selfish wanting.

The first element that catches the viewer’s attention is the lettering describing the ad. This custom font shows the high class of this film, establishing the point of wealth. Notice how different this ad would be if it were to use a colloquial font such as, ‘Comic Sans’. Or even a font that was written by hand. This font is perfectly lined by line with the same amount of distance or pixels between each line. Seeing this one could get the impression that the base of this film is about class and wealth.

The element that is observant throughout each part of the ad is darkness. Notice how the actor’s face is not entirely lit on the right side. Also, you can only a silhouette on the left side. Even as dark as light as something like a towering oil fire would be, you can still barely make out the buildings underneath the tower. The light that comes from the burning tower is also not the same light still has a dark tint to it. This light seems more reminiscent of the lights coming from hell rather than heaven establishing the premise that selfishness and darker vibes are what makes an oil baron or a wealthy person in this case successful.

Looking through the silhouettes and the dark shades of the images we don’t see much. However, through the silhouette on the left side, we can see what appears to be rounded hat jeans and a sports jacket. Considering this we can come to the conclusion that the individuals in this image has at least enough money to purchase an outfit. Considering there are no holes in the sports suit or missing items. Working on the oil rig is a dirty and greasy job so a person on the premise must be a spectator or a foreman. Thus, we can see that the person watching the oil burn may be involved in the business side of things. Why would a person show up to a dangerous job uninterested in working or helping with the blaze in front of him? It is because the individual is too selfish and would prefer to have other ‘plebeians’ do the job of putting out the blaze.

Looking up through the poster we see an expression turned to the right. What is this expression? It is an expression meant to show the selfish drive of an early American oil baron. There is no joy in his face. Merely, looking to the right and focused off in the distance. This expression is keen amongst early settlers and oil barons of the time. This early look and spirit are best described best by the renowned psychologist Carl Jung. In one of Jung’s publications, he speaks about an encounter he had with a Hopi Tribal Chief in the year 1925. The Hopi elder had this to say about Euro-American settlers at the time. The confrontation went as such,

"They are always seeking something. What are they seeking? The whites always want something. They are always uneasy and restless. We don't know what they want. We think they are mad." said the chief.

“Why do these whites seem mad to you?” asked Carl Jung.

“They think with their heads . . . . We think here,” he said, indicating to his heart (Jung Page, 2013).

Looking at the left of the page we see a figure looking at this burning tower of oil. This figure seems to be standing, looking at the blaze. Why is this figure not rushing for help or extinguishing the fire in front of him? It is because he is not concerned about the ecological damage a tower like this can do. If there is oil that goes up and lands on the building, then it is not the figure’s concern. The only thing that this figure is looking at, is the bottom line. Will the damage affect the ecology if not, then there is no need to rush to fix this problem. Hence, the selfishness that can come from such a decision.

Most importantly, the letters that loom the largest in the ad is the title, ‘There Will Be Blood’. This title for the movie is used on the ad and is responsible for describing the movie and as little letters as possible. The film was originally based around the Book “Oil!” by Upton Sinclair. So why then would the filmmakers choose a name like, “There Will Be Blood”? It is to show the ruthlessness that occurred in the film and subsequent ads. With an Oil Well on fire, wouldn’t it make more sense to say it should be called, ‘There Will Be Oil’? No, because doing so would not achieve the main motif of the film and the ad: wealth generation only comes from ruthlessness and selfish wanting.

The analysis provided shows the mental depth and the depravity that the character in the movie has as well as in the ad. It is clear that he is selfish and is only concerned with money-getting. Seeing the ad we can have the first impression that it is an action movie with explosions and serious characters as a way to describe the wealthy. Does this depiction describe people of wealth and class? I think it doesn’t. The fancy fonts and organized layout, give an impression that this is a high-class people do. However, in reality, one could acquire that net worth from inheritance, luck or determination, and focus. One does not have to resort to selfishness and ruthlessness to advance one’s agenda.


References

Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Ruth Igielnik and Rakesh Kochhar. “Trends in U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, 27 May 2020, www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/.

Thomason, Written by Timothy C. “Home.” The Jung Page - Home, 2013, www.cgjungpage.org/learn/articles/analytical-psychology/881-lessons-of-jungs-encounter-with-native-americans.


“There Will Be Blood DigiPack (Korea).” Blu-Rays For Everyone, 12 Jan. 2007, www.bluraysforeveryone.com/product-p/hnejst13782.htm.