WE WANT TO EAT!

      

  Hello. 

In my class, SDG's & You, we explore the light of the Sustainable Development Goals specifically through Hip Hop and reading. For this essay I will explore the topic of struggling and hungry people and the promotion of healthy eating both literally and figuratively.

    Hip Hop has always had its impact. It’s a word spoken from a whisper that gradually grows louder with all kinds of emotion. It’s a communal art form for people of all different colors and backgrounds. This essay is being written to showcase that Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) By Bob Marely and Be Healthy by Dead Prez are great examples of SDG #1: No Poverty. Though the experiences differ, one can easily argue their relation to the first SDG.

    In Them Belly Full, Bob Marley used terminology for "system-driven hunger" to express how individuals reacted to their circumstances. Marley, who'd been born within "British" Jamaica, had experience with oppression, as reflected by the lyrics of his song. The first example of his song connecting to Zero Hunger reads, “A hungry mob is an angry mob," This quote is a warning to those who are presented with higher power, the poor have only grown poorer and hungrier, so they are soon to rebel and rise above the few. My next example states, “A yut a yook but yood nah nuff.” This is translated to “There is a pot to cook but not enough food.” This is possibly a reference to the fact that a local resident works to support oneself and a family but is not paid enough for their labor to do so, causing for consecutive hunger and near starvation. Another great quote is, “You’re going to dance to Jah music, dance." Many people, especially in the 1900's would use dance as an escape for the constant reminder of their lack of both food and justice, dance was considered "soul feeding". One portion of this song can be connected to our reading of Can't Stop, Won't Stop. There are many examples in this book where people of less power have had to band together and stick up for themselves, such as when women were not recognized in Hip Hop though play a large role in what Hip Hop is and was. Many continued to work hard and made men recognize them--they fought for what they were hungry for. Bob Marely uses a metaphorical and literal term for hunger to fight for the “nutrients” of justice in both the hunger of the poor and people of color.

In Be Healthy, Dead Prez uses examples of what they eat and what they feel is healthy eating to promote their belief. One example of this is the quote, “No fish though, no candy bars, no cigarettes” the lyrics is what one may call dismissive of widely popular but unhealthy things. The second lyric I would like to display quotes the following, “Only ganja and fresh-squeezed juice from oranges." This is an example of how Dead Prez shows encouragement throughout the song without directly saying so. My final example is as follows, “Cause true wealth comes from good health, and wise ways." One could argue that this can bring you back to the point of Bob Marely's song, when hunger is unfulfilled it is hard to grow rich in justice and in health.

The quote "Life brings life, it's valuable." one may feel is deeply connected to the reading of Between the World and Me. In this book, the author talks about "losing" and "protecting your body" this applies to all aspects of health: knowledge, nutrition, etc. Every part of your "body" is of value. In order to protect the body of a child for example, you would need to protect yourself.

Both Bob Marely and Dead Prez use their songs to advocate for the end of hunger. They, overall, are about the fight for better nutrition balances and display the 'consequences' of being left of hunger or unhealthy eating. Though, one should also note that in Bob Marely song, it is to show how the hungry cope with being hungry while Dead Prez has reached the SDG of Zero Hunger and have better options to choose from. For many reasons, these songs strive for justice in a system of food.