This situation was about the empty space on the train. It’s called a situation because it’s something that happens to a lot of people. Many people can relate to this. There can be good situations and there can be bad situations. In this case it was about the empty seat on the train. 

The moving images match with the text of the book. Whenever she would talk about the darkness or the silence in the text there would be darkness in the movie. The images and text would match up and it really helped me understand more about what this situation was. When she talks about empty space I feel like it’s the topics or conversations we avoid talking about.  This empty space and this darkness is sort of awkward. You see that empty seat on the train but people start looking at you and judging you. They see you and make it very clear that you shouldn’t sit there and they just want to be alone. Maybe the people don’t actually feel that way but the facial expressions show that. 

This relates to rankies other stories in the text because she talks a lot about invisibility and this situation kinda reminds me of that. The way the people were being treated in this situation was if they were invisible and people didn’t care about how they felt. In this situation, Rankie was talking about a moment in which a woman on the train asked to switch seats with a man so she can sit next to her kid. The man looks at Rankie and basically asks without saying anything that she should get up. Its as if her opinion doesn’t matter. It would be nicer to politely ask the other person if they would get up but it’s rude since the lady asked the man and he ignored. In Rankies other text she talk about when she was in school and how a girl used to cheat off of her. She wondered if the teacher ever noticed their answers were the same and if she didn’t was it because she was not seen by the teacher. Or in another text she talk about a boy who was pushed and shoved by a man who just kept walking by and didn’t say anything. She wondered if it was because they were not seen. 

Overall I feel like reading the text and watching the film separately did help me understand it better. I felt like the images were very clear in conveying the message to the viewers.

In 2011, 685,724 NYPD stops were recorded, 605,328 were innocent (88%), 350,743 were Black (53%), and 61,805 were white (9%). In 2011, 33.3% of NYC residents were white while 22.8% were black. Without even looking too deeply into these numbers, you can see the sickeningly disproportionate disparity in the frequency of frisks compared to population size. In case it’s too hard to put these numbers together, 18.8% of the black population of NYC was stopped while 2.3% of the white population was stopped even though their population size is significantly larger.

Why include these numbers? Well simply put, this shit is just unacceptable. Stop-and-frisk was one of the most controversial usages of “probable cause” ever implemented in the country, specifically New York City where a racial disparity became apparent immediately, reaching its fever pitch in 2011. Rankine’s lyric poem condemning the use of this purposefully racist policy rang too close to home for many victims of this abuse as the situation she described “fit the description” of too many cases of these stops. Often times they escalated far beyond the initial stop due to many reasons: police purposely agitating the victim during the stop, the victim’s increased annoyance during times in which they believed they shouldn’t have been stopped, onlookers commenting when their input was unwarranted, etc. The situation itself was seen as not only embarrassing for the person being frisked, but also the officers frisking the person as its racial biases were just too apparent. For some anecdotal evidence, when Hunter College was still open for in person classes, I passed by the stop-and-frisk table dozens of times and never got stopped once, however my Muslim friend who wears a hijab was stopped 4 times during her tenure as a student. It got to the point where she stopped wearing her bag on her back as she knew it was coming so holding it in her hand made it easier and quicker for her to put on the table to be inspected before, sooooo surprisingly and unexpectedly, being innocent of any wrong doings. This is all because of the fact that she is seen “as the guy and still you fit the description because there is only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description”.

Rankine’s lyrics put this type of event as a “situation” as situation often refers to a negative event or occurrence that normally has an equally negative, irrational outcome as a result of a common misunderstanding. Many of these stop-and-frisk situations were just that: police with the inability to distinguish suspicion from black skin and instead intertwined the two to make black people easy targets for this abuse. For people who haven’t experienced being stopped, it’s easy to say “just stay calm, if you did nothing wrong then you should be fine” without understanding that the system is set up for tensions to rise purposely. One instance of this are stopping people in the subway system, a notoriously hot place, knowing that heat is a frequent agitator. Another instance is taking a long time to search the smallest of bags when people are clearly in a rush.

The video shot in conjunction with this situation shows scenes of young, black men in a store trying on clothes while audio of a random stop plays in the background. This is because these young men are often “the only one guy who is always the guy fitting the description”. The words that they say to each other are inaudible, which is purposely done to essentially give the reader the “cops’ ears” as pleas of obvious innocence from victims of the police tend to fall on the deaf ears  officers who know they’re in the wrong. As a means of ensuring that their time didn’t go to waste, they often detain people illegally and charge them with minor crimes they clearly didn’t commit. This theme of “abuse of authoritative power” is commonly used throughout Rankine’s book in many situations, ranging from police officers to court officials.

Stop-and-frisk was some bullshit and it’s about time we just face that fact.

Reading of a literature text can be somewhat complex . It may take a lot for the reader to effectively come to the conclusion of what the author is trying to convey. Which often contributes to a slower processing of information and also leading to misunderstandings. When images and other forms of videos are combined with a text. It then adds more room for a deeper grasp of the message conveyed. Along with allowing the reader to become more engaged with the text.

As you know, humans first response to learning is through sight and all the senses there after. Claudia Rankine “situation 5“ script, produced by herself and john Lucas  appealed to both the visual and auditory processing . With  the use of moving images ,sound and narrative. It brought more depth to Rankine text exhibiting each situation as they would be in real life.

While reading the text the themes of oppression, imprisonment both of self and body was reflected . In addition, the themes of sadness, pain , hope, pride ,slavery, death, racism, and micro-aggression. It  took a  while to really visualize and analyze each Situation. However, the visual representation of the text through moving images had a different effect. Strength, and determination was what I saw at first glance on the black man looking through the window . Secondly, the smile he had on his face along with a look that suggested great anticipation.  Which made me look back  to the text  where it’s states “ my brothers are notorious (pg89).” While reading these first few lines I did  not  see the image of a strong man. However, the video gave a different perspective. The sound of the birds brought calmness to scene.  Yet there was still sadness beneath the surface as the reflection of the man bore a sadness. As the flim goes on there’s a sense of internal turmoil, and defeat. Awaiting a freedom that seems so close yet far from reach.  I also noticed the colors of grey, blue, and red . As it leads into a scene of two white police officers beating a black man on the ground. Which brought a vivid description of what Rankine ment by “don’t hang up. My brother hangs up though he is there (pg90).” This image in the flim provoked the issue of police brutality and the imprisonment of black men . Both physically and mentally. Demonstrating the fight to hold on to hope and what fragments of life they have. It’s almost as if they have no life and death is the shadow which follows them.

Though, reading the novel brought a sense of familiarity to each situation. I felt a deeper connection seeing the  images of historical moments and landmarks ; such as the plantation , slave trade , Dr Martin Luther King , and Malcom X. All these  monumental moments in history for black men and women. Moreover, these notorious black  activists who fought for the liberation of the black society . In addition , a reminder of the power the black society have as a united front. Most  importantly highlighting the depressing fact that the black community still fights until this day. These  moving images were able to place my mind within that time and space. Allowing me to feel each word as Claudia spoke and grieved at each moment.  I felt anger , sadness and pride as if it was me. I believe this is the reason behind Rankine reproducing her printed text in this way. To give her readers a sense of reality. Allowing them to see what she sees in this world. Along with sharing the emotions that exist within these situations. She’s giving her audience a broader platform to expand and explore her concept of citizen’s . In addition , appealing  to a wider group of all age, race and learning capabilities. I say this because if they can not read they will be able to listen and see. Thus, supplementing her text in this manner makes it universal.

The first situation Rankine discusses in Section VI of Citizen is the situation of Hurricane Katrina explained with various quotes from CNN. This is called a situation because it is a historical event no one was sure how to deal with at the time. The media and the people on the ground we’re scrambling for a response which made Hurricane Katrina a situation without a solution. The text emphasizes this unknown feeling and situates the reader to view Katrina from the perspective of uncertainty. The major theme of the situation is the helplessness black people feel when subjected to the whims of white society. Black people are at the mercy of the whites’ willingness to help them and are shown that they won’t get the help they deserve. This is reminiscent of the scene in Section I where a black woman is meeting her trauma therapist in person for the first time. When the woman walks down the path and rings the bell she is yelled at immediately in a way that solidified her unworthiness in the eyes of the white therapist. She is not given a moment to add her voice to the narrative which is what the world did when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005. The world immediately looked at the weather report they didn’t look to the people who were actually being impacted.  The world didn’t see the trauma they were causing by not helping just as the trauma therapist didn’t see the trauma she caused to the black woman by making her feel like a wounded dog. When the therapist finally apologizes it is too late just as when help finally arrives to those victimized by Katrina it is too late because people will go home to their “own dead child.” (Rankine,84). There is a clear feeling of hopelessness on the part of black people living in a white society that Rankine establishes over and over again in her narrative. 

Additionally, Rankine includes the quotes “Where were they? Where was anyone? This is a goddamn emergency.” (Rankine,83) to represent the fear and frustration everyone was feeling at that time. CNN began explaining this frustration as the result of “the classic binary between the rich and the poor, between the haves and the have nots, between the whites and the blacks.” (Rankine,83). This reminds the audience that the reason why there was a disparity in the response and the reason why no one comes to help is because they were coming to help black people. The emergency response agencies like FEMA said it was “unsafe to be there” (Rankine, 84) when in reality “they all want to stay in Texas”. (Rankine,84). The white privileged world forgot their responsibility to the underprivileged black people drowning in difficulty. The film alongside Rankine’s text shows the people drowning in harsh black and white imaging. One can see people on makeshift boats struggling to stay afloat and being forced to leave people behind as their homes crumbled behind them, all without an emergency vehicle in sight. These devastating images are the background of the meteorologist storm report which circles the screen. It is a path of destruction and Rankine and John Lucas allow us to see the destruction is caused. Rankine’s audio over the video states “I don’t know what the water wanted. It wanted to show you that no one would come. “(Rankine,85). The water in the form of the Hurricane proved to the poor black people living in Louisiana and around the world that no one will come in their moment of need. They will be left with only the eerie sounds of the wind blowing calling out to people who aren’t even listening. Watching the visual representation of the effects of Katrina put a huge damper on the progress of the world. America as a country has promised equality and freedom for all but when it comes down to a white man risking his life for a black man they decide to “stay in Texas.” (Rankine, 84). However, Rankine knew how to capture the attention of an audience. By integrating different forms of media into her text she is proving herself as a writer of the 21st century. She knows that many people consume information through visual media therefore to effectively communicate her ideas she makes them accessible through visual and auditory platforms. She knows the advantage she has and the wealth of knowledge at her disposal and uses that to reach the broadest audience possible and try to uplift the black community and squash despair to bring about a solution to the situation.