Positive Sociology

Now that I'm in my 30s, I regularly experience moments that make me feel old. Today I had one of those realizations: It's been 20 years since Nas dropped "Illmatic." Wow! Illmatic For those who don't know, "Illmatic" is widely considered one of THE most influential Hip Hop albums of all-time.  If you asked around, you'd be hard pressed to find a serious 'head' who doesn't rank it in the top-5 Hip Hop albums.  Some might even put it in the top 3. There are lots of reasons for why Illmatic is such an important album.  I would argue that it should be required listening for all high school students in the US.  Some of you might smirk at that idea, but it's really an important testament to the kind of creativity that emerges from poverty, racism, and harsh conditions in ghettoes across the world.  In this way, we can think of Illmatic like a primer for the uninitiated. Anyways, here are three reasons why Illmatic is still d...

Remember Oscar Pistorius?  He's the South African runner who made headlines for competing in the Olympics on prosthetic legs. Shortly after the games, he made headlines again for shooting and killing his girlfriend, South African model Reeva Steenkamp.   He testified today in his murder trial . Pistorius and Steemkamp at an all white party The details of this shooting are very bizarre. Pistorius and his defense team claim that the fatal shooting was a big mistake.  According to their story, Pistorius thought that intruders were breaking into his house through a tiny bathroom window.  After hearing the sounds, he went for his gun and fired a number of rounds from his 9mm pistol.  They also claim that he was doing all of this on his stumps, without the aid of his prosthetics. The prosecution is arguing that Pistorius premeditated the shooting and may have shot Steenkamp in a jealous rage.  Different media sources report that Steemkamp may have recei...

If you have 90 minutes and love documentaries, you might want to check out Narco Cultura .  It's on Netflix and is a powerful, visually stunning, and sobering look at the drug cartel wars in and around Juarez. This is one of the best documentaries I've seen in awhile.  It's certainly the best one I've seen on the drug wars in Mexico.  The film is directed by Shaul Schwarz , an award-winning Israeli photojournalist.  This is his debut film and it really makes a mark.  The scenes are just stunning.  Schwarz and his crew capture the grinding, dusty poverty along the US-Mexico border. They also show you communities and families who are destroyed by all the chaos and killing. Ironically, they also show you people whose fortunes are tied to different cartels.  Most of the documentary follows a young guy living in Los Angeles who is an aspiring "narcocorrido" singer.  "Narcocorrido" is a type of Mexican folklore music that tells the stories of drug...