I would love to suggest that my birthday is just a normal
day, but unfortunately it takes place on one of America’s most commercial driven
holidays. On this day most people don’t go to work and most children don’t go
to school. People give and some expect to receive gifts. Some kids believe a
fat old man in a red suit with a large white beard will shoot down their chimney.
Apparently, this man is supposed to leave some extravagant toy or violent video
game under a fake tree, and escape the scene using flying reindeers – one reindeer
even has a red nose. Many people believe this is the day Christian figure Jesus
Christ was born so they may celebrate Christmas as a way to support that
theory. Jesus Christ is one of the most recognized religious figures to have potentially
been born on this date. On December 25,
1991, I was born and even though I like to think I’m the greatest thing to
happen on earth ever, there are a lot of other things that have changed history
during the time of my birth, especially in artistic ways. In this project I will attempt to highlight the
most interesting stories and trends that show how life was on the date of my birth
(in my opinion).
Interesting stories
On December 2, 1991 The New York Times cover story was about
race relations. The articles title was ‘Black-white marriages rise, but social
acceptance lags’. This article Discussed
interracial marriage. As the US confronted persistent racial bigotry. Interracial
couples were quietly trying to bridge two increasingly alienated worlds. Some didn’t
even tell their parents that they were married and have children.
On December 3,
1991 Hulk Hogan defeated Undertaker to become 4th time WWF champion. My family
has always supported the WWF/WWE and Hulk Hogan was my older brother’s favorite
wrestler of all time.
On December 7,
1991 The New York times published a story about the climate around sports and
the influence entertainers had on the population then. The article title was ‘H.I.V.
tests up 60 percent since the disclosure from Magic Johnson’. This article stated
that the number of people being tested for the HIV virus had increased almost
60 percent in New York City and had risen sharply throughout the nation in the
month since Earvin (Magic) Johnson announced that he was infected with the
virus.
On December 25, 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president
of the Soviet Union (the union itself is dissolved the next day). Ukraine’s
referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.
Fashion:
In the
early 90’s people were wearing a lot of different colors. I assume the popular
thing to do was to not match colors. Although, this was also during the rise of
explicit Hip hop and many people influenced by NWA type musicians were wearing
only black and white.
People were also wearing Michael Jordan’s signature Nike
shoe. The pair that was released in 91 are referred to as the “Jordan VI”. Here’s
the commercial
Music:
The Michael
Jackson "Black or White" video generated controversy by the video's
last four minutes in which Jackson smashes windows, vandalizes a car and causes
a building to explode, as well as suggestively grabs his crotch repeatedly
while dancing. Classic MJ. You can check out the video here
Movies:
The John Singleton directed Boyz N the Hood was released in
1991 to critical acclaim. The movie has been noted as culturally significant
since its release. Here’s the trailer for the movie
The James Cameron directed Terminator 2: Judgment Day was
released in 1991. The film's production costs were $102 million, which, at the
time, was the highest ever. Here’s the trailer
On the date of my birth there were a lot of things already
in motion to change the way we see entertainment and things that impacted politics
as well. Of course, some of the issues of race and HIV awareness are still
issues that we struggle with today, but we are still making progress, which is
good. The King of Pop has died. And after my birth all the terminator movies
stopped looking good. But at least Michael Jordan and Nike are still dishing out new shoes,
and Ice Cube still looks the same after 20 years (minus the Jerry curl). Everything has been enhanced over time as far as our acceptance of certain people or certain forms of art, and that's what I learned from studying the time around the date of my birth.
