Background Texts:
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Source 1:
Frye, Caitlin. “M.I.A's Religion and Political Views.” The Hollowverse, 2012, hollowverse.com/m-i-a/.
Read it here: www.Hollowverse.com/m-i-a/
Why is this important? This article gives some background information on M.I.A. and the circumstances in her life that may have contributed to her desire to espouse strong, political messages within her work. Understanding circumstances in the author's life is a way to better understand why their work may have been written, and why they feel so strongly about the subject matter. M.I.A's video for "Born Free" was originally taken down from YouTube for "going too far." After reading the article entry on M.I.A. and finding out that she lived through intense periods of violence and injustice, how do you think that she would respond to the removal of her video? Why? Do you think that she would consider tackling the issue of censorship next? This article encourages critical thinking that can open conversations about how life experiences have an impact on the type of content that artists/writers tend to make. Being able to recognize context is important. 
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Source 2:
Clark, Meredith. “M.I.A.'s ‘Born Free’: A Statement We Need To Hear.” Global Comment, 2016, globalcomment.com/m-i-a-s-born-free-a-statement-we-need-to-hear/.
Read it here: http://globalcomment.com/m-i-a-s-born-free-a-statement-we-need-to-hear/
Why is this important? This article gives a review of M.I.A.'s music video, "Born Free" and also shares some critical reviews that the video has received. One critical review claimed that racism in America is just "too easy a target to be useful." When discussing complex social issues, it's important to keep dialogue open-ended and keep our arguments relevant. Does M.I.A.'s music video allow the audience to form their own conclusion, and are the images portrayed "too" graphic for the subject at hand? Discussing the impact of literary works/music videos is an important way to gauge its efficiency. We can discuss how audiences respond to certain images (like violence) and how different artists/writers utilize different techniques to achieve a desired effect. This will open the door for analyzing other works that operate in different ways.

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