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Transcript

HOW

WHY

AAVE:

WHEn

good enough for entertainment but not for the boardroom?

By Travis Jackson

African american Vernacular English

Research Project

WHAT

What is AAVE?

AAVE

AAVE

African American Vernacular English has been classified as a non-standard English for centuries. It has been referred to as “Black English” , “Ebonics” , "Black English Vernacular” or even "Ghetto Talk" among those who speak Standard American English.

The Problem?

The Problem

Despite its classification, it is still a speakable language that can be logically explained. Aside from its community, where is AAVE accepted as a language? We saw Rachel Jeantel have her testimony thrown out in the Trayvon Martin Case because it was seen as mutually unintelligible. There have been cases where law enforcement does not connect with communities that speak AAVE. We watch laws put in place that dispel the idea that AAVE is a language of the lower class.

The Question?

The Question?

What industries are accepting of AAVE and how have some people been able to achieve levels of success with their AAVE. We watched President Obama code switch his way into office not for one term, but for two terms and it was not on just his AAVE alone. What are the professional areas where AAVE is accepted and what are the professional areas where SAE remains the domain forcing the speaker to codeswitch?

Why is AAVE accepted mostly in the entertainment industry and not other industries? Why is AAVE good enough for fun activities but not serious business? Why is AAVE unacceptable when it comes to certain areas of Corporate America? We watch the music industry and see generations of artist that have achieved levels of success with AAVE. What is the level of acceptance by corporate sponsors? Are these people within the industry using AAVE when working on their business dealings or are they code switching as President Obama did to get to ahead?

The

Research

The Research

Gaining Access

Gaining Access

You would start with individuals have achieved or are achieving levels of success and work your way down the chain of individuals who are coming up the ranks to understand their path and the challenges they may be facing along the way. With the individuals who are already successful, you are receiving their testimonies of the challenges they have faced or may continue to be facing with the use of AAVE. You begin to develop a rapport with the individuals who are making the decisions to elevate those who are successful. You could also do some background research with archival data to see if there has been any data to support this research assessment. What industries are currently embracing AAVE and are supporting the use of the language not just for economical gains. If there is any data to reflect the research, you can build off that. Currently, you have some rap artist such as Snoop Dogg who is being embraced by Corporate America. We could start with him and the community he connects with. We could also interact in communities where AAVE is spoken on a regular basis and interview residents of the community to understand the challenges they may have in certain professional settings with AAVE.

Successful individuals that have achieved

Examples

Shawn Carter

Shawn Carter

Shawn Carter better known as "Jay-Z" is an American Businessman that was born and raised in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn,NY. His rise to fame came

from being an Entrepreneur to Rapper/Songwriter that elevated him to becoming a Record Producer/ Executive. His business dealings have grown his empire to a net worth billion dollars which made him the first hip-hop artist to conquer this feat.

Percy Miller

Percy Miller

Percy Miller better known as "Master P"is an American Businessman that was born in New Orleans. His rise to fame came from being a Rapper/ Record Producer. He was the founder of the record label No Limit Records that by 2009

earned more than 661 million dollars. His business ventures have taken him into film, fashion,philanthropy and many other industries.

calvin

Broadus Jr.

Calvin Broadus Jr.

Calvin Broadus Jr. better known as "Snoop Doggy Dogg"is an American Rapper that was born in Long Beach, California. His rise to fame came as a Rapper/Songwriter that lead to him becoming an Actor and Media Personality.

data

Data

Types of Data

types of Data

In person interviews and hands on fieldwork would be the best way to acquire data. You could record the data that you are accumulating for your research. When researching the music industry, you could create an independent documentary about the artist highlighting the use of AAVE in their business dealings. The reason you would put it in documentary form is because you and that artist would benefit from filming the interaction. You would get detailed information for your research that is genuine, and the artist would be able to use this opportunity to elevate their brand. Most artist in the music industry are always trying to move up the ranks and a documentary highlighting the highs and lows of their journey gives them more credibility with their audience. With the documentary, you would be able to sit in on meetings to understand the interactions that take place with the individual using AAVE. You could also use archived data of the individuals. For artist in the music industry, there are music samples displaying the use of AAVe and produced work that is already mainstreamed. With this data already available, you could build on your research with the one on one interviews with the individuals to get an understanding on how their AAVE contributed to the existing work. You could interview the producers of the mainstreamed work to understand if the artist they was producing use of AAVE ever stood in the way of their decisions of doing business with the artist. This could also work with entertainers in the film industry as well as political stages.

Data

Collection

Data Collection

The documentary will present real time data of the use of AAVE by the individual in their daily lives. You can make the recording sessions informal and spontaneous as you collect your data. You can create an atmosphere for you and the individual where they will become more comfortable around you with the personal approach rather than being some interviewer asking open-ended questions. The process will be time consuming because now you will be required to shadow this individual in their daily routines to get the data you are looking for. By shadowing every interaction, you will see what challenges the individual will have with the use of AAVE.

Building a network that will give you the access to the individuals you are looking to work with and research is the key to understanding what the challenges are. The biggest difficulty will be getting the individuals to trust you enough to open up to you so that your data is not skewed with inconsistencies.

Conclusion

Possible Outcomes

Possible Outcomes

This research could create a blueprint for those working their way up the ladder of success. This research could highlight some inconsistencies within domains that SAE has the control. The ability to uncover where the challenges lie can springboard opportunities to make changes to systems that look at AAVE as mutually unintelligible. Creating documentaries about the lives of individuals that use AAVE in their everyday lives and where they are accepted could change the narrative of how this language is perceived. It could begin to educate those who do not understand AAVE to look at it through a different lens.

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