I’m not going to lie, when I first read these two articles I did not understand a single thing, especially half of the vocabulary. It was frustrating trying to keep up on the first couples of pages, as well as the density of it because it felt like I was reading a thick textbooks. But as I continued, it all started to make sense as well as educate me to things I never even knew. For instance, the article ‘Music, Power, and Practice” by Maureen Mahon, it was both eye opening and made me see things that were already there but I just never paid close attention to. The fact that people are categorized automatically into certain genres of music based on their identity and that they are not aren’t expected to thrive in others where they might be the minority is unfair. I feel like people should be entitled to be or do who they want and not have to worry about people thinking they do not belong. After reading this article, when I think about it, I do notice that it’s rare to see things like a Black Country singer, or a white rapper who are actually famous because it’s as if they never had a chance. When these kinds of things happen, it is as if they are going against the rules of people in power of music, which is kind of true because they’re thinking outside the box. Since I’m not a musician, I can’t really relate to this article, but it was interesting to learn about. When reading “Music and Movements:  The Tradition Continues” by Peter Dreier and Dick Flacks, I really enjoyed this piece because of music’s impact on people. What really spoke to me was that folk music didn’t just speak to people in America, but it also spread to different parts in the world and was used during protest and boycotts. Also just the fact that music can create such a huge change is really powerful in my eyes because it brings out a lot of emotions and unites people. What stood out to me in this article was all the songs being mentioned from the mid 1900’s such as “Respect”, and “A change is gonna come” that were used for protest really did make a difference around the world because it gave, for example black people confidence to go fight to equal rights, as well as come together. Those specific songs, and others like it aren’t just songs to dance to with friends, they were created with messages to people to stand up and fight for what’s right. Whether you hear it or not, there is always a hidden message in music. I like how music, out of all things can be a very powerful weapon to protest with, and that one voice can impact millions, such as Joan Baez, who worked with a number of monumental people. I can personally relate to this article by having music impact my life and lift me up when I was going through hard times. Whenever I am having a bad day I can just listen to my favorite song, and I seem to feel a lot better. Similarly, just like today in the twenty-first century, the impact of folk music still continues by artists such as the late Michael Jackson who created songs like “They don’t really care about us” , and “We are the world” which are still used today for campaigns like world hunger.  When it comes the 1900’s, that was probably the century where a lot of different groups of people were fighting for multiple things such as, freedom, jobs, integration, voting rights, citizenship, and many more but did not have nothing in common except, music. Music, in my opinion, is the key to everything, because come on, who doesn’t like music? Whenever I listen to music I get goose bumps on my arms, as if the beat is vibrating through me because it’s just that powerful, no matter what genre. In the end, both articles really educated me on the power music holds, and the positive effects it can put out during hard times.