Culture
(cultural and social norms, attitudes, beliefs)
Images and Politics
These notes are from a walking tour taken September 18, 2007, by Scott and Kim:
When you walk around any neighborhood, or almost any space occupied by people, you can spot artifacts of politics and social norms. Dinkytown is a wonderful example of political images on display, where we can see that even being anti-establishment can turn into its own social orthodoxy. The setting is an urban, university community within a state considered to have a dominant political leaning — though assumptions about any state should be questioned. Still, the political nature of the community is on display via posters, flyers, bumper stickers, and graffiti.
Alternative bands and music festivals are promoted on many surfaces. The photo of a natural montage of these is actually the side of a trash can. The top of the can was also covered with stickers, some political and most promoting bands.
The City Pages is similar to L.A. Weekly or The Village Voice. It is an alternative publication that features a handful of news items, one long investigative piece, lots and lots of entertainment listings, and personal ads that get quite personal. The play on "Minnesota Nice" parallels a series of taglines used by AM 950 in the Twin Cities.
AM 950 is a "progressive" radio station, which was playing quietly in one used bookstore we entered. The station calls on listeners to take action and "stop being nice" to "the Bush crime family" and "sell-out Democrats in D.C." A handful of Air America stickers appeared on cars in Dinkytown, as well. These are slightly dated, since AM 950 is now primarily a Nova M station, a network formed to carry hosts deemed too controversial for Air America when that network entered bankruptcy. Two bumper stickers promoted Mike Malloy ("Hello, Truthseekers!"), a radio host carried by AM 950 who regularly suggests 9/11 was a "Neocon, PNAC, plot to get us into an oil war."
Another obvious poltical comment is documented by a picture of a Wall Street Journal vending maching. Across the glass, the word "LIES" appears in capital letters. This graffiti appears above an advertisement proclaiming the paper is "On Sale Every Day!" — leading to the single thought: "Lies on sale every day!"
The Wake Student Magazine is a weekly, student-operated news and entertainment publication. University of Minnesota students from many disciplines do all of the reporting, writing, editing, illustration, photography, layout and business management for The Wake.
The Battle of Dinkytown Lives On, an article from the Minnesota Daily on the Red barn protests of dinkytown
About.com's Dinkytown Photo Tour!
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