–By Jenna Szymanski–
New Jersey City University’s Assistant Director of Campus Life, Jeffrey Dessources also known as MrJeffDess, poses two simple questions with his upcoming collection of haiku entitled “Deconstructing Ratchet”: “what is ratchet?” and “do you want to be considered ratchet?”
“The idea behind this collection is to uncover the reality of what it really means to be ratchet. You deconstruct to find the truth, and you build up from that. What people don’t see is that there is a detrimental aspect to ratchet culture,” Dessources said.
An essay written by Steven Hall, which focused on deconstructing pop culture, inspired Dessources to think critically about the direction pop culture has taken.
He began the collection with thirteen different definitions of the word “ratchet” from different people from a plethora of races, different genders, as well as different age groups.
“I opened in this style because the main focus of the book is to try and discover an accurate definition of ratchet. I really wanted to see what everyone was thinking,” stated Dessources. The definitions he found range from “the tool” (Dessources, 1) to “really dirty and ghetto, Violent and unsafe” (Dessources, 2) to “I’m not really sure, it’s not good though” (Dessources, 2).
The negative connotation of the term ratchet is associated with being ghetto and in some cases it is also associated with being part of a low socioeconomic class. This term has a positive connotation that some pop stars—Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber in particular—have adopted.
“Urban culture created the idea of ratchet, but rich stars popularized it and gained fame from it. The people who were at the genesis of this term are still in the same place, fighting the same battles. People do not understand that there is danger associated with this term. Paul Mooney inspired one of my haiku’s. He addressed the concept of white pop culture taking on black culture, but not wanting the backlash that comes along with it,” states Dessources.
Dessources draws attention this idea of ignoring the negative stereotypes of ratchet in the haiku pictured. Stars like Miley Cyrus are praised for twerking on stage as well as smoking marijuana at an award show; Justin Bieber’s fans forgave him and still listen to his music after being arrested while driving under the influence, but the communities who created this culture cannot alleviate themselves from the damaging image that has been placed upon them.
Other haiku focus on how music has changed. “The historical tradition of black music, specifically funk music, was created by people who had something of value to say. There’s an old saying that funk music was created by people who wanted to curse but didn’t. Now, music that is considered to be ratchet is degrading, specifically to women, violent, and about sex,” stated Dessources.
