A woman and her family were on the way to see their grandmother in the hospital. While on the way they were pulled over for a seat belt violation. After a short exchange with the police, the officers bust out the window, tase the passenger, and drag him out of the vehicle. All of this occurred in front of his family including his children and an elderly woman.
It's pretty depressing to turn on the TV between protests in China, the United States, a civil war in Syria, fighting between Palestine and Israel. Not to mention a disease killing people by the thousands while two doctors were miraculously cured, whereas a black man did not survive his battle with Ebola. You could imagine how difficult and tense these situations are. In times like this people have always turned to music to uplift them in times of depression and the perfect song to deafen yourself to is Kendrick Lamar's newest single, I.
I personally feel as though this might be the most relevant song to a generation of people since James Brown's Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud. Say it loud was released during a time in this country when Blacks/African Americans (whatever the POC way it is to address a brother/sister) were fighting for civil rights and mutual respect amoung their racial counterparts. This song became sort of the unofficial anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. This especially resonated among the Black Panthers.
Let's fast forward to today:
"They wanna say there's a war outside and a bomb in the street. A gun in the hood and a mob of police. A rock on the corner a line full of fiends. And a bottle full of lean and a model on a scheme, yup. These days of frustration, keep y'all on ducking rotation. I duck these gold faces, post up fee-fi-fo-fum basis. Dreams of realities peace, blow steam in the face of the beast. The sky can fall down, the wind can cry now. The strong in me, I still smile, and I love myself," Kendrick Lamar.
The west coast visionary tries to remind us that we have got to remember that there is still value within you regardless of what's happening throughout the world. Crime, Police killing, riots, war, daily growing mistrust of mainstream media, we have to love ourselves. If even the government is down-trotting on your spirit at the end of the day you have to remember you are valuable. If all forces fail, realize that music and (more specifically) Kendrick Lamar is able to give you a song. Maybe even an anthem, but at the very least a reminder that you should always keep in mind... "I Love Myself"
written by: Issah Umar
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