“I wrote a song called AMERIKKKA”, an open letter by artist NEO 10Y
Just over three months ago on 21 March 2016, I wrote a song called AMERIKKKA, it was at 2am one night when I was alone in London. My was mind absorbed in the madness and grief taking place all over America from a newly escalated race war further encouraged by the demon that is Donald Trump.
That same night Robert Dentmond — an unarmed 16 year old black teenager was shot to death by Gainesville and Alachua County law officers.
To any child who grew up outside of the United States, we were led to understand, simply by the sheer occupation by America of the world’s media channels (MTV, Nickelodeon) that it was the greatest country in the world. A land of opportunity, freedom and nouveau culture. What we weren’t taught is the institutionalised racism that exists at the core of its society. That, we had to find out for ourselves — from new media, live video murders, lists of the murdered innocent on Facebook — and at the peril of so many innocent lives.
I was already mad at Trump for further inciting this completely ludicrous and regressive race war. People of power should never be allowed to use racist rhetoric to win a campaign. This was new — and scary. The country we all adored had given a platform to a new age Hitler. But was it just Trump or was this sentiment built into society and now being given the absurd platform to escape when the policing of systemic racism had been suppressed itself?
All of this poured into the music — the energy, the vulnerability, the dismay, the fear, the activism. More of which is coming with every word I write here on Medium.
I’ve opted for anonymity with this body of work. My art has been celebrated around the world, but this isn’t about me and it doesn’t need the distraction— it’s about us.
If you have even the smallest artistic bone in your body, express yourself to make a change. Collectively, we need to make a positive change, we need to write and create the next wave of poetry and literature and music on racism and what we are experiencing as people of colour so that there is indeed hope for our future generations. If our heroes had never spoken out, then we would never have been given the platform to. Be the change you wish to see in the world.
So this is my verse and contribution. It is for free on SoundCloud. Part of the legacy of our work and the movement and vessel for change.
