Why Can’t We Be Friends? Because America Has No Intention To…
Black Music Month is a Reminder that As Black Folk Have Used Music As an Olive Branch to American Society, Systemic Racism Always Breaks the Branch
When I think of Black music, racism doesn’t immediately come to mind. However, when I really think about Black music, I reflect on how much of it is steeped in the Black freedom struggle.
Albums such as Young, Gifted and Black by Aretha Franklin, What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye, and Red, Black and Green by Roy Ayers are beautiful reminders of our struggle to be seen as human; amongst ourselves as well as by mainstream America.
What’s made the endeavor of Black music even more liberating is the ability of Black musicians and artists to highlight the humanity of all by emphasizing the humanity of Black folk. The power behind the phrase Black Lives Matter is that it doesn’t asserts the humanness of Black lives in isolation. Rather, the phrase bridges Black humanity with the human family; challenging the social constructs that see us simply as creations of a manufacturer.
