It feels like just yesterday that I flew out to California to watch Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, debut his new album, Awaken, My Love, in a mesmerizing performance in the desert of Joshua Tree. But that was almost two years ago. We have since learned that Donald’s next album as Childish Gambino would be his last. Concert dates were announced, tickets were purchased, trip plans were made (see you in September, Madison Square Garden!), and yet that feeling of having just seen him was still there. So when he decided to drop the link to his new song and revolutionary music video during his debut hosting of SNL, it took me by surprise, to say the least.

I know concert dates means an artist has or will be releasing a new album/music, but for some reason, I never made the connection that new Childish Gambino music would be on its way soon. So when his new song, This Is America, was dropped like that, seemingly out of the blue, I was as excited as a little kid going to Disneyland on his birthday.

I was actually in an Airbnb in Montreal when I got the notification that Donald had tweeted out the link to the music video. I pulled it up on my phone, turned the music up, and played it for the people I was with. However, I had the screen facing away from me; I was just listening, not watching. I don’t know how much they saw before I got too excited and put the phone up to my ear to listen to it more closely. It sounded dope. He was reverting from the retro-funk/soul style of his last album to more of what he’s been known for his whole music career. I liked it.

And then I watched the music video. Mind. Blown.

I should know better than to underestimate Donald. I have been following him since Community and Camp. I relate to his music so much and find so much inspiration in it. He is my motivation for starting this blog (and using his song lyrics as titles). I knew his next (and final) album would be good, but after Awaken, My Love, I did not know in which direction he would go. More funk and soul? Back to hip-hop and rap? Well, he surprised us all by not only returning to rap but getting super REAL on us all, too. More real then he’s been in the past as he did not hold back any punches with this one.

Following along in the same vein as fellow artists Logic (1-800-273-8255, America, basically his whole album Everybody) and J. Cole (Kevin’s Heart, ATM), Donald dropped a song and video full of symbolism and hidden messages relating to current events. And he hit the nail on the head. Donald shows us in his video how society uses entertainment to distract from real issues. Celebrity gossip, movies, sports, music, new dances, etc. We let all of that stuff distract and blind us to the real issues enveloping our country. He highlights how it often seems that only a few days after a mass shooting has occurred, the nation moves on and forgets about it, until the next one happens that is, cause there always seems to be a next one, unfortunately. If you watch the video, you notice that after each shooting, the gun is placed gently on a red cloth and taken away, symbolizing how it too often seems that guns have more rights and are protected more than humans. Later on in the video, there is a pause in the music at the 2:44 mark. It lasts for 17 seconds, to honor the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Suffice it to say I am really hyped about the rest of his album and cannot wait to see him perform live again in September. There is so much going on in this country right now and it has been weighing on me heavily. Kanye is acting crazier than usual and making outrageous claims. White people keep calling the cops on persons of color for everyday things like shopping for prom clothes, falling asleep while studying, checking out of an Airbnb, attending a college tour, waiting for a friend at Starbucks, golfing, and so many others it is downright ridiculous. There are so many more examples, recent examples, that I could highlight also, not to mention the killings of unarmed black still taking place (Diante Yarber, who was just waiting in his car for a friend to finish shopping in Wal-Mart, and Stephon Clark, who was standing in his grandmother’s backyard facing away from the cops with only a phone in his hands for two examples).

I do not understand why people of color are being perceived as so threatening to some people that they feel the need to call the cops on us for basically just existing. It wastes the cops time, the cops feel pressure to make something out of nothing in an attempt to justify being called, and the initial caller gets off scot-free. If you file a false police report, you will get punished. People should get the same thing for making calls to the police because of their prejudice. And if they do not recognize that it was their prejudice that prompted them to call the cops on a black woman for sleeping in the common room, then they should be forced to attend racial sensitivity training so they can learn why their actions are not okay. Not all racism is blatant and loud. Most of the time it is subtle racism and microaggressions that POC face on a daily basis. Education on those could go a long way in changing the way people interact with POC.

Seeing these stories every week has been extremely frustrating, almost instilling a sense of hopelessness in me, because I want these incidents to stop, but where do we start? Are people not taught to not judge a book by its cover anymore? Cause it is only black people I hear described as a “thug”. I long for the day when we will not be judged solely on the color of our skin, but sadly today is not that day. We are better than we were and more white allies join the fight every day, but we are still not there yet. Racism has not gone away and this is not anything new. The only difference now is more people have cell phones and the ability to record these interactions live and disseminate them immediately to the public (thank god for that).

So that’s why I am so happy artists like Gambino, Logic, and J. Cole are making music with such political and social overtones. They are a bright light in a sea of darkness, helping me to escape when it gets too much, and fueling my strength and resolve when I am ready to take a stand and use my voice. Such as I am doing now. Because I do not want to be quiet anymore. I cannot. Racists and Nazis should be called out for their behavior, not only because it is wrong, but because that is something they can change. I cannot change being black, just like others cannot change being latinx, Asian, or gay. We should not be harassed or attacked for it and we must hold those aggressors accountable. Things need changing in this country and I am going to be a part of that. I hope you will join me.

 

The lyrics for this post’s title came from Childish Gambino’s This Is America