Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: SOUND & COLOR: THE ALBUMS, 2015.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

SOUND & COLOR: THE ALBUMS, 2015.

11/d'angelo & the vanguard/black messiah

there's been too much weeping. too much senseless violence and brown lives cut short too soon. a loss of trust between the people and those who are supposed to serve them. too many instances of having to put boots on the ground in the streets, shouting, having to beg for a hassle free existence that those of another hue often take for granted. too much damn begging to just exist, and be. countless cries out to be respected, and countless moments where we needed to be heard. too many times where all we wanted was a chance to talk, only to find ourselves outlined in chalk shortly thereafter.

we see 12 year old children gunned down without warning by the police while playing in a park. we see black athletes of high standing be tackled to the ground in a case of mistaken identity "because they fit a description". and we see an educated young woman off to start a new professional life have it all taken away following what should have been a routine traffic stop.

so we we shout and hashtag "BLACK LIVES MATTER" as a way to stay sane and rise above it all, to remind ourselves (and the others) of the richness that is being black. To never forget who we are, where we came from and have been, and why we fight. All of us, including D'Angelo, and his black messiah.

when I listen to black messiah I am comforted. when I listen to black messiah I feel warmth. when I listen to black messiah, I love my blackness, and I love yours, too. when I listen to black messiah I am placed firmly in the present, but I hear history, our history: American, social, BLACK. I hear concern, and I hear hope. Most of all, I hear that Black Lives Matter, and I see all that we are capable of and can achieve when we are allowed a piece of the pie and the right to flourish and simply exist.

there's been too much weeping, and too much senseless violence and brown lives cut short too soon. a loss of trust between the people and those who are supposed to serve them. but here, for a few minutes, there's redemption and there's clarity. a reason to dance and a reason to live. and it is black, and it is beautiful, and it is much needed. yesterday, today, and beyond.