Introducing: Music Mondays

So, I've decided to start this thing called Music Mondays. Basically, each Monday I will post a video to a song that I like and feel has some relevance to the topics discussed on this blog. I really feel that music can sometimes help to capture emotions and ideas that other forms of expression aren't able to. I hope to be able to introduce you to some new music, but I can't know for sure if that will be the case--because I have no idea what type of music you listen to (:

This week's selection is Tie My Hands, by Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke. Lil Wayne just won the grammy for best rap album, and they performed this song at the ceremony. As soon as the show was over, I went upstairs to my computer and downloaded the song from itunes. I really like this song, because it gives voice to a very sad event in our recent history, and at the same time has a very hopeful tone. This video is actually a homemade one that someone on youtube made; I don't think there is an official video for the song. They have the lyrics posted along with the pictures, but some of them are hard to read, so you can also find them here.



As always, I welcome your comments.

Follow-up Fridays

I've been MIA for the last couple of days. I've been pondering life's great questions. And napping.

But now I am BIA, and it is time for this week's installment of Follow up Fridays. This week's comment comes from my white friend Cathy. Cathy left a few comments (which is awesome,) We're going to highlight two.

These two came from this week's installment of Music Mondays.

Anyway, I think the Jackson reference says it's not just about race... It's about class too. Not very post-colonial... Or maybe it is. Though I suspect Jackson would agree with that, so maybe not!

And then later...

Ok, now I've had a chance to listen to this week's song (and a bit of the one you wanted to compare it to.)

Here's my question back to you. (Aren't the best questions answered with more questions?) I feel like you've got this unspoken agenda lingering. The question I sense just by the choice of songs and some of your comments is this. "What makes life so terrible for these people (the characters in the songs--whoever that is)? Who are we to blame for this injustice?"

I feel like you're looking for a label to put on it (thus my post earlier about what I think the Jackson reference was about). I guess I see it as a bit of everything--race, gender, class. All the biggies that get their own discipline. My question, though, is does it matter what we call it? MUST we call it something other than a vicious cycle? Must we label it to find solutions? Does this create more problems and conflicting agendas?

I guess the other unspoken question I sense is "what's the way out?" To that I have no answer. The teacher in me says education, but the realist in me knows that in America not everybody has a chance to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and it's so much more complicated than such a simplistic idea.

I grew up with a lot of kids who live/d lives similar to the characters in those songs, and I've often wondered what made us take such different paths? Why was Angel pregnant at 13 while I ended up with an MA and full scholarships to my schools of choice? I think the biggest thing was my parents, and I don't know how to teach people to be good parents. Well, I have some ideas, but nothing foolproof :)

I've just discovered your blog, and it has reminded me of being back in all those fun humanities classes I loved so much in college--just shooting the shit about stuff that matters in the world. I'll be coming back for more! You sometimes irritate me on ****** b/c I see you out there playing devil's advocate so much and I just want to know what you REALLY think, so this has been an interesting insight into your brain.

So tell me if the unspoken questions were really hanging there or if I just projected onto you with what I've been thinking about ...

**********************
Anyway, I think the Jackson reference says it's not just about race... It's about class too. Not very post-colonial... Or maybe it is. Though I suspect Jackson would agree with that, so maybe not!

Hmm...When I heard that line, I thought that The Game was referring to the comment that Jesse Jackson made about Barack Obama talking down to black people. That comment pissed a lot of people off. So maybe it was a response to that. I have two (no, three) alternative options in my head

1) "I (The Game) have found that my life is significantly better now that I have a lot more money. I was born a poor black child in the projects, but I worked hard, had a talent, met the right people, and now I'm rich--what does it all mean?"

2) [This is still The Game talking] "Shut up, Jesse Jackson! Can't you see we're on the verge of electing a black president?!! I don't appreciate you talking sh*t about him. Clearly if we can put a black man in The Oval Office, that means we're making real strides on the issue of race. Keep your vulgar opinions to yourself."

3.) Something else I haven't thought of.

I feel like you've got this unspoken agenda lingering.

Ooh, sounds subversive. Tell me more...

The question I sense just by the choice of songs and some of your comments is this. "What makes life so terrible for these people (the characters in the songs--whoever that is)? Who are we to blame for this injustice?"

Interesting. The reason that I do Music Mondays is because I like music. My only real agenda is to get people thinking about what they've heard. Music is like art, it affects people in different ways. Ideally, I want people to share about how the music affects them, but I can tell that some of the songs like this one, or this one affect people in ways that they're not that comfortable sharing about. Which is fine--- everything in due time, right?

I feel like you're looking for a label to put on it

Well, I don't think that you can solve a problem without first defining it.

I guess I see it as a bit of everything--race, gender, class. All the biggies that get their own discipline.

I think it's probably all of these too. But I think it's interesting that classism actually doesn't get its own discipline. At least that I know of. Like, most major universities don't have a "class studies" major. I was an undergrad in Sociology and we only had one course on class, "Social Stratification". It seems like such a huge part of what is going on (just ask The Game,) but a very small part of what we actually spend our time talking about.

My question, though, is does it matter what we call it? MUST we call it something other than a vicious cycle? Must we label it to find solutions? Does this create more problems and conflicting agendas?

I don't know. Vicious cycle might work. I think we have to determine first if the cycle is in fact "vicious." That's one of my big fears. Thinking that I automatically know that it must suck to be poor (because I think it would,) and if only everyone were middle class they'd be sooo happy. I'm really wary of coming across as this person who's out to "save the poor people." That's why this blog is about models in jcrew catalogs, and getting upset at episodes of The Daily Show, and getting bad service at Ruth Chris --because that's what I know, that's how these issues affect my life.

I have ideas of how The Game and others might solve problems, but I think it would be much more important to get his ideas first about what the solutions should be, because he understands the problems a lot better than I do.


I guess the other unspoken question I sense is "what's the way out?" To that I have no answer. The teacher in me says education, but the realist in me knows that in America not everybody has a chance to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and it's so much more complicated than such a simplistic idea.

I think education is important also. I think it would be helpful if people could be guaranteed they were going to receive a very good education, regardless of the neighborhood they lived in.


I grew up with a lot of kids who live/d lives similar to the characters in those songs, and I've often wondered what made us take such different paths? Why was Angel pregnant at 13 while I ended up with an MA and full scholarships to my schools of choice? I think the biggest thing was my parents, and I don't know how to teach people to be good parents. Well, I have some ideas, but nothing foolproof :)

I think parents are important too. Maybe it's all important. Maybe none of it's important. I've been thinking a lot about parents recently, and how things would be so much better if some parents would just get their acts together. But then that always leads to visions of A Handmaid's Tale running through my head.

I've just discovered your blog

cool, make sure you tell all your friends about it (:

it has reminded me of being back in all those fun humanities classes I loved so much in college--just shooting the shit about stuff that matters in the world.

Isn't it funny? Some people think science is what really matters, some people think philosophy is what really matters, some people think machines are what really matter, and some people think all the social stuff is what really matters. I wonder if we're born that way? I'm also thinking if there wasn't someone to think that everything in life is what really mattered, our universe would be a lot more boring.

You sometimes irritate me on **** b/c I see you out there playing devil's advocate so much and I just want to know what you REALLY think

She's talking about a message board in that **** part. I'm still trying to figure out my whole public/private blog persona thing.

Cathy, I guess what I'd say here is that I bet a lot of the time you think I'm playing devil's advocate, that's not really what I'm doing. I don't think there's anything that I've written on the unnamed message board, that I don't actually believe (unless I'm utilizing the wonderful tool that is sarcasm). I'd like to think that my views are nuanced, which means they might seem contradictory at times. But I think I'd have to know more specifically what you're referring to.

So tell me if the unspoken questions were really hanging there or if I just projected onto you with what I've been thinking about

I think the questions that you posed are questions that were brought up for you as part of your unique experience, and not part of my "unspoken agenda." I'd like to think that if nothing else, my agenda has stayed pretty consistently spoken throughout this blog (:

They were very good questions, and I enjoyed thinking about them. I think that they brought up some worthwhile things for us all to ponder, and I really appreciate you taking the time to write them down.


So keep the comments coming, everyone. I'll see you all on Monday.

Monday, Monday...

Do you have a case of the Mondays today? I hope not. If you do, I've got a fun song for you to listen to that might get you out of your funk.

This week's selection for our latest installment of Music Mondays is Country Girl by Rissi Palmer. I first became aware of this song when Starbucks had it featured as a Song of the week. The lyrics are pretty straightforward, but if you'd like to follow along with them, you can do so here. I am also happy to report that there is no cursing in this song, so pull your little one (or your boss,) up to the screen and you two can jam out together. As always, we'll have a little discussion at the end, so pay attention.



First off, Rissi has got Jamie Foxx beat for the "most white people in a black person's music video" award.

I chose this song today because it reminds me of a conversation that we had previously about what it means to be "a proud Southerner". Rissi appears to be singing about many/some/all of the things that we discussed in terms of what Southerners are proud of, but I'm wondering why the title of the song isn't Southern Girl ?

To all my Southerners out there, what are your thoughts about calling yourselves not proud Southerners, but instead proud country folk? It seems like this might assuage some fears of people thinking you mean "I wish the South had won the war," when you talk about being proud of being from the South. But at the same time, being willing to give up the Southerner label would just mean you were giving it over to the racists, instead of fighting for it. That's like letting the terrorists win. It's just all so complicated...

I want to get sidetracked for a second and say that "country people" do not have exclusive claim to being polite or raising well-behaved kids. I'm not from the South and I'd like to think my "home trainin'" is quite good, tyvm. But I guess that's why she says "Don't need no kin from West Virginia to have it in ya" (Sidenote within a sidenote: I actually do have kin from West Virginia--Beckley represent!) She says in the song "it's a state of mind no matter where you're from" which means that we can all go around calling ourselves country girls if we want to.

Back to all the white people in the video: I wrote a post last year about why you don't see more white people backing up black people in music videos and I would think that this video proves my theory--it's all about the street cred.

I did some research on Wikipedia and found out that before this song peaked at #54 on the country charts, another black woman hadn't charted with a country song since 1987. That's a long time, people. White people have been on the rap and r&b charts more often than once every 20 years--what's up with that?

Rissi says in her wikipedia article, that she was offered a record deal with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis but turned it down, because they were trying to morph her sound into something less country sounding. I also noticed that she has a new single out right now, and it's a cover of an R&B song by Chris Brown.

So her album came out in 2007. To my country music listening readers, have you ever heard this song before? I've never heard it (or anything about Rissi Palmer) other than the Song of the Week from Starbucks. I get that it is hard for any new artist to make it big in the music industry, but I am guessing that Ms. Palmer has a unique set of challenges that her white up and coming counterparts don't. And in the course of writing this post, I have been thinking about how black artists seem to be pigeonholed into certain genres, while white artists are found in pretty much every section of the record store. But black people are supposed to be the ones with all the crazy musical talent. That doesn't make any sense.

I'm gonna stop it here. As always, I welcome your comments.

Music Mondays

I've been thinking that I should bring back Music Mondays. There weren't really many songs that were jumping out to me to play, but then I saw the video for this song and thought it would be a good candidate. Then I heard it again on the radio tonight, which I took as sort of a sign from the gods.



It's an Asian Rap group! I've never heard of an Asian Rap group before. There was an Asian guy that went to a bar I frequented in my college days who called himself DJ SARS. But he wasn't a rapper, he was a DJ.

But more importantly, it's a good song. I wouldn't just put them up here because of their sheer Asian-ness, they actually have to put out a good product. This is definitely a song that I would put on one of my legendary itunes mixes, for an imaginary dance party or something. It might be a good workout song too. The only thing I don't like about the song is that it talks about "sipping sizurp" which I think is referring to using cough syrup as a recreational drug. That's dangerous.

I first heard about this song through my husband. He was asking me what a G6 was. He knew it was a car by Pontiac, but he also knew rap groups don't typically make songs about Pontiacs. Through the magic of Google, we found out it was a plane.

So what have we learned today? Not only can Asian people be Scottish, they can drop hot rhymes too.

Comments? You know what to do.

I am running out of creative titles for Music Mondays.

This week's selection for Music Mondays is I Am Not My Hair by India.Arie. Great song, no profanity, easy to understand. If you'd like to read along with the lyrics, you can do so here.

(Youtube is doing this new thing called Vevo with a lot of their videos. Judging from the comments, they still have some kinks they need to work out. Just an FYI.)



Two things I want to share: One, I really identify with a lot of this song, I wonder if most black women could write a song about their history with their hair. Second, I did a very unscientific poll on a message board that I frequent, and found out that over 70% of the respondents said that they had dyed their hair blond or gotten blond highlights sometime in the past. This made me sad. Well, not sad...but not happy.

Comments? You know what to do.

Music Mondays

I don't get to hear much new music these days. I am a stay-at-home mom now, and I always used to hear most of my new music driving in my car on my way to school or work. But now I don't go either of those places. So I probably first heard this song on my way to Target.

As usual, there is some language. If you 'd like to follow along with the lyrics, you can click here.



I like this song because it is another example of an uplifting rap song. You can't really have too many of those. I like how he talks to kids through so much of it, and the international focus. I have been lucky enough to see Lupe Fiasco in concert, and I am really glad that he makes such thought provoking, well-written and catchy music.

On a quasi-related note: My last post has elicited some varied and passionate reactions. I've enjoyed reading the comments, and am glad to see people taking the time to weigh in on what I had to say. I'm thinking I should probably get started on my responses soon if I want to be ready in time for follow-up fridays. If you would like to get in on the discussion, click here.

It's Music Monday Time!

Welcome to another installment of Music Mondays. This week's selection is Dead N[*]gga Blvd. (Pt 1) by Me'Shell Ndegéocello. I was able to find a version on youtube that has the lyrics, which is always a bonus. You should know that this song has a lot of profanity in it, so be forewarned if you're not a fan of cursing. Although I have to say, if you don't like to listen to music with curse words--you're missing out on a lot of great music. Listen actively, and follow along with the lyrics.



A couple things that I want to share...

First, there was some level of apprehension about posting this song, because it appears to be a song that is from a black person talking to other black people about problems that the "black community" has. I think there is always a risk presenting this information to white people, because white people can then say, "See black people, this is all your own problem--not mine. I'm gonna go over here now. doot dee do dee doo..."

I have two responses to that.

First, there are definitely things that black people can do to improve race relations and the inequality that exists in our society. AND, there are definitely things that white people can do to improve race relations and inequality in our society. Everyone has to share in the task, it's not just one group's responsibility.

Second, I think that this song can apply to anyone, regardless of their racial background. The way she keeps asking, "Are you free?"--anyone can answer that question. I really like the focus that this song has on money and how that motivates people to do things that aren't necessarily the best. Because if there is any group that can relate to putting money ahead of other goals-- it's white people.

My favorite line is when she says,

"Perhaps to be free is is to love all those who hate me
And die a beautiful death
Make pretty brown babies"

So ask yourself these questions:

What's your favorite line?
What does freedom look like to you?
Are you free?

Music Mondays

I wanted to post this video several Mondays ago, but blah blah excuse blah--here it is. Be warned, it has a lot of profanity. If you'd like to follow along with the lyrics, you can click here.




Now, I know some of you don't like Kanye West.

I don't think he really cares.

I like this song for a number of reasons: the beat, the movie clips and of course, the rhymes. I haven't really liked anything Jay-Z has put out since he retired a few years ago and unretired three weeks later. But this song has made a believer out of me once again.

I also think Kanye's line, Prince Williams a'int do it right if you ask me, cause I was him I woulda married Kate and Ashley has got to go down as one of the top rap lyrics of all time. He name checks 4 people in one line, one of whom is the future King of England. I don't know that it gets much better than that.

Comments? Leave 'em for me. And is it too late to say Happy New Year? Probably...but Happy New Year anyway ;)

Music Mondays

I saw this video last week and thought I'd share it. It's a catchy song and has a flashmob in it, if you're still into that sort of thing ;) I am not going to link to the lyrics, because that's not why I'm posting it.



What is remarkable about this video is the diversity of the band. Three of the five members are people of color. When I was in high school, bands pretty much either looked like this:





or this:



There wasn't a whole lot of overlap.

Another thing: while it is a rock(?)/pop song, in order to get the full meaning of the chorus, you have to be familiar with a certain rap song. In general, I think there is a lot more fluidity with race and music than there was when I was younger. I wonder how/if this affects race relations among the youth of today.

I might be remiss in my bloggy duties if I didn't mention that, as usual the lead singer (aka the person who gets the most attention in any band,) is white. And some might argue that their homage to 50 cent is actually ripping off his idea, furthering the long musical tradition of white people ripping off black people's mad musical skillz to make a buck.

However, today I choose to focus on the positive--this nice, United Colors of Benetton band singing their infectious song to their nice United Colors of Benetton audience.

Comments? You know what to do.

Everyone Deserves Music.

For this week's installment of Music Mondays, I'm takin' us back to the early 90's. We'll be listening to Tupac Shakur's Keep Ya head Up. I picked this song for a couple of reasons. First, I really like it. Second, Tupac has a reuptation to many as a "gangsta rapper." He was that, and he did a lot to popularize that genre. He was also a social commentator, and this song is a really powerful anthem about continuing your struggle in the face of adversity.







As always, I suggest you follow along with the lyrics. You can find them here.



Rest in Peace, Tupac.

The Best of myblackfriendsays.com

Whaddup.

There was a time in my combo English and Social Studies class in high school where I was talking to my friend Reagan about life. She told me that if she ever put out a compilation CD, she would call it The Best of Reagan, instead of Reagan's Greatest Hits. That way, she could put the songs she liked the most, which wouldn't necessarily be the most popular ones. I always thought that was a great idea, and so I am going to use it now. I also reserve the right use it if I put out a compilation CD of all my favorite musical performances.

So without further ado, here is the best of myblackfriendsays.com, as chosen by me.


Disc 1
1. A black guy and a biker walk into a bar.

2. My take on an awesome poem by Daniel Beatty.

3. The word I made up.

4. Ah, the Swagger Wagon. You'll have to click in the post where it says minstrel show, if you want to know what we're all talking about. (Hint: It's something quite similar to a minstrel show.)

5. Why school funding will always be unequal.

6. An unarmed black guy you probably didn't hear about on the Nightly News. #handsupdontshoot

7. One of my favorite Music Mondays. Bonus points to the person who can tell me what it has to do with race and inequality.

8.What Nas and Newt Gingrich have in common.

9. You are excluded from chicken cutlet night.

10. Starburst yes vs. Starburst no.

11.How to stop being racist (for reals this time.)

Disc 2

1. Why you shouldn't expect compassion when dealing with your privilege.

2. More adverts like this, please.

3. Why calling things/people ethnic is unnecessary.

4. Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions.

5. My thoughts on that song that LL Cool J and Brad Paisley did. The link to hear the song is broken, but you can still read the lyrics. Hearing the actual song is really not that necessary. :P

6. Some responses to my most dedicated commenter, Anonymous.

7. Another awesome commercial.

8. Why hearing black is beautiful shouldn't scare you.

9. Taylor Swift's revenge: Part II

10. Why people don't want to vote for Mitt Romney

11.It's a black thing, you wouldn't understand.

12. And finally, where it all began...My first post.

Now, for an important announcement. I am finished writing new posts for myblackfriendsays.com. My time here has come to its natural end. To quote Marvin from Season 5 of Big Brother, "It's been real and it's been fun, but it a'int been real fun." ;)

To be honest, I have met some great people through this blog (both in real life and just on the computer). I'm really happy for the opportunity that I gave myself to think more critically about my own views on race and inequality. And I hope that you have gotten something out of this blog over the years. If you'd like to say somewhat in touch, you can like this blog on Facebook, otherwise this is where we say our goodbyes.

If I may quote one more person. Well, he's a monster...Murray from Sesame Street...

"PEACE!"

:D

Music Mondays

Yes, I am aware that it's Friday. I've had this song in my head for a few days now. It's safe for work, and if you'd like to read the lyrics, you can click here.



There are so many great lines in this song. I think my favorite is,

Lift your head up high, and rejoice for all you see without your eyes.

And then there's the bridge,

No life's worth more than any other, no sister worth less than any brother.

I wonder how the world would be different if we actually believed that? I know I try, but it's hard sometimes.

A Public Service Announcement

Here is a another commercial that I think is funny. It's too bad that none of the days of the week start with C, because then I could make it a semi-regular feature, like Music Mondays or Fewer words than usual Wednesdays. Ah, well.





The reason I like this commercial is because it talks about an issue I hold very dear to my heart: soda stealing. It's true, the people who put the thief on blast are black, and I do wonder if that was an intentional casting decision. Black people do have a reputation for being outspoken. And white people do have a reputation for taking things that don't belong to them (ha ha, I'm just kidding, white people (sort of).)

But, regardless of your race, color, creed, or national origin: DON'T STEAL SODA!! It is one of those little things that ultimately leads to the downfall of society. I bet those people at ENRON stole soda all the time.

In other news, it is very nice to see that my post Help me with The Help is eliciting some great comments and discussion. If you are a new reader--welcome! One thing that my long-time readers know, is that I don't post on any sort of regular basis. So if you want to keep updated on the goings on here at myblackfriendsays.com, you have a few options...

You can follow me on Google Reader (That's how I keep up with all the blogs I read, but I think you need a gmail account to use it.)
You can "like" myblackfriendsays.com on facebook.
You can follow me on twitter.(@myblackfriend)

If you haven't had a chance to weigh in about The Help or if you have, but then thought of something even more brilliant to say after you'd already hit "post comment" click here to add your two or three cents.

And if you'd like to leave a comment about this video, or share any pet peeves you have in the same vein as soda stealing...I'd love to hear them.

Musicality.

This week's selection for Music Mondays is Amazing by George Michael. I picked this song because 1) I love it and 2) It is the first love song written by a man for another man that I've ever heard. Which I think is pretty sad since I'm 30 ( well, 28 when the song came out.) [ETA: This is probably not the first song that was by a man to another man that I've heard--it's just the first one where the singer explicitly said the song was about another dude.] I heard George perform this song on Oprah and I went right out and bought the CD ( a marketer's dream, no?) Amazing talks about the ups and downs of George's relationship with his partner, Kenny Goss. If you would like to read along with the lyrics, you can do so here.




I think there are a lot of themes in this song that anyone in a loving relationship can relate to, like when George sings, "I think it's amazing, the way that love can set you free." Love is awesome, it truly is what makes life worth living.

So those of you out there lucky enough to be in love, give your significant other a big kiss and a hug. Not tomorrow, today. And those of you still waiting: keep the faith, it'll happen soon enough.

Music Mondays

Speaking of Animal Farm , This is the best rap song based on a George Orwell book I've ever heard. You can follow along with the lyrics here. Be warned that there is a fair amount of profanity:




Random fact: The clip at the beginning is from Planet of the Apes.

Get on the floor, baby lose control, just work your body and let it go.

For this week's installment of Music Mondays, we have Nas' Sly Fox . Below is another homemade video I found on Youtube. The video does a good job of using images to highlight the lyrics, but if you would like to read along as the song is playing, you can do so here. Like some of the other selections, this one has its fair share of salty language--so be forewarned.



A couple of things about this song. I like it because it talks about media conglomerates, and how they can influence the information we receive. Since they own Youtube, I hope I didn't get on some list for embedding this video in my post (:

I never hear songs like this on the radio. I feel like there is a trend where a rap artist will come out with a CD and it will have a lot of "socially conscious" songs on the album, but the ones that get released as singles are the songs that don't carry the same provocative message.

One of my favorite lines is "I use Viacom as my firearm and let the lyrics split you." I like that Nas is using his talent as a wordsmith to get his message out. I also think it's a little ironic that he is singing the praises of one megacorporation to help him bring down another one. I would argue that people need to be critical of all of the sources where they receive information. It's a little too simplistic to say Fox News=Bad. PBS=good. Although that still talking about slavery being "necessary for an agrarian economy" was trés disturbing.

My other favorite line is: "I will not fall for the okey doke, I am tuned in." This is in line with one of the main messages of this blog, just for people to be more aware of--everything, really. Their thoughts, subtle messages they receive from various sources, their friends, their personal histories, etc. When we raise our awareness of ourselves and others, we are exposed to a whole new plane of things to know. And as G.I. Joe would say, "knowing is half the battle."

If you've got a comment, I'd love to hear it.

Hey Mr. DJ, put a record on...

My friends, it's time for another installment of Music Mondays. This week's selection is List of Demands (Reparations) By Saul Williams. You can listen to the song in the video below. And click here to read the lyrics, because there's going to be a quiz after.



How do you feel listening to this song?
What are some of the lyrics that stand out for you?
Who do you think Saul Williams is singing to?

A couple of things of note about this song: I typed the full title of the song above, and when I went on You Tube to find the video, I noticed that most of the listings had the last word left out. What do you think are the reasons for that? Another interesting thing about this song is that it was featured in a very popular Nike campaign recently. What does Nike's use of the song mean? Also, when I went to find the official video, every version posted had embedding "disabled by request." Who do you think requested embedding be disabled, and what do you think were the reasons behind that?

If you'd like, you can see the official video here.
And you can watch the Nike commercial here. Gotta love YouTube.

I asked you a lot of questions, and I'd love to hear your answers--so leave me a comment below.

Music Mondays, and why hearing Black is Beautiful shouldn't scare you...

This song is for all of my black girls (and women). If you want to read the lyrics, you can click here.



Originally, I was just going to leave it that. But then I remembered this post, where I learned that it's important to explain to avoid ambiguity. And if you don't learn from your life experiences and change your behavior accordingly, what the heck are you doing with yourself?!

First, something non race-related: It's actually not a good idea to tell your children that if someone ever hurt them, that you would kill that person. Because God forbid someone was harming your children, the fear that you would go to jail for seeking revenge could actually keep your child from telling you about it. And we don't want that.

Okay, moving on...

I really like this song. It's got a great beat, and a positive, uplifting message. I hesitated a bit to post it here, because I don't want to give the impression to my white readers that being a black woman is just a giant bag of suck. I mean, the song is called Black Girl Pain for Pete's sake. But the reality is that black and brown girl's do face unique challenges that other people don't (if you need some examples, click here or here.) I'm sure this part of why Talib Kweli and Jean Grae chose to write what someone on Rap Genius called An Ode to Black Women.

I also know that some people might be put off by me saying, "This is for all of my black girls (and women)." Saying it's for one group of people implies that it's not for others. So...if you are not a black woman, but identify with any of the themes in the song--then it is for you as well.


But...why do I have to say that? Why are some people uncomfortable with hearing pro-black messages? Why are such messages sometimes perceived as Reverse Racism?

It's true, whenever you hear someone expressing a pro-white message, they usually have shaved head and a swastika and/or confederate flag on their jacket. So if pro-white is racist, then wouldn't pro-black be racist too?

No, and here's why: Being pro-black is more like being pro-Irish than it is being pro-white. When a white identity is discussed, it is usually in reference to white people being better than other people. The only people you hear talk about being proud to be white are white supremacists. But there are lots of Irish (and Italian and Polish and other,) Americans that are proud of their heritage, difficulties that they've overcome, distinct parts of their culture, etc. The reality is that white is way too big of a category for people to have legit sources of pride or connection. And it doesn't help that the whole concept of white only came to exist to justify the subjugation of people that weren't white. So it's kind of a flawed grouping to begin with. (I'm not saying white people are flawed, I'm saying the categorization of people as white has problems.)

But when you hear that someone is a proud Irish-American, people don't immediately become fearful, or think those Irish-Americans need to get over themselves or anything like that. You just think we're talking about a group that is proud of a unique part of their identity. And if you know anything about the history of white people in this country, you know that these white ethnics were pressured to give up their identities and assimilate (i.e. become more like the white immigrants from Western and Northern Europe that had arrived before them.) Many did, which is part of why you hear so many white people referring to themselves as mutts, or thinking that they don't have a distinctive culture. But some resisted, and held on to the traditions of the countries they were emigrating from. [Granted, these white ethnics don't have centuries of being enslaved and then targeted by the U.S. government for various forms of maltreatment--but other than that, it's pretty similar. :p] They held on to things that were important to them, and made this country more interesting and dynamic as a result.

So, white people, the next time you hear a black person say something pro-black, don't be scurred. Unless they're advocating physical violence towards you, I don't think you've got anything to be worried about.

And to all my black girls out there, when the world starts to get you down, remember:

Please hold your head up high
Don't be ashamed of yourself, no I
carry you forth until the day I die

belee' 'dat. (:

What do you think? Let me know by leaving me a comment.




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