Elijah Nouvelage / Getty Images
We are all inching our way on a narrow bridge between a dark abyss and tiny glimmers of hope.
Where will we fall?
Words have been hard for me. I am experiencing intense fear and intense grief. My fear is for a virus that may be our tragic demise and sadness for the added disease of hate which permeates our country. Hate’s ugly head has emerged over my entire lifetime, but now it appears more blatant.
Hate whispers in as a soft gray cloud of haze, and before you can define it, you find yourself gasping for air. I have overheard negative labels, subtle racial slurs, derogatory jokes, and witnessed the justifications for policies which hold people of color in health, economic, and educational hardship. My actions were flawed because I fell silent in some of those instances. Silence equates weakness, and then becomes a dangerous product of hate’s lethal spread.
The video of George Floyd was a breaking point for me. I felt rage from past horrific racial injustices, but the flagrant murder captured on video was a moment which affected me in a way I refuse to suppress or forget.
I now recognize, I have work that needs to be done and much to learn. My commitment will be toward creating change. I vow to educate myself, continue to grow, and advocate for black people, as well as all colors and ethnicities. Silence no more.
Right now is a profound moment in history, epic in its magnitude, I refuse to look away.
So I have gathered music which is meant to disturb you, shake you up, and also help you recognize the pain, uncertainty, and horrible disruption the black community has been living and ingesting for generations. May the beauty of their unique voices outrage you enough to seek connection, and become committed to creating a more perfect world in George Floyd’s memory.
Listen, feel the pain, and wake up with me as I lean into hope..
Ty Dolla $ign-You See It (ft Skrillex)
Terrace Martin (ft. Denzel Curry, Daylyt, Kamasi Washington, & G Perico– Pig Feet
Papoose-Tribute
D Smoke & SIR-Let Go
