As the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining fire in 2014, A movie entitled Selma opened in theaters toward the end of the year. The movie was about civil rights movements in the 1960’s, specifically in Selma, Alabama. Selma was accompanied by a powerful track called “Glory”. This track helped bring to light the notion that although racism is not as prominent as it was back in the 1960s, it still very much exists in today’s society and people who are discriminated against will not rest until it is eradicated. “Glory” has various qualities that allow it to present the message that it presents. It was written by R&B singer John Legend, rapper Common, and rapper Rhymefest. However, it was recorded by only Legend and Common. The song can be …show more content…
classified as a combination of R&B, soul, and hip-hop. The R&B and soul genres are recognizable as soon as the song begins. Legend, who is one of the most well-known R&B singers of our generation, plays the piano while singing the chorus soulfully. He is joined by a choir, which adds more emotion to the song. As the chorus ends, Common, one of the most racially active rappers, comes in to rap the verses. This adds the hip-hop layer into the song. There is also a small orchestra accompaniment that enters during the first verse to add rhythm to the song. The lack of percussion or any other instruments and the slow tempo of the song emphasizes its soulful aspect, as the writers want listeners to focus on the lyrics and emotion. The song is also in a major key and uses a four-chord progression throughout. These qualities lead to the song having a warm color, while clearly expressing its point. The lyrics in “Glory” have an extremely imperative message concerning racism.
The main meaning behind the lyrics in the song is the fact that racism still has to be dealt with in our generation. When legend sings in the chorus “one day when the glory comes, we will be sure…”, he is implying that there will be a day when discrimination comes to an end. However, that day has not arrived. Therefore, “we’ll fight on to the finish”, as legend sings in the bridge. Common, in his rap verses, includes numerous comparisons between the civil rights movements in the 1960s and the police brutality faced by African Americans today. This is imminent when he raps about Rosa Parks’ protest and then in the next line he raps about walking through Ferguson with hands up. These lines relate the past to now and how African Americans have fought for justice and equality over time. It also emphasizes the notion of nonviolent protests. Another connection between the past and present is the line that talks about one son dying and his spirit is revisiting in us. This is referring to the numerous young black men that have been victims of police brutality over the last few years and how their deaths have woken up activist groups like the Black Lives Matter movement. It is also referring to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the sense that his fighting spirit back in the 1960s is coming back for those who are fighting for justice. In fact, the lyrics make multiple allusions to King, as he was the leader of …show more content…
the marches in Selma. The chorus is similar to Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech because they both imagine a day when discrimination ends. Also, Common mentions Dr. King’s last speech in the end of the first verse. That line implies that Dr. King set the foundation and began the journey, and we must finish it. Lyrics like this allow people to see the magnitude of discrimination and encourages them to act upon it with the goal of eliminating it. The production of “Glory” truly helped bring the song together to convey the message that it does.
The song was produced by John Legend himself, under Columbia Records. Columbia Records is one of the biggest record labels in the world. Because of its distinction, it helped the song reach a massive audience. John Legend also boosted the fame of the song because of how well known he is. His music is attractive to people of all ages, which means “Glory” has impacted people of all ages. Common is the one that truly made “Glory” the hit that it is. One of the reasons is the fact that he has been one of the most socially active musicians since the early 1990s. He has been involved in numerous organizations to help better lives for African Americans. He also had a prominent role in the movie Selma. Not only is he an advocate for racial justice, but also for gender equality. This is shown in the song when he takes the cliché phrase “man up” and includes women in it for it to say, “woman and man up.” The perceived audience for the song was not only African Americans, but people of all ages who desire to see the end of racism and discrimination. Even for religious people who don’t enjoy rap music, this song had something for them. It makes a reference to a prominent bible verse in the first few lines of the first verse. It also alludes to Jesus’ crucifixion in the second verse. All in all, this song did reach its perceived
audience. “Glory” has been one of the most insightful songs released by an extremely well-known artist, something that is rare in this day and age. This track is something that is needed in today’s society to help motivate people, especially young people, to act upon racism and help get rid of it.
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011) is a 1 hour and 40 minute documentary that observes the black power movement in American history. This film is directed by Swedish director Goran Hugo Olson and has detailed footage that was shot during the 1960s and 1970s by Swedish journalists. The footage largely focuses on the black power movements. The film allows viewers to not only grasp a better understanding of this movement but allows us to understand why this movement appealed to Swedish journalists. The Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 includes vintage interviews with Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton, and other prominent leaders during the Black Power Movement. The documentary also contains contemporary audio interviews and commentaries from various entertainers, artists, activists, and scholars, including but not limited to: Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli, Melvin Van Peebles, Erykah Badu, Abiodun Oyewele, and Questlove from The Roots.
“We Shall Overcome” was a popular song of comfort and strength during the civil rights movement; it was a rallying cry for many black people who had experienced the racial injustices of the south. The song instilled hope that one day they would “overcome” the overt and institutional racism preventing them from possessing the same rights as white citizens. Anne Moody describes several instances when this song helped uplift her through the low points of her life as a black woman growing up in Mississippi in the 1950s and early 1960s. By the end of her autobiography “Coming Of Age In Mississippi” (1968), she saw a stream of excessive and unending violence perpetrated by white people and the crippling effects of poverty on the black people of
The 1989 film Glory is a classic Civil War film based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The film focuses on the courage displayed by the first black regiment in the Civil War, also known as the “Fighting Fifty-fourth.” The regiment headed by the admirable Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, Matthew Broderick, must overcome an enormous amount of adversity during the war. The film was daring for filmmakers Zwick and Fields because it was a film not only with, “vivid and frightening battle scenes and finely etched dramatic characters, but a film that shattered the great Civil War taboo-it told a story of African Americans(Chadwick). Many articles and texts leading up to the film failed to mention the participation of African Americans in the Civil War. In fact, the participation of African Americans helped turn the course of the war and nearly 300,000 fought for the North.
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
This song is connected to this historical event because Gil Scott-Heron also included into this song of how African Americans are not given any credit. Furthermore, many treat them as even if they do not exist, especially the government and the media. Nevertheless, Scoot-Heron showed the world thru this song how African Americans were not even notice, or received an accomplishment for anything by the media or the government. Therefore, throughout this song it can be seen how Scott-Heron includes the historical event of the Black Power
In “The Help, A Feel-Good Movie That Feels Kind of Icky”, Dana Stevens discloses her thoughts on a movie that focuses on the civil rights movement. Stevens has a lot to say about the movie, good and bad, however the focal point of it is that in the media industry we like to sugarcoat the truth about times in history. This movie is about black-white relations in America and happens to end up being mostly about a white character and her journey to enlightenment. Stevens points out that in media it seems that we address issues but always have a dominant white character. The movie offers insight into what life was like during the civil rights movement but “the catharsis it offers feels glib and insufficient,” reinforcing Stevens statement about the media and it diminishing the ugly truth about race relations in America (Stevens 776). She also goes on to say that media does this to allow the viewer to not feel so guilty about racism in the past and to try while at the same time putting the viewer’s mind to rest about present day racism. Stevens believes that the movie is somewhat of a blurred line between what actually happened in the past and it being a feel good movie. For it to be historically accurate, Stevens would say it
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
This song reminisces about the loss of Private Rodger Young and reminds soldiers to push forward through the loss. Since death was something typically seen on the battle field Losser took this sad moment and turned it in to a rally together moment to get the job done. Loesser reflects the idea that America is tired of the war and are ready to keep progressing in life. While this song may not have been the most popular of the time period, Life magazine at the time felt like it was vital to print the music in the worlds for all to
Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud by James Brown served as a straightforward no holds bar message to the black a community, the song acted as a assertive and
Garrow, David J. Protest at Selma: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. New York: New Haven and London Yale University Press. 1978
One believes that the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s made America safer for all races, but in fact, racism and discrimination are still big factors that continue to plague films, music, and even video games. I the article Race the Power of an Illusion, Dalton Conley says, “the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s really marks both an opportunity and a new danger in terms of racial relations in America. On the one hand, the Civil Rights era officially ended inequality of opportunity. It officially ended de jure legal inequality, so it was no longer legal for employers, for landlords, or for any public institution or accommodations to discriminate based on race. At the same time, those civil rights triumphs did nothing to address the underlying economic and so...
Whenever people discuss race relations today and the effect of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, they remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was and continues to be one of the most i...
" Sing for freedom : the story of the Civil Rights Movement through its songs. Montgomery, Ala.: NewSouth Books. Kirk, J. (2007). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates. Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Recently, there is a spike of historical films being released lately. One of the films is an Academy Award nominee for “Best Picture,” Selma. The film, Selma, is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. The film shows the struggles of the black community face with the blockage of their voting rights and the racial inequality during the civil rights movement. Selma is about civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. heading to the rural Alabama City, Selma, to secure the voting rights for the African American community by having a march to Montgomery. It shows the struggles from what the African American community had to endured during the 1960s. Selma shows a social significance to today’s current events, specifically
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...