Robert Glasper: Why Music Matters to #BlackLivesMatter (VIDEO)
From “Music’s Role in the Movement for Black Lives: An Interview With Robert Glasper” on Truthout:
If you say to my 6-year-old son, “What do we want?” he’ll tell you, “Justice.” If you ask him, “When do we want it?” he’ll tell you. “Now.” He has marched and chanted, and he knows Black Lives Matter.
He knows he matters.
My husband and I want Ralphie fully invested in his own liberation. We want him to know – no matter what his history teacher might tell him – that Lincoln did not free the slaves. Black people freed the slaves. We want him to know he will be the one to free himself.
… So, when my friend Angelika Beener asked if we would let Ralphie contribute to a recording her husband was doing about the #BlackLivesMatter movement, my husband and I very quickly said yes. Of course, we knew it would be amazing for Ralphie to record his own voice for Grammy-winning jazz great Robert Glasper, even though, for Ralphie, Rob is just “Riley’s dad.” But we were saying yes to something more than an exciting opportunity for our son. We were saying yes to something we knew would honor the victims of police brutality, be in the tradition of the centuries-long freedom struggle, and pay tribute to all the multitude who added their voices to #BlackLivesMatter.
Thanks to Kevin for the link. The Dissenter’s new series on protest music begins later this week.
Music’s Role in the Movement for Black Lives: An Interview With Robert Glasper