“Selma” recently released and winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song is about the Selma to Montgomery protest marches of 1965 led by Martin Luther King Jr. These marches led to the achievement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits state and local governments from preventing African Americans to exercise their right to vote. The movie was excellent, but when the song, “Glory” by John Legend and Common played at the end credits, it was exhilarating. The song was the icing on the cake of a movie that fully encapsulates the transcending element of American history known as the Civil Rights Movement. “Glory” truly puts into perspective that King and his followers had to face demonstrable adversity on their journey to reach the mountaintop of full Civil Rights. The voting rights Act of 1965 represents a huge part of the legacy that the Civil Rights movement has bestowed upon us. Common and Legend’s “Glory” provide us with evidence that many artists in the entertainment industry today can still appreciate historical events such as the Civil Rights movement and how those events are relevant today.
All too often, in modern mainstream music, we hear songs that are just about material possessions, most of which include money, fancy cars, houses and romantic or sexual partners. Hearing a song that illustrates political awareness of past historical events and their relevance today is a breath of fresh air. Common and Legend understand that ideas are more important than superficial materialism. They are not afraid to stand out from the morass of artificially manufactured melodies and trite lyrics, to present progressive ideas about human rights and so help create an egalitarian society.
Glory consists of lyrics such as, “That’s why Rosa sat on the bus; that’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up.” “Glory” tells us that if you are an American citizen, you should have the freedom to sit on any section of any bus, train, or restaurant that you choose. “Glory” tells us that if you are a young American citizen, you should be allowed to put your hands in the air without fear of getting shot by a police officer. “Glory” tells us that if you are the parent of a child who did get killed by a police officer, you should have the right to see that officer get indicted. Denying any American citizen these basic human rights only proves that racial discrimination exists in 2015 just as it did in 1965 when President Johnson signed The Voting Rights Act into law and in 1863 when Lincoln emancipated the slaves. Common and Legend’s “Glory” shows us that progress is possible; we have made progress in the past and will continue to make progress until we reach the top of the mountain that King stood atop and shouted “let freedom ring!”
Image courtesy of Billboard.com
Common and Legend understand that in order to enact political change you have to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. and actively engage in a movement that nonviolently resists oppression and stops at nothing until the egalitarian society is achieved. As a white male, I can never speak for the African American experience; however, I do know that if you have a vision you must actualize that vision by marching for it with your fellow man. You will continue to march, and you will not stop even though you are getting beaten with a baton and sprayed with tear gas by police dogs. You will not stop because a white slaver is whipping you. You will not stop because you are a woman who doesn’t have the right to vote. You will not stop because you live in a state that bans gay marriage. You will not stop because you are an atheist who couldn’t get sufficient votes to attain public office. You will not stop until you see a reflection of Thomas Jefferson, frustrated with the tyranny of the British Empire enacting that beautiful Jeffersonian message into The Declaration of Independence with it’s true meaning, “All men are created equal.”
Michael Schwartz