Oh what a day, what a day what a day” – E. Badu
This past week Solange invited us to have a seat at the
table and I must say it was delicious. The meal served was nothing short of
your great-grandmother (who I was blessed to know for a huge part of my life) cooking
up a family dinner on Sunday. On the menu, friend chicken, black eyed peas,
corn bread, collard greens and a glass of sweet iced tea brewed from a hot stove.
My southern background crept out in the most glorious way. Solange fed our soul
with her words and a psychedelic mood, floating over funky beats giving us what
we’ve been craving.
She captures exactly what it means to be black in this
country today. Culture appropriation. Racism. Injustice of our black men and
women. The struggles. The pain. The innovation. The pride. The heartbreak. The
joy.
The surprise for me on this album were the interludes spoken
by Mr. No Limit himself, Master P. I took this as the fried chicken, he was the
meat. Mama Tina and Dad’s interludes being the flour and that extra season
sprinkled throughout. Master P takes us back to the beginning of his company,
No Limit Records. He paints the picture of what life was like for blacks back
then and what it is for us now. The conversations with his grandfather, him
taking his idea to shop his CDs in the back of his trunk like the Avon lady that he saw in his hood and
later ended up on the music charts when everyone told him he wouldn’t happen.
That spoke to me and the youth of today, keep pushing and be innovative. No is
not the final answer. He had the formula perfected so much that a white man was
going to buy it from him, sound familiar?!
Every fashion trend, hair style and musical sound sounds
like us. We did it first. It came naturally to us and someone became fascinated
with it and copied it to make it their own.
Solange makes sure to address it. Songs like F.U.B.U., which
was a popular apparel brand back in the day, For Us By Us, addresses culture
appropriation.
Lyrics “For us,
this shit is from us Get so much
from us Then forget us”
The list of “things” that have been stolen from us runs too
long to even start. Things you can’t even put a price tag on like our pride,
joy and our lives. We’ve lost so many black men in the last few weeks it’s hard
to count, “And you’re a criminal just who are”.
We feel the hurt and pain.
And we are enraged and mad.
In the song “Mad” Solange lets us know that we have all the
right to be mad, but where is that going to get us. The frustration and the
questions that come from the people surrounding wondering why we are upset with
the recent events. She ends with “I’m not feeling allowed to be mad” and how
mentally draining it is for her. Over the last few weeks I think that has been
the mindset of people of color, and has been for years. The injustice has never
been right and we are running out of ways to ask for people to understand where
we are coming from. Running out of ways to ask for help. Socially conscious and
thought provoking. Telling us to let it go, you can be mad, but don’t let it
hold you down. Not to mention we earned a decent verse from Lil’ Wayne.
She warns us in “Weary” to fear the events of this twisted
world.
Along with feeling the hurt and struggles of being black I
got the feeling of pride about being black. I got happy that my curls are nappy.
Mama Tina blessed us with words that makes us proud of our skin that is kissed
and stained by the sun. Making us proud to be black and not apologetic about
it. I immediately wanted to soak in a tub of coconut oil, shea butter and the
tears of those who complain about us being proud of our heritage. I instead
adjusted my crown, my head full of kinks and coils.
“Don’t touch my hair” speaks to what it’s like to be a black
girl. The same tight curls that the laugh at they take straws and hot curlers
to mimic. Our big black lips they copy, drawing them on or getting them filled
in. Our big black butts they kept us on show for they spend dollars getting it
pushed into them. She sings about her hair being her crown, where she wears her
pride, her feelings and all of her glory. Her Black Girl Magic. She plays on
words (with our girl Kelly Rowland) saying that she has magic and not to let
anyone steal it. But the joke is we naturally possess it and it flows in
abundance.
Favorites like “Cranes in the Sky” talk about avoidance.
Something that is rather big for me because I always choose to deal with
something later on than when it needs to be addressed. She sings about running
away and not being able to escape it. What that “it” is for her is undefined,
but that “it” for us could be anything. Love, financial burdens, hurt from our
past. She concludes what we have always known, you can’t run from it. You have
to face it head on.
There are so many favorites and so many different moods that
are invoked. I hope that people took away what I took from it, be proud of your
blackness and continue to be great. You are always going to be unappreciated,
unloved, copied and always have something to be mad about. But you can’t stay
mad, hurt or let down forever, adjust your crown and move forward.
Pull up a seat.
Get full.
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