Black people are winning and our performers are definitely making statements!
Via CNN:
For the second time in a week, an African-American performer has lit up a nationally televised event with a politically charged performance, conveying unapologetic black pride.
Beyonce brought the force of the Black Panthers 50 years into the future with her Super Bowl halftime performance last Sunday, drawing jubilant praise along with accusations of racism and anti-police sentiment.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar arguably went deeper Monday night, staging a theatrical Grammys performance that evoked the chains of slavery and incarceration along with pride of heritage and a fiery condemnation of American injustice.
Lamar, who was the most-nominated artist of the night with 11 nods and five wins, stunned the audience with a kinetic medley of two tracks from his latest album, "To Pimp a Butterfly," along with new lyrics.
Dressed in prison blues, his band caged behind bars, Lamar raised his shackled hands to the mic to rhyme "The Blacker the Berry," a screed against oppression.
"I'm African-American. I'm African. I'm black as the moon. Heritage of a small village. Pardon my residence. ...You hate me, don't you? You hate my people. Your plan is to terminate my culture."
Lamar's fellow prisoners dropped their chains and began a joyous dance in the dark, illuminated by neon paint. He continued his machine gun delivery with "Alright," a chin-up track built around the refrain: "We gon' be alright"
"I rap, I'm black, on track and rest assured. My rights, my wrongs are right till I'm right with God."
With "Alright," drummers and dancers in African tribal dress joined to close out the performance around a bonfire that seemed to symbolize Lamar's burning pride and anger all at once.
To read more of CNN's report, click here... Or to re-live Kendrick's electrifying performance, continue to scroll down.
