"Alright" by Kendrick Lamar

“Alright” by Kendrick Lamar
 * “Alright” is a song from Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterfly


 * Co-Producers: Mark Spears, Pharrell Williams in Los Angeles, California.
 * Released on June 30th, 2015

The social problem being protested:
 * Addressing the serious civil unrest in the United States by combating racial inequality


 * Supports Black Lives Matter Movement
 * Response to the shooting of Tamir Rice and the arrest and death of Sandra Bland



The Case of Tamir Rice

Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, was fatally shot in Cleveland, Ohio by a former Cleveland Police Department (CPD) officer because of the pellet gun Rice was playing with. The CPD officer claimed when he saw the gun, he “feared for his life,” which caused him to shoot. This event belongs to the broader event at issue of the Black Lives Matter Movement Against Police Hostility.

 

The Case of Sandra Bland

Sandra Bland, a 28 year old African American woman, had just driven in from Illinois to start a new job in Texas when a state trooper pulled her over for failing to signal a lane change. As the interaction grew increasingly hostile, the officer pulled out a gun, which she recorded a 39-second video on her phone and broadcast it publicly. A renewed investigation for her arrest and death nearly four years ago happened. After Bland’s arrest, she was discovered in her jail cell on the afternoon of July 13th deceased, due to asphyxiation from hanging. African Americans mobilized to protest the wrongful conviction and police brutality against African Americans.

 The Relevance of the Words and Phrases Selected:
 * When Lamar says, “Our pride was low,” he relates this with the whites depriving blacks of having pride and power in their identity.
 * “Po-po wanna kill us dead,” refers to recurring police hostility incidents. The “hatred towards the police” has become a common theme in hip-hop music.
 * “Wouldn’t you know,” is an English idiom Kendrick Lamar uses to describe the negative psychological consequences of being black in America.
 * “Lookin’ at the world like where do we go?” is a question that refers to the African Diaspora, or the collection of communities of people who have descended from Africans brought to America from Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
 * When Lamar says, “My knees gettin’ weak,” he is suggesting that their knees are weakening because he’s spent so long on his knees praying for patience. This forces him to eventually take action and influence many others in the movement to take action.
 * This song was convincing in its message because it mobilized many African Americans to participate in the protest against unequal treatment by law enforcement.

Significance & Connections in History: In the summer of 2015, a Black Lives Matter conference was held on the campus of Cleveland State University. Hundred of black activists and organizers from across the country gathered in Cleveland, Ohio, which was significant due to it being the same city Tamir Rice was killed in just a year earlier. This gathering was a time for them to discuss their agenda to combat this growing issue. As they mourned and celebrated the lives of victims such as Tamir Rice and Sandra Bland, one activist began to play Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” One activist, a youth reverend named Waltrina Midleton, described the moments as, “A celebratory moment of black love.” When the conference began to end, buses waited outside of the university waiting to transport the activists. Inside of one particular bus, an officer was detaining a black 14-year-old suspected of drinking alcohol. As the situation unfolded bystanders began to record the interaction in order to make sure the young child was not criminalized. As more bystanders began to gather around, the crowd turned protestive. People began to link arms around the police cars causing the officers to react extremely by pepper-spraying them. While gathered together to defend the teen, the protest began to chant “We gon’ be alright” from Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” It’s difficult to determine the first use of Lamar’s words to protest police brutality against African Americans, but this incident in Cleveland touched many people and soon became a fixture. Lamar’s song was later declared Song of the Decade by Pitchfork, a Chicago based online magazine, in which they described it as “A cornerstone of the #BlackLivesMatter movement… a beacon of light that ushered people away from terror.” The song which first began as a highly anticipated rap record later grew into a purgative monument. Black Lives Matter is still an ongoing movement that continues to combat the issue of racial inequality.

Protestors chanting Kendrick Lamar's "Alright"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUC_DOhfzwQ&feature=youtu.be

Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY

Connection to 1968: Kendrick Lamar’s record “Alright,” became the national anthem for the Black Lives Matter Movement, which can be compared to the 1950s-60s Civil Rights Movement because of their similarities in messages, tactics, and influence. These two movements are similar in that they wanted to enforce the message of justice and racial equality. In addition, they both utilized non-violent tactics to influence change. Although they are different in that the Civil Rights Movement’s goals were to end racial segregation and discrimination and secure federal citizenship rights, while Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement that campaigns against violence towards African Americans. In both movements, media was an instrumental tool for advocating change for their message. Eventually, both achieved some level of political reform by raising awareness of racial problems and using social pressure to influence authoritative figures. However, the difference in origin is that the Black Lives Matter was more reactionary to racial injustice, while the Civil Rights Movement organized marches that they anticipated would recieve backlash that would gain national attention.

Fun Trivia Facts:
 * Kendrick Lamar was 28 years old when he wrote and produced “Alright.”
 * Inspired by the police brutality he faced growing up in Compton.

Reasons we selected Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”

The reason we (Jacey and Talia) chose to research the impact of Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright,” was because we both admire his work and believe he is an influential artist that has revolutionized rap and hip-hop. He has released many hits and won as many as 173 awards; 13 of those being Grammy Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, and an ASCAP Vanguard Award for his music composition. He was even awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first non-classical or jazz work to win, for his single “DAMN.” We would go as far as to say that Kendrick Lamar is a national treasure and is one of the most influential rappers of his generation. Kendrick Lamar has been and will continue to inspire many.

External Links:
 * https://www.npr.org/2019/08/26/753511135/kendrick-lamar-alright-american-anthem-party-protest
 * http://hiii-power.com/2019/10/07/kendrick-lamars-alright-song-of-the-decade/
 * https://slate.com/culture/2015/08/black-lives-matter-protesters-chant-kendrick-lamars-alright-what-makes-it-the-perfect-protest-song-video.html
 * https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8544088/kendrick-lamar-alright-songs-that-defined-the-decade
 * https://medium.com/@kbreenconsulting/comparing-civil-rights-movement-to-black-lives-matter-c8b4f30bc03
 * https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/how-black-lives-matter-changed-way-americans-fight