From Black to Colored

One of the songs discussed in class that stood out to me the most was James Brown's, "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud", because this particular song made the word, "black", a positive term for African Americans to identify themselves with. 

In an interview back in 2003 Brown stated, “I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black. The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society." To Brown, the word black and colored were not one in the same. He didn’t identify himself as colored or a Negro. According to his definitions the word Negro and colored has negative connotations. To him, a colored was a scared person, a Negro was someone that was making it in     the system but wanted to be white but a black man has pride in his race and wants to make it mean something.

 

4/20 Release

On April 20th, Rihanna released the interlude of her new album, "James Joint." It's ironic that she picked April 20th, which is widely known as the 'weed holiday.' She tweeted to her fans, "In celebration of 420, here’s an interlude from my 8th studio album that I call James Joint.”

Many comments have been made that is was an ode to ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown. That possibility may be true, but in actuality it was an ode to marijuana. 

John Legend is More Than Music

Lately, Grammy winner, John Legend has been doing much more than gracing the community with his musical abilities. Outside the music, John Legend is a Humanitarian and has been launching campaigns over the last few years.

Recently, he annouced his latest campaign, "Free America", to end mass incarceration. At my very own alma mater, John legend was a recent key speaker, in which he spoke on various topics pertaining to aiding the community, life's struggles and love.

Afterwards, he peformed three songs. The significance of his performance was that if you payed close  attention to some of the lyrics, they also

pertained to some of the messages in his speech. Before I had always thought of his music as love songs. After listening to his speech, his music talks about more than just love if you really listen. He's a man that sings what he preaches.

A Mini Reunion

At the 2015 Stellar Gospel Music Awards in Las Vegas, Destiny's Child surprised the audience with their mini reunion singing Michelle William's single, "Say Yes."
Although neither of them were scheduled to perform, the audience wish their reunion was longer than one song. 

Awards are scheduled to air April 5th.

But What About Tri Delta?

According to Instagram posts, the women in the Theta Gamma chapter of Delta Delta Delta at the University of Oklahoma were also said to be chanting along on the bus along with SAE members. If you watch the video closely, you do see a young women off to the right that appears to be like she might be chanting but its hard to tell. The focus has been mainly on SAE but will the possible  inapropriate acts of the sorority girls go unnoticed or be investigated?  

#SAEhatesme is Spreading!

Sunday night, #SAEhatesme, began to spread all over my timelines and news feeds. The video of SAE (Sigma Alpha Epsilon) Fraternity at the University of Oklahoma chanting, "There will never be N-word in SAE...You can hang them from a tree, but they’ll never sign with me", was tweeted by Unheard, a black organization on the campus to the president of OU.

Soon afterwards, the video spread like fire. Later that night, Unheard posted on the internet that there would be a student demonstration at 7:30 this morning on the campus. This incident was a true eye opener that racism is very much still alive and near me. We've came a long way since the civil rights movement but this incident proves that we still have a long way to go.

Video can be watched on instgram by typing in the hashtag:#SAEhatesme or on the news site: http://www.koco.com/news/ou-investigates-video-reportedly-showing-fraternity-singing-racist-chant/31686542

The Best moments is Hearing Good Music With Good People!

the conversation about post-drake sadness happening in our group chat rn is so real #NWTSafterthedrakeshow pic.twitter.com/jyrb2Mthyk
— Lorde (@lordemusic) February 25, 2015

After Drake's performance in Lorde's stomping grounds, she stated in a text message that she uploaded to twitter that she is sad because she thinks she may never be that happy again. Of course she still has the rest of her life for plenty more happy moments like the Drake concert. Her statement was an expression how much she enjoyed the concert being with her friends and hearing good music all at the time. I have to agree that some of my best moments in my life was hearing good music surrounded by good people.
I can definitely relate to her statement! Sometimes after I have just left a good party or a random outing with friends, I think on the car ride home about how fun it was and if I will have the much fun ever again. It's crazy a feeling I guess but as the old saying goes, "all good things come to an end."