donald glover this is america

Glover opens fire on the choir, a seeming reference to the Charleston church mass shooting of 2015. It could be representative of how African-Americans are often forced to pull over and step outside of their vehicles by police officers.

The video shifts in tone as Glover dances past the guitarist he shot. Does Glover have the answers? It's representative of guns being treated with care and priority while black bodies don't get the same dignity. The track's tone swerves from happy-go-lucky psalmic readings to more alarming verses. And Glover himself, or rather the character he’s playing, is either in on it or completely oblivious to it, cooly flexing his dance moves to the camera with a stank face and a Sambo-style grin. In the end, Glover says, police care more about black men using drugs than gun violence. But the phrase came to mind while watching “This Is America” for the first time. Glover moves fluidly from violent act to violent act, just as America does with mass shootings. It launched a storm of conversation on social media and quickly became one of the most trending videos on YouTube.

Maybe the slickest reference of all is to the Pied Piper: Glover dances a group of pre-teens in magnet-school uniforms clear of the surrounding violence like a siren-song distraction from the homework of everyday terror—which, in a way, is what he is. And that he does: it’s a bravura performance. Glover could have picked any color for the fabric.

"We're really kind of grappling with what our entertainers at that level do with the spotlight they have on them; what kind of message are they projecting out into the world," Carmichael says. The rapper-actor-comedian’s startling new video asks urgent questions. As Carmichael argues, Glover is using his moment to bring attention to the perils of his people, especially following Kanye West's controversial statements on slavery and public alignment with President Trump. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. But what’s he selling? Roof used a Glock pistol in his massacre, but the AK-47 — used by Glover in the video and originally created to kill masses of people in war — is a weapon of choice for mass shooters in America.

I’m wary of any claim that “We” are distracted from black violence, because who’s “we,” really? Glover's exposed torso is there to remind us that he is black and vulnerable, according to Yahoo's Ken Tucker. This scene represents the apex of that transition. I appreciate the more serious readings, like the angle that the violence and entertainment here are side-by-side spectacles, ordinary and co-extent, just as they are in everyday life; a quick scroll through Twitter, past mass shootings and Marvel movie trailers, confirms as much.

It happens just as the video drastically shifts from a cheerful to aggressive tone. I’ve often struggled to make sense of where Glover really stands on things—of whether the political statements in his art are expressions of genuine fury or Glover just playing around with political rage like it’s a costume he can slip on and off when convenient; I must have missed the point at which Glover transitioned from apolitical black nerd to bona fide political artist. A police vehicle burns. Not everyone can afford the new, flashy cars in most rap music videos. ", He seems to see Jackson as a black man aggressively groomed for show business, canvas shoes worn by Confederate soldiers, Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy, a weapon of choice for mass shooters in America, a South African dance Rihanna famously performed at the Grammys this year, the March 18 police shooting of Stephon Clark, February shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, wearing a dress by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, posted an image from the set on Instagram, according to research from Stanford University, 12 revealing details you may have missed in 'Get Out'. Or it could refer to prison cells — the warehouse where the music video takes place somewhat resembles a prison — which are used as tools of oppression. became one of the most trending videos on YouTube, frequent "Atlanta" collaborator Hiro Murai, including "Dear White People" creator Justin Simien. The images of smiling, dancing black children nod to the ways that black cultural production is often commodified and appropriated by white audiences. We Insist: A Timeline Of Protest Music In 2020. In the video, a shirtless, surprisingly furry Glover—working under his musical pseudonym Childish Gambino—jives, bobs, and dips his way through a warehouse that’s being overtaken by violence. "The South African melodies suddenly give way to this really dark Southern American trap music," NPR Music hip-hop journalist Rodney Carmichael says.

Entertainers have long scolded us for being entertained—just check the history of satire. It also sends a message about the ways that the lives of black Americans are often devalued in our culture. But he's actually played by Calvin Winbush, a Los Angeles-based musician and actor. Throughout the video, Glover's dancing serves as a distraction from the awful things happening around him. Once Glover pauses, the corners start spreading back out, and the camera begins to pan away. Glover alternates between tribal dances and viral dances while flashing an exaggerated minstrel-like smile. The evocation may be a reflection on what just transpired: Glover dances around while a black man played guitar, entertaining the viewer, but the threat of violence against African-Americans is inextricable from that entertainment. He is starring in Solo: A Star Wars Story this spring. Glover is enjoying a mainstream moment right now.

There are Jim Crow imagery, dancing schoolchildren toting firearms and a black gospel choir.

Glover may be sending a message about how the US prioritizes the protection of guns over the protection of black bodies. ", is relevant to ask why their bodies are worth more on a field or court than on the streets of America.".

The image appears to be a reference to verse 6:8 in the Book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament. "The rest of the video is this barrage of symbolism and chaos.". At its most basic, this is hardly a new point—Katy Perry came out with a lo-carb, artificially sweetened version of this idea just a year ago, and by even then, it was old news. Subscriber Like much of Glover's work, "This is America" is cryptic and loaded with shocking imagery and metaphor. The video somehow feels too convenient, too neat a gloss on whatever ideas it thinks it has. D onald Glover released a new song and music video “This Is America” under his musical moniker Childish Gambino on Saturday Night Live this weekend — …

Even after the Roof massacre, the United States failed to pass a single law restricting gun ownership. His incongruously cheerful performance is the sharpest thing here, a compendium of arch, knowing references to everything from Jim Crow to Internet dance trends that kept Rap Genius users busy for the entire weekend. Donald Glover's music video for "This is America" is a jarring work of art that addresses gun violence, entertainment, police brutality, and black bodies in America. Account active

We don’t home in on the chaos, really, save for when Glover picks up the gun himself. As Adrienne Gibbs notes in Forbes, all the cars in the video are models from the '80s and '90s. All rights reserved. If you look closely, you'll notice that the edges of the screen have started to curve in — timed perfectly to the point at which Glover shoots the guitarist on screen. Dropping amid ongoing political and cultural tumult and turmoil, Childish Gambino’s “This is America” appears to be a commentary on black life in America and American culture as a He performed two new songs under his stage name, Childish Gambino. Glover gives us a United States that’s as disconcertingly violent as it is pointedly unperturbed by that fact. hide caption. Kids, meanwhile, start dancing on cars. The next verse, "On my Kodak," referring to the film brand, could refer to how the proliferation of cellphones allows people to capture images of police violence. A police car follows death on the horse, perhaps symbolizing the tacit connection between police violence and death for black Americans.

What a weekend it was for Donald Glover. It's a visual cue, meant to evoke a sense of claustrophobia and unease. And I think he wants to present it in a way where it's as challenging to his audience as it is to those outside on a mass scale.". Glover could also be drawing a connection between violence, entertainment, and profit in capitalism. But it was the performance and subsequent video release of his new song, "This Is America," that has had everyone talking since its late-night release. And his yellow shoes may also be a reference to canvas shoes worn by Confederate soldiers. If not for the fact that it’s profitable to tell blacks that we should stick to sports, quit the protests, worry more about black-on-black violence, and be thankful for Obama’s eight years, people like Tomi Lahren wouldn’t be able to pay their rent. since. The music video for "This is America" capped an important weekend for Donald Glover. "Glover wants to remind us that violence is committed against black bodies like his with some regularity and with no heed to whether the body in question is that of a celebrity or an ordinary citizen," Tucker writes. "I think in a lot of ways what Glover is trying to do is really bring our focus and our attention to black violence, black entertainment [and] the way they're juxtaposed in society. That should feel self-effacing. He also gives us an America in which blacks are complicit in that violence, in part thanks to entertainers like Glover himself, grinding his way through the chaos to our collective detriment. Donald Glover’s “This Is America” Is a Stylish, Ambitious Provocation—But What Is It Actually Selling? his 1991 music video for "Black or White.

Donald Glover/Screenshot by NPR "It feels to me like it's a black man running from a lynch mob," Carmichael says. The song's visual starts with this striking juxtaposition. The final scene of the video shows Glover running from what seems to be white riot police officers. He won his first Grammy Award earlier this year for his 2016 song "Redbone." Glover's clothing choices are also loaded with meaning. This weekend, midway through his first Saturday Night Live hosting gig, Donald Glover—sketch and stand-up comic, actor, director, writer, musician, and who knows what else—dropped a spark plug of a new music video. Get the latest chatter, from Kensington Palace and beyond, straight to your inbox. America, writ large, has not been unconsciously deterred from paying attention to the spectacle of racial injustice. In the King James translation, it goes like this: And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. It may also be a commentary on the American obsession with capitalist consumption. He chose red, INSIDER's Alana Yzola theorizes, because it's representative of Republican-dominated states, which she says often value guns over black lives. Subscribe to our daily newsletter to get more of it. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Near the end of the video, Glover is dancing on top of a car, and it's similar to Jackson's moves in the "Black and White" video, as well. a detainee?—and shooting him dead.

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