Check It Out:
Nick Cannon: “Stand 4 What?”
October 2, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader:
I am writing to encourage Revolution/revcom.us readers to check out Nick Cannon’s new song and video, “Stand 4 What?” Just a few weeks ago, the rapper/actor marched with protesters in St. Louis, Missouri, after a judge acquitted the cop who murdered Anthony Lamar Smith.
“Stand 4 What?” asks the question of why Black people should stand for the national anthem. The video is laced with images of oppression, showing the degrading and brutal treatment of Black people from the days of slavery, to Jim Crow and the present-day reality of one murder by police after another with the killer pigs walking free. I do disagree with Nick when he says, “I honor and respect our men and women of service…” The U.S. military is an armed force of brutal conquest and murders around the world, and the real heroes are the resisters who refuse to fight for them. But go online, give this song a listen and share it with others. It is powerful, an example of resistance that is much needed in art and culture. Here is a small sample of some of the lyrics:
Stand for what? You want me to stand for a song that continues to remind me of all the harms that done us wrong?... Stand for what? For your army that none of our sons truly belong?... Stand for what? Your forefathers who were really just pimps?... That’s how you wanna treat em? Slave masters, whips, and cops’ night sticks, that’s how you continue to beat em… Because I’ll say it as loud as you can see, Fuck Francis Scott Key and General Robert E. Lee. They don’t represent me and neither do either of these hypocritical political parties… Stand for what? I ain’t standing for shit except Kaepernick.
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