Nina Simone, more widely known as, says that when she first plays the piano in the church, after seeing her family sitting in the back row, she will come to the forefront, or she will not continue playing. Can you believe that a little girl experienced positive discrimination by that way for the first time in her life? Over and above, in the church, and in U.S. where big dreams come true…
With Miss Simone Martin Luther King, as a pioneer of civil rights movement, she writes, sings and pursues the values that she believes in; she emphasises that the society order, which causes the situation, must be changed and developed! After becoming the symbol of the movement, the activist stops at nothing, and it is strange that she does not dream of sharing his post on Instagram.
In the song “Damn Misisipi”, she is brave enough to shout that his country was founded on lies. She comes to a turning point in his career as she gravitates to a bit of political songs with her support to revolution. Aftermath, her concerts are canceled one by one, she realises that the artists who do not have an aim to send messages are happier while she struggles to earn a living. She, then, continues to use her music as propaganda, without worrying about it. (As you know, at this time, police violence was at the peak of its dominance in terms of discrimination. Witch hunt could be initiated at any time, especially to black people)
When Martin Luther King, the peaceful member of the movement, is shot to death in Tennesse, this wears out and make upset him. He decides to move to Africa. For a long time, she falls into silence and goes into a decline. After the recovery process and moving to Switzerland, she starts with a concert in Montre, then moves to Paris, and continues to make music in a small locals at night. (It is always said to be living in Paris like “homeless”). With the support of her friends, she moves to the Netherlands and agrees to start psychological treatment. She begins to experience characteristic disorders after the diagnosis of bipolar — manic depressive. She can not resist drug therapy and she is ready to sacrifice everything for music to get things done. She uses the songs he wrote to make music for cosmetic ads (chanel no:5).Tobacco brands sponsors to her.
We can say that she tried to hold on to life again — where — in a civilized geography that discrimination is not embittered. And in her last interview, she admits that the civil rights movement was useless. She dies in 2003 by leaving behind a lot of prizes and works. Miles Davis, for instance, speaks of praise for her talent…
Quincy Jones also starts a charity campaign for Afro-Americans with the income of the project “We Are The World” as well as many successful album records in his career (one of the most respected characters in music history). Q. Jones goes deep into the subject and tries to make a statement by shooting a movie called “The Color Purple” and leads the aid and solidarity campaigns til the Obama administration.
In an interview, Mr Jones asserts that on the Las Vegas tour black people are not taken to the hotels, they take first step to get blacks to the hotel by opposing and protesting together with Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra! Isn’t he really a great showmen?
So, How did afro-Americans become the definition of crime?
In the past days, we all witnessed the live broadcast of George Floyd by pressing his neck in the middle of the street. After sharing it in our stories, we thought that we changed it, baked the recipes that we found on digital platforms and shared it as content. Some of us damaged the sculptures of deceased merchants, and some of us sold black masks by exploiting the situation.
While the whole world is against discrimination and protesting it in every way, what kind of interpretation will or should we take for transforming the streets into the terrorism in the country of dream America? How can an economy giant, which dreams of freedom to the whole world and transforms it into fashion through kardashians, nourishes such discrimination in itself and grow it into an economy?
It is not quite right to say such things, but what more could be expected from a mass managed by “virus does not spread if you do not test”? Don’t it call M. Antoniette’s bread-cake paradox? Also, when I say M. Antoniette, I remember that the first champagne glasses are made with the mold taken from the lady’s breasts. :)
How is the police of the “solution-oriented” world that has been dealing with the same issue for the last 1 century, while America is saving the middle east from the dictators in the field and then in the cinema, losing the floor? For instance, who was the first military battalion sent in the Vietnam War? The answer is not surprising, is it? What about the cancellation of the athlete’s identity by the world boxing federation against Muhammed Ali’s refusal to go to the military?
(While 10 percent of the American population was black in those days, the black population in Vietnam was at 30 percent)
Also, Bruce Lee, with his Land of Freedom, faced discrimination. He opposed with his films and managed to be accepted by people.
And, the keyword in this article is “resistance” against half a century and still unchanging racism, and I recommend listening to Bob Marley — Get up stand up while reading that.
Although Bob Marley was shot in Jamaica, he called for peace to keep his people all together.
Emre Ezelli İstanbul 2020