#BlackLivesMatter: Can Jay-Z be the next Martin Luther King?

Jay-Z: Black Lives Matter

Following the death(or allegedly, killing) of George Floyd, black man aged 46, on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota during an arrest by [a white police officer], once again the attention of the world amid COVID-19 crisis has been focused on the issue of rights of the black people in America. And this time, the movement has come in the form of Black Lives Matter (BLM or for tech savvy, #BlackLivesMatter which began in 2013) as the protest against the recurring incidents of police brutality on the Black People in America (Afro-American). The video has gone viral over the internet which shows Floyd being handcuffed and lying face down beside the Cop Car, with the white police officer named Derek Chauvin kneeling on the former’s neck as he was begging with the officer for his life and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”. Then Floyd remained motionless and eventually died.

 

While the whole world is pouring their thoughts and opinions advocating the rights of the black people in the largest democratic country in the world, this morning I was taken back to the time when I first read the unofficial biography of Shawn Corey Carter (aka Jay-Z)—Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office—by Zack O’Malley Greenburg. The book reveals the life of Jay-Z from his life as a drug dealer and hustler to the celebrated rapper and music producer and ultimately the successful business icon. It shows how Jay-Z made his way literally from the Street Corner of Brooklyn to the Corner Office at the heights of the business world. And at the same time, I remembered the biggest and historic legendary Hip-Hop Collaborations of all time, and you guessed it right… it is none other than “RENEGADE” by Eminem and Jay-Z.

 CLICK HERE for the Complete and Legit Guitar Tabs and Chords with Lyrics for "Renegade" by Eminem and Jay-Z.

And then suddenly, I was amazed by the lyrics of the song, especially the Jay-Z’s part, because his verses in this song can be related to most of the black people in America, their lives and struggles. This song “Renegade” can be linked to the above mentioned biography because in the song he recalls when he used to be involved in drug dealing on the street. His verses are meaningful. It connects to the black people living in the ghettos. It speaks on a much larger social issues which are now being expressed in the form of #BlackLivesMatter movement. The line “the same ghetto you ruined” points the finger toward the government for the plight of the black people in general and those in the ghetto in particular. And the line that follows “I made something doing” implies that he made it out of the ghetto despite the odds stacked against him. “Just read a magazine that f*cked up my day” signifies the news and incidents that are against the black people, just like the repeated incidents of police brutality against the black people in America. The song “Renegade” is really powerful in the context of #BlackLivesMatter.

 

Now back to #BlackLivesMatter…

Black Lives Matter

How Jay-Z can be the perfect personality to make this movement effective? Now I am not saying that Jay-Z should come to the streets and lead the protests, but I want you to see this way: Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his legendary public speech “I Have a Dream” in 1963 in which he advocated for civil and economic rights to the black people and end to the racism in America. One of the most quoted lines from his speech “I have a dream today that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” But to the greatest tragedy, his dreams couldn’t be fulfilled in the 21^st Century America, and even after 57 years of his speech, black people still face the same oppression and prejudice by the authorities, and the killing of Michael Brown (aged 18) back in 2014 and George Floyd in 2020 are the couple of instances that has provoked the #BlackLivesMatter movements.

 

However, this is not to be taken wrongly in that the Police Organization should be blamed just because some of their officers used the force leading to the deaths of potentially unarmed Black People.  In the case of death of George Floyd, all four officers involved in the incident were fired and charged with cases of homicide. The police department has moved forward to even show empathy and solidarity to the movement by hugging the protestors, praying and mourning the death of George Floyd. In one instance, the entire police force deployed to control the protests could be seen kneeling in front of the crowd to honor Floyd. In other cases, the protestors were hugging the police officer. The Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen even linked arms with the demonstrators. These are just the few remarkable sights from the #BlackLivesMatter Movements.

 

In this scenario, creative demonstrations can really make an impact like Martin Luther King, Jr. did. I don’t know whether Jay-Z would voice for this cause but I think that he would be the perfect icon to really give this movement a shape that it should have. In this regard, one of the quote by Jay-Z is worth mentioning here that justifies the cause:

 

“Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama’s running so we all can fly.”

 

This is self-explanatory.

Justice to Black. Black Lives Matter.

 

But at the same time, we should think about the other side of the coin. Several counter movements have taken place in response to #BlackLivesMatter. #AllLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter are few of the instances. The bottom line is, whatever the movement and cause, it should be peaceful and based on the American virtue of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

 

God Bless Us.

 

©Linking the Myths 2020: Black Lives Matter #BlackLives Matter #Jay-Z