{"id":16801,"date":"2018-05-25T11:10:47","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T15:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16801"},"modified":"2018-05-25T11:33:43","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T15:33:43","slug":"rap-resistance-and-reassurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=16801","title":{"rendered":"Rap: Resistance and Reassurance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Art: Week 2<br \/>\nRap: Resistance and Reassurance<br \/>\nFriday, May 25, 2018<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ClJyYfOFLbs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWe\u2019re far more comfortable recognizing the sacred in poetry and psalms than we are seeing it in our own popular culture . . . at least I know I am. Barbara Holmes explores breath and rhythm in rap, an art form of resistance and survival that can lead to contemplation just as effectively as poetry and chanting psalms. I hope you\u2019ll stretch your comfort zone and listen to some rap, perhaps from Kendrick Lamar who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for music. [1] If you\u2019re not familiar with rap, it may be challenging and take practice to understand and appreciate. Give it time, like you would any contemplative practice! [2]<br \/>\nLike all musical genres, rap continues to evolve, but even as it finds more mainstream expressions, it remains a challenging artistic venue. What is most notable is that its emergence surprised its musical and political predecessors. After years of politically correct discourse and the studied attempt to assimilate or integrate, the next generation arrived with a chip on its collective shoulder and with a story to tell. . . .<br \/>\nKendrick Lamar offers To Pimp a Butterfly, a political reply to police violence and the inherent power within the community to resist, redefine, and defeat racism, against all odds. Lamar seems to be saying that the power of survival is in our tongues. What Lamar offers is more powerful than the songs of overcoming or reward in heaven. He says, \u201cwe gonna be alright.\u201d The refrain is repeated in a hard rhythm that sways the reality until the anthem becomes \u201caaaaaaaaaawwww . . . ite.\u201d This is a promise of \u201calrightness\u201d enunciated in the language of the ancestors and abiding spirits.<br \/>\n[Sam Behrens writes:]<br \/>\nWhat makes a protest song [and, I would add, a contemplative song]? Is it the lyrics? Is it the melody? Is it the rhythm? Is it in the artist\u2019s intent? The public\u2019s reception? Perhaps it is something yeastier, harder to pin down\u2014as impossible to triangulate as a single electron in the dense cloud that buzzes around an atom\u2019s nucleus. . . . \u201cTo Pimp a Butterfly\u201d is protest [and contemplative] music because it is alive to its moment. . . . [3]<br \/>\nLamar\u2019s musical reassurance, rhythms and lyrics are grounded in twenty-first-century culture and in the hymnal legacy of the black church, Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine, I Surrender All. The message is clear: do your part, work while it is yet day, knowing that we may not see the victory over oppression, but victory will come, and in the meantime, we gonna be alright.<br \/>\nThe ancestors must be laughing: How could we have forgotten so easily that prophets like Lamar and Tupac arise in every generation? . . . With the rise of police and vigilante killings of black men and women came the art and performance of resistance from the millennial generation. The rappers . . . [tell] the stories that need to be told, remind the community of its history and potential, while chanting desperation and hope.<br \/>\nReferences:<br \/>\n[1] See http:\/\/www.pulitzer.org\/winners\/kendrick-lamar.<br \/>\n[2] Note that many black rappers reclaim the derogatory N-word, using it to express affection and friendship for their own community (the word is not appropriate for individuals who are not black to use). As you listen to rap, observe your own reactions\u2014in your body and mind\u2014and sit with the discomfort or questions that arise.<br \/>\n[3] Sam Behrens, \u201cKendrick Lamar Reminds Us That Hip Hop Is an Important Political Player,\u201d July 1, 2015, https:\/\/www.attn.com\/stories\/1471\/kendrick-lamar-tpab-political-power.<\/p>\n<p>_____________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling<\/p>\n<p>May 25, 2018<br \/>\nTHE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH YOU, My child. Your mind leaps from problem to problem to problem, tangling your thoughts in anxious knots. When you think like that, you leave Me out of your worldview and your mind becomes darkened. Though I yearn to help, I will not violate your freedom. I stand silently in the background of your mind, waiting for you to remember that I am with you. When you turn from your problems to My Presence, your load is immediately lighter. Circumstances may not have changed, but we carry your burdens together. Your compulsion to \u201cfix\u201d everything gives way to deep, satisfying connection with Me. Together we can handle whatever this day brings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ISAIAH 41:10<\/strong>; So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ZEPHANIAH 3:17<\/strong>;The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>PSALM 34:19\u00a0<\/strong>The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Art: Week 2 Rap: Resistance and Reassurance Friday, May 25, 2018 We\u2019re far more comfortable recognizing the sacred in poetry and psalms than we are seeing it in our own popular culture . . . at least I know I am. Barbara Holmes explores breath and rhythm in rap, an art form of resistance and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16801"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16801"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16809,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16801\/revisions\/16809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}