March to Freedom
Common Sense was born on March 13th, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois. His full name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. and he is an African American who won three Grammys, two black reel awards, four BET awards, and a bunch more. He played a big role movie Selma as a leader for the Civil Rights Movement, which was a movie about the 1965 voting marches from Selma to Montgomery. Common had written a song called “Glory” along with John Legend, as the theme song for the movie Selma. Legend, was born on December 28th, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio. Legend is an established and talented African American singer, songwriter, and actor. Over the years of performing, he has earned one American Music Award, 2 BET awards, ten Grammys and most importantly, a MOBO award which stands for Music of Black Origin. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King had given his famous I Have a Dream Speech directing equality to all people of color. A little over 10 years later when the artists were born, the Civil Rights Movement was still in affect and they witnessed this and were still affected and exposed to it even as young kids.“Glory” gives insight about the hardships and struggles of the black American population and smaller communities and calls on them to strive for the freedom of their rights and receive the peace that not only they deserve but the nation and delivers a strong message about overcoming oppression.
The song, “Glory”, was released on December 11, 2014 and it was created to be the theme song for the movie, Selma. The movie portrays the Selma to Montgomery marches along with Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech and the different hardships African Americans had to deal with during this period of time. The setting of the movie is based in Selma, which is a city in south central Alabama, on the Alabama River.
At the beginning of the video, it shows someone impersonating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his speech in Washington. This clip reflects the time when he was still alive and shows the significance of his speech and how it changed the world today because he was a Civil Rights activist. Having this image of Dr. Martin Luther King at the beginning helps catch the audience's emotional connection and interest because of how touchy this subject is. Common and Legend wanted to incorporate his relevance with the importance of his speech. King’s speech played a huge role in the movie and set the tone at the beginning of the music video by putting more emphasis on peaceful protests.
The next clip from the movie in the music video shows an impersonator of Oprah Winfrey getting her voting application denied by a white man. The movie is based on peaceful protesting as well as the movement to change society's perception on the face that no matter what color your skin is, you should still be able to vote. The reason Oprah’s character got denied the right is because she is an African American. This ties into the importance of voting rights because the marches happened in 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed.
In the first paragraph of the lyrics that are sung by Common, he says “Truant livin’ livin’ in us, resistance is us/That’s why Rosa sat on the bus” This line provides encouragement for peaceful protest, hence why he provided Rosa Parks’ action by sitting peacefully on the bus. He wants blacks to protest, but not aggressively. Rosa Parks had sat in the front of a bus as an African-American which was against the expected routines for black people at the time and shocking to the white people. Rosa sat in the front of the bus in 1955 to prove she was tired of being discriminated against and that started a movement and gave Dr. Martin Luther King another reason to preach.
Common also sings “That’s why we walk through Ferguson with our hands up/When it go down we woman and man up/They say, “Stay down”, and we stand up/Shots, we on the ground, the camera panned up”. These lyrics are significant because the Ferguson uprising incident involved protests and riots that began after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. While at least half of the black community is sitting in church during the video, there is a banner hanging up that was made and it says “Racism Killed Our Brother.” They are purposefully pointing fingers at the racist white cops that brutally take action against unarmed black men. The unrest created a heated argument in the United States about the relationships between police officers and African Americans, the tactics used by police on black people, and the force being used by the law around the world. This section of lyrics are significant because it shows the unity that Common and Legend want from African Americans. When things go down, everybody stands up and protests. But he lyrics from the last bit of this section explain how when african americans are unfairly treated, media turns their cameras away from the actions.
Throughout the video, the repeated lyrics “one day when the glory comes” and “one day when the war is won” are sung by Common who is looking into the future for African Americans. That means that right now, everyday is a struggle and the war with violence and discrimination is far from over, but hopefully one day it will all end. It is repeated to add emphasis to the fact that the glory will not come and the war can not be won until everyone puts their differences aside. More lyrics read “No one can win the war individually/It takes the wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy.” This is saying that we the people can overcome the past by being proactive and actually doing something about it as a whole, and that no one can be successful if they are trying to take on situations alone. Common and Legend are inviting people of all generations to participate in a peaceful movement against racism and take a part in changing the world around them.
The message this video gives is directed to and meant to be heard by black people who face injustice and segregation and it demonstrates the struggles of the black community. They also want everybody in the nation to hear the message they are giving because African Americans need help from all aspects of life. They want white people to see the hatred that goes on and to help put forth an effort to right these wrongs. The lyrics “Hands to the Heavens, no man, no weapon” are significant because they pull on the heart strings of black people due to the violence that comes from white police officers and it reflects on the shooting of Michael Brown and the injustice that happened with Eric Garner which brings up the controversial topic of gun violence that goes along with racial injustice.
At the end of the video, it shows a brief clip of Martin Luther King Jr. standing at the podium and then it goes to show whole group of black people are walking as a whole and all of their arms are linked and they are all smiling. Without his speech, we probably would not be where we are today and this just shows that his voice was heard and everyone is uniting and showing that they are strong individuals and can be even stronger together.
Throughout the song, the lyrics correspond to the images that are being portrayed in the video and they are all pieces of the movie. African americans face injustice and are constantly battling oppression even in today's society and the message that is trying to be preached through the song is that if everyone stops seeing the world divided as black and white, we can all unite as a nation and end the discrimination that goes on. The original purpose of the song was made for the movie Selma and they both help people in society today get a better understanding along with a visual of what happened back in the day.