By The irony of the Super Bowl falling on Black History Month has always tickled me, especially in recent years where we’ve seen performers like Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar very openly express Black pride and pro-Black themes in their performances to a relatively white, American audience.
This year, President Donald Trump was in attendance as Samuel L. Jackson portrayed a dramatized version of Uncle Sam, which was also a play on the Uncle Tom trope.
The meaning behind this seems very intentional and highlights how pandering to a white audience does not accurately represent who we are or honor Black American culture in any way.
Jackson exclaimed that the performance was “Too loud, too reckless, too ghetto!” Which was immediately followed by Lamar performing “Not Like Us” and sending the audience into a frenzy.
Typically, streaming services highlight films, TV shows and documentaries that depict tales of Civil Rights and Jim Crow era struggles or harrowing stories about the brutal reality of slavery.
While these pieces of our history are important, we do not often get to see our triumphs and times of joy and valor be celebrated in the media. This is where the power of music and live performance come into play.
When Beyoncé brought out her dancers dressed as Black Panthers to the 2016 Super Bowl Halftime show and shocked the general public of America, it was not because she was depicting graphic imagery of Black trauma and violence, it is because it showcased a group of people expressing their Black pride and having a good time doing it.
It pointed to how American audiences seem to be more comfortable celebrating our pain, sorrow and episodes of violence during the month dedicated to celebrating our history.
Music plays an extremely important role in allowing Black exuberance to be showcased to the masses in a time where it is seldom seen in other forms of media.
