![]() ![]() ![]() So whereas “Black”, in its original wording, has more of generational, Afrocentric theme, Dave utilized the prominent stage the Brit Awards to give the song more of a contemporary, universal and humanitarian focus. And as aforementioned, he also used the opportunity to recognize Meghan Markle, a British Royal who recently left the UK, with many people believing she did so due to the racism she faced. That incident occurred in London in 2017 and took the lives of almost 100 individuals. He also gave a shoutout to the victims Grenfell Tower fire. For example, Dave himself took to the piano during the performance of the song. But more-notably he added an additional verse to the tune which referenced some specific issues and personalities in recent history. Amongst those were Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt, the two individuals who were murdered by a knife-wielding terrorist in London during November of 2019. And in doing so, he also points out the various benefits and detriments that come along with this designation.ĭave’s Performance of “Black” at the 2020 Brit Awardsĭave performed this song at the Brit Awards ceremony which was held on 18 February 2020. This rendition has been dubbed an especially-powerful performance due to a plethora of reasons. Or rather it can be said that he is forcefully identifying himself as “Black”. But overall this is definitely a statement of his pride in being Black himself. So considering the dual nature of this track, we can also conclude that it operates along two different themes. One is that Dave mentions a vast number of socio-economic/political issues that his people have to deal with. Some of these issues range from street violence to racism to mass incarcerations. But he also brings up ideas such as the powers-that-be seemingly being obsessed with Black culture, particularly from an entertainment standpoint. And he sums it all up conclusively by more or less stating that he is honored to be Black. And this is apparently because Black people have a lot of different issues plaguing their communities. So basically Dave is having a back-and-forth with himself and the audience, pointing out the pros and cons of being Black. And yes, as you would probably expect the negatives outweigh the positives. Black is Beautifulīut this focus on the negative aspects of being Black – so to speak – is countered by Dave also touting its advantages. For instance, the rapper drops the famous line “the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice”, alluding to the beauty of Black people. And this is how generally speaking Blacks in the Western world are only taught the negative or degrading aspects of their people’s history. ![]() Indeed Dave sort of focuses on an issue which many Black scholars have pointed out in the past. These socialization systems tend to depict Africa as a place that is overrun by “famine and greed”. Owing to this, many people of African origin are reluctant to trace their roots. Now as most readers would probably agree, Black people are generally given a raw deal. And that is part of what Dave is harping on. For instance, he references how such individuals have to “work twice as hard” in order to make it in certain parts of the (Western) world. But again going back to his roots, he also mentions some issues connected to Africa itself. For instance, Black people in the diaspora may be discouraged from tracing their ‘family tree’, as in making connections with the Motherland. And this is primarily because of the Western world’s socialization systems (i.e. ![]()
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