This Is Precisely the Time
This for my people
Tryna stay alive and just stay peaceful
So hard to survive a world so lethal
—Joey Bada$$, “FOR MY PEOPLE”
I am angry. Furious. . . . And sad.
Daniel Penny was acquitted of negligent homicide in the choking death of Jordan Neely
Jordan Neely was a talented dancer and Michael Jackson impersonator. Described by those who knew him as a kind, good, and decent person, who loved to dance, Neely was 30 years old when he was choked to death on an F train in the New York City subway.
Daniel Penny had placed Neely in a chokehold for almost six minutes.
Almost six minutes.
Penny’s acquittal comes against the backdrop of people referring to music by artists like Kendrick Lamar and Doechii, respectively, as “protest music” and “Harriet Tubman music.”
During his rap beef with Kendrick, Drake himself said on “Family Matters” that Kendrick is always “rappin' like you 'bout to get the slaves freed.” As if freeing enslaved people is somehow a bad thing.
As hip hop artist 3rd Rell posted on Threads:
Michael Jackson made ‘protest music
2pac made ‘protest music’
Nwa (sic) made ‘protest music’
Sam Cooke made ‘protest music’
Nina Simone made ‘protest music’
Billy (sic) Holiday made ‘protest music’
There is a long tradition of Black artists using their art to speak out, speak up, and speak against the myriad of injustices that Black people, and other people of the global majority, face in America and around the world.
Mahalia Jackson. Marvin Gaye. Stevie Wonder. Femi Kuti. Stacey Barthe. Just to name a few.
In her essay, “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear”, Toni Morrison writes:
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
Jordan Neely should be alive and dancing today. But he isn’t. So, I will cast my pebble into an ocean of words and continue to speak, to write, and to do language, while listening to songs like Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us.” This is precisely the time.
