Gregory Thompson

MUS 330W

Writing Assignment 2

“This is America”
 Music has always had a way of making anyone express and feel their emotions

through the way of harmonic lyrics.Whether that be acknowledging political issues,

experienced a loss of someone or something, they achieved a personal accolade, and

the list goes on and on. I will be discussing both the songs “This is America” by

Childish Gambino, and “HUMBLE”by Kendrick Lamar. One will emphasize my

political view on black oppression and gun violence, and the other will discuss the

belief in why people need to be not take anything for granted, and just to be

“Humble”.

“This is America” by Childish Gambino, otherwise known as Donald Glover,

discusses oppression that the black community is currently facing in the United

States, the increasing amount of gun violence occurring, as well as adding in various

African dances in the music video, as I believe was used for comedic relief. As soon

as this single was released, it immediately gained massive amount of positive

attention and publicity. Donald Glover has always been an active and important voice

in the black community, and “This is America”further emphasizes this. The

importance of this single is more focused on the depictions in the actual music video,

rather than just the lyrics themself. The entire video takes place in an empty greyish

white warehouse that many believe represents America’s foundation as built of white

supremacy. The very first scene depicts musician Calvin the Second who portrays the

father of Trayvon Martin, who was an African-American teenager who was shot and

killed by George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012. Donald Glover throughout the video

introduces many African dances, including dances such as Shoki and Gwara Gwara.

Next, there was a very distinct depiction representing the Jim Crow laws. In this scene

Donald Glover is seen standing behind a seated white man, while holding a gun to the

back of his head and posing like one of the Jim Crow pictures of man dressed up as
‘black face’. This scene is very impactful because, “Jim Crow began as mere pop

culture entertainment at the expense of America’s freed slaves and became the means

of their oppression” (Glover, 2018).

The next few scenes of the music videos now depicts many references to gun

violence instances and police brutality that occurred against the African-America

community. Every time Glover fires a gun, he proceeds to hand the cloth to another

person in a red cloth. This is believed to represent America’s willingness to protect

the gun laws, regardless of all the negative impacts it has had over our country,

especially in the past five or so years. Considered as one of the most, if not the most

disturbing scenes in the video shows an African-American choir getting shot down

with an assault rifle. This scene directly ties to the Charleston massacre in Charleston,

South Carolina in 2015. One of thew last scenes in the music video depicts Donald

Glover standing on a car, surrounded many many other abandoned cars. This is

believed to depict the numerous amount of African-American people being killed by

cops in routine traffic stops that occurred in Minnesota in 2016.

Overall, “This is America” is a very disturbing, however very impactful video

on many people, not only the African-American Community. This was another way

to spread awareness of the oppression the African-American community continues to

face in the United States. This video really speaks to me because as an African-

American male myself, sometimes I become scared to live in the world I am currently

in. Although I have never really experienced many instances of oppre4ssion in my

life, I am constantly told by my parents to just be careful with practically everything I

do. It is very upsetting that I even have to be told that and live that way, considering I

live in the “land of the free”. The fact that I am always shaking of fear whenever I get

pulled over by a police officer, or the fact that I cannot participate in political protests
due to the possibility of being oppressed by other race is saddening. Personally, I

believe some of the worrisome the African-American community present can be a

little overzealous against white people, there is no doubt that there is still racism that

continues to go on every single day. I personally believe that racism will never go

away, however, I hope one day that the black community can finally feel somewhat at

ease living in the United States.

“HUMBLE” by Kendrick Lamar is much more of a subdued message

compared to “This is America”. The title of the song purposefully in all caps because

it was intended as a bold statement. As the title states very obviously, this song is

meant as “…a call for black men to take an introspective look at their place and

power. He [Lamar] is self-aware of the stance of humility he needs to take and is

encouraging other men to do the same” (OkayPlayer, 2018). In the rap scene, many

artists have come from very poverty-ridden backgrounds. Once they have “made it

big”, they become succumb in the fame in the glory and forget where they came from.

Instead of being grateful and giving once they do make it big, they let the fame get to

their heads and thus believe they are bigger than life itself.

The most significant lyric in Kendrick Lamar’s single is “Sit down, be

humble”. As much as this is referring to others who take life for granted, Lamar

explained that he is also talking to himself. In many of his songs in this same album

“DAMN”, he is referring to himself and what his emotions portray. He explained to

Rolling Stone, “When you look at the song titles on this album, these are all my

emotions and all my self-expressions of who I am…But ultimately, I’m looking in a

mirror” (Lamar, 2018). I personally appreciate the fact that Kendrick Lamar can call

himself out, and is not afraid to admit it in front of millions and millions of people.
This is why many people believe Lamar is a very influential figure in the music scene,

and as a result, he is looked up to by many.

Many times in my life I admit they I have definitely taken many things for

granted. However, once I officially lived and supported myself on my own, I have

taken a step back in life and really appreciate the things that I have, I do, and what I

am given. At any moment, you could potentially lose everything. Whether those

things may be tangible or not, the fact that you could lose it all is something that

should humble anyone in this world, because you never know what could happen.

Thankfully I grew up with parents that were very pressing about this notion of being

humble and appreciate, so I am immensely grateful for the family, friends, teachers,

co-workers etc. I have that continue to support and push me in life. I will be forever

grateful to them.

Both “This is America” and “HUMBLE” express two very important

messages that I will forever stand by in my life. Having this mindset has honestly

made life more enjoyable and more surreal to me. Music will always be a way of

expressing emotions and messages to practically everyone in the world, while still

enjoying the beats and/or harmonies that ties those messages and emotions together.
 Works Cited

Miller, Hayley. “Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' Video, Explained.” HuffPost.

HuffPost, May 15, 2018. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/childish-gambino-

this-is-america_n_5af05c12e4b041fd2d28d8e9.

Rizzo, Laura. “Kendrick Lamar's Song ‘Humble’ Is Actually Way Deeper Than You'd

Think.” Elite Daily. Elite Daily, January 17, 2018.

https://www.elitedaily.com/p/the-meaning-of-kendrick-lamars-humble-is-all-

about-relationships-7934910#:~:text=According%20to%20OkayPlayer%2C

%20%22Humble%22,in%20their%20relationships%20with%20women