The goal of the Black Lives Matter movement was and is to end racial profiling of African Americans by police, and to hold those who abuse their power as a police officer accountable for their actions.
The movement formed in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who shot an unarmed African American, Trayvon Martin, claiming it to be self-defense (McLaughlin 2016).This caused much outrage among African American citizens, as they believed Zimmerman’s severe actions were racially motivated, and that his acquittal was an unacceptable absence of justice. Movement, Kendrick Lamar stepped in with his song “Alright” to vocalize the sentiments of African Americans across the country. Nowadays, the use of music to call attention to societal issues is a fairly common occurrence, making music an effective tool for giving people a voice.īecause of this, it is no surprise that soon after the formation of the Black Lives Matter For example, in the 1960s many musicians created songs criticizing America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, such as “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Haltiwanger 2015). The concept of using music to protest social injustice has been around for quite a while. “ To Pimp a Butterfly,” was declared “Best Rap Album” at the Grammys, and “Alright” the unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement, with the lyrics “We gonna be alright,” heard at Black Lives Matter events across the country (Harris 2015). The song continued to grow in popularity as its theme truly resonated with the contemporary social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter. The video contains themes of the relationship between the black community and the police, an issue that was a hot topic at the time and still is today. The music video for the song was released in June 2015, directed by Colin Tilley, appears exclusively in black and white, displaying shots from both San Francisco and Las Angeles (Tardio 2015).
“Alright” was produced by another famous African American musician, Pharrell Williams, who can also be heard in the chorus of the song. He originally gained inspiration for the song after visiting Africa and seeing the problems people across the world have to deal with (MTV 2015). Kenrick sees himself as a voice for African Americans who don’t have one, and believes he has a great responsibility to speak up for them (MTV 2015). Kendrick Lamar entered the mainstream after the success of his first album “ good kid, m.A.A.d city (Kendrick Lamar Biography 2018).” His songs were inspired by the challenging life on the streets of Compton, where he was born and spent his childhood, and he was mentored by prominent hip-hop artist Dr. “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar appeared in 2015 in his acclaimed album “To Pimp A Butterfly” followed by an accompanying music video.
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