I met Celisse Henderson three years ago. In the wake of the deaths of Philando Castille and Alton Sterling, she had written a protest song calling on us to take action against the systemic failings and racial injustice that have pervaded this country since its founding. That have in fact served as the very fabric of who we are, the wretched backbone upon which we are built. And in a life full of privilege, I was granted yet another when she entrusted me to craft the concept for and direct the video that would bring the power of her music and her message to visual life.
I sit here today wishing that it was a video we never made, full of words we never needed. But that is not the world we live in today. It has never been the world we lived in. Generation after generation reaffirming a society that is built on oppression, violent systems crafted to ensure inequality, a country that offers justice only to the select few. Steals life from cherished others. That is who we are, and that is who we speak to today. It is to ourselves. And so we must find the grace within - the moral resolve - to examine ourselves, and to dedicate our beings to the equality of all. We have one chance at this life, and if we live it prospering off of the oppression of others, it will have been a wasted one. Yet another in a long list of shameful travesties.
I hope this video can help to bring awareness to those who need it; fuel, inspiration, and some glimmer of hope to those who wake up exhausted from the fight, but steadfast in their determination to carry on another day. If you are moved by it, and have the means, please make a contribution to one of the many organizations that are doing the work (and all proceeds from the sale of the song will go to Campaign Zero and Movement for Black Lives). You can find a wonderful list of organizations at celissehenderson.com/freedom.
Go out and make your voice heard, organize, vote, be the change you want to see in the world! BLACK LIVES MATTER!