Say It Loud…I’m Black And I’m Proud!!

Can you rel8 to this?

Our experiences as a Black culture are cyclical.  The “Black Power” mentality or the deep seated pride that many of us outwardly exhibit seems to surface and resurface at intervals that reflect the current wave of goings on within our communities.  Now is a time where many Black people are especially proud with our first Black President in the history of this country.  No one ever thought we would live to see this shape in history form ~ but all around the country, people were either playing, thinking or singing the lyrics, “Say It Loud…I’m Black And I’m Proud.”  Because we were.  We are.  A highly qualified brother entered the highest office in the land and he still remains a brother.  Let’s keep it real, there is no denying President Obama’s walk.  You can’t take the stroll out of a Black man. LOL

Anywho…in 1968 a very concerned James Brown wrote the very song that created a sense of identification among Black men and women “Sat It Loud!  I’m Black and I’m Proud.”  Many within the Black Panther Party adopted the song as an anthem and James Brown was jerking all across the world screaming the lyrics, while people danced and shouted the chorus in concert.  James Brown later interviewed and spoke about the song being obsolete now.  “But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people… People called “Black and Proud” militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees. But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children song. That’s why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride… The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. I don’t regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.”

Very smart marketing strategy I’d say…because even today when you hear the song, there is something that musters up inside you that makes you wanna tilt your head and shout from the top of your lungs, “Say It  Loud…I’m Black and I’m.Proud”  I know for me that’s what it does.

LYRICS:

Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud! 

Some people say we've got a lot of malice
Some say it’s a lot of nerve
But I say we won't quit moving until we get what we deserve
We have been bucked and we have been scorned
We have been treated bad, talked about as just bones
But just as it takes two eyes to make a pair, ha
Brother we can’t quit until we get our share 

Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!
One more time!
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud! 

I worked on jobs with my feet and my hand
But all the work I did was for the other man
Now we demand a chance to do things for ourselves
We're tired of beatin' our head against the wall
And workin' for someone else 

Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud 

We're people, we're just like the birds and the bees
We'd rather die on our feet
Than be livin' on our knees 

Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud
Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud

Does anyone see anything oddly interesting about this video clip? LOL!  I guess the point is that people of all racial make ups were able to really understand the degree of pride that the song perpetuated.

So here’s my question for you?  Are you proud to be Black (if you are)?  Yeah…I know, we have morphed from being Nigga’s to Negros to Black to Afro-American to African-American and now back to Black.  It’s a little confusing in the attempt to really identify with WHO we are but it’s awesome that people have given us room to find our identity in this still strange land.  But whatever that person in you identifies with…are you proud?

To learn more about Ingrid Michelle, click here AND follow her on Twitter

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