Black Culture Built and Thriving on Resistance

After attending the Mobley concert at “Listen, Rock, Resist” this week, I got to thinking about revolution and resistance and their implications on modern-day society. In class we have been reading a lot about slave resistance-partying, worshipping, escaping to visit family- that cultivated African American culture amidst the horrors of the slave trade. We have also been reading about the efforts of freed, former slaves such as Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass who used their talents to establish black humanity, disprove slavery as a justified practice, and create first hand narratives that shed light on the realities of slavery and black life in America. Blacks partaking in these acts of resistance were a part of a long-running effort to establish African Americans as equals in a society whose founding documents were based on their second-class citizenship. It is important to realize that while enslaved and free blacks fought against injustice and allowed for many of the civil rights and liberties that African Americans have today, the fight for equality is still not over. Contemporary African American entertainers and artists like Mobley are using their positions of influence and talents much like those who came before them to continue shedding light on issues that effect the black community today.

Mobley described his art as “revolution through music.” In his debriefing session at the end of his set, he made clear that any music, any creation that a black person makes is inherently an act of resistance because compliance in America is defined in opposition to blackness. The act of a black person expressing their lived experience through any work is considered resistance because it unleashes a conversation that America continually and purposefully refuses to open itself up to: the myth of America and the American Paradox versus the reality of America. It tied together the fact that early black revolutionaries such as Wheatley and Douglass were immediately interrogated and invalidated as they posed a threat to the immoral system of slavery that kept America thriving. Mobley's music addresses systems and legacies of America built on racial prejudice and white superiority as well as the police brutality that continues to set back and plague black America. His desire is to use his lyrics and platform as an entertainer and musician to impact beneficial change and be a part of the movement towards civil rights that was started long ago.

Mobley’s performance put into perspective the fact that the need for resistance did not end with emancipation. With slaves' freedom came a legacy of setbacks and regulations that stifled African Americans' navigation through and acceptance in American society. African Americans are steadily using their influence to continue combating the conceived stereotypes projected onto the black community, speaking out against racial injustice, and contributing to a culture that is shaped and thrives off of the byproduct of their resistance: beautiful art that tells the truth about the black experience. In this way, he gets to take part in the shaping of the black narrative that those before him fought so hard to do.