Lifestyle

Resurrection Our Way: On Beyoncé, Linda Martell, and Staging Our Own Renaissance

Published

1 year ago

April 5, 2024

IAM

While “Cowboy Carter” brings country music’s black roots to the forefront, Beyoncé reminds us of the infinite power of legacy.

Have you ever been invited to a spot, only to seek out out that you just were obviously not welcome there?

Lord knows I’ve been there more times than I could anticipate or count. Each time this humiliation doesn’t diminish; but increasingly I’m learning the best way to emerge from these moments unscathed, stronger and brighter, within the hope that I’ll leave these places higher than once I arrived.

Well, continuing the era of turning lemons into lemonade, Beyoncé’s recent album ‘Cowboy Carter’ she tries to point out how she handled similar experiences. According to Beyoncé, her recent album “was born out of an experience I had many years ago where I didn’t feel welcome… and it was very clear that I wasn’t.” Many assumed that the experience in query was the general public moment during which she was invited to perform “Daddy Lessons” on the 2016 Country Music Association Awards (CMA) – the moment she selected former industry darling The Dixie Chicks (now known simply as “The Chicks”) to hitch her on stage – only to find that she is an unwelcome presence.

“Some were outraged that Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks, ostracized from the country music community, were allowed to perform at the 2016 CMA Awards,” Gerren Keith Gaynor reported for Grio on the time. Angry country music fans then forced the CMA to remove all traces of Beyoncé from its online recaps in a shocking gesture that amounted to erasure. While some have speculated that political differences between Beyoncé, The Dixie Chicks and the CMA’s core fans led to her performance being faraway from their platform, such erasure of disparate voices stays unprecedented within the entertainment industry. As an additional insult, despite removing it from its website and social media, the CMA continued to advertise free downloads of the performance in a very exploitative manner.

Instead of specializing in the anti-black comments and reception that Beyoncé experienced in purist country music circles, the Texas native staked her own claim to the genre and re-located our pioneers, giving them an area to talk and sing for themselves. He joins a growing procession of Black artists who’ve leveraged each the moment and the genre’s true legacy to reclaim their place within the country music industry.

In several tributes on “Renaissance, Act I” on “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé pays homage to the country music pioneer, designating her album break as “The Linda Martell Show.” While Martell herself questions the meaning of “genres,” Beyoncé pays homage to other black forebears in country music, surrounding her listeners with a sonic majesty that evokes the tradition of restorative justice and liberation theology present in Hebrews 12:1-2: :

It’s no coincidence that Beyoncé pays tribute Linda Martell, the primary black woman to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in 1969. Capturing the essence of overcoming adversity and emerging with a legacy for future generations, Martell significantly influenced the genre together with her album “Color me, country” in 1970, marking a historic moment as the first major release by a black female artist in country music.

With the long-awaited release of “Cowboy Carter,” the newfound interest in Martell’s contributions, including the documentary and awards, highlights an overdue shift toward inclusivity and appreciation for diverse country music narratives and legacies.

Martell’s tributes not only celebrate her contributions, but also symbolize the resurrection of her story, reflecting Easter’s profound message of rebirth and triumph over oppression. We are reminded that there is always someone who has prepared the way for us to do what we do, big or small. We must say their names as in meditation, considering them a prayer of thanksgiving for the continuation of the work.

As I think about Resurrection Sunday both as a theologian and musicologist, given my cultural upbringing, personal experiences, and academic and spiritual training, themes of empowerment and renewal are central to this commemoration by Christian believers. In African American culture, even if we do not believe or follow Christian practices, at the core of what we have experienced as a nation – and, as a result, the culture that has emerged for us as a people – speak parallel and unifying representations of hope, transformation, and empowerment. But aren’t these aspects of our lives what help us survive difficult situations, especially those in which we are told we don’t fit in?

In the Black prophetic tradition, our experiences as a people have deep meaning rooted in our history and are beacons that illuminate the source of the strength needed to overcome all pain, misery and conflict. This light illuminates our ability to embrace the promise that we will never be alone through all of this – and the ways in which we have “made it” – collectively and individually. Just as we understand that energy can never be created or destroyed, our ancestors understood us as energy beings for whom even death is not the end, but spiritually and physically it can be the beginning of something new.

The Good Friday premiere of Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” and the tribute to Linda Martell embody the essence of Easter’s message of resurrection, bringing untold stories to light and celebrating the revival of cultural narratives we have long needed to know and celebrate. It is a moving reminder of our ongoing journey toward justice and representation, ensuring that the legacies of ancestors like Martell are remembered and honored. Through this album and the tributes it contains, we are invited to reflect on broader themes of holding space, redemption and resurrection, highlighting the importance of remembering and celebrating those who have paved the way for a more inclusive and equitable future.

The Rev. Dr. Alisha Lola Jones is a faith leader helping people navigate a dynamic world, as a consultant to numerous arts and faith-based organizations and as Professor of Music in Contemporary Societies on the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. She is an award-winning creator (Oxford University Press). For more information please visit DrAlisha.com.

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Lifestyle

Lil us X in the hospital says that “he lost control over the right side” of his face

Published

12 hours ago

April 16, 2025

IAM

This week, rapper Lil Nas X has released an update where it was. On Monday evening, the rapper published a video to Instagram revealing that he was hospitalized.

“By the way, I practice a full smile,” says laughter. “I’m just what the hell? I can’t even laugh, brother, what the hell? Oh my God, man. So … yes.”

While the rapper “Old Town Road” didn’t determine his diagnosis, he told the fans: “Sooo (I) lost control of the right side of my face.” After his post, fans began to wonder if the star developed Bella’s paralysis, a state that causes muscle weakness and paralysis on one side of the face. However, According to Johns Hopkins MedicineThe cause of the condition affecting the nerves of the face is unknown.

Despite the fans conspiracy, Lil NAS X continued to update his health about his stories on Instagram.

“Guys, I’m fine !! Stop being sad to me! Instead, shake your ass!” He wrote about his history in keeping with the variety. “IMMA looks funny like a bit, but that’s all.”

Similarly, today the rapper said: “It’s much better” in a movie published in his history on Instagram, explaining that he regained sensation into the mouth and performs chewing exercises to strengthen the muscle.

(Tagstotransate) lifestyle

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Lifestyle

David E. Talbert sells memories for six characters

Published

2 days ago

April 15, 2025

IAM

The director, author, playwright and producer David E. Talbert sold his memory “Everything I know about being a man (I learned from a woman)” for six characters to Storehouse Voices, a random Punguin Publishing House. He also develops a television program with the identical title.

According to the memories of Talbert He emerged from conversations He He had together with his son, which meant that he realized that his mother, a single mother, gave him all the teachings he learned to be a person.

According to the web site, Storehouse Voices focuses on “promoting the wealth of a black story through intentional acquisition and employment of efforts, strategic partnerships and the authentic range of the community, which it is going to achieve by publishing literary and fictitious books.

According to Storehouse, Voices was published in January 2025, Created in cooperation with the Tamira ChapmanFrom the success of the Chapman’s Women & Words program, which was launched with the support of Storehouse in a box and Penguin Random House, which was aimed toward “deisting the publishing industry and its processes” for insufficiently represented authors.

The declaration that broadcasts the imprint is: “Warehouse voices are informed by a deep understanding of the unique cultural contexts and historical black experiences in America and involved in ensuring that literary works of insufficiently represented authors are presented authentically, with respect and strongly in the entire landscape of publications and the media.”

This is thick with the final arch of Talbert’s profession, which, like Tyler Perry, began with stage arts aimed toward telling the black stories of the Black audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHMMRG8Gytk

In 2024, in an interview with the Wielofenate, he said that “Jingle Jangle”, a Christmas film, who wrote and directed by which Forest Whitaker and Keegan Michael Key performed, was created due to his childhood of the sensation of excluded fantasy, because he often didn’t see black children represented within the media of his youth.

According to 2023, Talbert launched HBCU Next, a scholarship program that he founded and financed together with his wife and production partner, Lyn Sisson-Talbert, To enrich the tutorial possibilities available for beginner filmmakers in HBCUS Bringing them to the School of Cinematic Arts USC School of Cinematic Arts program.

As Talbert said on this system: “Our general goal is to support the environment for students from HBCU and the USC to get involved in cultural exchange of learning from each other, and to provide access to education conducive to providing black storytellers to the entertainment industry.”

(Tagstotranslate) Penguin random house

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com

Lifestyle

Parents of the footballer of the University of Bucknell, who died during the exercises of “punishment” during training, sue school

Published

3 days ago

April 14, 2025

IAM

Parents of the footballer of the University of Bucknell are suing school after their son died during training in July 2024.

In July 2024, 18-year-old Dickey Jr. He collapsed during the first football training of the team, affected by the sickle complications of the cells, NBC Philadelphia Reported. He was immediately hospitalized at the moment, but he died two days later.

Now, based on documents submitted to the Common Pleas court in Philadelphia on Wednesday, April 2, the boy’s parents, Calvin Dickey Sr. And Nicole Dickey, they claim that the university knew about the diagnosis of the sickle features of their son-what could increase the possibilities of experience of complications-he could prevent his death, for death for death. NPR AND ESPN.

They spent that Bucknell University is accused of neglect and illegal death, together with other claims just like hazing. Court documents claim that Dickey was intended by a “ritual of passage” on a burdensome training for first -year students, despite the undeniable fact that the school knew about his condition, which meant that he was vulnerable to the experience of complications called rhabdomoliz. Rare complication may cause the decomposition of skeletal muscle tissue To the extent that the muscles begin to release dangerous toxins on internal organs and are sometimes triggered by bothersome physical exercise.

Dickey collapsed when he was forced to exercise during practice as a “punishment” together with other players to go. According to witnesses of students and staff, Dickey became clearly at risk and had problems with keeping the pace before he fell.

“A terrible, painful death died, which can be 100% prevented,” said family lawyer, Mike Caspino, about CJ Wa press conference that Ceisler Media was available on YouTube.

He explained that from 2010 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) required from sports students to check the sickle features because they were more vulnerable to a serious state. Caspino also noticed that CJ positively checked the sickle feature before joining the university football team, which made him “200 times more likely” to get rabdomiolism.

“If the athlete has a sickle feature, it should not be developed on the first day of practice; they are not supposed to make sprints, they are not to do up, they are to be relaxed to the practice regime. Otherwise they can get a discountolysis,” said the lawyer.

Talking with People magazineThe university said that he was aware of the trial and couldn’t comment on waiting court disputes. “We are again expanding sincere sympathies to the CJ family and we will continue to focus on our most important priority – health and safety of all Bucknell students.”

Dickey’s mother, a witness of a difficult path, Dickey’s mother said that her son was “worth” during a conversation with ESPN.

“We do it for CJ, for every young man in this team and anyone who follows him at any university,” she said. “It’s a longer, more difficult path and I’m ready for it.”