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Childish Gambino's This is America - Official Video, Lyrics, and Commentary
Author: Various Sources
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May 21
Joshua R
Joshua R
:
Even though I saw the video for the first time I was shocked because of Gambino had shot a guy that was wearing a bag over his head. Plus The overall message of the video is basically talking about all the violence that is happening here in America.
Oct 22
Jeheim P
Jeheim P
:
I agree this video is talking about violence that is happening in America.
Nov 19
I agree with what he said because this video is based on the things that happend in america through out the years
Jul 6
agreed! this shows the reality of this country
Aug 4
Deisy B
Deisy B
:
I agree with you this video represents how Africans get treated in today's society and how people get away without being charged.
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
I can add on to that because although it is about violence in America it is also about how African Americans have to deal with a lot of the violence.
Oct 17
Oct 21
jim crow is used as a made up character to mock balcks
Oct 22
Gambino in this video shoots the black person wearing the bag over his band to show us how guns are more important than the lives of blacks.
Dec 11
Err wait just want to clarify here. You had said:
‘…to show us how guns are more important than the lives of blacks’
Do we agree neither you, me, nor Gambino believes that guns are more important than any groups of people’s lives?
I couldn’t tell from the way you worded your comment and would be interested in further understanding your perspective if you answer to the the above is not that we all agree here.
Oct 17
The overall message of the video is not just the violence but notice how Childish Gambino and other kids are just dancing through the violence like nothing is going on in the background
Oct 19
Yes i agree with you because Gambino is showing that there is violence all over the country but we are being distracted by it
Nov 13
Elijah W
Elijah W
:
You are right, the overall message of this is to bring more awareness to the violence in America.
Aug 4
I would like to add they maby kept on dancing because in real life most of the people that face violence in America choose to ignore and look at something else.
Oct 19
Within the the first minute, Childish Gambino shot a black man with a gun. The gun got carried away in cloth while the body was dragged on the ground. This could mean that black bodies are less important then guns.
Oct 22
I very much agree with you, black people are considered less important to non whites
Oct 22
Jada H
Jada H
:
I will have to agree with you black people are treated as nothing. While a gun is being more secure.
Aug 4
It is representing how violence towards black people is mostly treated like it doesn’t matter and does not get the attention it deserves.
Oct 19
Childish Gambino wore the same outfit as the confederate soldiers.
Oct 19
This could mean that people, mainly worry about high end clothes instead of paying attention to the problems that going on.
Oct 21
the materialistics things are here to distracts us from reality
Oct 21
oghenetega E
oghenetega E
:
I agree with you because people are mainly concerned about materialistic things.
Oct 19
Gambino is referencing to the prison system which are the tools of African American oppression
Oct 25
Elijah W
Elijah W
:
At the end of "This is America" Donald runs away from people in darkness, which could be symbolizing slavery long ago when black people were running for their lives or to escape for freedom. What are your thoughts?
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
I agree with your comment, I would also like to add the fact that there was some type of figure on the white horse which may be a connection.
Mar 18
I agree with him because he said " I got strap, I gotta carry ’em " that means that he has to protect himself from other people
May 25
Joshua R
Joshua R
:
At the ending I had realized the same women who was in the video called All the Stars that was in the movie Black Panther.
Oct 17
it goes into detail from the way she shoots the man in the position he was standing in. how the kids dancing in their uniforms is a distraction to whats going on in the video, how us kids now a days are into every dance challenge and were dancing our lives away. the question is when will we wake up from reality it’s like were brain washed.
Oct 22
Elijah W
Elijah W
:
When ive seen this video a day after this came out i took this as a lit video. lets just be real Danny Glover kilt the dance moves in the video,if you say u werent rocking to it the first time your lying.I saw on news stories and sources like that on how
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significant Childish Gambino is explaining the realization of the U.S, such as the devastating issues on police brutality,civil rights, and white privilege.
Oct 22
Childish Gambino explains the devastating issues on police brutality, civil rights and white privilege in many ways throughout the video. The way he did it he you would have to watch the video more than once in order to really get a full understanding.
Oct 24
Nov 7
Elijah W
Elijah W
:
I know you all noticed the black children dancing majority of the video, the dancing children can represent black art used to distract people from the real problems happening in America.
Oct 12
Grace R
Grace R
:
So far, this is very upbeat and positive. However, I just noticed that the dancers are all wearing the same thing....is this a comment on "sameness" in America?
[Edited]
Oct 17
This represent a white Guy who shooted up the churches and murder 13 people
Oct 23
Jalen o
Jalen o
:
The message of the video is that violence is not the key to everything because in the song he has a bunch of kids dancing with him .
Oct 23
Oct 23
Oct 25
Sanasia Y
Sanasia Y
:
This video shows how people care for guns more than people lives. All of this Dancing is a distraction to the real world scenarios. When he does the gun pose it was him doing something that happened in Jim Crow.
Nov 13
Brianna P
Brianna P
:
The african kids that are dancing represent that we are blindfold on what is going in our society .
Nov 13
Brianna P
Brianna P
:
I believe that the last ending of the video him running represents him running from the cops.Police brutality is a major problem in the black community
Nov 13
Brianna P
Brianna P
:
we need more people to be aware on whats going on in our society we need to stop letting the internet destricted us .I think thats the most important message in the video
Nov 13
Brianna P
Brianna P
:
when childish Gambino said get your money black i think he is trying to say black man are learned to worry about getting money and clothes but they need to know thats not important .I think he is trying to say we need more blackman to stop workin for the
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white man and start owning our own business.
Oct 12
Lona J
Lona J
:
This image of this lone guitar seated on the chair in this confined space is powerful. How can music transcend what I see as an oppressive space?
May 9
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
what I see in the video ,Everything starts off calm and happy until someone get shoot and die. Other people came out of nowhere and start to clean up the act. And you hear This is America DON'T CATCH ME SLIPPING. IMMA GO GET THE BAG.
[Edited]
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My thoughts on this video is good because i think it gives you signs to which your back. And when the kids came out to dance was like a sign to say ya you can look good and have a lot of stuff but someone out there is going to still be after what you got cause it’s what they want . Also this is America many people get away with there crimes so always watch yo back cause either way it go if you are trying to live and help yourself there will always be someone watching you in every set you take.
And if you get cost it’s quiet for you because they not going to help you .they are just going to cover it up for there safety and leave you hopeless.
You not going to get what you needed unless to tell someone or snitch on someone an either which way you still going to get messed over if they don’t get what they want you will suffer cause it’s America.
Also to me his line ‘’Grandma told me Get your money, Black men(Black men)’’..he sayings black instead of sitting down and blaming other people take responsblilty of our actions.
May 14
I agree because people get killed based off of things they see and want from another person
May 16
because people go base on the way they think which made them not gather enough information that’s why gun violence been to viral….
Jun 6
Yes, I agree with you but I’m glad you understand what I was trying to say because in the video many people was running around hurting their self like they was becoming a made man on medinice .
May 25
Joshua R
Joshua R
:
I can see a guy walking to a chair and started to play a guitar, then all of a sudden Gambino had shot the dude in the head
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
This is basically talking about the underlying issue with violence in the US.
Oct 12
Where could you better set a video called “This is America” than in a parking lot? We define ourselves by our cars. We are willing to pay rent for them. Our day is cheerful if we find the perfect parking spot. And an empty parking lot is the equivalent of an automobile candy store.
Oct 12
Grace R
Grace R
:
I think there is also a certain "sameness" to the cars - not much variety in the cars in that lot in the video.
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
The first few lines of the song talk about partying and wanting the money, but what does just for you mean, to who ?
May 16
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
I wanna to know, why when the man walk to the chair he is dressed as if he was in slavery picking cotton .Also he do not have on shoes I really do want to know if this is a sign or a message that he is trying to get out to people to really understand ...
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What people are doing in America and to cover up there act upon other. And when I say act upon other as in how so many police offers are getting away with killing babies, teenagers, n adults. However,Some of these crimes aren’t solve yet and still increasing day by day because people feel like if you not them they really don’t care unless they get what they want and they are good.
Oct 12
Renée E
Renée E
:
I like how joyful this song is at the beginning. The empty space with monotone colors emphasize the j oy of the music. Now that I've seen the whole video, this way of beginning sets us up for strong contrasts.
Oct 12
There’s a lot being said here about the black body. CG dances through many types of music (from African to Gospel to contemporary) which allows him to emphasize how his body is moving shirtless. Reminds me of Coates and his argument around how death and abuse of the black body is acceptable because of the white gaze and devaluation of the black body.
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
The way he is dressed is basically how slaves/blacks dressed back in the 1800s/1900s. The cloth is rough and the way his hair is worn is almost the same way slaves hair was.
May 9
Adelphe P
Adelphe P
:
i think this means and represents the death of an african american
[Edited]
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i feel this could be a slave being killed because of the sack he has over his face and skin color but also it shows a representation of how arican americans feel today. I think they still feel enslaved and undermined by white supremacy which is something that shouldnt be happening in the year 2018 everyone should be equal
May 16
Jim Crow was the name of the laws set during the time of segregation of whites and blacks (people). As Childish Gambino is in this stance he’s aiming a gun at a colored mans head while wearing what seem to be the pants that confederate soldiers wore. Showing the issue of racism is still at hand in America.
Oct 17
kimani i
kimani i
:
He's about to kill the guy that is sitting in the chair with a sack over his head.
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he is impersonating a Jim Crow poster that was created back when segregation in America was at it’s worse. I think that the person sitting in the chair with the sack over his face is supposed to be a slave because at first he was playing the guitar & looked happy but then out of nowhere he is wrapped in a sack and shot in the head. Honestly i feel like the guy with the sack on his head is supposed to symbolize how us blacks feel today with the racism, inequality etc. its like we are still enslaved and this shouldn’t be happening in 2018 Untied States of America.
Oct 17
Jada H
Jada H
:
Childish Gambino shot the man playing the guitar in jim crow style.Jim crow was a theater character that was made to make fun of colored people.It was a shocker in the video. And Jim crow was the practice of segregating black people a in the U.S years ago
[Edited]
Oct 21
Aug 4
The history of the Jim Crow laws was a very important part of history and is an example of the injustices black people face.
Oct 17
Jeheim P
Jeheim P
:
He did the stance from jim crow a white man who painted his skin black and acted like black people doing stupid stuff.
Oct 18
Jim Crow was just a stage name. In this video, he uses the Jim crow pose to depict the system of racial Apartheid that dominated the American South for three quarters of a century beginning in the 1890s. Jim Crow refers to the repressive laws and customs once used to restrict the rights of people of color.
Oct 21
this is in a very important move, this is the jim crow postion, jim crow is a theater character to mock blacks
May 9
Ronaysi G
Ronaysi G
:
the reason why I pick this part was because it show a dramatic action about thing that are happening now in society.
[Edited]
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This tell me that our society is changing everyone pectetive of living and this takes us back to the jim crow law
May 9
i completely agree with you because i feel the same way. One reason I agree is because this video does show how society is now and all the problems society is facing especially african americans. another reason is because it shows how african americans feel in america
May 14
i agree with this comment for many different reasons. This video is showing how society use to be and how it currently is till this day.
May 14
Kayla M
Kayla M
:
This video represents many things that are taking place in america. Many things that people dont speak on.
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Many blacks still feel enslaved even after all this time.Many innocent blacks were and are still being killed to this day which is sad because we should all be able to treat eachother equal
Aug 4
Because it’s true for so long we have dealt with social injustice, racism, stereotypes and much more in this society.
Oct 17
Iyana B
Iyana B
:
This is my first time watching this video but when i saw Gambino doing that pose i automatically thought of the Jim Crow Law. That pose represented what many slaves well African Americans and people of color went through back in the 1870's.
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Then when i saw him shoot the man with a bag over his head it came to my head that this is what America is really like today.
Oct 17
Iyana B
Iyana B
:
this video is representing everything that happened or that is happening in America.
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When he wiped of the gun i thought about the things that happened because that’s how many people don’t get caught because they think that they’re smart but everything soon comes to an end .
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
Gambino also says in the song that "this is America dont catch you slippin up" which I believe means that you must be aware at all times because that is what is has come to in America.
May 14
Kayla M
Kayla M
:
This video represents many things that are taking place in america. Many things that people dont speak on.
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People get away with crimes so easily. You can kill someone and wont get introuble. Many blacks were killed for no reason and nothing was done about it.
Oct 17
Jada H
Jada H
:
The gun I carried away so carefully while the dead body is being dragged off. It shows that we have more respect for guns than we have for human beings.
May 16
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
I wonder if Childish Gambino in with the illuminati or is He trying to give us a sign about the illuminati...
Why would YOU SAY THAT ?..,
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Throughout the video his was giving signs and hints that could be naked to the human eye. He even had a message through his background. But the people where to busy look how he turn up and didn’t realize at the beginning of the video he had the left side of his pants leg over his shoes and the right down …why not both up or both down ..why one up and one down ?.
After Childish Gambino shot the man he said,‘’ This is America Don’t catch you slippin’ up’’ and he did a dance as in if got away with the murder. I wonder is he relating this to the many crimes that many police offers got away with.
Oct 12
Interesting that you believe in this group? Are you or anyone you know a member? How would one come to be a member? Isn’t is more likely that, as with all of the best poetry, he is layering meaning and using ambiguity to allow us to place our own experience onto what we are seeing?
Oct 12
As he shoots the hooded man (hooded so we don’t know his age, his race, his face) it is clear that the human life he takes has no value to him. But the gun is another matter, to be placed carefully in a red cloth and put away for when next it is wanted.
May 9
Adelphe P
Adelphe P
:
I think he's trying to show off his body in a certain manner. For example the way he dances the whole video along with the fact that he doesn't have on a shirt the entire duration of the video
[Edited]
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I think this symbolizes some sort of humanity coming from him, and this is important in the context of this video because of all the problems surrounding him in the background which nobody seems to notice but all this chaos is happening and his way of coping with the issue is just dancing
May 16
Ty'ana B
Ty'ana B
:
I agree that the way he presents himself throughout the video symbolizes something.
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i think as he switches places in the video whereas one moment he’s representing minorities then hes imitating the privileged has a lot to do with the fact that he looks ungroomed as a stereotypical black man on top and a racist white man on the bottom.
May 16
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
When he repeated don't catch up slippin 'up over and over again and said look what i'm whippin ....
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Is that relating to the gov. like I wanna know is he playing a role of gov. how they make a plan and people see what they are doing and can’t do nothing about it because they got people covering up for them so they can get away with it.
Oct 17
Jada H
Jada H
:
Childish Gambino and the kids are dancing in front of all the chaos . I think he is trying to say that we dance around everything and don’t pay attention to what’s happening around us.
Oct 17
Iyana B
Iyana B
:
This is really good because it shows many kids in the back dancing and that's really how some people make it for their families. Dance can really help many different people that's why they come out with many different challenges every other day for kids.
Oct 12
Black and brown men and women are executed by the police who are a part of the criminal justice system designed to protect all citizens. Black and brown folk seem to be excluded from the citizenry in this here Amerikkka.
May 14
Kayla M
Kayla M
:
This video represents many things that are taking place in america. Many things that people dont speak on.
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Police is a whole other problem that is getting worser and worse by the day. People dont even feel safe with police. Were either victims or criminals
Jun 6
Either way it go with or without police things are going to be bad because look what world we live in ,People don’t go by the rules. And by have police around dosen’t make it any better because they think their doing right when it’s really going to make people react more because of the crimes many police officer gotten away with.
Oct 17
kimani i
kimani i
:
You see the kids dancing but all of the commotion going on in the background.
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Childish Gambino is trying to show us that there is so much going on in this country & we not even paying attention to it. Everytime there is something big going on in our country we end up getting distracted by something else.
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
Gambino says "Guns in my area, I got the strap and I have to carry em" I believe that most of where the violence comes from are certain areas certain community's that are plagued by gun viloecne because they have been taught that having a gun is a must.
Oct 19
oghenetega E
oghenetega E
:
He distracts us from what's happening at the background with the dance moves.
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This explains that in the society, we ignore the most pressing issues and concentrate on the less important ones. we are being distracted too easily and don’t focus on the things happening around us; instead we’re more interested in fights between Cardi and Nicki or the new songs travis Scott just released.
Oct 17
oghenetega E
oghenetega E
:
Gambino shows how american citizens get involved in violent roles in the communities just to go against the oppressive government.
[Edited]
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This part indicates guerrilla tactics that a member of a small independent group takes part in irregular fighting,typically against regular forces. This explains how citizens of America protest on some racial and social justice issues against the government that oppresses people of color.
May 14
Ronaysi G
Ronaysi G
:
Gambino is trying to illustrate how people don't pay attention to things that are happening around them
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One of the many things that Gambino show on this video was how violence are taking over our community and society and how people don’t pay attention to things that are happening now
May 16
We have many violent communities in our nation. However, I rarely hear any outrage. For instance, this past weekend (May 14th and 15th) 40 people were shot in Chicago; 5 of them died! And yet, this event was not mentioned on the news this week.
Oct 12
This line always makes me think of Othello- Iago tells Rodrigo:
Put money in thy purse. Follow thou the wars, defeat thy favor with an usurped beard. I say, put money in thy purse. It cannot be long that Desdemona should continue her love to the Moor—put money in thy purse—nor he his to her. It was a violent commencement in her, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration—put but money in thy purse. These Moors are changeable in their wills—fill thy purse with money. The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida. She must change for youth. When she is sated with his body she will find the errors of her choice. Therefore, put money in thy purse. If thou wilt needs damn thyself, do it a more delicate way than drowning. Make all the money thou canst. If sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and supersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her. Therefore make money. A pox of drowning thyself! ’Tis clean out of the way. Seek thou rather to be hanged in compassing thy joy than to be drowned and go without her.
He goes on to talk about revenge and hatred of Othello so the idea of money takes on many meanings including being prepared to fight, being ready to buy what’s needed (land), and being armed.
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
This current scene is talking about the church shooting that happened in 2015 when a white man shot up a black church in Charleston.
Jul 22
Stephanie B
Stephanie B
:
I have watched this so many times and it always makes me feel scared. Scared that people have to go through this. The fact that Gambino puts these messages in the media is good because I know a lot of people who don't even know these things have occurred.
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The dancing always distracted me at first when I watched it. I was focused on that but every now and then my eyes would shift to the chaos behind.
I know that was his point to represent all he did. Even the pants he wore I later found out were originally worn by people in the confederate state army.
Oct 17
this is a representation what happened in charleston where a choir got shot in the church.
May 9
i think this is to show the deaths of the choir group in real life and how they were murdered by an automatic weapon inside a church. This helps show that anybody and anyone can be shot no matter the place and time which is a very tragic thing happening today in america
Oct 12
There is no safe or sacred space for African-American in “this America” as execution can occur at anytime and anyplace at the hands of law enforcement or or the hands of a depraved gunmen.
Oct 12
The title of the video is “This is America” not just black America. Isn’t Adelphe right about everyone?
May 9
Ronaysi G
Ronaysi G
:
I think the reason why he show this piece was because of the church shooting
[Edited]
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This tell that the church shooting really had impact the people’s thinking. I remember…
Oct 17
He was symbolizing the shooting that happen not to long ago when the guy shot up the chruch.
Oct 19
oghenetega E
oghenetega E
:
An all-black Church choir happily singing and worshipping until Gambino shot them all in a matter of seconds.
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This connects to the mass shooting in Charleston Church. where Dylann Roof, a 21 yr old white supremacist murdered nine African-Americans during a prayer service. Moreover, you notice how the gun is being handled with special care while the bodies just lie there.
May 14
Kayla M
Kayla M
:
This video represents many things that are taking place in america. Many things that people dont speak on.
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Innocent people get killed everyday. Living regular lives. This shows how violent america is. You never know when you could go.
May 16
In this clip as the lyrics “Won’t catch you slipping up” plays; Gambino shoots an entire choir then carefully hands the gun off. Out of this I’m gathering that as long as you handle the weapon correctly and fled the scene you can get away with murder no matter how many you killed or where you killed.
Aug 4
Maria R
Maria R
:
I think here he was trying to represent those mass shootings like in school, churches, stores, etc.
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
The death of the choir signifies that no matter where you are no one can hide or ignore the violence that is affecting America.
May 14
Adelphe P
Adelphe P
:
i think this shows how much america feels about guns and black people
[Edited]
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i think this is to show how much america cares more about guns than all african americans in the united states all due to the fact that the united states is currently more concerned about keeping the second amendment as it is instead of how all the african americans are being treated and shot everyday because of hate crimes
May 14
Kayla M
Kayla M
:
This video represents many things that are taking place in america. Many things that people dont speak on.
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Seeing violence around the world is making by standers either start to create more violence or theyre being part of the violence as victims
May 16
Ty'ana B
Ty'ana B
:
People blindly pick and choose which part(s) of the African American culture they want to partake.
[Edited]
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While Gambino and a group of people of color are performing culture born dances in the middle of the screen, there is a ton of chaos in the background that doesn’t catch the eye immediately because the dancing is more pleasureful.
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
The chaos in the back is giving an example as to how American protests are for POC.
Oct 22
Jada H
Jada H
:
the kid in the background has his phone out taking a video with all the chaos. Now we live in a society were we pull out our phone to get the tape not to call the police.
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
This is showing how the phone is more important than actual conversation, e are more focused on technology.
Oct 19
oghenetega E
oghenetega E
:
As i said earlier, we don't really concentrate on the important things happening around us. The students are using their phones to record the things happening around them, instead of trying to find ways to resolve the issues.
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This is what happens in the society today, when you see two teenagers fighting, then other teenagers gather around to record the fight so they could post it on facebook and their other social media platforms; instead of them trying to break up the fight.
Aug 4
Maria R
Maria R
:
I find it strange that there are people sitting on the ledge just staring and recording what is going on, especially with a mask on so they can protect their identity.
Aug 4
Josuemanuel F
Josuemanuel F
:
At this time in the video t shows teenagers recording on their phone all the chaos that is going on. I believe what Gambino is trying to say is that social media also has a major role to play with the violence in America.
May 9
i think that having violence in your community is causing people to know and to show violence
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
In this current scene he is dancing to the most current types of dances created by black teens on the media. Through the whole video he has incorporated so many dances that were created by black people.
Oct 21
the white horse represents slavery and also represents the police bringing us black people down.
May 16
Seeing this man on a horse makes me think of a few things like when slave masters rode through fields full of slaves to oversee them or when white men rode through african american villages on horses and set their houses on fire.
May 9
i think this shows the death of someone and how easy it would be to kill someone . it also gives insight on how people are being treated in america as well as how easy it is to get a gun in your possession
Oct 17
Jordan G
Jordan G
:
Childish Gambino is on top of a car but there is a man who looks homeless to the left.
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This showing that with all the wealth that African Americans, they still go through struggles in life.
May 9
i think this is to show how the black man in get out was doing the same thing because he was running away from the white people trying to enslave him. This reminds me of the movie get out which i think hes trying to reference by doing the same thing a black man did in fear for his life did by running away because of the fear of getting enslaved
Nov 19
Gambino is being chased by white people, i feel like he’is trying to symbolize that white people are simply targeting black folks. I also think he got this idea from the movie ¨Get out¨when the guy was running from who knows what.
May 14
this is significant because Gambino was trying to show how society is discriminating people because of their color and something interesting thats i notice was that he use a peace from the movie “get out” when the men was running..
Oct 17
Even though the Black person in this video acted all tough and all in the beginning, middle at the end he still ran from white people. This comes to show that no matter how tough black people are, at the end they will always have fear of the white community.
Aug 4
Lapraysha A
Lapraysha A
:
At the end in this scene it seems like he is running away from caucasian people who are probably protrayed as the slave owners or as the ones who catch runaway slaves with hound dogs.
May 21
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
Why did Childish Gambino was running from the white people like that in his song ''This is America''?
more
I wonder do his song at the end relate to slavery how black people use to run from there white salve owners just to get away to be free .They ran to the underground railroad to be free and to help other slave’s escape.
THIS IS AMERICA CHILDISH GAMBINO - LYRICS
[Intro: Choir]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
[Bridge: Childish Gambino & Young Thug]
We just wanna party
Party just for you
We just want the money
Money just for you
I know you wanna party
Party just for me
Girl, you got me dancin’ (yeah, girl, you got me dancin’)
Dance and shake the frame
We just wanna party (yeah)
Party just for you (yeah)
We just want the money (yeah)
Money just for you (you)
I know you wanna party (yeah)
Party just for me (yeah)
Girl, you got me dancin’ (yeah, girl, you got me dancin’)
Dance and shake the frame (you)
Oct 16
Childish Gambino says “we just wanna party”. Children always wanna party and they remain completely oblivious to the current events that is happening in the world. We are to preoccupied with social media and many other things.
[Chorus: Childish Gambino]
This is America
Don’t catch you slippin’ up
Don’t catch you slippin’ up
Look what I’m whippin’ up
This is America (woo)
Don’t catch you slippin’ up
Don’t catch you slippin’ up
Look what I’m whippin’ up
[Verse 1: Childish Gambino, Blocboy JB, Slim Jxmmi, Young Thug, & 21 Savage]
This is America (skrrt, skrrt, woo)
Don’t catch you slippin’ up (ayy)
Look at how I’m livin’ now
Police be trippin’ now (woo)
Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)
Guns in my area (word, my area)
I got the strap (ayy, ayy)
I gotta carry ’em
Yeah, yeah, I’ma go into this (ugh)
Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla (woo)
Yeah, yeah, I’ma go get the bag
Yeah, yeah, or I’ma get the pad
Yeah, yeah, I’m so cold like yeah (yeah)
I’m so dope like yeah (woo)
We gon’ blow like yeah (straight up, uh)
[Refrain: Choir & Childish Gambino]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (get your money)
Get your money, Black man (get your money)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Black man
[Chorus: Childish Gambino, Slim Jxmmi, & Young Thug]
This is America (woo, ayy)
Don’t catch you slippin’ up (woo, woo, don’t catch you slippin’, now)
Don’t catch you slippin’ up (ayy, woah)
Look what I’m whippin’ up (Slime!)
This is America (yeah, yeah)
Don’t catch you slippin’ up (woah, ayy)
Don’t catch you slippin’ up (ayy, woo)
Look what I’m whippin’ up (ayy)
[Verse 2: Childish Gambino, Quavo, Young Thug, & 21 Savage]
Look how I’m geekin’ out (hey)
I’m so fitted (I’m so fitted, woo)
I’m on Gucci (I’m on Gucci)
I’m so pretty (yeah, yeah)
I’m gon’ get it (ayy, I’m gon’ get it)
Watch me move (blaow)
This a celly (ha)
That’s a tool (yeah)
On my Kodak (woo, Black)
Ooh, know that (yeah, know that, hold on)
Get it (get it, get it)
Ooh, work it (21)
Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (hunnid bands)
Contraband, contraband, contraband (contraband)
I got the plug on Oaxaca (woah)
They gonna find you that blocka (blaow)
[Refrain: Choir, Childish Gambino, & Young Thug]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
America, I just checked my following list and
You go tell somebody
You mothafuckas owe me
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Black man
One, two, get down
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me, “Get your money”
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Black man
[Outro: Young Thug]
You just a Black man in this world
You just a barcode, ayy
You just a Black man in this world
Drivin’ expensive foreigns, ayy
You just a big dawg, yeah
I kenneled him in the backyard
No probably ain’t life to a dog
For a big dog
No paragraph-level conversations.
Start one.
An Expert's Take on the Symbolism in Childish Gambino’s Viral ‘This Is America’ Video, By MAHITA GAJANAN, May 7, 2018, Time.
Donald Glover released a new song and music video “This Is America” under his musical moniker Childish Gambino on Saturday Night Live this weekend — and the four-minute, single-take music video is laden with metaphors about race and gun violence in America.
The “This Is America” video, which has already racked up more than 20 million views on YouTube, reveals provocative imagery of the rapper as he guns down a choir at one point and dances while violence breaks out all around him. Childish Gambino/Glover‘s decision to wear just a pair of gray pants without a shirt in the video, allows viewers to identify with “his humanness,” as he raps about the violent contradictions that come with being black in America, says Guthrie Ramsey, a professor of music history at the University of Pennsylvania.
“The central message is about guns and violence in America and the fact that we deal with them and consume them as part of entertainment on one hand, and on the other hand, is a part of our national conversation,” Ramsey tells TIME. “You’re not supposed to feel as if this is the standard fare opulence of the music industry. It’s about a counter-narrative and it really leaves you with chills.”
Here’s Ramsay’s take on four key moments from “This Is America.”
The first gunshot
The opening moments of “This Is America” show a man strumming a guitar alone to choral sounds. Within the first minute, Gambino shoots the man, who has been tied up with a head cover. Childish Gambino hands the gun to another man, who safely wraps it in a red cloth as the obscured man is dragged away. The moment goes right into the first rapped chorus: “This is America / Don’t catch you slippin’ up.”
Ramsay says the timing — that this happens during the song’s move from choral tones to a trap sound — allows Gambino to straddle contradictions and also allows the viewer to identify with his humanness.
“He’s talking about the contradictions of trying to get money, the idea of being a black man in America,” Ramsey says. “It comes out of two different sound worlds. Part of the brilliance of the presentation is that you go from this happy major mode of choral singing that we associate with South African choral singing, and then after the first gunshot it moves right into the trap sound.”
Jun 11
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
You can be one person describe as many people in this world. Just like how peace turns into voilence.
more
it’s important for many people to know that just because somebody can commit to a crime that you didn’t do but they did with your idenity can get away with it because that person don’t want to do the time for something they commit.
The early moment shows, too, that Gambino “could be anyone,” according to Ramsey. “You have him almost unadorned, as if he were totally without all the accoutrements of stardom,” he says, noting that Gambino dances in neutral colored pants, dark skin and with textured hair. “It’s just him, and therefore, it could be us.”
Gambino dancing with schoolchildren amid violence
Gambino and a group of kids clad in school uniforms dance throughout much of the “This Is America” video, smiling through impeccable moves as violence erupts behind them. The moment could be open to numerous interpretations — for example, Ramsey says, the dancers could be there to distract viewers in the same way black art is used to distract people from real problems plaguing America. But, Ramsey says, it’s better to absorb the video as a whole because America itself is a country of “very strange juxtapositions.”
“Even though we think of popular culture a a space where we escape, he’s forcing us to understand that there’s actually nowhere to run,” he says. “We have to deal with the cultural violence that we have created and continue to sustain.”
Jun 11
Tahlia S
Tahlia S
:
Everything that's going on today happened because of our actions and how we react to the response that was given.
more
it’s important to let people know that even though the sun shine ,the moon it’s away gray. what you have started you alway must finish or it will become another problem that can hold you back or breaking up down.
The style of dancing by Gambino in the video also calls out the way we consume culture. Gambino samples at least 10 popular dance moves derived from hip hop and African moves, including the South African Gwara Gwara dance, according to Forbes. Ramsey says the use of so many famous dance moves show how ultra-popular pieces of culture lose their specificity over time as they become more ubiquitous.
“It’s really a commentary on how much violence and contradictions there are in the consuming of pop culture, particularly in the violent elements of it,” he says. “With all the conspicuous consumption that global capitalism inspires, part of what we are consuming is this appetite for violence.”
The gunned down choir
Toward the middle of the video, a choir sings enthusiastically in a happy tone before Gambino shoots them all. The massacre and its quickness recall the 2015 Charleston shooting in which white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine black people in a church basement, Ramsey says. The image and what it evokes shows how people struggle to reconcile with and separate different instances of violence, according to Ramsey. As we consume violence on all sorts of platforms, be it in the news, through music videos or television shows, it becomes difficult to absorb very real instances of mass murders.
“You can’t escape the violence,” Ramsey says. “But you’re being forced to separate how you feel about it in our digitized world. The virtual violence, the real violence, it’s all confused.”
Gambino running away in the closing moments
The final moments of the video show Gambino running, terrified, down a long dark hallway away from a group of people as Young Thug sings “You just a Black man in this world / You just a barcode, ayy.” Gambino’s sprint goes back to a long tradition of black Americans having to run to save their lives, according to Ramsey, who says one song dating back to slavery in the 19th century was called “Run N— Run.”
Jun 11
Ronaysi G
Ronaysi G
:
this part of the article is saying that he was trying to illustrate show what illustrate back then and how black people are getting persecute
more
I think that what he/ she said is true because what Gambino was illustrating what thing that happen before and that are happening now like black people getting accuse of everything that be happening in society.
“A black person running for his or her life has just been a part of American culture dating back to slavery,” he says.
Unpacking all the references in Childish Gambino's phenomenal new video
The ‘Jim Crow’ pose, the dance moves, the Statue of Liberty, and what it all means
Text Natty Kasambala May 7, 2018
After a jam-packed night hosting and performing on SNL with new material, Donald Glover dropped a spectacular and timely new visual, as Childish Gambino, for his return track “This is America” on Saturday night.
In the video, we witness a slightly unhinged Gambino tackle the latest dance crazes as children dance and scatter around him in a chaotic parking lot that is no doubt meant to symbolise the nation of America. During the course of the video, we follow Gambino from space to space as he shoots a masked guitarist, mows down a church choir with a machine gun, and dances hard in between, before lighting up a joint and climbing onto a car for the final scenes. The video ends chillingly, with Gambino subsequently being chased through the dark. The final shot shows the fear flicker in his eyes as he strides to outrun the violent mob.
Directed by Glover’s longtime collaborator and Atlanta director Hiro Murai, there is so much to unpack in the visual beyond Gambino’s own erratic and brilliant performance. Arguably, the focus of the video is to illustrate just how easily we are distracted from the abhorrent truths of our society, when presented with the spectacle of pop culture through dance moves and viral content, just as Gambino’s dance moves distract us from the chaos constantly unfolding behind him. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most powerful elements of the video.
THE LOVE OF GUNS
The most immediate feature of the video is the gun. By displaying the violence of the weapon so openly in the first scene, we are thrown into a state of shock from the get go – but the commentary goes further than that. Every time Childish executes someone with the weapon, a child rushes in to collect the firearm and carefully place it into a cloth before removing it from the scene. Conversely, when Childish Gambino shoots the first victim, the body is dragged from the scene as he walks on unstirred, while the church choir are left as a pile of bodies in disarray. Here, the disconnect between the care with which the gun is treated, in direct contrast with the blatant disregard for human life is both jarring and palpable; impossible to look away from. This is America.
THE ‘JIM CROW’ POSE
It’s also been suggested that the pose Gambino pulls before shooting his first victim, played by artist Calvin the Second, is a reference to Jim Crow, a theatrical racist black stereotype created in the 19th century. The name was later used as the name for racial segregation laws in the US, before evolving once again into a term to describe the politics of mass incarceration in America by Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow.
Alongside the performative element of the video and the range of dramatic facial expressions pulled by Childish Gambino, he could be seen to embody different stereotypes throughout the video: from the violent aggressor, to the entertainer, to the hunted.
Shook by how fast I caught this reference. I haven’t seen a Jim Crow picture in years. Donald Glover did not come to play with y’all today. #ThisIsAmerica
THE CHURCH CHOIR
The inclusion of a choir as the targets of Gambino’s sinister rampage has huge symbolism here. When we find the choir, they are actually sectioned off in a room removed from the commotion, somewhat innocently providing backing vocals for the track. Gambino enters the room innocuously and dances along before quickly becoming disinterested and murdering the members within seconds. As he exits the scene scot-free, crowds from the parking lot rush in the opposite direction and populate the once-quiet room.
The choir here likely makes reference to the particular menace of church shootings, such as those in Charleston and Sutherland Springs, as well as the vulnerable presence of religion within black communities.
THE CONSTANT DISTRACTION
Throughout the video, Childish Gambino and his youthful entourage use dance as a distraction from the brutality unfolding around them. This can be seen as a reflection of how we live and function in online spaces in 2018. The forums we use allow two opposing forces – of joy and horror – to coexist, as spectacles of black death and viral memes fill our feeds interchangeably. As Gambino rattles off the lyrics “hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands, contraband, contraband, contraband”, he demonstrates a hip hop trope of drugs, money, and the pursuit of superficial success as a distraction topic from the real oppression and violence taking place on the ground.
While we watch the dancers in the foreground, scenarios of police brutality and rioting play out in the background. If you blink, you might miss a car on fire or a hooded figure riding across the screen on a white horse – thought to symbolise one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Death.
In true Black Mirror style, as the camera pans between shots, we also catch a glimpse of a few teens recording the events on their phones from a safe distance. In this way, pop culture content is (and always has been) both a subconscious smoke screen and a conscious coping mechanism for many.
THE DANCING
Choreographed by Sherrie Silver, an African dance teacher and choreographer, the dancing itself has layers to it. Spanning across continents, Gambino and the children cover moves like ‘Shoot’, made viral by Memphis rapper Blocboy JB’s tune with Drake, ‘Look Alive’, all the way to the ‘Gwara Gwara’ a South African dance move gaining popularity worldwide (and performed by Rihanna at this year’s Grammys). This choice feels deliberate, giving the commentary global scale.
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
The new release contains many low-key collaborations with other artists, featuring ad libs and backing vocals from Blocboy JB, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Slim Jxmmi, and Quavo. Most strikingly, SZA makes a cameo leaning on a car after the chaos seems to have subsided. On Instagram, she later posted a picture of her from the shoot that suggests she was embodying a Lady Liberty watching on passively. The visual message is a clear comment on America’s hypocritical, poisonous rhetoric of ‘freedom’, while it abuses and silences the marginalized members of society.
‘This Is America’: Breaking down Childish Gambino’s powerful new music video
While hosting “Saturday Night Live,” Donald Glover dropped a music video for the new single “This Is America” by his rapper alter ego Childish Gambino. Watch it once, and your eyes will naturally be drawn to his movements and facial expressions. Watch it again, but focus on the chaos reigning in the background. Watch it a third time, and the reason for this juxtaposition becomes increasingly clear.
Let’s break it down.
“This Is America” begins with a man seated in a warehouse, playing a guitar. Many misidentified him as the father of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager killed in 2012. The man is actually Calvin the Second, a Los Angeles-based artist who shared on Instagram that he “got to be a part of history.”
The camera soon finds Glover.
He stands behind Calvin the Second, whose head has been covered with a bag, and shoots him with a gun pulled out of his back pocket.
As several have pointed out on Twitter, his stance while holding the weapon mimics that of the minstrel character Jim Crow, the origin of the term used to describe pre-Civil rights-era segregation laws.
Glover’s erratic dancing, choreographed by Sherrie Silver, distracts from everything happening in the background throughout the video — purposefully so, it would seem. Paired with exaggerated expressions like the one pictured above, his movements further the connection to minstrel shows, a form of entertainment popularized in the early 1800s that mocked black people in the United States. The stock characters were usually played by white people in blackface, though some all-black groups performed under white directors.
Glover’s character, who appears to represent how white American culture oppresses black people, periodically kills innocent performers.
As a choir joyfully sings the refrain — “Get your money, black man, get your money” — Glover slips out from behind a door and dances in front of the choir.
He is handed an assault weapon, shoots all 10 singers and walks away.
The imagery evokes the 2015 Charleston church massacre, in which attendees of a prayer service were murdered by self-described white supremacist Dylann Roof.
As Glover tells listeners to “watch me move,” people in the background are chased by cops.
A police car is parked in the viewers’ line of sight, and orange glares suggest fires burning throughout the warehouse.
The camera quickly glides past young people with their phones out as Glover says, “This a celly, that’s a tool.” Cellphones have been used to record police officers shooting or choking black people in the past few years.
As Glover continues to dance amid the chaos — with another police car parked in view — a hooded figure rides past on a white horse. Some on Twitter have drawn connections to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, in which death rides on a pale horse with hell following behind.
Calvin the Second plays his guitar with the bag on his head as Glover climbs atop a parked car. All the cars pictured — including the one SZA sits on, in a surprise cameo — arefrom the 1980s and 1990s,in contrast with the new, luxury vehicles often depicted in today’s music videos. Some Twitter users theorized that the cars’ age represents the “stalled socioeconomic and political mobility” of black Americans. Others pointed to images of vehicles during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began after a jury acquitted police officers of using excessive force while arresting (and beating) Rodney King.
The video ends with Glover chased down a dark hallway, and some point to the darkness behind him as a physical representation of the Sunken Place, a mental prison where the Armitage family matriarch sends black people in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.” How fitting, then, that “Get Out” actor Daniel Kaluuya presented Glover’s performance of the song on SNL.
Whether this reference was intended, the video makes clear how black people have been trapped and/or harmed by American culture. Glover’s character keeps the darkness at bay by acting within white-imposed boundaries for most of the video — hence the rich depth of field, with his giddy dancing layered in front of violence — but it eventually catches up with him.
“This Is America” is a painful yet perfectly timed masterpiece, what Glover seems to do best.
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