#WE GONNA BE ALRIGHT KENDRICK LAMAR FULL#

Whether вЂњAlrightвЂќ can truly become the next вЂњLift Every Voice and SingвЂќ or вЂњWe Shall OvercomeвЂќ depends, that is, not just on whether it continues to appear at protests but on whether those protests can help yield real progress for the movement-giving even greater weight to the songвЂ™s promise that weвЂ™ll push on through. Photo by Simon Laessoee/Scanpix via Reuters. Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. The song, for those protesters, seems both a way to be defiant and proud in the face of those who donвЂ™t see you as anything more than a вЂњrace-baiterвЂќ or a вЂњthugвЂќ-and a way to mark the moments when protest seems to make a difference.

What the viral clip of the Cleveland protesters doesnвЂ™t make clear is that, according to ABC 5 Cleveland, the chanting of вЂњAlrightвЂќ came after the boy was treated by emergency medical technicians and then released to family members, instead of being taken to the police precinct-what some at the scene considered a small victory. Demonstrators gathered around the scene, locked arms, and were pepper sprayed by police. ItвЂ™s worth looking at the context in which those Black Lives Matter protesters were chanting вЂњAlright.вЂќ The activists had convened for a conference in Cleveland when an allegedly drunk 14-year-old boy was arrested outside the venue and allegedly roughed up by police. The Lord will see us through, The Lord will see us through, вЂњWe Shall Overcome,вЂќ which in its early incarnation had slightly different lyrics (and the title вЂњIвЂ™ll Be All RightвЂќ), is likewise optimistic:

#WE GONNA BE ALRIGHT KENDRICK LAMAR FULL#

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,ДЇacing the rising sun of our new day begun, Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

We gonna be alright kendrick lamar