We're still in the fight for justice, even if lawmakers and governments are more willing to offer million-dollar settlements than hold police officers accountable for their actions. That's why musicians like Russell Taylor are still making their voices heard through their art. Earlier this year, RT released his moving song "Wake Up." Now he's continuing to spread his message with the song's video.
The singer-songwriter takes to the streets of Boston for the clip as he advocates for Black lives. The song's lyrics are enough to evoke the need for change, but he also successfully pulls it off with the imagery provided. He sports garb that reminds us of both the military and revolutionaries as he pleas for our country to wake up and do something about the problems that have plagued it since its inception. He also incorporates other motifs, including a choir performing while standing at a Black Lives Matter mural and a woman freeing herself of police tape that binds her hands, eyes and mouth. But perhaps the most poignant moments come when he shows pictures of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Sandra Bland and others alongside videos depicting their final moments. It's jarring and disturbing, and that is the point.
Russell Taylor expands on this in a press release, stating, "[C]reating this project was a beautiful partnership that showcases the power of art to sound the alarm. Sickness, social injustice, poverty and violence ebb and flow like the waves of our polluted oceans. It is time for us to Wake Up and take action — first, we must mobilize the BIPOC and Ally vote for a government that actually represents her people."
We suggest that you take the artist's message to heart, especially with such an important election on the horizon this November. Press play to hear him loud and clear in the video for "Wake Up."
