Comments From Africans About The Grammy Awards Being Considered The Highest Honor For African Music Recording Artists, Part I: Asake - "Amapiano"

ASAKE, May 23, 2023
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Statistics for this official YouTube video as of June 19, 2023 as of 5:19 PM EDT
total # of views - 8,021,809
total # of comments - 4,861

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - June 19, 2023 4:56 PM EDT 

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about Africans and the United States' Grammy award. 

The comments in this pancocojams post are from the discussion thread for Nigerian performing artists Asake's and Olamide's official May 2023 YouTube video entitled "Amapiano". That song is a fusion of Nigerian Afrobeats, South African Amapiano, African American Rap, and Nigerian Fuji by those two Nigerian recording artists. However, all of the comments about the Grammys in that particular YouTube discussion thread focus on Asake Many of those commenters predict that Asake will win a Grammy for that song. Some other commenters reject and/or ridicule that possibility for that particular song. 

Some other commenters in that discussion thread share their opinion about the kinds of music that the Grammys honor and write that Asake music doesn't fit that criteria. Other commenters question or criticize Africans who believe that winning a Grammys is the highest honor for any African recording artist. 

Several other commenters wrote that winning the Grammys is mentioned in (YouTube) discussion threads for other trending African contemporary recording artists. 

In addition, several comments in this compilation refer to the Headies, a Nigerian music award or the BET awards, an African American award that includes music categories,or the People's Choice award, another United States award recognizing people in entertainment. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/06/comments-from-africans-about-grammy_20.html for Part II of this series. That post features comments from the discussion thread for Nigerian Afrobeats singer Ayra Starr's Feb. 2023 official YouTube video "Stability". Those comments are similar to those that are showcased in Part I of this pancocojams series.Some commenters write that they are certain that Ayra Starr will win a Grammy while others reject or ridicule that possibility. In addition, (as is the case in the discussion thread that is sampled in Part I of this pancocojams series), some commenters criticize the idea that Africans should want African singers/musicians to win Grammys. At least two commenters in that discussion example described that the Grammys are "a white man's award".  

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The content of this pancocojams post is presented for socio-cultural purposes, including Nigerian and other African cultures, examples of Nigerian Pidgin English, Nigerians and other Africans' opinions about those recording artists, as well as opinions and attitudes about the Grammys and about other music awards. 

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Asake and Olamide and all those who are associated with that song and that video. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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An online list of Africans who have won Grammys (as of 2023) is included in the comment section for this pancocojams post.

How some Africans feel about the Grammys is particularly interesting in light of the decision by the Grammys to add a category for African music starting in 2024 instead of having that music compete in the "world music" category.
  
Click https://www.africanews.com/2023/06/14/grammy-awards-africa-finally-gets-its-own-category/#:~:text=USA,a%20consecration%20for%20the%20genre.for the June 2023 article entitled "Grammy Awards: Africa finally gets its own category" by Rédaction Africanews with AFP.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THREAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_-v1fNdSHs

These comments are only a sample of the comments on this subject in that discussion thread. All of these comments are from 2023. These comments are presented in relative chronological order with the oldest comments given first except for replies.

Numbers are given for referencing purposes only. Brief  explanations about some of the terms that are found in these comments are given below a few of these comments.

1. Scenas_ Blog
"Asake will win Grammy awards one day if you believe gather here to appreciate his Talent ❤"

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2. MakeOutHill
"Dey play"
-snip-
The Nigerian slang saying "Dey Play" means something like "You got to be joking" ("You're playing about what you said"; You can't  be serious". A number of commenters wrote that saying in this sub-thread. Click https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/cxwk8ldp7mno Popular slangs wey trend for 2022 "For 2022, na music and internet viral videos influence wetin Nigerians bin dey tok pass", 26 December 2022 for a Nigerian Pidgin English definition for "Dey Play". 

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3. Sheyi Bryta
"Lol. Grammy is overrated"

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4. Golden Coast
"Grammy is the new gold."

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5. Esther Vanda
"No be with this kind music lol"

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6. dauda femi daniel
"@Sheyi Bryta  💯 and very bias"

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7. John Tracht
"Him boss self never been nominated no be this Typ dem dey find for Grammy"
-snip-
This comment refers to Olamide who discovered Asake and signed him to his record label. 

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8. Arata Ayumu
"@MakeOutHill  😂, he’s good but he doesn’t sing Grammy songs , If you are talking about grammy, then talk about Rema, bnxn, blaqbonez, fireboy"

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9. Iam Sacrozant
"Lol davido we first win the Grammy award before asake David adeleke to the world 001"

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10. John Tracht
"@Iam Sacrozant  I dey tell you I be 30bg normal but Grammy still never sure for him talkless of Asake"

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11. Sugar Boy
"Him will win Yoruba Grammy awards. Bcuz is only Yoruba dat understand his music 🎵"

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12. vovi agnes
"Not one day next year ishala"

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13. Deepcy
"You’re mad"

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14. Sutaye E.j
"@Sugar Boy  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I swear down"

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15. Urom Victor
"We dont need grammy.

 

We are bigger than that."

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16. flowkidd
"Everything is not Abt Grammy it's an ordinary award"

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17. Hijackstudios
"@MakeOutHill  he will and you will cry."

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18. MakeOutHill
"@Hijackstudios  lmao let’s be blunt here. What category do you think he’ll get nominated in? Hell no bro there’s no way . He could get recognized internationally but he winning a Grammy? Lmao y’all should wake up na"

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19. Hijackstudios
"@MakeOutHill  the same way you didn't believe in yourself, that left you stranded now, now putting the same negative energy on others. Continue. Hope you have data, he will win grammy one day and you will watch it with heart break."

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20.  MakeOutHill
"@Hijackstudios  😂😂😂dude"

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21. Uyi Aisosa
"@MakeOutHill  werey 😅😅😅"
-snip-
Here's a definition for the word "werey" from https://www.premiumtimesng.com/entertainment/naija-fashion/500516-werey-dey-disguise-cut-soap-for-me-other-nigerian-pop-culture-slang-that-trended-in-2021.html?tztc=1
" ’Werey dey disguise’, ‘Cut Soap For Me’, other Nigerian Pop Culture slang that trended in 2021 by ByOnu Stephen  December 12, 2021
…. “Werey Dey Disguise 

This is another Yoruba pidgin street slang, ‘Werey’ in Yoruba means acting irrationally or crazy. In totality “werey dey disguise” means, the act of camouflaging or appearing or speaking out in contrast to what you really mean people can see right through their being fake.

“Werey dey disguise” is usually accompanied by several mimes, it is used when someone is acting up but you see through them.”…

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22. Tilly
"You people are still on about this Grammy thing? Seeking validation from the western world 🙄"

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23. Hundredz Investment Limited
"U think say na one one word lyrics them Dey take win Grammy?? With this one pattern 😂😂"
-snip-
I believe the standard American English transcription of that Nigerian Pidgin sentence is "You think that he'll win the Grammy with his one word lyrics?

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24. NARCO 1804
"He don’t need that sh-t!* That for them folks. He will be a winner as long we support him❤"
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

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25. Adetipe Abiodun
"@MakeOutHill  you will hear ad see it don't worry he will win one day"

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24. MakeOutHill
"@Adetipe Abiodun  just Dey play"

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25. Faidat
"We don't care. He has already made history!!!🎉🎉 Grammy is overrated"

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26. Mr Priceless
"Real talk"

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27. Linda Waters
"I believe too"

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28. Sammy Hero
"How come I don’t believe"

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29. Rhod
"With which song exactly??"

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30. danie 🦋
"Are you the one who said this on Rema too? cause y'all have the same pfp and errthing

😂"

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31.  David O. Daukoru
"Your head empty"

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32. Abdulwasiu Toyin
"How he wan win it person wey dey sing traditional song"

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33. Joseph Philemon
"Him go win Grammy for sure him video them bad"

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34. McValiant23
"Àṣàkẹ́ occupies, satisfies and caters for a niche genre of Afrobeats, not necessarily Grammy-level...but who cares!? We still love his vibes, Grammy or not! ❤🤗👌"

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35. EnRobotics
"How he wan take win am with this song?????!"

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36. iayyam
"Guaranteed"

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37. Fabulous Empire
"Inshallah u will on god"

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38. SAMNESS
"Dey play 😂"

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37. SAMNESS
"Na headdies be his calling"
-snip-
"Na" is a Yoruba word that means "is".

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38. Blackrock trading academy.
"Grammy award na luck oo"

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39. KAMWEFU
"His winning one this year"

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40. sammysamuel
"For your mind"
The standard African American way of saying this sarcastic saying is "In your mind".

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41. Kamogelo Meso
"If he keeps at the rate he is at, it's a given.

He's an amazing act, a breath of fresh air in the Afrobeats movement. ❤"

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42. Ebbah Precious
"4 sure"

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43. Dera Silver
"For your dream 😂😂😂"
-snip-
The standard African American way of saying this sarcastic saying is "In your dreams".

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44. Prince Chifundire
"Nope"

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45. AIG
"Stop looking outward for validation. If he wins, good, but we don't need grammy to be our standard  please."

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46. unkieYard
"@MakeOutHill keep dreaming"

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47. almuktar sani
" @MakeOutHill 😂😂"

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48. Bryan Ag
"Lol 😂

Dreams"

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49. owolabi amos
"He can’t, he can win headies though"

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50.  Kehinde Akomolafe
"Dey play na bread"

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51.Abdul raheem olamide
"Depending on the foreign artist  features or was features by"

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52. TNaijaBoxing
"African artist don't need Grammys. We don't need any affirmation from America"

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53. onyejekwe oluchukwu
"He will surely win. I believe in him 😊"

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54. Muritala Abiola
"He will definitely get nominated this year if not wining sef"

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55. ephraim sakachi
"Nah bro. My gee don't need that satanic award he good 💪💪🔥"

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56. Classic Gee
"Ode .. u think  Grammy awards is fufu that any artist in Nigeria can win Abi when there's davido and WizKid and Burna boy even rema can win this Grammy awards than to talk of him 😅"
-snip-
I think that "fufu" in this sentence means that something that is basic (ordinary). Fufu is a vegetable dish that is a stable in West Africa.

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57. Daniel Ubokudom
"Not with this please"

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58. Rotimi Adido
"Probably but not with this kind of music"

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59. Popcorn 🍿 comedy
"Bro you write this comment on every trending song"

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60. Kelex Official
"You just posting that everyone will win award"

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61. Victor ola
"I've seen this comment on like 2 other naija artist song"

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62. Ebinezer Sillá
"😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊"

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63. Chidi
"Seriously sha"

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64. Taiwo Oluwatobi
"If I have personal Grammy award I will deliberately give it to Awake has the best amapiano afrobeat worldwide number one..as for me😊"

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65. Uriel Yo
"You dey talk nonsense Sha intop amapino where rema dey Rema way go Indian tour 🤣🤣🤣🤣 go rest"

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66. Bernard Wongibe
"Understatement. Create a different award for him."

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67. Dankan Kandash
"Kkk😮😮😮"
-snip-
“Kkk”= laughter (another way of writing "ha ha ha"

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68. Kaycee Collins
"We neva see rema na asake 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄💀💀💀💀👎👎👎👎or ayra starr,fireboy, buju,kizz daniel ,johhhy drile mtchew e wan like 🙄😂😂😂"

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69. Strive For Excellence
" @Sugar Boy what kinda nonsense is this. I’m Igbo and understand his music fully lol tf"

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70. 21.1K Views  COLOZ NICK
" @Sugar Boy   am a kenyan And I love his music very much"

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71. Augustine Ikechukwu
"No be only Grammy mugu"
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Here's a definition for Nigerian slang word "mugu" from https://theculturetrip.com/africa/nigeria/articles/11-untranslatable-nigerian-slang-words-we-need-in-english/  "11 Untranslatable Nigerian Slang Words We Need in English"  by Lize Okon, 28 November 2022
"Maga/Mugu

This is a term used to describe someone regarded as a fool or someone who is very gullible or being conned. For example, ‘you be maga’ means ‘you’re a fool’. But in this context – ‘my maga promise me hundred thousand Naira’, it shows that the person who’s being referred to as the maga is being conned."

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72. Dope Kholoski
"Wtf thought he got grammyd already

Give him 2grammys 2asake❤"

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73. Ayomide Kayorde
"Indeed Asake will surely have the Grammy Award with the way is getting over is mate Artist"

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74. Femi's Creativity
"ASAKE will definitely win GRAMMY"

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75. Ibrahim Kargbo
"Asake really you deserve to Grammy ❤❤❤❤❤❤ this song"

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76. Dannie Nellie
"TBH this guy must win either a Grammy or BET"

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77. Evangelist christopher ayella
"Asake is my one and only artist in 9j, Grammy Award winner next after Danini, wait and see"

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78. DarK TaleS
"What's with Grammy thing that people keep mentioning,we are bigger than that"

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79. Marissa Hearne
"EXACTLY... Grammy is NOT the standard!"

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80. Mallor Vee
"On behalf of my Grammy winners ,is time for this master piece to take over ❤"

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81. Deborah Fadoju
"Asake will win Grammy😍🥰😍😍🥰"

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82. Brandy Crystal
"Yes he used AUTHENTIC VIEWS to get the boost initially but now he is super talented that he will win Grammy one day !!!
-snip-
This is how this comment  written in that discussion thread.

A few other commenters mentioned AUTHENTIC VIEWS. Based on those comments, my guess is that those are views are those that the record labels paid people to make. 

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83. ntibuteba bolly
"This's year Grammy it's yours"

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84. charles kawuma
"He keep messing around will end up with a Grammy for sure"

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85. Kayode Seyi
"Asake is really talented... 2024 Grammy awards owes you one..."

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86. Y. A.
"Another good one from Asake ..... 💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾. This guy deserves  the people's choice award any and every time it is given ✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾. He has no bad song or coloration. They are all 🔥🔥🔥🔥"

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87. Jakub J
"And this year's psychiatric ward Grammy goes to Asake. I miss back in the days when you got somewhat smarter out of music."

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How Muni Long's "Hrs And Hrs" 2022 BET Awards Show Performance Paid Homage To A 1970s Performance By Singer/Dancer Lola Falana

BETNetworks, June 26, 2022
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As of July 3, 2022 at :9:50 AM ET this video had a total of 800,716 views. 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases R&B singer/songwriter Muni Long's performance at the 2022 BET Awards Show. A number of online commenters have noted that Muni Long's segment paid homage to a 1970s peformance by African American singer/dancer Lola Falana.

Information about Muni Long is also included in this post along with information about Lola Falana.

In addition, selected comments about Muni Long's 2022 BET performance are included in this post, with a focus on the choreography that accompanied Muni Long's singing.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Lola Falana for her cultural legacy. Thanks also to Muni Long for her music and thanks to all those who are associated with the two performances that are showcased in this post. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT MUNI LONG

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muni_Long
"Priscilla Renea Hairston (née Hamilton; born September 14, 1988), known professionally as Muni Long (pronounced "money long"), is an American singer and songwriter married to Masimba Chibanda.[3] Under the name Priscilla Renea, her solo debut studio album, Jukebox, was released through Capitol Records in 2009. She then spent the following decade co-writing songs for other recording artists, including the singles "California King Bed" by Rihanna, "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony, "Love So Soft" by Kelly Clarkson, "Imagine" by Ariana Grande, and the global chart-topper "Timber" by Pitbull featuring Kesha.

Returning to her career as a solo artist, her second studio album, Coloured (2018), was released via Thirty Tigers and Sony Music, and saw Hamilton exploring Americana and country soul genres. After adopting the stage name Muni Long,[4] she experienced major commercial success as an independent artist with the single "Hrs and Hrs", which reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100; which led to her signing a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. She has also received a Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year through her work on Back of My Mind (2021) by H.E.R.[5]

[...]

Long began writing songs for other recording artist. In 2010, she co-wrote the UK number-one single "Promise This";[17] as well as "California King Bed", a track from Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud, released in November 2010.[18]...  She continued her songwriting career, landing credits on 2011 and 2012 albums by Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Madonna, Mika, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Chris Brown and Little Mix.[20][21]

[...]

Renea [has been], working under the pseudonym "Muni Long" (pronounced "money long"^[34]) as of 2019"..
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Here's the link for the official YouTube video for Muni Long's "Hrs and Hrs (with statistics as of July 3, 2022 at 8:37 AM ET) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okfR_VIbXEQ 53,143,881 views  Premiered Nov 22, 2021

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INFORMATION ABOUT LOLA FALANA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Falana
"Loletha Elayne Falana[1] or Loletha Elaine Falana[2][3] (born September 11, 1942),[5][6] better known by her stage name Lola Falana, is an American singer, dancer, and actress.[7

[...]

American TV audiences became familiar with Lola Falana during the early 1970s. She often appeared on The Joey Bishop Show and The Hollywood Palace, displaying her talent for music, dance, and light comedy. These appearances led to more opportunities. She was the first supporting player hired by Bill Cosby for his much-anticipated variety hour, The New Bill Cosby Show, which made its debut on September 11, 1972 (her 30th birthday) on CBS. Cosby had met Lola Falana in his college days, when he was a struggling comic and she was a 14-year-old dancing for $10 a show in Philadelphia nightclubs.[citation needed] Throughout the mid-1970s, Lola Falana made guest appearances on many popular TV shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Muppet Show, Laugh-In and The Flip Wilson Show. She also starred in her own television specials. In 1975, Lola Falana's disco record There's A Man Out There Somewhere reached #67 on the Billboard R&B chart. That same year, she returned to Broadway as the lead in the musical Doctor Jazz. Although the production closed after just five performances, Falana was nominated for a Tony Award and won the 1975 Theater World Award.

With help from Sammy Davis, Jr., she brought her act to Las Vegas and became a top draw there. By the late 1970s, Falana was considered the "Queen of Las Vegas". She played to sold-out crowds at The Sands, The Riviera, and the MGM Grand hotels. Finally The Aladdin offered her $100,000 a week to perform. At the time, Falana was the highest paid female performer in Las Vegas. Her show ran twenty weeks a year and became a major tourist attraction. While still playing to sold-out crowds in Las Vegas, Falana looked to other key TV roles, originally being slated to star in a remake of the 50s Vampira Show. When this project collapsed she joined the cast of a short-lived CBS soap opera, Capitol, as Charity Blake, a wealthy entertainment mogul."...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Lola Falana!



corey ingeison, July 28, 2018

This, right here, is why Lola was known as "The First Lady of Las Vegas." She's thrilling to watch. From one of her TV specials -snip-
As of June 3, 2022 at 9:53 AM ET, this video had a total of 39, 712 views.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM SHOWCASE VIDEO #1
This compilation includes a small number of the comments in that video's discussion thread that refer to Muni Long's 2022 BET performance (with a focus on the choreography that accompanied her singing). 

All of these comments are from June 26, 2022 to July 2, 2022.

These comments are given in relative chronological order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.  

As always, I'm interested in documenting not only what was said, but how it was said.

1. Endia Rapier
"Muni, Muni... FLAWLESS!! I’m probably about to sound like a whole judge on The Voice or something—but, trust when I say, those vocals were smooth and every note was beyond the scale of EXCELLENCE!!

The wardrobe was on point; especially, the creativity of the dancers that blended in with the dress; who would have thought?🤔🤗

I can watch this performance for hours and hours....🥰🥰"

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2. Love Melanin
"Beautiful performance. Muni stage presents with feather dancers is truly amazing. 🥰😍🌸💐🏵🌹🌺💖💜"

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3. Tim Edema
"Felt every bit of this performance😩🔥❤..And the costume design and visuals🔥🔥😍"

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4. Ms. Lowery
"Omg!!!!! Being a performing Arts student!!!! Her set is everything!!!! Yessss! The feather choreography is Life!!!!! Makes the song even more amazing! So in love! 🥰🥰"

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5. Sherika Reid
"What a beautiful, outstanding performance 💖 I had to rewatch it because it was EVERYTHING 💕 Great job, Muni 💖"

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6. As told by Kaycee
"This was so beautiful to the eye and very Aesthetically pleasing kudos to whoever came up this idea!💕💕👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽"

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7. Conie Juu
"This performance was beautiful! The voice, the movements, the artistry, just stunning!"

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8. Charelle Unique
"This was sooooo dope visually. Who ever came up with this is a genius"

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9. Anita Knight
"I totally agree! The visuals were on point.  My son, JaQuel Knight choreographed this piece for her.  He did a great job! Proud moment."

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10. C Lett
"@Anita Knight  Your son did an amazing job!"

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11. Charelle Unique
"@Anita Knight  He's the truth! I hope to work with him one day🔥🔥❤❤💯💯"

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12. Me
"Lola Falana did it first ! But it was cute"

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13. Spiritual Being
"A drag queen named NINA WEST  from NY & RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE! ORIGINATED THIS. LOOK HER UP."

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14. D.J. Tyree
"@Spiritual Being  Lola Folana did a version of this in the 70s too! It’s always so cool when I see it done!"

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15. John Smith
"Lola Falana did it 1st,over 40 years ago,the video is here on YouTube (Lola Falana I am love) .Lola was the Beyonce of the 70s"
-snip-
That video is given as Showcase Video #2 in this pancocojams post.

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16. John Smith
"@Me  Yes as soon as I saw her massive pink feather skirt, I new what was up."

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17. Huni Buni
" @Spiritual Being  Really? This style seems like a throw way way back to the very classic vintage era."

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18. Huni Buni
"@D.J. Tyree  Just watched, that was the inspiration for sure, both renditions were awesome."

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19. D.J. Tyree
"@Huni Buni  right cus when I saw it at the ball I was shook!"
-snip-
"Ball" here refers to drag [queens] balls. 

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20. Seddycakes
"@Spiritual Being  yikes...please remember most things drag queens do, especially on RuPaul, came from Black women"

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21. Kris Sanders
"Latto visual artist cause she did this last year for the hip hop awards!"

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22. Cece Giles
"@Anita Knight  your son😂😂😂"

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23. Cece Giles
"@Spiritual Being  that's a dam lie"

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24. Cassandra Daniels
"@Spiritual Being  Drag Race? Try a Black Woman in the 70s"

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25. Cassandra Daniels
"@Spiritual Being  Not to mention Vaudeville in the 50s.  Let's be careful with how we try to give credit where it isn't due at the expense of a wonderful performance."

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26. TRAVEL & WELLNESS TURNED UP
"It’s true, as others have said, that Lola Falana did this first. Not much new under the sun. It’s all about execution nowadays and this was executed almost flawlessly."

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27. MissAlphaOmegaGOD - 2U!
"Anita Knight  omg I love your son!!!🥰"

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28. Anita Knight
"@MissAlphaOmegaGOD - 2U!  That makes two of us! Thank you so much for the love. ❤"

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29. Missouri LLC
"Yes..was beautifully orchestrated"

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30. Sean Livingston
"@Seddycakes  or gays who helped black women which were very active in the theater arts for sure."

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31. Nicole Hall
"Show girls have been doing this for decades.  Finally, someone who can sing has a great team!"

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32. Benjamin Parkman
"I feel she was inspired by Mariah Carey's 2018 AMAs performance (but also the original Lola Falana) and I'm even MORE of a fan now! We need more singers who can (and have the ability to) serenade us with their voices!"

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33. All Spots Clean
"They were inspired by the miss continental pagent and ballroom scene, they take it and place it on the mainstream artist."

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34. k b
"@All Spots Clean  I’ve actually seen this performance recreated in ballroom but the original is Ms. Lola Falana"

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35. All Spots Clean
"@k b  I hear ya, but I'm sure the queens were doing that before her though they went unsung and uncredited."
-snip-
"The queens" in this comment refers to drag queens.

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36. Love Melanin
"Feather dancers reminds me of Lola Falana"s late 1970's to early 80's Las Vegas performance."

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37. KIAN, The Skorpion.
"I was so gagged last night! I thought that was an entire dress whew"

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38. BETTYBOOP
"(lola falana inspiration🌺) BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCE! SHE'S  SOOOO BEAUTIFUL & CAN SAAAANG, SHE HIT THAT HIGH NOTE, WHITNEY STYLE🔥🔥🔥

THE DANCERS WITH THE PINK FLOWERS SCENE IS STUNNING...I WASNT EXPECTING THE FLOWERS TO MOVE....THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌺🌺🌺🌺"

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39. Rabia Jones
"I want a dress that move like your dress money long😩💃💃💃💜girl you kill it...."

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40. Ms. Lady
"IT WAS THE FEATHERS FOR ME THO!!!!!!"

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41. john stewart
"OK

H😲LD UP

THAT WAS SICKENING ‼️

S🤎 D🤎PE‼️

AND U KNOW THAT WAS BLACK PEOPLEs CONTROLLING THOSE PLUMES ‼️🤣🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎

That was IN-CREDIBLE‼️"

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42. ISAYWHATIWANTjackson jackson
"YALL IM LIKE GURRRLLLL YO DRESS ALIVE🤣BEAUTIFUL THOUGH VERY CREATIVE ❤️"

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43. Leticia McWilliams
"That was so beautiful I smiled the whole time. I have to admit. I didn't expect that and wasn't ready. I had to watch this a couple of times."

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44. N C
"Sang gal!!! That's a sanger and doesn't have to scream and yell words out to make us feel what you're saying."

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45. Deandratoosweet Bullard
"Very elegant especially with those feathers !! 🥰🥰"

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46. Marvelous M
"Come thru Vocals and Visuals 😍💕"

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47. ThatWhichISee
"Wow. I loved the performance. That was different. Feathers. Flowers. For hours......"

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48. Domineik
"Cmon girllllll *waves church fan lol 🔥🔥🔥"

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49. Charley Rae
"She did that🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️"

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50. ENO AFIA
"Best stage craft of the night 🔥😍👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾"

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51. Marissa Joy
"My jaw dropped when the dancers moved the fans away"

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52. Mz Thang 318
"She definitely ate that and the flowers in the back was everything"

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53. Claudette Birden
"This girl is the truth....SANG MUNI"

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54. Erin F.
"Sis ate and left no crumbs"

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55. Cupkake stone
"Can I get an 'Amen' 'church'💯💥"

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56. Brandy Bell
"Best Performance of the NIGHT🔥🔥🔥🔥 the Visuals were SICK🔥🔥🔥🔥"

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57. Roses 4me
"I could sit and listen to this queen for HOURS!!!! She is simply gorgeous, talented, and gifted. Kudos to all of those "fan dancers". They SLAYED that dance number."

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58. YaBoiTweety
"Oh this is GOOD DRAG 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾"

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59. Meeky
"Whoever’s ideas this was is amazing. It added so much to the performance. She looks beautiful and it sounds just as good if not better."

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60. Saucé Kay(Sauce Kay)
"I was thinking.. damn that dress beautiful. She look like a princess. Then the dress start moving and I was dang they got me. That was very captivating. Beautiful choreography. 💃🏾❤🔥"

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61. Missdeeinspired
"I hear her and see her but those feathers got my attention very artistic whoever came up with this idea"

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62. Raquel C. Gary
"This girl better SAAAAAANNNGGGG!!!!! Love the visuals💕"

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63. TheDippymusic
"Ms. Lola Falana inspired, I lived!"

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Actor & Activist Jesse Williams' Speech At The 2016 BET Awards (complete transcript, full audio, & partial video)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides a full transcript of the acceptance speech that African American television actor Jesse Williams gave upon receiving the 2016 Humanitarian award at the BET Awards event.

A video of part of that speech and the full audio of that speech are also included in this post along with information about Jesse Williams.

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Jesse Williams for his activism and his powerful words. Thanks to the transcriber of Jesse Williams' acceptance speech and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to the publishers of the YouTube examples which are showcased in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT JESSE WILLIAMS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Williams_(actor)
"Jesse Wesley Williams (born August 5, 1981)[1] is an American actor, model, and activist, best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series Grey's Anatomy. He also appears in the 2013 film Lee Daniels' The Butler as real life civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson.

Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois,[2] the son of Johanna Chase, a professional potter, and Reginald Williams.[3] Williams has stated that his mother is Swedish, while his father is African American and some Seminole descent from Georgia....

In May 2016, Williams released a documentary film he directed entitled Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement.

Williams is the youngest member of the board of directors at The Advancement Project, a civil rights think tank and advocacy group. He is also the executive producer of Question Bridge: Black Males, a multifaceted media project, art exhibition, student and teacher curriculum and website,[20] focused on the black male identity and the diversity within the demographic. He has written articles for CNN[21] and The Huffington Post,[22] and has been a guest on Wolf Blitzer's The Situation Room.

In October 2014, as part of Ferguson October, Williams joined thousands in Ferguson, Missouri, to protest the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.[23] In June 2016, he won the BET humanitarian award, delivering a speech highlighting racial injustice, police brutality, and cultural appropriation.[24]"...

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COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF JESSE WILLIAMS' BET ACCEPTANCE AWARD SPEECH
From http://time.com/4383516/jesse-williams-bet-speech-transcript/ "Read the Full Transcript of Jesse Williams’ Powerful Speech on Race at the BET Awards", Megan Lasher, June 27, 2016
Honoree Jesse Williams accepts the Humanitarian Award onstage during the 2016 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.

Grey’s Anatomy actor Jesse Williams was awarded BET’s Humanitarian Award on Sunday night. The outspoken human rights activist—who executive produced the recent documentary, Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement— delivered a powerful and political speech about the cause he’s worked so hard on….

The speech received a standing ovation by the audience, who went on to praise Williams on Twitter. A transcript of it has been published in multiple places, including The Washington Post and Bustle. Below, Genius‘s account of the speech:

"Peace peace. Thank you, Debra. Thank you, BET. Thank you Nate Parker, Harry and Debbie Allen for participating in that.

Before we get into it, I just want to say I brought my parents out tonight. I just want to thank them for being here, for teaching me to focus on comprehension over career, and that they make sure I learn what the schools were afraid to teach us. And also thank my amazing wife for changing my life.

Now, this award – this is not for me. This is for the real organizers all over the country – the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers, the students that are realizing that a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.

It’s kind of basic mathematics – the more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize.

Now, this is also in particular for the black women in particular who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.

Now, what we’ve been doing is looking at the data and we know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill white people everyday. So what’s going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours.

Now… I got more y’all – yesterday would have been young Tamir Rice’s 14th birthday so I don’t want to hear anymore about how far we’ve come when paid public servants can pull a drive-by on 12 year old playing alone in the park in broad daylight, killing him on television and then going home to make a sandwich. Tell Rekia Boyd how it’s so much better than it is to live in 2012 than it is to live in 1612 or 1712. Tell that toEric Garner. Tell that to Sandra Bland. Tell that to Dorian Hunt.

Now the thing is, though, all of us in here getting money – that alone isn’t gonna stop this. Alright, now dedicating our lives, dedicating our lives to getting money just to give it right back for someone’s brand on our body when we spent centuries praying with brands on our bodies, and now we pray to get paid for brands on our bodies.

There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven’t done. There is no tax they haven’t leveed against us – and we’ve paid all of them. But freedom is somehow always conditional here. “You’re free,” they keep telling us. But she would have been alive if she hadn’t acted so… free.

Now, freedom is always coming in the hereafter, but you know what, though, the hereafter is a hustle. We want it now.

And let’s get a couple things straight, just a little sidenote – the burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander.That’s not our job, alright – stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.

We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil – black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit. The thing is though… the thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.

Thank you."
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The explanatory comments about Jesse Williams' speech are given in italics in this post to distinguish them from the speech itself.

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FULL AUDIO OF THAT SPEECH

Jesse Williams Speech



Blackwomenspeak, Published on Jun 27, 2016

Jesse Williams Speech. Subscribe Today to this YouTube Channel and Follow us on Twitter @BlackWomen_ If You Like This Message Please Share this video on Twitter, Facebook and all of your social media channels.

A number of commenters wrote that they had searched for the full video of Jesse William's speech,but could only find parts of that speech along with commenters' analysis. I also could not find the full video of that speech.

Commenters thanked Blackwomenspeak for publishing this full audio of Williams' speech, indicating that this is the only example of that full audio that they've been able to find on YouTube.

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PARTIAL VIDEO OF THAT SPEECH

Jesse Williams' fiery BET Awards speech



CBSN Published on Jun 27, 2016

Actor Jesse Williams took on racism in a BET Awards speech that went viral. CBSN's Meg Oliver has more.
-snip-
Jesse Williams' speech is up to 1:41 of this 2:48 minute video.
-snip-
UPDATE: July 1, 2016 (9:22)
Click http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7416612/jesse-williams-bet-awards-2016-speech-video for the full video of Jesse William's acceptance speech, along with the complete transcript of that speech.

Also, in reading that article I learned that "Debra" who is referenced in the beginning of Jesse Williams speech is BET (Black Entertainment Television) CEO Debra Lee, the woman who is seen introducing Williams and handing him his award.

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