A Crash Course To Kendrick's Super Bowl Performance, From A Black Woman

A Crash Course to Kendrick's Super Bowl Performance, from a Black Woman

Note: this does NOT go in depth into all of the song's lyrics. I don't have time to recount two decades of his discography. This is just a summary of the performance itself.

Let's start with the first visual we get:

UNCLE SAM - most notably recognized from WWII American wartime propaganda, Uncle Sam is the personification of American patriotism and freedom. The term "uncle" is also evocative of Uncle Tom from Uncle Tom's Cabin, an abolitionist book that aided in inciting the Civil War. Uncle is also a very common term (both endearment and derogatory) towards Black men (eg. "unc"). Samuel L Jackson was fantastic.

Uncle Sam also resembles a circus ringleader, notable for my next point:

THE GREAT AMERICAN GAME - no, not Super Bowl. The GAG is us the people being pitted against each other: through late-stage capitalism, through the culture war, through class warfare, through being built of the backs of slaves. We are all players in the GAG because none of us on this site were the oligarchs seated at the inauguration.

This is also seen as Kendrick's stage was a Play Station controller. Not only did it remind of circus rings visually, but it was a game battle stage. The Great American Game is a battle royale of the commoners for the amusement of the rich whites.

Remember the foods / Them color was tin and brown / But now they 100 and blue - For this I'll just say, look what the last election said about lowering the price of eggs... and look at the prices now.

The revolution about to be televised / You picked the right time / But the wrong guy - Election 2024 once more. *Edit to add, the first part of this lyric is in reference to the Black Liberation Song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron. Thanks to everyone who mentioned that.

THE FLAG DANCERS - yes, the dancers formed the US flag... off of the backs of Black people. Not a single white person in sight, and that's true of the cotton pickers in the fields. Plantations are part of how the US came to economic prominence after being a "backwater" colony. Remember tobacco? Cotton? Our bloodlines do. *Edit to add: they also all piled out of a clown car. The US flag in a clown car? Brilliant.

The red and blue dancers are also notable for representing the Crips and Bloods, two infamous street gangs. The dance in Not Like Us is the Crip Walk. I recommend researching more on your own time about them, but just know they are a large part of the stereotype of Black people being "ghetto."

TOO LOUD, TOO RECKLESS, TOO GHETTO. Do you really know how to play the game? - This is exactly what Black people, especially Black men, get told all the time. It's why we change our names on resumes if they sound "too Black." It's why we codeswitch in non-Black company. This is especially rich considering how non-Black people love our culture and love to make money off of us, as the latter part of the quote points to. And it's even more profound during the Super Bowl-- the NFL is majority Black players.

STREET LIGHT A CAPELLA -- "thug" stereotype dancers to counteract the a capella connotations, with Uncle Sam then saying that Kendrick figured out "bringing other street guys around being a culture cheat code." Yes, this is a direct hit at Drake (listen to "Not Like Us") but also politically. Look up "model minority". Notably I would point to Candace Owens, or the Miami Venezuelan political group that's been in the news recently, especially as this directly led to Kendrick being surrounded by...

DANCERS IN WHITE -- it's white America. That's... that's the allegory.

NOT LIKE US TEASER -- Kendrick says "Not Like Us" is "their favorite song." -> he means white people specifically here. It comes after he's surrounded by all white dancers, the women around him who are his call and response are also in white (my opinion, they represent the industry). He's saying "Not Like Us" is the favorite of yts because it is about BLACK MEN FIGHTING. This again is reflected in the video game stage and ringleader Uncle Sam.

SZA -- instead of giving what they want, we see SZA. She's one of Drake's exes and Kendrick has always supported her.

ALL THE STARS -- This was in the first Black Panther movie, which I recommend you watch. Rest in Power Chadwick. Notably, this movie was incredibly mainstream as a major Marvel movie, and then we have Uncle Sam say...

"THAT'S WHAT AMERICA WANTS: NICE AND CALM. DON'T MESS THIS UP" -- translation: Marvel (the industry, America, etc.) wanted a safe, semi-pop song because white American likes safe pop songs, not Kendrick's usual heavy rap style about his life as a Black man! Don't mess up what you've got going mainstream for having this "Black rap feud" with Drake, who is an R&B model minority to white people because he's safe.

So what does Kendrick say?

IT'S A CULTURAL DIVIDE / IMMA GET IT ON THE FLOOR -- He was warned not to be political or apologetically Black for this Super Bowl performance, but he is using this big stage opportunity to speak out.

40 ACRES AND A MULE / THIS IS BIGGER THAN THE MUSIC -- 40 acres and a mule are what the freed slaves were promised. Instead, this land went to white sharecroppers. Research Jim Crow laws.

THEY TRIED TO RIG THE GAME / BUT YOU CAN'T FAKE INFLUENCE -- rig the election, rig the industry like with model minority Drake, rig the Great American Game with culture war to distract from active class warfare.

NOT LIKE US -- the only thing I'll mention because it made me holler is Serena Williams crip walking on Drake's metaphorical grave. She's another one of his exes.

TURN THE TV OFF -- exactly like he said! The TV is a distraction, the Super Bowl is a distraction, the mainstream news is often a distraction. Turn it off and get with your people!

GAME OVER — could not see this on my stream but at the end of the performance, the lights in the stadium spelled this out. The world is watching, America…

In conclusion, Kendrick Lamar is a visionary and thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

More Posts from Ekkiekkiacho and Others

11 months ago

Considering the recent targeted terminations against blogs run by transfems in the last couple of days (angel-athetos, fungalfaggot, coyote-roadkill, hound-mother, corpse-of-omelas-ageplayer and my previous blog, zebrabyopn3), some close friends and myself worked on a google form where users can make submissions for their terminated blogs. Too many of us have lost our blogs and everything in them, yet there's no existing record of blogs that have been terminated, so we want to change that. If you're not a transfem you can also answer, as we want data about all deleted blogs in general, like: the name of the banned blog, date of termination, and if there was a reason given or warning for the deletion (or not)

Tumblr Termination Submission
Google Docs
This is a submission form made for Tumblr users whose blogs have been terminated. This investigation will mostly focus on the unfair and tar

The form consists of 8 questions and takes around 3-5 minutes to answer. We'd appreciate sharing this with anyone that has been unfairly terminated, so we can create a record, so those blogs and their names can be remembered

6 months ago

I cannot donate but I can help spread awareness. If you can please help

A family trapped in Gaza pleads for survival

Hello,

I'm Feras from Gaza strip homeless with my family of 9 people in an uninhabitable tent, we live in the midst of genocide in Gaza Strip, trapped between walls of despair and frustration not to mention the fear that never leaves our souls. .

We struggle daily to survive in an environment full of dangers, threats and death.

Each one of us has lost his life, his dreams, his future, his work and we are now in torn tent can't even protect us from the rain .

We are desperately appealing to you for moral and financial assistance to cover the costs necessary to escape to a safe place, where we can ensure the safety of my family.

We are in dire need of your support. Any donation, no matter how small, can help save our lives, I'm deeply so thankful me and my family for your concern and support during these difficult times.

Donate to Help me to evacuate my family from Gaza strip, organized by Feras Almashni
gofundme.com
Hello, My name is Feras, 27 years old young man from Gaza, I live wit… Feras Almashni needs your support for Help me to evacuate my fami

No amount was collected.

0€\45000€

best wishes🇵🇸❤️ @sar-soor @plomegranate @nabulsi27 @sayruq @palipunk-blog @communistkenobi @queerstudiesnatural @bluebellsinthedells @rizzyluke @kordeliiius @self-hating-zionist @raelyn-dreams @unfortunatelyuncreative @licencetokrill-blog @jezebelgoldstone @rampageshunt @labutansa @sammywo @autistwizard @tortiefrancis @sparklinpixiedust @feluka @revcuse @golvio @leftismsideblog @star-and-space-ace @rainbowywitch @marscodes @annoyingloudmicrowavecultist @boyvander @the-bastard-king @ammonitetheseaserpent @girlinafairytale @timetravellingkitty @appsa @applejupiter @malcriada @retvolution @deansmultitudes @devilofthepit @heritageposts @wellwaterhysteria @dykesbat @lesbianmaxevans @gorbling @half-empty-orbitals @seanp0donnell

A Family Trapped In Gaza Pleads For Survival
A Family Trapped In Gaza Pleads For Survival
A Family Trapped In Gaza Pleads For Survival

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6 months ago

answering a couple questions i got on this post since i realized ppl genuinely wanna know:

tl;dr:

israel lets very, very little aid get into gaza. even the UN can't get in as much as they want to. funding individual families, gazan led initiatives, and mutual aid collectives operating out of gaza ensures gazans can provide for themselves and pay for the extremely expensive aid that is available.

with all the civil infrastructure destroyed by israel, the situation on the ground has devolved into unrestricted capitalism, driving up the price of aid (that should be free!). this makes it more urgent for people to have funding for daily survival.

the post linked above has examples of how donating to individual families can help a lot. if you want to help more than one family at a time, there are many gazan-led initiatives focusing on rebuilding their infrastructure and distributing aid fairly that are worth donating to instead of large charities that already get the majority of donations.

as i mentioned in the last post: @/careforgaza on twitter is a nonprofit started by gazans, it's been endorsed by multiple palestinian journalists.

the sameer project is a collective organized by diaspora palestinians offering emergency shelter to gazans.

ele elna elak is a project aiming to bring water, food, shelter, etc. to gazans and has been promoted by bisan owda.

and the municipality of gaza itself is fundraising to rebuild water infrastructure.

all of these organizations are active inside gaza right now and are being run by gazans. if anyone knows of other gazan-led mutual aid projects, nonprofits or charities feel free to link them in the notes! hope this helped!

long answers under the cut!

Answering A Couple Questions I Got On This Post Since I Realized Ppl Genuinely Wanna Know:

if you wanna donate to a charity that's absolutely fine, but the thing is most charities (and even the UN!) are unable to make it into gaza in the first place, leaving aid rotting at the egyptian side of the border or subject to israeli settler attacks

not to mention, charities and nonprofits also maintain a paternalistic colonial relationship with the indigenous people they are trying to help, determining what aid they need for them instead of returning power to them and letting them make their own choices

i'm not here to say that one option is better than the other, just that they achieve different things and are equally legitimate. there's an attitude among people who question the legitimacy of these gofundme campaigns that somehow the people promoting them are telling them not to donate to charities. nobody is stopping you from donating to charities. we are just asking that you do not dehumanize the very real gazans in your inbox just because their method of asking for aid is more direct and risky.

Answering A Couple Questions I Got On This Post Since I Realized Ppl Genuinely Wanna Know:

unfortunately that's exactly what has happened. because israel destroyed all of gaza's more formalized infrastructure, it seems that organized crime and rampant inflation has taken its place. aid is supposed to be free, but in order to save for evacuation or the cost of living, people have started selling them at an inflated price. and aid that is truly free attracts intense, large crowds that are dangerous to navigate.

Answering A Couple Questions I Got On This Post Since I Realized Ppl Genuinely Wanna Know:

this was posted on abc a few days ago

it's pure, unrestrained capitalism. i've had multiple palestinians describe this situation to me confidence. that's why everything's so expensive now. why people have to rent out tiny plots of land for their tents to sit on, why my friend @siraj2024 still has to buy tarps to cover the broken windows of the overpriced bombed out apartment he rented, and why a bag of flour can cost a thousand bucks in the north.

even before israel closed and then bombed the rafah crossing, the egyptian hala travel agency was only allowing people to cross the border if they paid a hefty $5000 USD per adult / $2500 USD per child bribe. it denies doing this, but the hundreds of stories from palestinians say otherwise.

with regard to the economy, here in america we saw something similar happen in the wake of hurricane helene and milton. the podcaster margaret killjoy describes how she saw dual economies rise after asheville was fully cut off from the rest of the country - some people offered each other supplies for free in a sort of mutual aid honor system, and some people required payment when they lent supplies because they themselves needed to buy stuff for their families. these dual economies exist in gaza too. and this means they all still need money to survive.

2 months ago
Sorry For Not Posting, Been Caught Up In School And The Mass Amounts Of Homework My Math And Science
Sorry For Not Posting, Been Caught Up In School And The Mass Amounts Of Homework My Math And Science

Sorry for not posting, been caught up in school and the mass amounts of homework my math and science teachers give me.

So, in a slew of no rabbits, please take these messy sketches of the twin foxes: Lolbit and Funtime Foxy. I haven’t much to say, but Clickteams Lolbit is peak design and I thank them for delivering.

F.Foxy’s design was difficult and I’m still not sure about his lower half and might change it. I do however like his coat and his cute hat. That’s all for now,, uhh, I’ll be drawing a rabbit right this instant


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2 years ago

Skrunkly Bois!

They Are So Skrunkly 🌘

They are so skrunkly 🌘


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6 months ago

Soso, rescued a child from the clutches of war.

Soso, Rescued A Child From The Clutches Of War.

She did not complete her first year before she carried the burdens of war. My little daughter, who has known life only through tears, hunger and displacement, needs you. Donate or spread her story, because every good deed plants hope in our hearts.

Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #184 ) and the butterfly project (#1117).

Donate here🔽

Donate to Help Manal and her family evacuate and start a new, safe lif, organized by Manal Ghorab
gofundme.com
Hello world I am Manal Ghurab, a wife and a working m… Manal Ghorab needs your support for Help Manal and her family evacuate and st

@buttercuparry @jezior0 @nabulsi27 @brutalia-week @turtletoria-art @aflamethatneverdies @girlinafairytale @meshitsukai @gatorinanicesuit @saesyndrome @yakourinka @theyaoiconnoisseur @tv-guys @shineypebble @astridblackssun @meatcute @operationladybug @saintverse @septiphadrean @the-acid-pear @stupidpop @pathogenic @fuyuno

@ankhisms @coolerdracula @gakupo7 @fearfylsymmetry @clamorybus @chilewithcarnage @stupidpop @rhubarbspring @eremes @marsmartens @myceliacrochet @www-pinkhearse @fnvbennygecko @andiv3r-reblogging @photomatt-drinks-piss @eelthekruppe @volfoss @femmefitz @seekerofthesightlessway @madawaska @themangosage @somewhatlargerobot @miluciole @notpietromaximoff

1 year ago
So I May Have Gotten Distracted Via My New Hyperfixation And Didn't Finish A Page Of The Comic But I

So I may have gotten distracted via my new hyperfixation and didn't finish a page of the comic but I promise I will. However in the meantime, take this WIP of Sun and Moon from Security Breach


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1 year ago

Hello. I'm sorry about the radio silence. This happened, and I recently had to step away for family and personal reasons. I am feeling a lot better now and the family is alright, so I think I'm ready to be back


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ekkiekkiacho - - Echo's Blog Of Things and Stuff -
- Echo's Blog Of Things and Stuff -

|| AroAce |Any Pronouns || Hello! Hope you're doing great! This Blog is mainly for my love of fandom/fanart. I do Fnaf, COTL, and Hollow Knight (and more coming soon) || Artist / Writer ||

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