'This is America', so try to keep up
Deep yet hidden meanings in music video featuring SA's own Gwara Gwara moves
If you haven’t seen Childish Gambino’s This Is America music video... what are you waiting for? Really man‚ keep up! The music video features the South African dance move Gwara Gwara.
Okay‚ now that that is out of the way‚ we’ll also admit that at first glance we saw the depth of the visuals in the music video but we didn’t fully grasp just how deep it was.
Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover‚ released his music video for This Is America on Sunday and the video is still trending at number one on YouTube with over 31 million views already.
It is not only because the song has a catchy tune and a deep message that people have responded so warmly to the music video‚ it is because of the profound statement the visuals make.
Take your time and watch the video below‚ before we break it down for you:
“This is America” by Childish Gambino http://smarturl.it/TcIgA Director: Hiro Murai Producer: Doomsday with Ibra Ake and Fam Rothstein of Wolf + Rothstein tour tickets and merchandise available at childishgambino.com
1. Gun violence.
In “This is America” look how the guns in the video are handled with care. Each time someone is shot the gun is taken away with a cloth and almost cradled but a respectable man in a polo/khaki outfit. The victims are dragged away.
— Aerin (@aerincreer) May 6, 2018
2. Using dance and culture as a distraction
Childish Gambino’s dance moves distracted all of us from the craziness that was happening in the background of the video & that's exactly the point he's trying to make.......#ThisIsAmerica pic.twitter.com/7o9e0XBGld
— Hurt Cobain (@D_Breezy_) May 6, 2018
3. Police Brutality
#ThisIsAmerica is genius with it's symbolism.
— Frank (@FictionFrank) May 7, 2018
Peep the police in SWAT gear & one of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, death, strolling by.
Rewatch the video & it's barely noticeable behind all the trendy dancing 🧐💡 pic.twitter.com/l1tgMnNOP3
4. Jim Crow
Jim Crow began as mere pop culture entertainment at the expense of America's freed slaves and became the means of their oppression. The term "Jim Crow" became so pejorative this country's apartheid separating Africans and their descendants from white Americans its name. pic.twitter.com/IEwLwfB2i4
— Justin Simien (@JSim07) May 7, 2018
5. The white horse
ALSO (continued): Could this be a Horseman of the Apocalypse running through the background? But also the fact that you could miss it because of the dancing in the foreground further emphasizes the distractions of pop culture/social media #ThisIsAmerica pic.twitter.com/TPP7XswfGJ
— Courtney Slavin (@courtneyslavin) May 6, 2018
6. The re-enactment of the Charleston shooting
This scene reenacts Charleston shooting. Black people praising Lord killed for no reason. Look at the background, you see people running towards the area and "rioting" for change and cops running after them, just b/c it's their "job"
— Kanisha J (@KaniJJackson) May 7, 2018
#ThisIsAmerica pic.twitter.com/sX0KqozbPU
7. Is Glover running from ... the Sunken Place?
Sunken Place is a concept developed in Jordan Peele’s film Get Out.
I mean there was SO MUCH. The pale horse of death from Revelations, white cops going after black people, Gambino’s minstrel show-esque movements/facial expressions, Gambino running away from the sunken place at the end. But his shoot and gwara though! 🙄#ThisIsAmerica
— E-Money 🤑 (@imanimlewis) May 6, 2018
8. Living for social media
In reading a lot of articles about #ThisIsAmerica, I am surprised that few reference the faceless people with cell phones/cameras in the rafters that are passive witnesses to what is going on.
— FG v. This Mad, Mad World (@FatGirlvsWorld) May 8, 2018
I think that is a lot of us -- at arms' length.
9. The man that looks like Trayvon Martin’s dad
Some Twitter users initially believed the man playing the guitar at the beginning of the video was Tracy Martin‚ father of Trayvon Martin‚ the young boy who was killed by George Zimmerman in 2012.
Turns out it’s actually Calvin II‚ a musician based in Los Angeles.
Oh I thought it was Trayvon's Martin Dad but it's NOT&he sure do look like him though! #ThisIsAmerica video symbolized a lot of things&gun violence against Black African Americans. The guy probably represented the Dad 4 Trayvon Martin. U never know. 👁
— PARIS (@PDanceMusic) May 7, 2018
While most of the interpretations came from tweep’s observation Mashable and Bustle also came through with some context.
Go watch the video again... there may be more. Profound neh? We thought so too!
