The last few days on social media have been very… weird. Particularly with the overwhelming amount of wealthy celebrities who have come online to sing to us on their Instagram stories or on Twitter; who have stood on the balconies of their million-dollar homes to… clap(?????) in solidarity; who have asked their followers to donate to links where money is being raised to get hospitals the medical supplies needed to sustain their work in the midst of this pandemic.
It’s weird.
Thankfully, many celebrities have also made bops that we can march to on our way to the guillotine (after giving them the option to redistribute their wealth, of course—word to Britney Spears).
Here is a “playlist” of some of my favorite songs to get hype to in preparation for a protest (many of which were recorded by artists who I have a deep love for).
ALRIGHT BY KENDRICK LAMAR
FREEDOM BY BEYONCÉ FT. KENDRICK LAMAR
A LOT BY 21 SAVAGE
MI GENTE BY J BALVIN FT. WILLY WILLIAM AND BEYONCÉ
STORY OF O.J. BY JAY-Z
DNA BY KENDRICK LAMAR
DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR BY SOLANGE
FUBU BY SOLANGE
RECOMMENDED: A DANCE PLAYLIST OF BOPS TO GET YOU THROUGH SELF-QUARANTINE
WE THE PEOPLE… BY A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
FORMATION BY BEYONCÉ
HELL YOU TALMBOUT BY JANELLE MONÁE
BE FREE BY J COLE
Da'Shaun Harrison
Da’Shaun Harrison is a trans theorist and Southern-born and bred abolitionist in Atlanta, GA. They are the author of Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness, which won the 2022 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction and several other media/literary honors. As an editor, movement media and narrative strategist, and storyteller, Harrison uses their extensive history as a community organizer—which began in 2014 during their first year at Morehouse College—to frame their political thought and cultural criticism. Through the lens of what Harrison calls “Black Fat Studies,” they lecture on blackness, fatness, gender, and their intersections. Harrison currently serves as Editor-at-Large at Scalawag Magazine, is a co-host of the podcast “Unsolicited: Fatties Talk Back,” and ⅓ of the video podcast “In The Middle.” Between the years 2019 and 2021, Harrison served as Associate Editor—and later as Managing Editor—of Wear Your Voice Magazine.