Actor-writer-musician Donald Glover’s new single This is America, as Childish Gambino, is the hottest thing on social media right now. This is America is a horrific portrayal of a complex truth, satirising the current state of the country. The video sends out layered messages on police brutality, gun violence, racism, black culture and oppression.
Directed by Hiro Murai, the video of This is America features Donald shirtless and wearing confederate pants, loose and swaying, with a smiling face. The imagery suddenly transitions to the brutal execution of a black man. The gun, with which the deed was done, seems to be getting more respect; it is handled gently, while the body is unceremoniously dragged away. It immediately tells us how trivial gun violence and killing of black people are in America.
Donald is also seen striking the ‘Jim Crow’ pose, a sign of racial oppression, segregation and mocking of African-Americans. Donald Glover rhythmically struts around with a bunch of young school kids, distracting us from the terror in the background; even his face shows signs of derangement.
The video then escalates in its viscerality—in the flash of a second, Donald murders a bunch of choir singers with a machine gun, a representation of the Charleston massacre, where nine black churchgoers were gunned down during service in 2015.
Social media has made us silent watchers who do not react against injustices across the world. This is evident as a few kids seem to be recording all the violence that is happening, while their mouths are covered. In the video, a pale white horse is ridden by a man whose head is covered with a black cloth. Many interpret this as Death riding the pale horse, as mentioned in the biblical story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This is followed by hell, which in the video is the police. The message of police brutality goes unnoticed by the dancing and distraction in the foreground.
In the last few seconds of the music video, Donald runs away from attackers, a statement that no one is safe in America. The expression of fright, terror and pain on his face as he runs through a dark warehouse disturbs—doubly so because in the background, Young Thug sings, “You just a black man in this world/ you just barcode” which frizzles away, while we are left with our hearts racing and fists clenching.
This music video is perhaps the most impactful telling of a dark truth. From Beyonce’s Lemonade, Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer to Donald Glover’s This is America, it sure has been an uphill of change, revolution and freedom of expression. This is the age of black history.