Over the past several years, the Juneteenth tradition has become more and more mainstream as television shows like Atlanta and Black-ish highlight its historical significance for Black Americans. More recently, Netflix produced the film Miss Juneteenth, and organizations like Nike and the Atlanta Hawks have announced that they will make the day a paid holiday for employees.

Naturally, that’ll free up some time to enjoy traditional festivities like cookouts, family reunions, historical reenactments, and pageants (observing sensible social distancing protocols due to COVID-19, of course), and since the usual street fairs and parades are out this year, celebrators will have to go online for their entertainment. LiveXLive is providing just the ticket with its Lift Every Voice: A Juneteenth Special concert hosted by Charlamagne Tha God and Gia Peppers featuring performances from Common, Fantastic Negrito, Joy Oladokun, Justine Skyne, and Mick Jenkins. The online fest will also have discussions with musician activists like Leon Bridges, Lion Babe, Mereba, T.I., and Vic Mensa. The 90-minute special begins at 8pm EST/5pm PST.

In a press release, Live Nation Urban VP Brandon Pankey said, “Juneteenth is the ultimate celebration of Black history and heritage. Live Nation Urban is proud to partner with LiveXLive and Color of Change to bring light to a day that has been revered by African Americans for generations. Its cultural relevance and significance globally cannot be understated.”

For more information and the full schedule, visit LiveXLive’s Lift Every Voice page here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In today’s episode of WTF America, a pastor of an Atlanta megachurch tried to make an argument that the benefits white Americans got from slavery were blessings.

In what was billed as “an honest conversation about race and the Church” on June 14, Passion City Church pastor Louie Giglio talked with Chick-fil-a CEO Dan Cathy and rapper Lecrae. And in the course of their conversation, Giglio somehow ended up referring to “the curse of slavery” as “the blessing of slavery” when talking about how white people benefited from it. (This should go without saying, but if you ever find the words “the blessing of slavery,” coming out of your mouth, you need to stop talking immediately.)

Giglio then went further and tried to reframe the concept of white privilege—the reality that white people have racial benefits in a society where white people have always held the power—as “white blessing.”

Why? Because, he says, the phrase “white privilege” trips a lot of white people up. So calling it “white blessing” somehow…helps?

Needless to say, it didn’t go over very well.

People rightly pointed out that using the word “blessing” in relation to slavery is, well, peak white supremacy.

“White privilege” makes people uncomfortable, so let’s change the wording to something that will further entrench white people in denial and make them think that somehow the benefits of slavery were divinely ordained favors bestowed upon white people? Isn’t that what “blessing” literally means?

Thinking you can rename a relatively benign phrase because it rubs some white people the wrong way is also, ironically, an example of white privilege in action.

Giglio has apologized for his word choice, stating that he was “not seeking to refer to slavery as blessing—but that we are privilege because of the curse of slavery…word choice wasn’t great. Trying to help us see society is built on the dehumanization of others. My apology, I failed.”

Indeed. Having the hard conversations about race and racism is good, and white folks are prone to stepping into an unconscious sense of superiority in those conversations. But a pastor with a huge platform—who is seen by congregants as a man sharing God’s word—calling the benefits of slavery a “blessing” is over-the-top problematic. Even if his intention in the conversation was pure, even if his heart was in the right place, that message is worthy of condemnation.

Lacrae posted a video on Instagram responding to the controversial clip, which is important to hear:

Instead of trying to reframe reality to cater to white people’s comfort, let’s have a conversation about the audacity of white people losing their minds over a two-word phrase while people of color have to deal with the ongoing stress of subtle and blatant individual, systemic and institutional racism. The longer we try to keep white people comfortable, the longer it’s going to take to deal with the issue of racism in our society.

You can watch the entirety of the June 14 conversation here:

The Beloved Community – Dan Cathy, Lecrae, Louie Giglio

www.youtube.com

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Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

One of the more baffling criticisms thrown at HBO’s Watchmen (our third favorite series of 2019) was that it was pro-cop. That’s like watching The Wolf of Wall Street and thinking, “I want to grow up and be like Jordan Belfort,” or believing Rorschach is actually the hero in the Watchmen movie. You’re missing the point.

In an interview with Rolling Stone‘s Alan Sepinwall, Watchmen writer Cord Jefferson answered whether it surprises him that people still the show as being “copaganda.” “It does. I think if you only watched the pilot, you might. But I don’t think there’s any way you watch episode six [“This Extraordinary Being”] and go, ‘That show is pro-cop,’” Jefferson said. He was also asked about how other TV shows portray police officers.

“I don’t think shows like Law & Order and Brooklyn Nine-Nine need to go away, but I think that what we need is more shows like The Wire. More shows that offer a more nuanced perspective of policing,” Jefferson, who’s also worked on Succession, The Good Place, and Master of None (pretty good!), responded. “If more shows like The Wire existed, then it wouldn’t seem like Hollywood was so in the pocket of policing in the way that a lot of people are saying that it is.” Also, no more cop musicals.

We tried that, and it failed. Never again.

(Via Rolling Stone)

As Juneteenth draws nearer, many are calling for the day to be recognized as a national holiday. Pharrell is at the forefront of the movement and was able to use his platform to speak with Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and successfully push him to introduce legislation that would commemorate the day as a statewide holiday. In a briefing Tuesday, Pharrell joined Northam to give an inspiring speech about the importance of recognizing the day as a paid holiday.

Pharrell took the podium after Northam proposed a bill that would cement Juneteenth as an observed holiday in Virginia. The singer said the movement marked great progress, but there’s still much work to be done:

“This is a big display of progress, and I’m grateful for Virginia, and us leading today. From this moment on and you look at the vastness of the night sky, and you see those stars moving up there. Know that those stars are African ancestors dancing. They’re dancing because their lives are finally being acknowledged. And I can’t say it enough up here today. A paid holiday is not the end of it, it’s merely just the beginning. Their lives matter, their descendants’ lives matter, Black lives matter in the eyes of the commonwealth. I can’t say that it always has, but finally, we recognize that Black lives absolutely matter. And that’s not political. They’re lives, they’re human beings.”

Pharrell continued to speak directly to the citizens of Virginia and called upon them to join the Black community in celebrating Juneteenth:

“This is what listening looks like. It makes sense that Virginia officially recognizes this holiday in this powerful way. And that’s because it’s been overlooked for so long. This is our chance in Virginia to lead by example. This is our chance to lead, to truly embrace the importance of Juneteenth and treat it as a celebration of freedom that Black people deserve, and African diaspora deserve–worldwide by the way. This is about proper recognition, it’s about observation, and it’s about celebration. This is a chance for our government, our cooperations, and our citizens to all stand in solidarity with our African American brothers and sisters. This year, Juneteenth will look like no other Juneteenth before it.”

The musician also pointed out the importance of Juneteenth over our currently-recognized Independence Day. “July 4th, 1776, not everybody was free and celebrating their independence day,” Pharrell said. “So here’s our day. And if you love us, it will be your day too.”

Watch Pharrell’s empowering speech above.

In April of 2017, the musician who had then-previously been known as Alex G (a shortening of his legal name, Alex Giannascoli) announced that he would be changing his stage name to (Sandy) Alex G, an alteration that was perhaps related to another artist who was also known as Alex G. Now we have a sort of Michael Scott snip-snap-snip-snap situation on our hands, because Giannascoli is once again going by just Alex G.

Riot Fest announced its 2021 lineup yesterday, and Alex G was on the poster, referred to without the “(Sandy).” Following this, Stereogum got confirmation from Alex G’s management that this wasn’t a mistake, and that the musician is indeed going by just Alex G again. The publication also notes that “(Sandy)” was dropped from Alex G’s name on streaming services last week. Indeed, all of his releases on Spotify are credited to Alex G, although Apple Music has yet to update his name. Alex G has also changed his name on Twitter and Instagram, although his handle remains @sandyalexg on both platforms.

So, all in all, Alex G only released two albums as (Sandy) Alex G before reverting back to his previous name: 2017’s Rocket and last year’s House Of Sugar.

A Netflix TV series called Warrior Nun? It sounds pretty grindhouse-y, but this story has comic book roots, first and foremost, along with any other influences one might infer. The show’s inspired by the manga novels of the same name and follows a 19-year-old woman, Ava, who dies and comes back to life in a morgue. It’s not an ideal circumstance, and she doesn’t seem thrilled about waking up in this trailer, but nonetheless, she’s apparently bestowed with a purpose, given that there’s a divine artifact embedded within her back. Ava might not be living her best life, but she’s going to get the action-packed job done, no matter how grueling the obstacles, including demonic ones.

In other words, we’ve got a different breed of reluctant superhero on TV this summer. Ava will find herself pursued by powerful forces sourcing from both Heaven and Hell, but she’s also now part of a divine order, and that glowing artifact gives her powers. And there are demons afoot on Earth, who must be stopped, so she hooks up with a group of butt-kicking nuns (with glorious names like Shotgun Mary and Lilith). Showrunner Simon Barry (Continuum, Ghost Wars, Bad Blood) is onboard, so expect this show to be heavy on atmosphere in addition to action.

Warrior Nun streams on July 2.

Nicki Minaj has responded to Lil Nas X’s earlier admission that he denied his Barb status for fear of being outed as gay. In a moment of vulnerability, the “Trollz” rapper admitted that Nas’ denial hurt but also expressed empathy for his situation and gratitude for his honesty.

“It was a bit of a sting when you denied being a Barb, but I understand,” she wrote. “Congratulations on building up your confidence to speak your truth.”

Nicki’s response came after Lil Nas’ reply to an earlier tweet of hers requesting a feature turned into a mini-therapy session between himself and a fan. When questioned why he always hid or denied running the @NasMaraj fan account, Nas said, “I didn’t want people to know I was gay,” then elaborated that because of stereotypes about Nicki Minaj fans and the hostile climate toward gay men in hip-hop, he felt uncomfortable with acknowledging the account. “People will assume if you had an entire fan page dedicated to Nicki you are gay,” he said. “And the rap/music industry ain’t exactly built or accepting of gay men yet.”

Fortunately for Nas, his massive success with “Old Town Road” and the 7 EP gave him the space and the standing to reveal that part of himself. He’s also now one of Nicki’s peers and not just a fan, so maybe he’ll get that feature after all.

Check out Nicki’s supportive response to Lil Nas X above.

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