On the Record: Black History Month Vignettes

As Black History Month comes to an end, it is important to reflect on the music that is the backbone of a diaspora. This February, we remember. This February, we celebrate. Here’s how The Crimson’s Arts Board embraces Blackness to the fullest (with the volume all the way up):

For When We Forget to Smile: “I Smile” by Kirk Franklin

“This song’s for you,” Kirk Franklin says as I wake up on a Sunday morning. Five minutes ago, the raindrops pelting against my window were making me want to do nothing but burrow further down into my twin XL mattress, but my roommate has turned on our speaker and now I can’t help but do the inevitable — smile.

To me, Kirk Franklin’s “I Smile” has always been about Black joy. It’s a musical hug — a reminder that even though it’s “so hard to look up when you’ve been down,” there is always reason for hope and for laughter. In the context of Black History Month, it’s a powerful anthem that celebrates not just the past, but the present and future of Black resilience. The song is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and a call to embrace the joy found in everyday moments.

And so, this Black History Month, I remembered to smile. Yes, the world has not been kind to me or my people, and yes, the fight for justice is long and grueling. But in the midst of it all, “I Smile” reminds me that joy is an act of resistance. As Kirk Franklin’s voice fills my room, I am reminded of the countless moments of happiness and triumph that are woven into the fabric of Black history. Today is a new day. This song is for you.

—Staff writer Najya S. Gause can be reached at najya.gause@thecrimson.com.

Jimi Hendrix: The Man, the Myth, the Legend

Woodstock, 1969, 9 a.m. 200,000 people in the crowd. A distorted guitar rings out, with three unique notes blasting through the early morning air — the beginning melody of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Halfway through the song, Hendrix stops playing guitar, and starts playing his rendition of the Vietnam War. From the stage come noises of machine gun barrages, whistling bombs, and air raid sirens. A few more notes of the anthem, and then the whirring of a fighter jet engine.

Hendrix was the best guitar player of all time because he didn’t just play guitar. As cliché as it sounds, he and the guitar became one. Whether he was playing it with his teeth, behind his back, or smashing it on the ground, Hendrix had a deeply intimate connection with his instrument, and it showed in his music. A fretboard might seem limiting to fretless string musicians, but Hendrix lived outside the normal bounds of guitarists. His whammy bar skill, deft control of distortion, and precise pitch bends lent him unlimited access to every sound his guitar could make — and he kept track of and used them all. As Black History Month wraps up, take a look at that rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Watch in admiration as, in four minutes, Hendrix puts on a show of patriotism, protest, and nothing short of pure guitar mastery.

—Staff writer Alessandro M. M. Drake can be reached at alessandro.drake@thecrimson.com.

An Integral Addition to Black Music History: “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye

Black music is the lifeline of Black history. Oral tradition through storytelling and music has been central to historical preservation within the African American tradition since before slavery, creating accessible expressive outlets to combat barriers to accessing literacy. This uniquely Black lyrical lineage merits year-round celebration.

Donny Hathaway’s joyful, live reimagining of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” showcases the African retentions of call-and-response and audience interaction that has defined African American music. Cutting through somber repetition with energetic syncopation, this song retains its resonance while envisioning a more vibrant future. Black people have always known what’s going on, but music serves as an exceptional historical medium for communal commiseration and embodying Black power beyond pain. Through sampling, signifying, and soul, Black history finds continual renewal, with “What’s Going On” being sampled in over 99 songs.

“I’m tired of Marvin asking me what’s going on,” Janelle Monaé said in their empowering anthem “Ghetto Woman.” Transforming the past into action, they assert, “March to the streets cause I’m willing and I’m able / Categorize me I defy every label.” Black women and gender-expansive individuals lead the charge on social change through music, exemplified through British-Nigerian rapper Little Simz’s flowery and peaceful delivery in “Woman (feat. Cleo Sol)” — or, in contrast, Joy Postell’s “Water,” which shouts out Black protest leaders past and present. Black music is Black history, with songs big and small echoing across eons.

—Elyse G. Martin-Smith

“Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder

You’ll scarcely find a more uplifting and life-affirming album than soul icon Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life.” As the quintessential soul record, “Songs in the Key of Life” is filled to the brim with a pure and infectious lust for life, from the moving ballads of “Love’s in Need of Love Today” and “Knocks Me Off My Feet” to the jazz-infused tracks “Sir Duke” and “As.” Wonder doesn’t shy away from social commentary either, delivering powerful messages on race and inequality in “Village Ghetto Land” and “Black Man.” “Songs in the Key of Life” has all you could want from a soul record, drawing influence from the many different sides of the Black music scene of the mid-1970s. There hasn’t been a record since that has matched “Songs in the Key of Life” in its ambition, heart, and scope. It’s possible no record ever will.

—Burnie E. Legette