Track 1: The problem

“On September 22 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, in which he declared that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” …and one hundred and fifty-three years later, the Black American is still fighting for freedom, equality, and justice.

The freedom to walk to a grocery store while wearing a hoodie, or to legally bear arms and not be shot during a traffic stop, or the right to receive the same education as our white counter parts. Though the Black American has always felt the thumb of racism, the sight of it has never been seen as it is today.

For years it has been hard to convince some Black Americans of the fact that racism is alive and well and that’s probably because most people won’t acknowledge the felt racism but can’t ignore the racism that they are now seeing so frequently. Therein lies the problem, systematic racism; designed to kill, imprison, and crush the Black American.

That being said, for every problem, there is a solution and now more than ever is the time to exhaustively look for solutions.