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Herbert Bracy's avatar

Awesome! My first saved post on Substack.

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Stephanie G Wilson, PhD's avatar

Thank you! I’m honored.

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Tara's avatar

Oh I knew as soon as I saw him in a red/white/blue jacket and the dancers representing those colors, he was bouta pop off on the maga movement. And it. was. glorious. I've probably rewatched it a hundred times by now. lol I think goin into the show, folks were wonderin if he was actually gonna call out Drake by name, live on the SB stage (which he did 😬). But this performance went waaaaay beyond a diss track. Kendrick's an icon & this show was historic. ✊🏽💙

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Stephanie G Wilson, PhD's avatar

100%

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Laura Westbrook's avatar

As an older white woman, I also didn’t recognize the songs, the game controller, etc. (I also noticed the bell bottoms!) I watched a couple of YouTube’s black explanations of the show before watching the actual halftime show, which helped. 👍🏻 well done, to both you and Kendrick.

Didn’t watch the game, so didn’t see half-time in real-time!

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Olivia Smartt's avatar

Incredible commentary. Thank you!

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Earlene Hunter's avatar

Thanks for this explanation—now I get it! And kudos to Mr. Lamar for the show!

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The Whittakers's avatar

Thanks for the explanations. I was impressed by the red, white, and blue flag and Uncle Sam.

Unfortunately I was watching with MAGAs where I only watch one football game a year - the Super Bowl!

All they grumbled is that they couldn't understand the words.

Yes, I am an old white woman who grew up in a racist town. However, I left there as soon as I graduated high school and haven't looked back.

I have taught in an all black inner city school with black students and white teachers doing lessons in Black history they didn't know. Listening to their rap music at the time.

Two times while I was hospitalized, the same Black nurse literally saved my life. She's my Guardian Angel!

I don't do gaming so didn't recognize that staging. I did appreciate the staging and knew it had deeper meaning.

Thanks for your explanations and links. I will be rewatching it with deeper appreciation.

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Virginia Harr's avatar

Thank you for digging deep into Lamar’s Super Bowl performance. As an old white lady who definitely is not into his music I needed this. I was blown away with the dance/props messaging. But I couldn’t understand his raps. Now I know I need to dig deeper.

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Eve's avatar

All excellent.

Now, the guy with the Gaza flag. No one is free until everyone is free.

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Liz's avatar

My kids love Kendrick- we have tickets to his show this summer - so I knew the show was gonna be fire. Immediately Sam Jackson was giving "uncle sam/uncle tom" vibes and then the dancers in red white and blue came out and I was like YES...... MAGAS ARE GONNA BE SO TRIGGERED AND IM HERE FOR IT. It was artfully done, even friends that aren't fans of hip hop were blown away by the performance and the POWERFUL message. Perfectly done. chefs kiss.

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Sheila England's avatar

Thank you.

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Mary Noone's avatar

This conversation is exactly what we need right now, more talking about politics without talking about politics examples! Great job breaking Kendrick's artistic expression of the cultural divide we are currently facing. America is the great democratic experiment. We are challenging ourselves to live in a multicultural multiracial society which requires people to learn more rather than jump to judgement. Well done Stephanie! Thank you for helping us all learn more :)

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