At the Purchaser’s Option | Rhiannon Giddens
by Elouise
It’s worth the fight. I can’t get this phrase out of my mind as we wait. Not just for the announcement about who will be our next President, but for the backlash that will surely follow.
Rhiannon Giddens’ song is about slave trade in the USA. Blatant back then, it’s somewhat more sophisticated today. Yet the bottom line is the same. Being disenfranchised isn’t only about voting. It’s also about being denied full humanity because of race, color, gender, age, religion, wealth, or any other test for who counts most.
Yes, we need a President and Vice President who can help us move in a humane direction. Still, we can’t afford to sit back and coast. The evils of yesterday’s blatant racism are still with us in a thousand permutations, compounded by Covid-19.
In the meantime, here’s a song that invites me to stay strong and focused on the work ahead, not on the ever-present backlash.
Elouise♥
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 7 November 2020
Rhianna Gibbon’s song found on YouTube
Telling the Truth 
I agee. Biden may have won the election but changing the climate will take much more than a change in presidents. We must be vigilant!
Thanks for the important song.
Marilyn
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Oh yes, Marilyn. Vigilant and more engaged than ever in whatever ways we can.
Rihanna Gibbons is amazing. Not just as a musician, but as an educator. 🎶💐
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What a powerful song – made me think of Cone’s long passage on the song Strange Fruit.
As I put it to my son this afternoon (who worked the polls in Philadelphia) – the work is just now able to start again – the door is open to resume a long and arduous and shame-filled and beautiful task.
Thank you for continuing to write. Grace and peace to you.
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You’re welcome, and thank you, dw. I missed responding to this comment yesterday. What you say about James Cone’s passage on “Strange Fruit” is painfully true. Gibbons’ style and spare music heighten the meaning of every detail, making it impossible to ignore or dismiss in all its evil.
As for your son, good for him! I didn’t remember you had a son in Philly! Yes…what comes next will be very difficult indeed. I’m grateful for the opportunity to see at least part of it in my lifetime.
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