Orlando Taylor 
Black Music, Politics, and Word Bombs 

IA+Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the planet, it feels like the veil between reality and what one’s mind wants to process began to deteriorate quickly. Even for me, it felt unbelievable, like a valve had been opened to release decades of pressure.

But would it be enough to move the country and the world to a better place socio-politically? The world’s lowest levels of people began to see politicians, oligarchs, and celebrities of all types in a more honest light. Independent online information sources and social media became lightning rods for challenging the accuracy of news outlets and pundits, despite corporations operating to the contrary. It is powerful and important, and I wanted to be a part of this.

The death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in real-time, left a loud silence concerning life in the United States for people who are descendants of enslaved Africans. The knee on the neck of the black community is real and powerful, like a bomb going off in the middle of our best dream.

In the words I use to address my feelings and thoughts, I am not proposing any particular solutions to these controversial issues. However, I have learned that saying nothing nor doing anything has ever been a part of a plan for a better society.

Reading the poems may be difficult because it renders images of things we don’t like to think about. Still, I hope they add to the clarity of your own emotions and desires about these topics. A period to your complex thoughts and experiences.

So many individuals and organizations are doing great work to address all kinds of issues that permeate the black community. However, I wanted to add my screams of passion and quips about what it all means to me and what I think it means to us. I hope the next four score-plus pages will rock you, awaken you, confirm you, console you and affirm what you feel is real.

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