This episode was by far my favorite of the series. Over the past several years we have seen more and more leadership in pop culture, especially in music. A lot of the time it is easy to disregard what an artist is singing or rapping about but when you take a closer look you can find all sorts of unimaginable deep meanings. One specific example I want to talk about is H.E.R.\u2019s song I\u2019m not okay. When you first listen to the song you hear the sad piano and breathtaking voice of H.E.R. singing about the anxiety and pain that comes with a relationship, specifically when worrying whether or not your significant other is drifting away or even worse, cheating on you. These are the exact same feelings I felt when I first listened to this song. Then I looked up the music video and my perception completely changed. The song came out in 2019 but in the wake of George Floyd\u2019s death, H.E.R. released a music video for the song that featured dancing that depicted the emotions and actions of police brutality. In that instance, I looked up the words to the song and quickly saw the connection she was able to make to police brutality. While the song expresses all of the emotions discussed above, the song has an even bigger meaning. I\u2019m Not Okay depicts the emotions of worrying about whether or not a loved one has been the subject of police brutality and if that same loved one is still alive. The song is so much more than it appears to be. The video features dancing that helps to perfectly describe the actions and emotions of police brutality. H.E.R.\u2019s I\u2019m Not Okay is just one instance of leadership within pop culture. Artists have taken an enormous leap in our lifetime in regards to creating emotional and impactful music about issues such as racism. I think that the continuous growth of leadership within pop culture is both impactful and necessary for the next generation. Artists are able to give voices to the voiceless. There is still work to be done in order to eradicate racism from the world, but seeing leadership grown not only in pop culture but also in places such as professional sports is extremely powerful.<\/p>\n
Here is the music video:<\/p>\n