Keep Your Head To The Sky - Brief Article

Ebony, Sept, 2000 by Walter Leavy

WHEN you think about it, there's probably nothing quite like the power of music. It can be soothing. It can be moving. It can be thought-provoking and eye-opening. It is amazing how a certain song can become such a part of the fabric of your being, triggering--each time you hear it--special memories, reminding you of such tidbits as who you were sharing your heart with at the time.

With all of its powers, though, many say that music's most impressive characteristic is its ability to inspire, serving as a source of strength, motivation and hope. I was recently reminded of such when I heard Earth, Wind & Fire's classic song "Keep Your Head To The Sky." It brought back memories of a time when I was a sophomore at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), and I and a group of other Black students were in the midst of the Black Consciousness Movement at a predominantly White school.

As it was with many other Black college students across the country, our sense of Black pride often led to protest against administration policies, so there were plenty of times when we needed any kind of inspiration we could get. And, in 1973, when Earth, Wind & Fire released one of its biggest hits, it became a kind of anthem of hope and encouragement. For us, it not only served to bolster our pride; it inspired our fight for right and opened our eyes to the fact that as long as we kept our heads to the sky, they would never be bowed.

   Step right up, be a man
   You need faith to understand
   So we're saying for you to hear
   Keep your head in faith's atmosphere
   Keep Your Head To The Sky

The message in that song is no less powerful or less meaningful today. As it was in 1973, it's still tough (and getting tougher) to be Black in America, especially if you're a young Brother. What Brother wouldn't need an effective, constant source of inspiration when he knows that he is the primary target of racial profiling, zero-tolerance disparities, excessive punishment for nonviolent crimes, economic disenfranchisement and, with growing frequency, he's the object of police harassment for simply driving while Black?

And now comes word of what most Brothers knew all along. A recent report by the Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected international human rights groups, says the nation's war on drugs is unfairly targeting Blacks, who are being jailed at much higher rates than Whites, even though five times as many Whites use drugs. The belief is that selective drug enforcement is being carried out in "specific" (that means Black) neighborhoods but not "on Wall Street or at Ivy League schools."

As any Brother can tell you, apparently the same is true when police enforce the laws relating to other criminal acts. The Bureau of Justice Statistics says the incarceration rate for Blacks and Whites for all criminal offenses is an average of 8 Blacks sent to jail for every single White person. And with the history of the police in the Black community, you have to wonder how many of those Brothers are incarcerated unjustly.

What's a Brother to do when the most basic of our institutions, the criminal justice system, is infected with racism? We all know that there are Brothers who commit their share of criminal acts, and they should be in jail. But the kind of racial disparity these figures indicate is inexplicable, and it breeds contempt for the law. It also undermines America's sacred promise of fairness. Whatever happened to "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?"

That ideal apparently has fallen by the wayside, giving way to a pernicious racial-profiling system used by law enforcers and the general public alike--both of whom determine a person's character and worth based on class, age, dress and race. Especially race! The ACLU drives that point home with a full-page advertisement that indicates if civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive, he would be 75 times more likely to be stopped by police while driving than would mass murderer Charles Manson.

With that thought in mind, what Brother wouldn't need some continuing source of inspiration when taxicabs routinely zip by simply because of the way he looks; when anguish and fear register on the faces of women (White and Black) as he steps into an elevator; when security guards at even some not-so-upscale stores follow his every step while he shops; when police make him feel like a cheap watch because he's stopped so often if he's driving in a so-called "White neighborhood?"

That's the way it is for Brothers "in the land of the free and the home of the brave." But for those who continue that day-to-day struggle searching for equal opportunity, equal access and equal justice, perhaps the lyrics from "Keep Your Head To The Sky" will give you hope. And with hope, there's possibility. With possibility, there's motivation. With motivation, there's perseverance. With perseverance, there's accomplishment.

So, Brothers--despite all of the negativity that's designed to break your spirit--keep your heads up. Because if you don't, that's the first step toward giving up!