Solange's A Seat At The Table continued the conversation on being Black and female in America that Lauryn Hill started eighteen years prior. It was a timely digest on how to make sense of what we felt about all of the experiences we had been having and witnessing others have- since the period of time in a America that provoked The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which was dropped in 1998. Like Ms. Hill, Solange answered the call to give an empowering, chin lifting and Synclaire James-esque "Woo, woo, woo" to our sisters during a tumultuous climate in the U.S. This is an atmosphere that is a result of going through stress at home, while feeling the pain and hearing the cries from our sisters around the world. She got on her knees with us, put her arms around those who were ready to stand and whispered affirmations and prayers with those whose legs had finally given in to the weight laid on their backs from day to day. As I listened to the lyrics of Cranes in the Sky and Mad and the interludes featuring Master P., I felt that the table I was sitting in was located in the cafeteria of the school that the students featured in the interludes of Lauryn Hill's album were attending at that time.
While Lauryn stood up in class and dared to be the one to speak up during a post Civil Rights, post War on Drugs era, when doing that was a bit taboo, Solange saw us- sitting around screaming over each other, crying and banging our heads on the table, turned on the music and allowed us women, alongside our men, to have a therapy session. There were no specific remedies or calls to action other than to be Black and unabashed and unashamed every day moving forward. Lauryn reminded us that we were more than what we were being, what we were seeing, what we were experiencing in the environments shaped by decades of disenfranchisement and miseducation. Solange met us on the brink of the sadness and depression that our ancestors- brought into slavery and mistreated because of their beautiful dark hue, might have felt and reminded us to love who we are, even when it seems that no one else ever will.
I love a good book. I also consume documentaries like they're the last cup of spring water on a hot day in July, but the music sinks into my blood and bumps to my heart. The vibes permeate through the air around me long after the songs have stopped playing. I played The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on loop, almost every day. I was about twelve when it debuted. I was on my way to making a new transition in my life as a teenager. I would be looking at boys a little longer, deciding what I wanted my personal style to be and ultimately begin thinking about who I wanted to become. For a girl in the hood, in a horrible school district, with little around to inspire or develop my creativity or my sheer will to be somebody, Hill's album was right on time. It's a classic album that speaks to my thirty year old self, as much as, the 12 year old, pre-social media child I was in the late nineties.
I have three children, two of them are boys. As a mother, I was holding my breath, taking big gulps, sighing and kicking walls just thinking about the hail storm that I had brought my babies into. Solange tapped me on the shoulder and brought my attention to my emotions that I tried to hide at times. She ensured me that I could have those feelings and that I could also prosper, hold my head up and charge toward the future with a purpose and also with pride. YES! We are Black in America and what that means is we can and will survive whatever is thrown our way.
We have to keep the conversation going and add some action (there are so many things to do, on so many levels, in so many areas and we are so capable) and a lot more love and compassion to it during the times ahead. While each person chooses what role they will play in the evolution of our people, let's be each other's peace. Let the wisdom of Lauryn and the nurturing of Solange be some of what we bring to the table, from now until we win.
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