{"id":760103,"date":"2016-12-01T10:20:47","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T15:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/?p=760103"},"modified":"2016-12-01T10:20:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T15:20:47","slug":"music-mental-health-music-of-survival-acceptance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2016\/12\/01\/music-mental-health-music-of-survival-acceptance\/","title":{"rendered":"Music & Mental Health: Music Of Survival, Acceptance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImadeHeadshot\"Behold Music & Mental Health, a feature we hope to bring you more often than not, written by the fabulous Imade Borha. She\u2019ll check in from time to time with her thoughts on \u2026 well \u2026 presumably, music and mental health. Duh. If you dig, you can follow her on Twitter here<\/a>. Enjoy!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you’re a member of a marginalized group, your existence is resistance. On November 9, I never felt my existence more threatened on both a national and local level. I stayed up until 5 a.m.\u00a0so disturbed by the news of our presidential election that I\u00a0called my social activist friend in New York and\u00a0joked about bomb shelters to keep the pain at bay. I tried to muster up the energy to get ready for work later that morning, but fortunately, I didn’t have to. My boss let me take the day off.\u00a0Like a child scared by a nightmare, I kept the covers up to my ears and spent the day in bed. As the KKK celebrated in my home\u00a0state of North Carolina, I retreated\u00a0inside. My apartment is surrounded by Trump signs large and small.\u00a0I braced myself to see\u00a0anti-black graffiti on my car\u00a0when I left for work. I’m perpetually flinching, preparing for the pain to come.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I live in\u00a0two worlds, and with clinical depression, those worlds could possibly be three. I live in reality, I live in the worst case scenario\u00a0as a black woman, and I live in a world of where the smallest trigger can tip me towards\u00a0a\u00a0spiral of sadness. I’m a journalist, a police brutality victim, and a mentally ill person all at the same time. And with the presidential election, each world is heightened with fear. I feel my work isn’t important enough, I feel my neighbors can kill me with immunity just as much as the police, and I feel I’m not mentally strong enough to\u00a0witness the near endless list of racial intimidation\u00a0that makes me concerned for my Jewish, Muslim, LGBTQ, and POC friends.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0biggest lesson that Trump’s America is teaching me is acceptance. I’m not okay, and probably won’t be okay, but I can survive by giving myself a chance to live.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Music of survival is what allowed my ancestors to thrive when they faced brutality that could have made them extinct. Slave songs birthed blues and gospel, and gospel birthed me. In gospel, I find messages that accept pain and purpose, defeat and\u00a0destiny.\u00a0Gospel’s DNA is in everything, including the call and\u00a0response of Rae\u00a0Sremmurd’s\u00a0“Black Beatles” and the against-the-odds hope of\u00a0Ahzay’s “Nothing.\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This black woman\u00a0has a life much more complicated than Donald Trump’s stereotype that every African-American lives poor in the inner-city. If he could open his eyes to see and his ears to hear, he would realize that not every Mexican is a rapist, that not every Muslim is a terrorist, and not every woman is a sexual\u00a0object to be conquered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I’m filled with these frustrations, I\u00a0wrap\u00a0music of resistance around me like a warm blanket. I have music when I’m “Weary” like Solange, passionate for “Freedom” like\u00a0Beyonce, and on “Fire” with rage like\u00a0Rapsody. I’m reminded that I’m not alone, and that there are people from my neighbors to my friends who\u00a0want me to feel safe in my skin.\u00a0Music\u00a0gives me a\u00a0sense of acceptance,\u00a0and the strength\u00a0to hug my loved ones\u00a0tighter.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KW7K0gzud5s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Behold Music & Mental Health, a feature we hope to bring you more often than not, written by the fabulous Imade Borha. She\u2019ll check in from time to time with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-760103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-music-mental-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}