Black Requiem Impressions
“I’ve never had such a release of emotion like I had listening to the 3rd movement of the Requiem. I was crying like a baby, I couldn’t help it. Each movement within the song, comes with its own set of stories, and emotions, but each and every one is black. Unique to us, our struggles and in a way that only we can fully understand and comprehend. The level of pan, anguish, rage, and lament expressed in this song is something that can only be fully understood by us. She made this for us.”
Anthony Gaut - Filmmaker, Actor, Journalist
“Anger is the right and natural response to any love that is threatened. Grief is the right response to any love that is lost. Anger and grief are both painful and ugly in their own way, and we often try to avoid them. But each is so necessary, especially now in the face of the constant drumroll of racial tragedy, police brutality, and the devaluation of black life in America. We must take time to lament—to "grieve, mourn, and weep, turning our laughter to mourning and our joy to gloom" as the Lord has invited (James 4:9). If we are not angry, it reveals an inadequate love for our black brothers and sisters who are lost each day. If we do not grieve, it may reveal an inadequate love, or else that we are simply too overwhelmed to dare to walk down the road of grief and to process the incalculable loss. Whatever the cause and wherever we stand, Black Requiem is a needed invitation to anger and grief. This song is a right response to the racial tragedy of our day. It is painful in its own way, but through lament, our pain is reprocessed into something healthier, more focused, and more sustainable for the great work that lies ahead.”
Gerin St. Claire, Black History for White People Podcast
“So it is what it says it is a remembrance for all the Black lives lost. It reminds me of the complex arrangement of Queens Bohemian Rhapsody but much easier to follow along. You can hear the pain, anger, and sorrow. You can also hear the strength in marching on and rejecting these acts of violence as “how it is” a call for change. A lullaby of mourning for all the lives born in danger. It’s beautiful.”
Cassie Kang, LM Organics
