The Oscar ceremony is upon us; perhaps the most coveted and regal event of the year😉. And in the spirit of all of the festivities sparking the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 4th 2018, the musical selection this week that we are commemorating is “Stand Up For Something”.
Andra Day and Lonnie R. Lynn (COMMON) are the music powerhouses that vocally usher the spirit of what the song symbolizes, while Diane Warren and Lynn wrote the lyrics to the song. Nominated this year for Best Original Song, this track has inspired and reminded the world what my mother always drilled within me; and that is, “If you do not stand up for something, you will fall for anything,” leaving you bewildered, double minded and unstable in all that you do 😳.
“Stand Up For Something” is the theme song for the biographical film, Marshall, which focuses on an early legal case of the trailblazing lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice. Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy Award-winner, COMMON, shared on Good Morning America that he was honored, “to take part in the project because the song’s theme about the need to stand up against injustice is relevant today. It could have taken place in the ’60s or ’70s, but it’s relevant to today. Unfortunately, we have to encounter these issues, but we have to take them head on. And I feel like we’re not afraid now. As human beings, we’ve got to look out for each other. We’ve got to stand up for whatever it may be, whether it’s animal rights, the environment, women’s rights, and standing up against the injustices. Marshall, is addressing some of those issues through a human being’s life. However, it’s important to note that, “This song is also a broader scope of addressing it on a universal level.”
Day also shares her thoughts around what the song means in an interview. She explains, “To me, ‘Stand Up For Something’ means exactly that. It means that we all have a purpose here. And when we see things or we experience things, they affect us in different ways. And that’s all for a reason no matter how trying the experience is. And it’s because when we’re affected by that thing, we can’t just sit by quietly. We have to do something, we have to say something about it. And so, it can be on a macro level; it can be a movement like Black Lives Matter, women’s rights, gay rights. Or it can be on a micro level, which is macro in your own personal world. If you have a friend that’s struggling with depression, or thoughts of suicide, or cancer, or illness, or just stressed out about things in their life. When you support people, when you do and say things to help, you really are changing not just your environment, but the world piece by piece. I don’t think things can happen on a grand scale until they happen in small places first.”
And when asked what Day stands for she proudly shares, “I stand up for a lot of things. Like, actual organizations, and then just truths, ideas, and concepts. I stand up for equality, I stand up for truth. I stand up for love that is unconditional. For the type of love that allows people to go through ups and downs in their life without judging them, and understanding that you love someone, whether you understand them or not. I stand up for women’s rights, I stand up for equal justice. I stand up for people who don’t have a voice, or the voice they have is being squashed. There are a lot of organizations I work with, Equal Justice Initiative, Urban Arts Partnership, inner city youth that don’t have access to certain school programs, arts programs. I stand up for artistic expression, and I stand up for my faith, my love of God. I stand up for my family. I think we all stand up for more every day than we realize we do.”
So, with all of that expanded consciousness unveiled by Miss Day & Mr. Lynn, make sure to listen to the song and Think 🤔 about what you are prepared to STAND UP FOR✊.
Andra Day, COMMON & Diane Warren, you three creative visionaries get the heART Of Cool STAMP! Many blessings on the nomination🙌.
💜Love & Light☀,
CRISTEN M. MILLS
