Last week Usher shocked us all with the release of his new music video #Chains, that tackles the issues of racism and police brutality. The video starts out with spooky and intriguing music, then follows with the words, “while racial injustice keeps killing, society keeps looking away” in the middle of a black screen. As the song continues, the faces of various victims of police brutality and racially-motivated violence, such as Rekia Boyd and Sean Bell, are displayed with their names, ages and the events that led up to their deaths. Although many have been itching for celebrities to speak up and speak out about these issues while they have the platform to address it, this video represents much more than a public acknowledgement of injustice.

The music video actually employs some technological advances that literally won’t allow you to look away. With the “combination of music and facial recognition technology,” the video will not allow you to continue playing the music video if you try to open another browser. In a summary of the vision behind this genius and inspiring video that tells us #DontLookAway, Usher explains his motivations:

“I chose to introduce the song through the “Don’t Look Away” experience because it is important not only to feel the issue but to face it,” Usher said in a statement. “The pain and suffering that these victims and their families have endured is something we must never forget. When we look away from this problem it gets worse. To fix it, we have to face it.” -Usher

I, for one, am all here for Usher calling us out, putting us in our place and forcing us to face our complacency. It’s this realness that we’re going to need if we ever want to make any tangible and long-lasting progress in the journey for justice. Let’s hope this inspires others with a platform to take a lesson from Usher and start to use their status to say the things that need to be heard and urge us all to face where our nation is at — and to stop looking away.

To watch the video with the “Don’t Look Away” experience, click here.

caesar cruz

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