This is instead a love note to a tradition populated by Robeson, Belafonte, and Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Abbey Lincoln, and Janelle Monáe. That is the tradition that Williams attached himself to and enlivened on Sunday. This isn't an ode to Jesse Williams. The distinction between the loss of a figure and the loss of a tradition was powerfully displayed during Jesse Williams's acceptance speech for the Humanitarian award. Beginning in the 1930s, he argued against impartiality, famously proclaiming that "The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for slavery.

Source: Huffington Post July 05, 2016 15:00 UTC