Girls Dreams

On the night that a Ferguson grand jury decided not to indict the officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown to death, Run the Jewels played to a packed room in neighboring St Louis. Killer Mike opened the set with a seven-minute sermon, paraphrasing Dr King, choking up when he talked about his 20- and 12-year-old sons and the fear he felt for them. He kept circling back to the refrain: "You motherfuckers got me today."

It was all for the sake of defiance, though. "You motherfuckers will not own tomorrow," he said. "We will not live in your fear; we will not accept your cages." Before they snapped into "Run The Jewels," he said, "It is us against the motherfucking machine."

It's too early in the morning to start drawing a line between that day and today, although a look through the video's comments section should be enough to trace it out.

Last night, Run The Jewels played in Washington DC. Killer Mike and El-P brought out Rage Against the Machine's Zach de la Rocha for "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" and "Kill Your Masters." Mike played "Reagan," closing out by leading a chant of "Fuck Ronald Reagan" and shouting "Fuck Trump."

The bit that will stick, though, is Mike's sermon.

"No politician is your ruler or your master, or your Lord. These people work for us. We do not work for them. I kept the faith because every stop I made, I saw black people, white people, Asians, Latinos, men, women together. They were working together in solidarity to improve this country. It doesn't matter who won. The day after tomorrow, this is our motherfucking country.

"I don't give a fuck who is president. This is our country, and what we will build, what will keep this republic going, is truth, is honesty, integrity, love, and democracy."

Later on, El chimed in: "If you ever start to feel alone, take a look around. This is your community."

Let's try to make the next four years look like this show.

Photo via DJ Trackstar on Twitter.

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