Video2Premiere: Kneeling In Tulsa

Pledge of Allegiance etiquette as addressed by U.S. Congress with
36 USC 301:

When saying the pledge of allegiance, citizens of all ages should stand at attention, face the flag, and salute by placing the right hand over the heart. Men should remove their hats, and women any sports caps. When in uniform, military personnel, firefighters, and law enforcement officers give a military salute. Veterans and service personnel out of uniform may give the military salute or place the right hand over the heart.
​- according to emilypost.com

- Yes Congress actually met about this.

So when a man like Colin Kaepernick kneels during the pledge of allegiance the whole world watches. But why is this such a big deal when people in that same stadium aren't following the 'etiquette' themselves? From the guy getting food from concessions, to the girl texting, and even the dude who has to take a piss because he's on his 4th beer. So why does it matter when Kaepernick doesn't follow proper "etiquette"? It's because of why he is doing. Standing up for a cause by kneeling. Many Americans across the country think he doesn't have the right to or he should just be happy to have rights. The Rights. These same rights that are denied to too many black people every year, but what's scary is, that it's actually more like everyday. And for any black person growing up in Tulsa this is far too often a theme. The right to remain silent, or be silenced. But with a 7 on his back Marshall Sinclaire is a an artist who wants to bring light these injustices in hopes that his KNEELING will bring about change to a city standing still for far too long. And with the premiere of his new video "Kneeling in Tulsa", he is doing just that.

 'Kneeling in Tulsa' has some powerful scenes and the imagery. What made you choose these images? 
​I didn't want to mince words about where I was on the debate on police brutality in America. With the Kaepernick jersey, you know exactly what I'm about, how I feel, right off the bat. I also thought it was really important to include imagery of the American Flag because too often we're told that if we speak up about injustices, then somehow we're less than patriotic, when in fact it's the exact opposite.

What line was most important to you on the song?

​"Clutched purses and pearls, won't somebody come and justify/
these highly publicized, and state-sanctioned homicides/
American as apple pie, and suckers on my timeline/
​tell me "love it or leave it" cause the protest keep em' squeamish"

 Why is this line so important to you? This is the piece that stood out to me the most when I was writing this song. It has a bit of implied sarcasm to it. Growing up, sometimes you see certain things like someone clutching their bag when you walk past or clutch their valuables etc, so that's where that comes from.  I also think it's very honest. I wanted to say how I truly felt, unfiltered. Whenever someone that looks like me is murdered, unarmed like Terrance Crutcher, and the shooter walks, that's a state-sanctioned homicide. And it's an unfortunate dark American past time.

Here's Marshall's message about 'Kneeling Tulsa':

Kneeling in Tulsa:
"On September 16th, unarmed African American Tulsa Citizen Terrance Crutcher was shot and murdered by Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby, while he had his hands raised. And while police shootings have unfortunately become all too common, being a Tulsan, this struck a chord with me specifically. With the Eric Harris/Robert Bates situation so fresh in Tulsa's collective memory, and the recent killing of Khalid Jabara, I had enough. 
"Kneeling in Tulsa" is a culmination of all those feelings, and a reminder as Tulsans that's not who we are. To borrow a phrase from Jay Z, "It's not a diss song, it's a real song."

-Marshall Sinclaire"

Without further ado here is Marshall Sinclaire's video "Kneeling in Tulsa".

Check out his social media below for more music:
Twitter: @SinclaireOO
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/sinclaireoo
Instagram: @Sinclaireoo

- Editor's Note: I hope this post opens the conversation for solutions. Not internet arguments.
These are real lives. Real families. The list of names has been too long for too long and I hope the list doesn't grow.

- To be silent is to be just as guilty as the one doing the act we have to speak out against injustices not only the ones that affect us but others. To quote Dr. Martin Luther King 
                                             “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. "

- To the families: Nothing I can say can ever express the strength that you have shown and my deepest condolences go out to you.