We are witnessing America as a failed social experiment.

How do we tell this story in a way that builds the kind of emotional momentum

that colorblind ideology built?

So many young brothers and sisters of the younger generation find themselves so far removed

in the best of their past.

What are we going to make out of the nothing we've been given?

How do you envision possibility?

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

I'm Tricia Rose, and I'm here, virtually, sitting with my dear friend and colleague Cornell West and we are now

on the tightrope. The tightrope is a new podcast with unfiltered dialogue with each other and with you on a

range of issues, from music and literature to film, politics, activism, feminism, humor, racism,

the black radical tradition and much, much more.

But today we're focusing in on the pain that everyone is feeling in this current moment, in particular, black pain.

But we want to think about it in the context of the tremendous legacy of African American creativity and music.

It is African American Music Appreciation Month, and I say that with a little bit of

irritation because I can't imagine a month beginning to capture the impact of African American

creativity on American music.

But we're also going to hone in specifically on Prince. It was his

birthday just a few days ago and his artistic genius, in particular the song Purple Rain. But we're

trying to connect these musical traditions to the current political moment. Why is African American

music so important? And what role does it play in social

activism? There's so much to say about this, but off the top of my head, the most important

...