When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you we are with you, we see you, we love you, and march on.” There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. We wrote this song for a film that was based on events 50 years ago, but we say that Selma is now because…we know that right now the struggle for freedom and justice is real.
Amidst the common platitudes and thank yous, John Legend had this to say: “It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times in which we live. If you haven’t seen the performance yet, it’s a must:īut as powerful as the song is, it’s the acceptance speech (starting at 6:05) that captured my attention on Sunday night. At Sunday’s Oscars, John Legend and Common performed their amazing song, “Glory,” from Selma before ultimately winning the Oscar for Best Original Song.
