Today, SANKOFA.org, the social justice organization founded by Harry Belafonte, has released the official video to “Hanging Tree” – a visual collaboration with Grammy Award-Winning singer/songwriter Elijah Blake, via Kobalt Music Recordings. “Hanging Tree” will be featured on Sankofa.org’s forthcoming album, Broken Windows.
Elijah tells FADER:
“I wrote “Hanging Tree” as a way to use my voice for equal rights, especially black rights, in the aftermath of tragedies like Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice and so many others whose voices have been silenced. When I recorded this song, I wanted to have a way to express my feelings, despite at the time not having an album to attach this to. I was lucky that a friend of mine introduced me to the work the Sankofa organization is doing and it really resonated with me. I felt their work embodied the same message I wanted to convey with this song. As a result, the Sankofa organization and I have combined efforts to spread this important message of equality through this amazing video, as well as through their EP17 Project, where the song was originally released.”
“Hanging Tree,” written/produced by Blake and directed by Sean Alexander, is a visual that showcases the injustices in a corrupt socioeconomic system. The “Hanging Tree” single first appeared as a snippet visual on Sankofa.org’s visual EP “17”, which featured music by artists Ty Dolla $ign, Raphael Saadiq, Mali Music as well as Elijah Blake and is now available on all DSPs. The visual EP, which made its official February 17th premiere on TIDAL, seeks to raise funds to support grassroots organizing efforts around issues of racial and social justice. It is now available on all DSPs.
Check out the full video by clicking here.
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