"One of the most revolutionary things you can do is just have joy"
Sunday, March 2, 2025
I’m going to ignore the horrors of our government right now, instead choosing to highlight this set by Josh Johnson, who is rapidly becoming my favorite new comic. The core of this set, which you can watch for free on YouTube, covers Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, which remains one of the more profound halftime shows I’ve ever seen. Even with my basic familiarity of black history in this country, the layers and depth of the performance were obvious. Josh Johnson breaks it down, makes it funny, and makes it deeply real & meaningful all at the same time. Worth watching the entire thing.
He ends with this:
I think it was incredible. I think it was a phenomenal show especially in a year and a time where there are people that would have black history disappear, you know? There are people that would have us forget. And I think the only way to to stop black history from going away is to make more of it all the time, make new new history all the time, new moments, you know…
Cuz so many people were like man it was so boring I didn’t get it and it’s like, aight, you know, it’s the most watched thing right under the moon landing but… I’m sure that was hate watching, you’re right. I think that whatever you take away from the performance, if it’s art that touched you, that made you feel something… that’s good that’s all you can hope for. But if you want like a revolution, if you – if you want change – you’re probably going to have to go outside and get some or make some.
Black history, women’s history, civil rights broadly for all Americans - Kendrick & Josh Johnson reminding us, TV off. We need to make new history to preserve the history that came before us. It’s that dire now in America.