India.Arie decided to withdraw from the music industry and explore what she really wanted. “I knew what needed to change-and it was me.” “By the end of 2009, everything I was afraid of happening happened. She spoke honestly of the challenges as a black woman in the music industry: racism, sexism, exhaustion, relationships, isolation, constraints on personal growth, etc.Įven though she achieved outstanding success as a musician and became a celebrity, she realized that “success doesn’t mean living happily ever after.”Īfter several physical and emotional breakdowns, she finally reached her limits. “Which is laughable now because the music industry is treacherous,” she says. At 23 years old, she entered the music industry, hoping to find self-worth and healing. The artist started her stories with her painful childhood experiences, which shaped her need for healing and love for music. She gave a name to each step of her transformative experience, “breakdown, breakthrough, break-the-shell, elevate and fly,” as she repeated throughout the SongVersation. Opening with an interactive vocal exercise with the audience, India.Arie engaged the audience during her whole SongVersation, talking about her struggles, critical moments of her life, her heroes, and new meanings she found in her life and career. Instead of a regular address, the four-time Grammy winner performed a SongVersation, a combination of a traditional concert and interactive conversation, to present the influence music has had on her life and how music has affected the black culture. When India.Arie appeared on stage, she was greeted by bursts of cheers and applauses from a standing audience. There is an abundance of history and herstories for black bodies that bond us to our predecessors and to the culture that shapes our day-to-day lives.” “Black culture and music have been intertwined for decades, allowing for generations to constantly adapt through. The BSA Conference Chairs then introduced India.Arie and explained the theme of this year’s BSA conference “Can You Hear Us Now? Music and Media in the Black Culture.” The winning essay explored how safe spaces are necessary for colleges and universities, arguing that “the best things any learning environment can do for students is understand each other a safe space would include all, open up all minds and expose space to all around them.” The BSA Co-chairs announced the opening of the conference, and the event began with the reading of the winning essay of the 2017 BSA high school scholarship. A large audience showed up to the event and left teary-eyed, encouraged by her powerful message of self-caring and mission to uplift the world.
Themed “Music in Black Culture,” the artist told her personal story of gaining power and learning to love herself.
4, the singer, songwriter, actress, musician and record producer India.Arie spoke as the keynote speaker for the Black Students’ Alliance (BSA) Conference last weekend.