Old Dominion’s Matt Ramsey is speaking out about the tragic death of George Floyd. The lead singer shared heartfelt words on social media, comparing what is happening in the country to the devastating Nashville tornadoes from just a few months ago.
“Just a few short months ago, I watched as beauty arose from tragedy,” Matt began. “The Nashville community came together to lift up their neighbors that took a direct hit from the powerful unexpected storm. Where there was pain, kindness bloomed. I’m no meteorologist, but I think a tornado is created by cold, dry air and warm, humid air colliding. We are now in the midst of a much more powerful and destructive storm. As I watch it sweep across America, taking innocent lives and destroying neighborhoods, I am reminded that I am no expert in this type of storm either.
“The turbulent hand of racism has not touched me,” he continued. “Therefore, like many of the people I talk to, I’m left feeling helpless, scared, guilty and ashamed. There is no basement we can crawl into to protect ourselves from this storm. We can only listen to it and learn from it as it tears a path through our lives. I have faith that kindness can bloom again. I’ve seen it happen. I know we as people can find love and compassion for our neighbors who have been hurt. In these painful times, please focus your hearts on healing, compassion, communication, humanity, humility and love. Hate has had its day. It’s on us to work together now to clean it up.”
Some thoughts this morning. Focus your hearts pic.twitter.com/pufOxYHKyo
— Old Dominion (@OldDominion) May 31, 2020
Matt’s words come as the Nashville music industry, like much of the rest of the country, is participating in Blackout Tuesday, as a way to focus attention on making positive changes to end racism.
“Tuesday, June 2nd is meant to intentionally disrupt the work week,” Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, two African-American music industry executives said in a statement posted on TheShowMustBePaused.com. “Monday suggests a long weekend, and we can’t wait until Friday for change. It is a day to take a beat for an honest, reflective and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community.”
Several artists, including Jimmie Allen and Darius Rucker, have spoken out about the need to fight to end discrimination based on race.
“Over the course of my life, I guess I had just put it down to ‘that’s just the way it is,’” Darius said, as part of a lengthy statement he posted on social media. “No, I know I had. It is no longer alright for me to perpetuate the myth that things are okay. I have kids whom I love and cherish, and to watch them go through this, to feel their anguish and anger trying to deal with this is heartbreaking for me. The question that keeps coming up is, ‘will it ever change?’ And my answer now has to be ‘YES.’
“We have to come together somehow, y’all,” he remarked. “The only way it will ever change is if we change people’s hearts. I don’t know how we are going to make that happen, but I’m ready to try everything we have to do, because we need to be better.”