Singer Lenny Kravitz wanted to honor the legacy of the civil rights movement in the United States in his new song “Road to Freedom,” which he wrote for the Netflix film “Rustin,” he said in Los Angeles.
“I was lucky enough to grow up in a very vibrant and incredible moment of movement,” the artist said at the event in which Lusa participated. “I grew up in a family that taught me a lot about civil rights,” he continued. “My mother was one of the people who did this work in the sixties.”
The son of actress Roxy Roker, Lenny Kravitz was surprised to realize that he knew little about Bayard Rustin, the organizer of the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “I have a dream speech. .
“What touched me was the realization that I knew very little about Bayard Rustin. And that bothered me. But it also lit a fire in me. People should know him.”
It is this forgotten figure, an openly gay activist at a time when it was taboo and illegal, that the Netflix film starring Colman Domingo focuses on.
Rustin, directed by George C. Wolfe, is produced by Michelle and Barack Obama’s Higher Ground company.
Kravitz drew inspiration from his roots to write a song where “every line really had to say something important.”
“It all starts with the fact that we are here to make a dream come true, and that’s what we have to do all the time,” he explained. “The dream is not only about this time,” he believed. “Poems about moving forward, about faith, work and unity.”
The song, written in Paris, incorporates gospel choir and soul and R&B sounds. Kravitz wanted to point to these sounds of the South of the last century, while simultaneously calling attention to the eternal nature of struggle.
“We are on the path to freedom. The road is long and difficult, and it is passed on from generation to generation,” he said.
The movement unleashed after the death of George Floyd in 2020 has been compared to the 1960s civil rights movement that the film chronicles.
“No matter how far we have come, we still have a long way to go,” the artist noted. “It’s about the work, the journey, continuing the process.”
Kravitz said what struck him most was the realization that Rustin had accomplished something extraordinary, the largest civil rights demonstration to date, and not only had he not received the recognition he deserved, he had not sought it.
“This was a man who did something monumental without being recognized because at the time he was a man who was unacceptable,” he described, noting that there are other similar stories that have been forgotten.
“It’s not for the award, but they did something incredible. This event was very significant to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., a march and a speech that will forever remain in our hearts and minds.”
The singer said that “Road to Freedom” is his contribution to correcting the oblivion that Bayard Rustin suffered.
The song marks the return of Lenny Kravitz, who has a new album, Blue Electric Light, in the works, slated for release on March 15, 2024.