Love is Profoundly Political

 Grady Desidere

Dr. Harris

ENGL-2017

1 May 2025

Love is Profoundly Political

Throughout the edifying pages of bell hooks’ Salvation, hooks presents a well-rounded and captivating theory that love is profoundly political, and recognizing as much helps put one on the path to experience the ultimate transformative power of love ethics. Here, I will demonstrate how some of the different musical incarnations conveying love throughout Black history have manifested through the deliberate thought, strategies, and will of people through political action.

The most inherent display of the parallel between politics and love in black communities is seen in the countless series and history of political revolutions, mobilization efforts, and strives for decolonization across the globe. Despite the unavoidable atrociousness of colonialism and permanent, beleaguering memories that have and will continue to haunt People of Color for generations, some regions with predominantly Black populations have managed to garner independence and express self-determination via political power through loving, peaceful efforts. 

The National Anthem of Djibouti, a nation located in East Africa, was adopted the same year of its independence from France in 1977 and made possible not through violence, but with a historical, democratic referendum. With over 99.75% in support of liberation from France, this song would be one of the first displays of self-will among the predominantly Black country and projected a newfound confidence and love for themselves with lyrics translating to “Arise with strength! For we have raised our flag, The flag which has cost us dear. With extremes of thirst and pain.” 

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is an equivocal tune in Black history that leaves room for multiple interpretations, but one certainty is its traceability to lovefulness and undeniable influence by political happenings. While some choose to view its lyrics literally with its allusions to the golden gateways of Heaven that are awaiting the currently downtrodden, enslaved humans in the afterlife. Others have theorized that the lyrics contained colloquial nods, common in circles of enslaved African Americans, that support the idea that the song is referencing the act of physically escaping slavery in the present day and how the life of a free man is Heaven on Earth. The song uses themes of hope and optimism to inspire African Americans to keep their heads high while juxtaposing the bigoted, hateful political will that was holding them back.

Fields for Us has been a staple jingle for Louisiana politician Cleo Fields throughout his various political campaigns over the past nearly 40 years at the local, gubernatorial, and congressional levels. Having had the opportunity to meet Congressman Fields personally, I’m confident that he defies the typical politician mold and leads by benevolence rather than ego. Though I wasn’t alive for his earlier campaign runs in the late 1980s and 1990s, I have witnessed him stay nearly two hours beyond the allotted time for his town hall and ensure everyone had their questions or concerns addressed individually. Congressman Fields, one of ten children to an impoverished, widowed mother, has represented predominantly Black districts throughout his entire career in public service and used his power to advocate for loving reforms (including arguing with President Clinton at the White House over his 1994 Crime Bill which has since been widely accepted as having lasting negative repercussions in Black communities) and political actions that would heighten the quality of lives (such as implementing mandatory kindergarten in Louisiana) Even upon a lopsided defeat in the 1995 Louisiana Governor’s race that would expose the racial animosity still present south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Cleo Fields continued fighting for people of all backgrounds by kindling his unique introduction to love to prioritize issues that bring Louisianians together like job security and the future of their children (as recited in his jingle) instead of relying on divisiveness or scapegoats to secure the Black vote.

Love Train- The O'Jays Perhaps no song better captures the spirit of bell hooks’ perception of love and its power to instantly transform others upon being met with it, akin to a domino effect. The 1970s proved extra painful and tumultuous for many Black Americans as the country reluctantly transitioned from its 200-year history of accepted discrimination amidst an increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam that they were forced to serve in; it is only natural that The O’Jays would draw from their experiences as Black men during this period when writing their music. The lyrics aren’t subtle in their message as the O’Jays call for love and encourage people from Asia, Europe, and the MENA region to reject war, join hands, and hop aboard the metaphorical “love train.” The song’s spot in the Billboard Hot 100 chart only supports how transformative messages of love were and still are- with it being capable of defying all political restraints.

bell hooks doesn’t simply allude to social movements when she acknowledges that love is inherently political. Sometimes love is politicized in subtler ways like stigmatization, stereotypes, rulemaking, and backroom engineering by those in positions of privilege; most often throughout history, we’re accustomed to seeing the denial of love to marginalized groups and its political roots. For many, it isn’t until people are brave enough to defy these expectations and reject the boxes that other people try to place them in that the inherent political nature of these acts shows to begin with.

Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)- The Delfonics While the lyrics read of a confident young Black man professing the impact he’s had on a woman, it is the song’s inclusion on the big screen that has garnered its groundbreaking reputation for defying political expectations. In Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown, he chose to defy societal expectations thrust upon him, risking his newfound fame in the process. Casting a middle-aged black woman in the lead role of his first film following Pulp Fiction was the last choice of many of the executives, fans, and even the original author of the source material itself. However, it is his casting choice of Pam Grier, an iconic blaxploitation actress and proud feminist from the 1970s, that allowed him to challenge the political expectations of Hollywood and change how older Black women view love in the process. With The Delfonic’s hit song playing in various scenes between Pam Grier’s character of Jackie Brown and Robert Forster’s character of Max Cherry (a white man in his 50s, disgruntled with his lonely career as a bail bondsman), Black women were introduced to stunning, empowering representation that rejected long-standing premises of interracial relationships being impure and love being reserved for the youthful.

I'm Wild About That Thing- Bessie Smith Often forgotten for their role in the Flappers movement of the 1920s are Black women. With Jim Crow laws still plaguing the United States during this time and having recently been intentionally excluded from the passage of women’s suffrage laws, Black women were largely accepted as sitting at the bottom of the totem pole. For a Black woman like Bessie Smith to project such confidence and flirt with raunchy lyrics like “Come on and rock me with a steady roll. I'm wild about that thing, gee I like your ting-a-ling. Kiss me like you mean it, I'm wild about that thing” during a time where people would call for her death for much less, it was a clear political and societal statement that she too was entitled to enjoying the fruits of sexual liberation and self-love, just like any person of privilege. It was extraordinarily brave of Bessie Smith to remain true to loving herself during a time of blatant racism and sexism, which easily could have elicited fatal male rage.

MacMilitant- Jim Johnston While the song is relatively niche in itself, given its origin in professional wrestling, anyone familiar with it and its connection to Theodore “Teddy” Long will likely speak fondly of it. For many young children like me in the 2000s, Theodore Long was my first introduction (even before President Obama) to a Black man in a position of authority who defied the stereotypes or roles that typically accompany them in works of fiction. Growing up in the Jim Crow era South, Theodore Long was no stranger to mistreatment and violence. While he worked filled various roles as an errand boy, referee, and on-screen manager of talent throughout the 1980s to try to cement himself in professional wrestling history as a black man, it was his scripted job in the WWE as General Manager of Smackdown! for over a decade that demonstrated his relentless pursuit to follow his passion, fueled by love and contested by politics, would pay off. This song accompanied Teddy Long every week on TV and portrayed a positive role model for young Black men that referenced strong Black historical leaders like Malcolm X and MLK Jr., and incorporated pride in Black culture, such as its rich history in gospel music. Theodore Long played the character of a smooth-dressing, charismatic, no-nonsense boss who was unequivocally confident in his abilities and in doing so proved many former co-workers, bosses, and fans (many of which called him the N Word as driven by their backwards politics) wrong with his success in a business historically dominated by straight, 6’0”+ white men. As bell hooks mentions, Black men are often shamed out of interests that someone may extrapolate to be “nerdy”, “childish”, or “feminine.”  Teddy Long loved and believed in himself, regardless of the quirky profession he aspired to join and the plethora of detractors, allowing a new generation of Black men to follow suit.

Every Man A King- Huey Long Who could’ve imagined that the small, rural town of Winnfield, Louisiana (now home to only 3,000 people, primarily African Americans) would give birth to one of the most revolutionary and ambitious men in United States history? Even at a young age, little Huey knew he was ready to defy the folksy lifestyle of those in Winn Parish and be a catalyst for enormous change.  Much more than a mere politician, Huey Long was a visionary who did everything in an unconventional way, and it nearly resulted in him dethroning FDR for the nomination to the Presidency of the United States. A southern politician who chose to refrain from using the timeless tactic of stoking the flames of racial tension seems unheard of today, let alone nearly a century ago! Instead, the Kingfish avoided dangling the privileges he was taught to have been awarded at birth and used them to fight lovingly on behalf of those abandoned by the state. Huey Long, always prone to controversy, worked tirelessly to secure textbooks for all public school children. His Share Our Wealth proposal, a staple of his campaigns as Governor, Senator, and hopeful Democratic nominee to the Presidency, advocated for programs that would aid every single man and woman in America. Huey Long attended rallies all across Louisiana, accompanied by performances of this song, where he ranted against the existence of billionaires and promoted programs that would create wealth caps, as well as distribute wealth across the lower and middle classes. His calls for longer mandatory vacations, 30-hour work weeks, and an automobile + radio for every American made him adored among the common man and detested by those of authority. Huey Long didn’t care about the rabid attacks labeling him a communist or authoritarian- only the people of this state and nation. So long as this song lives on, the bombastic spirit of the Kingfish and his lesson to love thy neighbor shall live on. EVERY MAN (AND WOMAN) A KING!

The final musical depiction of love’s political nature is simply when it is absent. While everyone is capable and deserving of knowing love, this hasn’t always been available historically for marginalized groups. While many of the songs previously mentioned showcased anecdotes of artists defying political efforts through their persistent commitment to embracing love ethics, the reality of love being profoundly political is that, as in most things adjacent to politics, sometimes corruption is so deeply rooted and ingrained in the foundation of everything encompassing it that one can only feel powerless, overwhelmed, and incapable of enacting any incremental change. Judith Herman conveys the somberness of this state best on page 96 of Salvation with “Traumatized people feel utterly abandoned, utterly alone…Thereafter, a sense of alienation, of disconnection, pervades every relationship.”

CrossRoad- Robert Johnson Robert Johnson is the quintessential voice for the plights of Black men who too navigating life in the Jim Crow south. The song makes Johnson’s pain and desperation evident from its opening line as he cries for mercy from the Lord. Johnson aches over his seeming invisibility to those passing by in his fragile state and the lack of love in his life. It seems evident that Johnson is alluding to the hostile political state of 1920s Mississippi, which fundamentally perceived and treated him as inferior to his white counterparts. This prejudiced system denied men like Johnson quality job opportunities that could have served as a safety net from the pit of despair he had fallen into. Had Johnson been able to earn a living wage, he likely wouldn’t have still echoed complaints of loneliness with his new ability to financially secure a partner- something hooks mentions as a necessity in the eyes of many men during this period to define their worth

Columbus Ship- Little Roy Amidst a deep catalog of music capturing the woes of chattel slavery, Little Roy managed to provide an especially sorrowful recount of the “negative scars” (97) that bell hooks mentions stemming from generational trauma and slavery. Little Roy utilized repetition to drill in the harrowing experience of life as a slave until Spanish colonization. Lines like “Look how I’m growing thin since you carried I out to sea” give room to multiple interpretations that may support how horrific acts like starvation and malnutrition (acts we recognize as crimes against humanity in the modern world) were waged against those of darker complexion or alternatively, how Little Roy is growing agitated and disillusioned with life in a post-slavery world that is trying to white-wash the horrors enacted upon him. The lack of present love in Little Roy’s life, at the hands of capitalistic and racist might, leaves him emotionally stagnant and heavily implies he’s another victim of PTSD due to the onslaught of slavery.

So Many Tears- 2Pac No playlist chronicling Black history, both the highs and lows, can be considered complete without additions from Tupac’s catalog. Tupac reflects on his volatile past and hopes for the future in this song, but remains unable to shake off his cynical outlook on life by the end of the song. Tupac is on record as stating his father was largely absent in his childhood; bell hooks acknowledges in her eighth chapter that Tupac’s current state of lovelessness likely originates in his father’s emotional abandonment. Tupac was stuck in a cycle of chasing the approval of other male figures by embracing traditional masculine traits like misogyny and gun violence, and it eventually cost him his life. The resentment and emotional pain lingering within Tupac after the loss of his cherished friends only grew harsher as a consequence of a political society that incentivized the split of the traditional nuclear family within Black spaces through things like prison pipelines and racial police profiling. Though Tupac is emotionally available enough to admit he’s shed tears, he was not yet healed enough to reject the premises of violence and retribution.

John Redcorn- SiR Perhaps my favorite song in the playlist, SiR wears his heart on his sleeve in this outing and leaves every listener equally as disheartened over his state of lovelessness. Despite the calm tempo and gentle beat throughout the endeavor, the lyrics paint the picture of a man deeply depressed over not being reciprocated with the love he feels entitled to. I interpreted lyrics like “Baby you remind me I’m a G” and “Why am I alone when I know you want me too?” to express that SiR is accustomed to scapegoating his problems onto women and that he believes he should be entitled, as a heterosexual man, to continue a series of sexual conquests and “pulling” that he believes to define his manhood. bell hooks writes on page 147 that males often blame women due to their inability to take control of their own actions. In this song, the politics and societal expectations of what constitutes a “cool” Black male helped push SiR into the predicament he’s in now, where he wishes to experience love ethics, but doesn’t make the personal strives to obtain it and instead soothes his ego by defining himself as a “G”

Neighbors- J Cole When J Cole fell victim to racial profiling in 2016 at the expense of his neighbors and North Carolina police, he and the rest of America quickly became aware that the illusion of racism being dead was a far cry from the truth. J Cole adopted a callous attitude in response to the raid ransacking his home, and in an instant, dissipated any trust he still had in white supremacist America. J Cole abandons attempts at good faith communication and instead adopts a snarky attitude in response to those who put him in harm’s way with lines like “I am , I am, I am. Well motherf****r, I am!” to the accusation of selling dope. J Cole even abandons the loving premise of racial integration as a viable option, remnant of bell hooks’ assertion that Black children often were treated with more dignity in All-Black school settings than when they were “accepted” into society.  While it is understandable why J Cole would begin closing himself off from the world in response to this trauma, it is a shame that the politics of corrupt, right-wing extremists in North Carolina (alongside the Trump campaign taking the world by storm at the time of the raid) led to a generational mind abandoning his pursuit of love ethics.

Works Cited

Canicosa, JC. “Starting in 2022, Most Louisiana 5-Year-Olds Will Be Required to Go to Kindergarten” Louisiana Illuminator, 10 June 2021, lailluminator.com/2021/06/09/starting-in-2022-most-louisiana-5-year-olds-will-be-required-to-go-to-kindergarten/.

“Elections in Djibouti.” Africanelections.tripod.com, africanelections.tripod.com/dj.html.

Fields, Cleo. Youtube, 16 Aug. 1994, youtu.be/udx5aMhNYB0?si=ZZJ6GhgrKV6aPdg8.

Hooks, Bell. Salvation : Black People and Love. New York, Harper Perennial, 2001.

“Teddy Long Tells Ric Flair Story.” Youtube, Oct. 2021, https://youtu.be/kdE_vLl3P3k?si=5PjatPvfMWJik-8I

“The O’Jays – Love Train.” Genius.com, genius.com/The-ojays-love-train-lyrics.

“Winnfield, Louisiana Population 2025.” WorldPopulationReview.com, 2025, worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/louisiana/winnfield.