The time is right
For me to pack my bags
And take that journey down the road
‘cause over the mountain I see the bright sun shining
And I want to live inside the glow
I wanna go to a place where I am nothing and everything
That exists between here and nowhere.
I wanna got to a where time has no consequences, oh yeah
The sky opens to my prayers.
“Beautiful” by Indie Arie is one of those songs I listen to at moments in my life when I need to hear something gentle, hopeful, soulful and…well…beautiful. Because when I listen to Indie sing this song, I feel the same way I did when it was first released on “Acoustic Soul” in 2001. I feel held, supported and understood, because I know plenty about wanting to “live inside the glow” as I’m sure we all do.
Indie Arie is one of those rare artists whose appearance and presentation she never allowed to stray too far into gimmick. When she sang “I am not my hair,” it was a genuine message sent out to women of color everywhere that we should not define ourselves based on other people’s expectations of how they think we should look.
Little girl with the press and curl
Age eight I got a Jheri curl
Thirteen I got a relaxer
I was a source of so much laughter
At fifteen when it all broke off
Eighteen and went all natural
February two thousand and two
I went and did
What I had to do
Because it was time to change my life
To become the women that I am inside
Ninety-seven dreadlock all gone
I looked in the mirror
For the first time and saw that hey….
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your expectations no no
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within
We need more Black female artists like Indie Arie who not only sing with a message about accepting ourselves for who we are within but who also lead by example. Indie Arie represents pride in her race, her culture and in the beauty of her femininity. She is always seen rocking an eclectic, Urban and African inspired look, celebrating her natural hair and gorgeousdark skin. And she has never compromised her image or her message to feed a market heavily catered to with empty, superficially packaged personalities.We are worth so much more than that and Indie Arie’s music is a brilliant and rich testament to our worth.
She inspires us in ways she may never know and I thank Goddess for Indie Arie’s commitment to remaining authentically herself.
Urban Eve 