{"id":798,"date":"2020-06-16T16:10:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T06:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=174193"},"modified":"2020-11-01T14:20:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-01T14:20:44","slug":"kiana-lede-cover-pink-dear-mr-president","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/kiana-lede-cover-pink-dear-mr-president\/","title":{"rendered":"What We\u2019re Listening To: Kiana Led\u00e9\u2019s cover of Pink\u2019s \u201cDear Mr. President\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kiana
Credit: Instagram @kianalede<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I look at the state of the United States, it breaks my heart. It\u2019s where I live and a place I have really fallen in love with.<\/p>\n

The cities are wonderful but it\u2019s the people who make them. I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about what drew me to America, and to my home in New York specifically, and it\u2019s probably best described through a quote I read<\/a> from NY Times<\/em> columnist Roger Cohen recently. He said that New York’s great secret was the “extreme degree of ambition that coexists in its streets.”I felt that every day. Run as fast as a New Yorker\u2026 or really, you just don\u2019t belong there.<\/p>\n

New York just isn\u2019t New York without its New Yorkers. I saw that during the pandemic when its overcrowded sidewalks were completely cleared and void of any human life.<\/p>\n

Somehow though, beneath the hum of a million air conditioning units and driver\u2019s horns, there was something about the last few months that felt almost festive. Americans are so passionate and emotional and when they band together, they are a force to be reckoned with. The pandemic felt like that. \u201cWe\u2019re all in this together,\u201d NY\u2019s governor Andrew Cuomo would remind us all at 5pm every night.<\/p>\n

But now\u2026 it all feels different. The United States is not united at all. And it\u2019s been hard to find the words to narrate this time.<\/p>\n

READ: What We’re Watching: MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX\u2019S FILM \u2018JUST MERCY\u2019 IS A GOOD PLACE TO START LEARNING<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

And so I\u2019ve looked to literature and film to inform me. Today, I stumbled across American singer Kiana Led\u00e9\u2019s beautiful cover of Pink\u2019s \u201cDear Mr. President.\u201d Originally written in 2006 as an open letter to serving President at the time George W. Bush, Pink has noted this track to be one of the most important songs she has ever written.<\/p>\n

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@kianalede\u2019s poignant and timely #DearMrPresident is out now. All net proceeds from the song are being donated to the @naacp Empowerment Programs.<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Universal Music Australia<\/a> (@umusicau) on